# Bitcoin Node Count: Bitcoin Core vs Knots Share

> Bitcoin node count by client: reachable nodes running Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots, version adoption since v30 and network types, from a daily P2P crawl.

Markdown copy of https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/bitcoin-node-count-core-vs-knots

**Question:** How many reachable Bitcoin nodes run Bitcoin Knots instead of Bitcoin Core?

- Kind: Dashboard in Voltfin Vantage
- Topic: [Bitcoin](https://voltfincrypto.com/topics/bitcoin)
- Chains: Bitcoin
- Status: Planned. The data is not published yet, so this page states no figure; each figure will open its receipt when it is.

Bitcoin nodes announce their software in the user agent they send when two nodes connect. Crawling the network every day and recording those user agents gives a count of reachable nodes by client and version: Bitcoin Core, Bitcoin Knots and the rest. This dashboard shows those counts and how they moved through the dispute over Bitcoin Core v30's OP_RETURN policy.

The counts have limits that matter. Only nodes that accept incoming connections can be reached, so nodes behind firewalls go uncounted, and a user agent is self-reported, so it can be changed or faked. Read a share as the share of reachable nodes that claim a client, not as the share of all Bitcoin users, and read it beside what miners actually put in blocks, which relay policy alone does not decide.

## Blueprint

### Clients

Reachable nodes by client, and how fast v30 is being adopted.

- **Reachable nodes** (count): Distinct nodes that accepted a connection during the latest day's crawl.
- **Bitcoin Core share** (%): Reachable nodes whose user agent parses as Bitcoin Core, as a share of all reachable nodes.
- **Bitcoin Knots share** (%): Reachable nodes whose user agent names Bitcoin Knots, as a share of all reachable nodes.
- **Core nodes on v30 or later** (%): Share of reachable Bitcoin Core nodes reporting v30 or a later release.
- **Nodes by client** (count): Reachable nodes per day split into Bitcoin Core, Bitcoin Knots and other clients over the selected period.

### Versions and networks

Releases in use, the networks nodes are reached on and what miners include.

- **Reached over Tor** (%): Share of reachable nodes found at a Tor onion address in the latest day's crawl.
- **Blocks with large OP_RETURN data, 30 days** (count): Blocks mined in the last 30 days that include OP_RETURN data over the old 80-byte default.
- **Nodes by network** (count): Reachable nodes on IPv4, IPv6, Tor, I2P and CJDNS in the latest day's crawl.
- **Core and Knots releases in use** (count): Reachable nodes by client and release, newest first, from the version in each user agent.

Filters: Period (Last 30, 90 or 365 days).

## How it will be measured

- A crawler connects to every reachable node it can find on IPv4, IPv6, Tor, I2P and CJDNS each day and records the user agent and protocol version from each version message.
- User agents are parsed into client and version: Bitcoin Core, other implementations and Bitcoin Knots, which adds its own name and release to the string. Strings that do not parse count as other.
- A node is counted once per day by its address; a node reachable on several networks can appear once per network, and the page says so beside each total.
- The miner-side tile counts blocks that include OP_RETURN data over the old 80-byte default, read from the blocks themselves rather than from the crawl.

## Data it needs

- `bitcoin_network_daily` (to build): Blocks, hashrate implied by difficulty, difficulty, fees, transaction counts, block weight and miner revenue (subsidy plus fees) per day.
- Source: A daily crawl of the Bitcoin P2P network on IPv4, IPv6, Tor, I2P and CJDNS
- Source: Version messages from each reachable node: user agent, protocol version and services
- Source: OP_RETURN outputs in each block, for blocks carrying data over the old default

## Questions

### How many Bitcoin nodes are there?

Reachable nodes, the ones that accept incoming connections, can be counted by crawling, and this page shows that count each day. Many nodes do not accept incoming connections and cannot be counted this way, so the total number of nodes is larger than any crawl shows.

### What is Bitcoin Knots?

A full node implementation derived from Bitcoin Core and maintained separately, with more restrictive default policies on what it relays, including OP_RETURN data. It follows the same consensus rules, so Knots and Core nodes accept the same blocks.

### Why did Bitcoin Knots gain nodes?

Interest rose with the debate over Bitcoin Core v30, which relaxed the default OP_RETURN limit. Some operators who opposed the change switched to Knots and others stayed on older Core releases; the version chart shows both moves.

### Can node counts be faked?

Yes. A user agent is just a string a node sends, and one machine can run many nodes. The page reports what reachable nodes claim and does not weight them, so a share is an indicator, not a vote.

### Do node shares decide what goes into blocks?

No. Miners choose the transactions in their blocks, and any transaction that follows the consensus rules is valid. Relay policy only affects how easily a transaction reaches miners, which is why blocks with large OP_RETURN data are shown beside the node shares.

## Glossary

- **Reachable node**: A node that accepts incoming connections from other nodes, so a crawler can connect to it.
- **User agent**: The software name and version a node reports when it connects to a peer.
- **Relay policy**: The rules a node applies to unconfirmed transactions before passing them on, stricter than the consensus rules.

## Related apps

- [Bitcoin OP_RETURN Usage After Bitcoin Core v30](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/bitcoin-op-return-usage)
- [Bitcoin Mining Pools: Hashrate Share by Pool](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/bitcoin-mining-pool-share)
- [Bitcoin Ordinals, Runes and BRC-20 Activity](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/bitcoin-ordinals-runes-activity)
- [Bitcoin Hashrate and Mining Difficulty](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/bitcoin-hashrate-difficulty)
- [Bitcoin Halving Countdown and Block Reward](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/bitcoin-halving-countdown)
- [Bitcoin Transaction Fees and Mempool Tracker](https://voltfincrypto.com/apps/bitcoin-fees-mempool-tracker)

Build it in Voltfin Studio: https://app.voltfincrypto.com/signup?next=%2F