The Philosophy of the Full Node: Why 21 Million Matters

29. The Philosophy of the Full Node: Why 21 Million Matters

We end this manual with a reflection on the "Why." Why do we spend hundreds of dollars on hardware and hours on compilation? Because Numbers are the only thing we can trust.

• In the legacy system, the supply of money is decided by people in rooms.

• In Bitcoin, the supply is decided by the code you have just compiled.

• If you don't run your own node, you are asking someone else: "Is the 21 million limit still there?"

• If you run your own node, you are telling the world: "The 21 million limit is still there, and I am enforcing it."