Running your own node is not to protect bitcoin network but to protect yourself

Happy Christmas everyone!

I see some confusion in the Bitcoin community, and wanted to help clarify this. I do own and run my own node and I'm happy with it. But I'm also a miner and I do know that my node is not what protect the network but the mining power is.

Getting 51% of nodes is not that hard to do, there is about 50K nodes, so let's say 1TB per node so it is about 50PB, which is nothing for a single small-medium company with an enterprise setup.

That's why for a 51 % attack you need mining power not nodes. Right now the hashrate is about 177 EH/s according to my umbrel node. So you may need about 90 EH/s with the power and equipment of a whole country to just try a double spend, a.k.a 51% attack, see more here: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/1/51-attack.asp

And don't get me wrong, Like many said here before, running your own full node is a wonderful thing, not to protect the network per se but to protect yourself. Don't trust, verify.

Btw, if you want to protect the network, after the move of miners out of China ban there is a lot of opportunities, check https://www.asicminervalue.com/ and you can also be a miner as well, an Antiner S17 or S19 is about 5-10K USD and can do 80-100TH/s, you can join the pool of your preference and get your mined bitcoin with minimal fees.