Sparse peer with transient participation

A method, comprising:

• connecting, by a sparse peer, to a blockchain network of a plurality of peers controlled by orderers;
• configuring the sparse peer to operate with a partial state of a chain to reduce a bootstrap time of the sparse peer;
• specifying, by the sparse peer, data selection filters based on the partial state of the chain;
• receiving, by the sparse peer, blocks that match the selection filters from the plurality of the peers via a gossip;
• storing, by the sparse peer, the blocks in a ledger of the sparse peer;
• determining, by the sparse peer, if the ledger of the sparse peer is up-to-date based on the partial state of the chain;
• and
• in response to the determination that the ledger of the sparse peer is up-to-date, bootstrapping the sparse peer.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, that when read by a processor, cause the processor to perform:

• connecting to a blockchain network of a plurality of peers controlled by orderers;
• configuring the sparse peer to operate with a partial state of a chain to reduce a bootstrap time of the sparse peer;
• specifying data selection filters based on the partial state of the chain;
• receiving blocks that match the selection filters from the plurality of the peers via a gossip;
• storing the blocks in a ledger of the sparse peer;
• determining if the ledger of the sparse peer is up-to-date based on the partial state of the chain;
• and
• in response to the determination that the ledger of the sparse peer is up-to-date, bootstrapping the sparse peer.