Responsibilities of a Node

Summary of node's functions

Nodes in the blockchain network are enforcers of the rules on all transactions that are produced by the network. The ones that pass the ruleset are then added to the new block, becoming immutable history of recorded data. Nodes, however, do not make new rules or arbitrate in terms of what goes inside the transactions.

Nodes are also typically businesses who, as you can see by now, not just need to run expensive hardware but also need to constantly keep upgrading it so that they are able to compete within the growing needs of the blockchain network and what other competitors are doing. They also will possibly invest in software improvements and provide various blockchain related services, which can act as an additional source of income for them. This means that when an entity undertakes the work of running a node, they should be quite public in terms of their operations and always a legal business entity so that they accountable to the jurisdiction they are operating in. This is often overlooked aspect when it comes to blockchains and nodes running them.

But a blockchain like BSV Blockchain, which requires quite a significant amount of infrastructure not just for PoW process but also for the storage of large blocks, would require a node operator to invest large cost of setup just to get started. Such operations will always end up in data centres or consuming large cloud infrastructure; either of them requires them to be disclosing their legal taxation and identification information. This is intentional, as all this makes these nodes public entities known to the jurisdiction and accountable for what services and operations they perform. This is quite critical for implementing freeze and recovery process of stolen coins and performing pruning or any censorship activities as required by law on the blockchain.