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Bitcoin





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Information

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, built on a SHA-256 blockchain technology. It was conceptualized in a 2008 white paper by an individual or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. The white paper proposed a decentralized digital currency operating through a peer-to-peer network without the need for a central authority. The blockchain-based currency officially launched in 2009 with a genesis block and has an open source codebase that can be accessed publicly.

The network maintains consensus through a process known as mining, which involves validating transactions and adding them to the blockchain through a proof-of-work system. This requires participants (miners) to solve complex cryptographic puzzles, thereby securing the network and creating new bitcoins.

Technological Insights

Blockchain

The Bitcoin blockchain is a public ledger containing all transaction data from anyone who uses the network. New transactions are added to blocks and then linked to the previous blocks, making it difficult to alter any information without altering subsequent blocks.

Mining

Mining is crucial for maintaining the network’s security and adding new bitcoins into circulation. It is resource-intensive, requiring substantial computational power to perform the hashing necessary to secure the blockchain and verify transactions.

Wallets

Bitcoin wallets are digital tools that allow users to store, send, and receive bitcoins. They interact with the Bitcoin blockchain and can be software-based, hardware-based, or even paper-based, each offering different levels of security and accessibility.

Economic Aspects

Supply

Bitcoin has a capped supply limit of 21 million coins, which is expected to be reached around the year 2140. This finite supply is designed to prevent inflation and mimic the scarcity of precious resources like gold.

Market Influence

Bitcoin has significantly influenced the global financial landscape, prompting the development of thousands of other cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects. Its value is highly volatile, influenced by factors such as technological changes, market demand, and regulatory developments.

Notes

These are the collection of notes for the BTC MDX Document. The original white paper can be found here bitcoin.pdf. For those interested in some of the older source code, here is the commit for BitCoin v0.1.5 alpha.

Additional Resources