<p>Not really.  When a node sends out a block, it doesn't indicate whether it mined the block itself, or whether it's relaying a block received from another node.  The intention is that mining, like other aspects of Bitcoin, can be done anonymously, so the miner has plausible deniability.</p>

<p>If you have a large number of nodes on the network, then you could see which of them received the block first, and the peer who sent it is somewhat more likely to be the actual miner.  Some block explorers do this and report that peer's IP address, marked something like "relayed by".</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-11T14:30:04.897Z
2018-09-11T14:30:04.897Z
Nate Eldredge
<p>Unless you have a connection to every single node on the Bitcoin network, it is impossible to distinguish between mining and non-mining nodes. Having a connection to all nodes means that you can see which node is the first to relay a block to you. However, this is not a guaranteed way to determine whether a node is mining. Due to network latencies and other block relay networks (e.g. FIBRE), you could still be relayed a block by someone who had not mined it.</p>

<p>Furthermore, nodes do not advertise that they are the one who mined it. This information is not stored in blocks nor is it announced by nodes that they are mining. Thus it is impossible to know which nodes are mining and which node created a block.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-11T14:31:58.120Z
2018-09-11T14:31:58.120Z
Ava Chow
<p>I am trying to understand how does mining traffic looks from non mining ones?
If I try to discover mining node I believe I can look for nodes which broadcast blocks. Is there someway to know which Peer mined and broadcast the block ?</p>

<p>Thanks for help</p>

<bitcoin-core><client>
How to differentiate between mining node and non mining node in bitcoin
nehamansha
# How to differentiate between mining node and non mining node in bitcoin

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-09-11)

I am trying to understand how does mining traffic looks from non mining ones?
If I try to discover mining node I believe I can look for nodes which broadcast blocks. Is there someway to know which Peer mined and broadcast the block ?

Thanks for help

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, client


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-09-11. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Not really. When a node sends out a block, it doesn't indicate whether it mined the block itself, or whether it's relaying a block received from another node. The intention is that mining, like other aspects of Bitcoin, can be done anonymously, so the miner has plausible deniability.

If you have a large number of nodes on the network, then you could see which of them received the block first, and the peer who sent it is somewhat more likely to be the actual miner. Some block explorers do this and report that peer's IP address, marked something like "relayed by".


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### Answer by username_2 on 2018-09-11. Score: 0

Unless you have a connection to every single node on the Bitcoin network, it is impossible to distinguish between mining and non-mining nodes. Having a connection to all nodes means that you can see which node is the first to relay a block to you. However, this is not a guaranteed way to determine whether a node is mining. Due to network latencies and other block relay networks (e.g. FIBRE), you could still be relayed a block by someone who had not mined it.

Furthermore, nodes do not advertise that they are the one who mined it. This information is not stored in blocks nor is it announced by nodes that they are mining. Thus it is impossible to know which nodes are mining and which node created a block.


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