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RPC node
An RPC node is a blockchain node that answers requests from wallets and apps: it reports balances, reads contract data and passes signed transactions to the network. RPC stands for remote procedure call, the standard way software asks a node to do something.
What it means for you. Unless you run your own node, your wallet asks someone else's, and that operator can see which addresses you look up and link them to your IP address. A faulty or dishonest RPC can return wrong data or hold back your transactions. Check which RPC URL your wallet uses before adding a custom network from a website.
Sources: ethereum.org: JSON-RPC API, ethereum.org: Nodes as a service, ethereum.org: Nodes and clients · checked 4 October 2026
Full node
A full node is software that downloads every Bitcoin block and checks every transaction against the network's rules for itself. Running one lets you confirm your own payments without relying on someone else's server, and it passes valid blocks and transactions on to other nodes.
What it means for you. A wallet connected to your own full node checks incoming payments with your own copy of the rules instead of asking an outside server, so you learn whether a payment is valid without taking anyone's word for it. The cost is disk space, monthly bandwidth and a first sync that can take a long time.
Sources: Running a full node (bitcoin.org), Bitcoin vocabulary (bitcoin.org) · checked 4 October 2026