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Germany has one of the highest concentrations of Bitcoin (BTC) nodes, as North America and Europe become prominent regions for securing the network against double spends.

Data collected by cryptocurrency statistics site Bitnodes found that Germany accounts for just under a fifth of all reachable BTC nodes. Out of a total 10,164 nodes scattered all across the world at press time, 1933 were in Germany – around 19%.

That puts it second to the United States, which had the highest concentration. The US has 2495 working nodes – 24.5% of the total. France is a distant third, with only 675 nodes operating.

Most of the top ten were Western countries; even global crypto hubs like Singapore and Japan only account for a combined 5.5% of BTC nodes. South Korea was also comparatively low on the list, with around 200 nodes currently in operation. That’s only 4.8% of the total, a slightly higher share than the Netherlands.

China, a country with a very high density of BTC mining activity, accounted for approximately 4% of the world’s operating Bitcoin nodes. Of the 102 jurisdictions featured in the report, 28 had only a single node in operation.

How Nodes Secure The Bitcoin Network

Nodes validate transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. Using the core client, they download blocks and cross-reference them with the network’s consensus rules. They can also relay these to other nodes for further validation. If any node finds a violation, the block is rejected.

Because nodes act as a safeguard against double-spending, blockchain networks are more secure when there are more in operation. But running a node is an informal process: most are run voluntarily, operating on spare bandwidth and computing power.

Bitnodes collected the data by sending information requests to nodes. According to their methodology, the general presumption is to consider a node active if it has been transmitting within the last three hours.

Bitcoin just the “tip of the iceberg”

Cheap office space and a prominent startup scene makes Germany’s capital, Berlin, a natural destination for cryptocurrency projects. Developer teams working on the IOTA (MIOTA) and Lisk (LSK) blockchains are also based in the city. A bar in the bohemian sector of Kreuzberg became the first brick-and-mortar merchant in the world to accept Bitcoin.

Thomas Schouten, Lisk’s Head of Marketing, told Crypto Briefing that a high concentration of BTC nodes within Germany shows the rising prominence of digital currencies within many of the country’s largest cities.

‘Statistics showing a significant concentration of Bitcoin nodes in Germany illustrates a bigger trend within the country,” he said. “From Berlin and Hamburg to Munich and Frankfurt, blockchain technology is used and developed by individuals and companies alike.

“The Berlin scene especially is growing incredibly fast,” he added. “Bitcoin nodes are just the tip of the iceberg.”

The author is invested in digital assets, including BTC which is mentioned in this article.

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