memory is cheap. Why is this an issue?
Discussion
Memory is cheap IF you use a scalable platform that can efficiently use memory such as a SQL or MongoDB database. A blockchain does not efficiently scale. The raw cost of memory hardware is essentially irrelevant here.
Isn’t that true for BTC 100 years from now??
Very different. BTC’s full blockchain increases in memory size at an orders of magnitude slower pace due to a max block size of ~4MB each and blocks only every 10 minutes. Despite being around for ~16 years the full BTC blockchain is well under 1TB, versus Solana adds 240-300 TB per MONTH.
In BTC even plebs using cheap hardware at home can run a bitcoin node in “pruned” mode with 10-40 GB of space needed, or you can even run with just the UTXO set and it’s pretty small though constrained.
On Solana today it’s basically already impossible for a pleb to run a node, unless you’re super technical, have a large budget, and use the cloud.
If you want to try for yourself with zero technical knowledge required, nostr:nprofile1qqsvetzrdtkpc8kz4eg54hstse8rx7cye5cvcgw9p4e7pt4s6nadw9gpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduq3vamnwvaz7tmzd96xxmmfdejhytnnda3kjctvgrgpdd wallet will automatically download and managed a pruned BTC node for you using about 40GB.