blob: a9758d81c6cfef1fe5887ba7d8bc01d8bac16b38 (
plain) (
blame)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
|
#+title: Theory of Bitcoin
#+date: <2021-12-23>
The theoretical model of bitcoin is surprisingly simple. A transaction is a list of inputs and outputs, where the inputs trace to outputs of previous transactions. Transactions form blocks, and blocks form the blockchain with each block verifying the previous ones, going all the way back to the [[https://live.blockcypher.com/btc/block/000000000019d6689c085ae165831e934ff763ae46a2a6c172b3f1b60a8ce26f/][genesis block]]. Proof of work requires finding a nonce that hashes to a sufficiently small number. One new block every 10 minutes, transaction fees and award of 6.25BTC (halving every 210k blocks) goes to whoever created the block (aka miner). A total of 21mil BTC, running out by ~2140.
By the way, the whitepaper is not very useful for understanding the theory of bitcoin, but Wikipedia and the [[https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page/][bitcoin wiki]] are far better resources IMO.
|
