eventually reaching the point where there is only one or two real nodes hosted in a cloud provider datacenter somewhere
Ironically this is what is described in the original bitcoin satoshi whitepaper (not 'one or two' obviously), but the math doesn't work out.
Right now bitcoin has a throughput of about 1 KB/s, which is slower than a 14.4 dialup modem. The entire 13 year chain fits on a $40 thumb drive with room to spare. Even 32MB blocks (53 KB/s) maxed out for another 7 years would fit on single $220 12TB hard drive.
Running a node is only really necessary for miners, exchanges or any other major service but it will be trivial for anyone who can watch a youtube video or stream netflix for at least another decade.
Ironically this is what is described in the original bitcoin satoshi whitepaper (not 'one or two' obviously), but the math doesn't work out.
Right now bitcoin has a throughput of about 1 KB/s, which is slower than a 14.4 dialup modem. The entire 13 year chain fits on a $40 thumb drive with room to spare. Even 32MB blocks (53 KB/s) maxed out for another 7 years would fit on single $220 12TB hard drive.
Running a node is only really necessary for miners, exchanges or any other major service but it will be trivial for anyone who can watch a youtube video or stream netflix for at least another decade.