Bitpay & Microsoft are Adding Full Nodes to the Bitcoin Network

BitPay has announced its new feature service with Microsoft’s Azure blockchain as a service (BaaS) platform. The Bitcoin-based merchant processor BitPay will allow people to run a full Bitcoin node on the cloud.

Also read: Barclays Cuts 1,200 Jobs as ‘Dead’ Bitcoin Thrives

Our open source Bitcoin full node and development platform Bitcore is the first Bitcoin service available for Azure users.

BitPay: ‘A full node is the best way to do it’

The company wants to lower the barrier to entry for those who want to run a full node. They say that whether you are a company or an enthusiast who wants to support the system, Bitcore may be your solution. In its recent blog post, BitPay said, “running a full node is the best way to do it.” The company says that anyone can host a node with Bitcore on the Azure cloud without the need for hardware or devices. Bitcore’s website describes it as “ A powerful, modular node for bitcoin and blockchain-based apps.”

Bitcore is said to have a large set of Node.js language libraries to enable more functionality and a native set of utilities for testing and developing services with the digital currency. BitPay says that this feature allows people to run full nodes without “relying on third party APIs for querying the blockchain.” The company has also implemented the Copay wallet into the backend and users can choose to use it or another client of their choice. In order to use the cloud, user systems will need the Node.js, 100GB of disk storage, and at least 4GB of RAM. Bitcore’s documentation reads:

A Bitcoin full node for building applications and services with Node.js. A node is extensible and can be configured to run additional services. At the minimum a node has native bindings to Bitcoin Core with the Bitcoin Service. Additional services can be enabled to make a node more useful such as exposing new APIs, adding new indexes for addresses with the Address Service, running a block explorer, wallet service, and other customizations.

Bitpay wants to build blockchain services with Bitcore and add to the overall infrastructure within the industry. The company has already pioneered the merchant services arena and now with Bitcore’s service architecture it “makes it possible to create new types of applications for the Bitcoin blockchain.” Through the new service, anyone can issue digital assets and also prove ownership of digital files with the platform.

At first glance, the API and UI look relatively simple for those who are tech savvy, and there is also full documentation on the website detailing its operations for those wanting to learn. Users can test and develop whatever their imagination allows through the service and businesses can offer robust blockchain-based products.

Bitpay has been making moves in 2016, recently announcing its additional integration with Ingenico payment processors. Now, with Bitcore, the company is allowing developers and enthusiasts the chance to support the Bitcoin infrastructure first hand. The website has a testnet they call the “playground,” and it’s fully available to try out.  

What do you think about Bitpay enabling people to run full nodes? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Pixbay, Bitpay, and Microsoft

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