On December 5th, 2015, Crypto-developer Chris Ellis dedicated 12 hours to building full Bitcoin nodes using all open source materials. These videos, presented by the World Crypto Network called, “Not (Just) Made In China,” show Ellis creating some full nodes during the broadcast for his ProTip fundraiser. The funding effort located on StartJOIN will help fund his project ProTip, which is a web browser that enables an array of micropayment options. Ellis isn’t creating these full nodes to compete with 21inc but merely to empower individuals to do it themselves. 

The build created on the Raspberry Pi 2 allows anyone to join in to help keep Bitcoin decentralized. Not only are they made by Ellis, the nodes are also privacy-centric and far cheaper than some versions on the market today. On ProTip’s startJOIN page it says that Ellis will soon follow with “full instructions on how to build your own full node will be made available in case you want to build your own.” The operating system runs the Raspbian Wheesy and also comes with 128GB external USB with a Tontec case with a fan for cooling. The software included with these builds are: 
OpenVPN for those living in regions of the world more sensitive to state intervention;
IPFS, the new Interplanetary File System for the net. Allowing the p2p exchange of digital media.
Guests on the “Not (Just) Made In China” show included Thomas Hunt of the broadcast Mad Bitcoins, who watched as Ellis created nodes over the course of the show. Ellis notes during the recording he had been previously building them for six hours. The point was to show how easy they are to assemble but also to raise money for his application and for those who would rather just buy one.

The host of Mad Bitcoins told Bitcoin.com: “It was amazing watching Chris take hours to master work that children in China could do in seconds.”  He said laughing. “But seriously, Bitcoin full nodes and the open source Bitcoin tipping project ProTip are very important projects for the good of Bitcoin, and I’m honored to be involved in even a small way.”

ProTip is platform independent and can work on a multitude of websites, YouTube, WordPress, and more. ProTip believes these features among many others will allow people to be tipped in many ways for the creation of various online content.

Ellis is a well-known developer in the cryptocurrency realm who can be seen with several individuals who make up the World Crypto Network broadcast. He is also recognized for the creation of the World Citizenship passport that utilized the blockchain to cryptographically ensure the document. Ellis and many others believe that additional nodes to the Bitcoin network will continue to strengthen its decentralization with the importance of  validating transactions and blocks. Adding more nodes to the overall system gives great incentive for anyone with a stake in the currency as it makes the protocols operations run smoother. With the newly created devices made by Ellis “for the price and working conditions of a Foxconn factory worker in Henan province of China,” anyone can help his tipping project today!

If you’d like to help his new venture then you can contact @MrChrisEllis on Twitter with requests for a node.  Bitcoin Node