Bitcoin’s History is colourful, more colourful than some received wisdom might have it. Some Bitcoin proponents say ‘Bitcoin (the protocol) has never been hacked,’ but they are wrong. Bitcoin has been hacked. Here is a selection of events from historyofBitcoin.org120 and the Bitcoin Wiki121 with my personal comments about these events. The Genesis of Bitcoin:
Bitcoin predecessors played a crucial role in its creation, as most innovative inventions are not developed in isolation. Bitcoin’s inventors drew inspiration from previous experiences and combined various proven concepts in an unprecedented way to create new characteristics for decentralized digital cash. Here are some technologies and ideas that may have directly or indirectly influenced
Bitcoin in Practice: Despite the ideal concept of Bitcoin decentralization, the reality is that it may not be as decentralized as some proponents may claim. In practice, there are various metrics that indicate Bitcoin’s performance falls short of expectations. While the network operates on a peer-to-peer basis and does not require a central authority to
The Bitcoin blockchain is managed by software running on computers that communicate with each other forming a network. Although multiple compatible software implementations exist, the most used software is called ‘Bitcoin Core’ and source code to this software is published on GitHub. The Bitcoin blockchain is a decentralized, public ledger that records all Bitcoin transactions.
Digital signatures are used extensively in Bitcoin and blockchains for creating valid transactions ‘signing’ transaction messages to move coins from your account to someone else’s. What are digital signatures, in a cryptographic sense? Well, we can afford to be a bit pedantic here. Digital signatures are a subset of electronic signatures, which can take several
Bitcoin cryptography is an essential component of Bitcoin, the world’s first decentralized digital currency. At its core, cryptography is the practice of securing communication from third-party interference, and Bitcoin uses various cryptographic techniques to secure the transactions that take place on its network. By using cryptography, Bitcoin is able to ensure that transactions are secure, private,