On the 24th of June, The Raspberry Pi Foundation released a new model of their famous single-board computer, the Raspberry Pi, which costs just $35 and is able to run a full node on the Bitcoin network at a very low price. This makes the de-centralization of the BTC network all the easier to maintain and even increase.
The New Model
The new Raspberry Pi is meant to improve the process and costs of running a full node while being more efficient for all network participants. This new model, referred to as the 4th version, is a significant upgrade when compared to the previous one. The 4th gen Pi at its most expensive with up to 4GB of RAM, would cost roughly $55 excluding taxes.
According to the Raspberry Pi Foundation, the latest model can support an extra 500mA of current just by switching from USB Micro-B to an USB-C, ensuring that the device has a full 1.2A for downstream devices. The new Pi boasts a new operating system, which according to the Foundation hosts back-end tech improvements, a better interface, support for a Gigabit Ethernet connection and support for updated apps like Chromium 74 web browser.
What Would This Mean For The Crypto Sphere?
Ever since the first Raspberry Pi was released, Bitcoin full node holders saw the potential of this little efficient device to run their nodes and at the same time not require much maintenance or space. With time, the Pi became more and more famous among the crypto community and currently a very large amount of the full nodes in the Bitcoin network for example are ran by Raspberry Pi’s.
The new Pi 4 brings an even cheaper option for full node holders as currently there is a sale going on in which you can get your own Raspberry Pi 4th Gen for $35. This low entry cost for full node users also provides them a great opportunity to verify their own transactions over the network at a prompter pace, but let’s not forget that the Pi does not do the complex tasks that miners do. A miner is still necessary for the process.
As the entry costs for a full node on the Bitcoin network become lower and lower, the network’s decentralization increases and gains stability. These Pi full nodes can not be rewarded with BTC like miners, because they do not have the power that a miner possesses, but they do make it easier for the ledger to be spread and verified making all participants in the network become more efficient.
Conclusion
Thanks to The Raspberry Pi Foundation, the crypto world has a cheap device to use as a device to run full nodes on that has a cheap entry price, cheap maintenance and a small size. This along with the popularity of the Pi a lot of cryptocurrencies are coming on the rise but mostly Bitcoin.