IMO to increase the nr of nodes we need a tech breakthrough or more urgency. Nodes on mini PCs are great but it can only scale so far due to perceived need/tech ability/the hassle of it/education. If nodes served another purpose, that would help. What I mean is - look at ASICs also serving as home heaters, driving the upswing in home mining. It's the dual purpose, to the average pleb, that makes mining scale in a new way. What dual purpose can nodes have? I have no idea. Another point: ETFs and exchanges reduce the need for ppl to verify by running their own node. So the natural forces are working against it. Perhaps if an ETF blew up and no one got their BTC, then that would create some urgency. Random thoughts...