<p>The language used in the Ethereum ecosystem doesn't always entirely align with the language used in the Bitcoin ecosystem.</p>
<p><strong>All</strong> full nodes in the Bitcoin ecosystem verify all transactions and blocks from genesis. This is generally not the case in the Ethereum ecosystem as this exercise is much slower and requires significantly more disk operations (i.e. see Jameson Lopp <a href="https://blog.lopp.net/2020-altcoin-node-sync-tests/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">commentary</a>).</p>
<p>Full nodes in the Bitcoin ecosystem can either be pruned or archival. Pruned full nodes don't store data on spent transaction outputs in perpetuity while archival full nodes do. If you want to do something like query the effective balance of a Bitcoin address at block 4,000,000 you would need an archival full node. You would also need software like <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/100498/how-to-get-a-balance-from-the-network-directly/">Electrum Personal Server</a> (EPS) or <a href="https://blockstream.com/2020/06/16/en-esplora-and-other-alternatives-to-electrumx/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">alternatives</a> that index historical UTXOs by address.</p>
<p>For more details on the different types of full nodes in the Bitcoin ecosystem see this <a href="https://btctranscripts.com/london-bitcoin-devs/2018-07-23-john-light-bitcoin-full-nodes/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">presentation</a> from John Light at London Bitcoin Devs in July 2018.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T14:12:38.910Z
Thanks for this @Prayank. scantxoutset scans the current ie most up to date UTXO set right? You can't use it to scan a historical UTXO set say in January 2015, to see what the effective balance of an address was in January 2015?
Michael Folkson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T14:32:25.843Z
Cool, so I think my answer is correct for querying historical balances. Though the example given in the question, block 4,000,000 is actually decades in the future ;)
Michael Folkson
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-07-03T13:25:31.850Z
2021-07-03T13:48:16.060Z
2021-07-03T13:48:16.060Z
Michael Folkson
<p>Similar to Ethereum's <a href="https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/nodes-and-clients/#archive-node" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Archive Node</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Stores everything kept in the full node and builds an archive of historical states. Needed if you want to query something like an account balance at block #4,000,000.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Or is it not needed because Full Node <strong>is</strong> an Archive Node due to Bitcoin's UTXO model?</p>

<bitcoin-core><full-node><ethereum><terminology>
Does Bitcoin Core have/need an archive mode?
yerzhan7
# Does Bitcoin Core have/need an archive mode?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-03)

Similar to Ethereum's [Archive Node](https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/nodes-and-clients/#archive-node):

> Stores everything kept in the full node and builds an archive of historical states. Needed if you want to query something like an account balance at block #4,000,000.

Or is it not needed because Full Node **is** an Archive Node due to Bitcoin's UTXO model?

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, full-node, ethereum, terminology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-07-03. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The language used in the Ethereum ecosystem doesn't always entirely align with the language used in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

**All** full nodes in the Bitcoin ecosystem verify all transactions and blocks from genesis. This is generally not the case in the Ethereum ecosystem as this exercise is much slower and requires significantly more disk operations (i.e. see Jameson Lopp [commentary](https://blog.lopp.net/2020-altcoin-node-sync-tests/)).

Full nodes in the Bitcoin ecosystem can either be pruned or archival. Pruned full nodes don't store data on spent transaction outputs in perpetuity while archival full nodes do. If you want to do something like query the effective balance of a Bitcoin address at block 4,000,000 you would need an archival full node. You would also need software like [Electrum Personal Server](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/100498/how-to-get-a-balance-from-the-network-directly/) (EPS) or [alternatives](https://blockstream.com/2020/06/16/en-esplora-and-other-alternatives-to-electrumx/) that index historical UTXOs by address.

For more details on the different types of full nodes in the Bitcoin ecosystem see this [presentation](https://btctranscripts.com/london-bitcoin-devs/2018-07-23-john-light-bitcoin-full-nodes/) from John Light at London Bitcoin Devs in July 2018.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Thanks for this @Prayank. scantxoutset scans the current ie most up to date UTXO set right? You can't use it to scan a historical UTXO set say in January 2015, to see what the effective balance of an address was in January 2015?  
> **username_1**: Cool, so I think my answer is correct for querying historical balances. Though the example given in the question, block 4,000,000 is actually decades in the future ;)  

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