IMO the best hardware for the things we need in cryptocurrency are Intel NUCs or Lenovo USFF desktops -- both are similarly sized to a Pi + case, but have full-power hardware, AES support, NVMe support, proper power, etc.

I use one of these: https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/c/desktops/thinkcentre/m-series-tiny

Can easily find them refurbed/second-hand from businesses that dump them, then just throw in a SATA or NVMe SSD and you have an immensely powerful node at your disposal.

Pi's/SBCs have power issues, storage issues, limited hardware instructions sets (usually), and lots of other things that just aren't ideal for something like this IMO. Yes, they're cheap, but they're not even widely available anymore.