"Why would you want to run a node? Here are some of the most common reasons:

- You do not want to rely on any third party to validate the transactions you receive.

- You do not want to disclose to third parties which transactions belong to your wallet.

- You are developing Bitcoin software and need to rely on a Bitcoin node for programmable (API) access to the network and blockchain.

- You are building applications that must validate transactions according to Bitcoin’s consensus rules. Typically, Bitcoin software companies run several nodes.

- You want to support Bitcoin. Running a node that you use to validate the transactions you receive to your wallet makes the network more robust.

If you’re reading this book [Mastering Bitcoin] and interested in strong security, superior privacy, or developing Bitcoin software, you should be running your own node."

Andreas Antonopoulos