<p>It's not a documented feature, but Bitcoin Core and its derivatives only write to the last blk*.dat file, and only read the others.  So you can create symlinks to have them share older files.  I've done this (for testnet) and it worked fine.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-09T14:46:17.507Z
What possible cons do you see with this solution?
Haddar Macdasi
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-09T16:06:50.657Z
@HaddarMacdasi: I can't really think of any.  Of course, if you decide to delete one, you'll have to move the files accordingly.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-09T13:33:58.640Z
2017-10-09T13:33:58.640Z
Nate Eldredge
<p>I have a bitcoin-qt and bitcoin-abc on same computer running, can both share the same beginning of the blockchain data file ? since they both have same history till point in time. </p>

<bitcoin-core><ecash>
Can two bitcoin-qt share the same blockchain data
Haddar Macdasi
# Can two bitcoin-qt share the same blockchain data

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-10-09)

I have a bitcoin-qt and bitcoin-abc on same computer running, can both share the same beginning of the blockchain data file ? since they both have same history till point in time.

**Tags:** bitcoin-core, ecash


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2017-10-09. Score: 1

It's not a documented feature, but Bitcoin Core and its derivatives only write to the last blk\*.dat file, and only read the others. So you can create symlinks to have them share older files. I've done this (for testnet) and it worked fine.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: What possible cons do you see with this solution?  
> **username_1**: @username_0: I can't really think of any.  Of course, if you decide to delete one, you'll have to move the files accordingly.  

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