Best place to read about the algorithms and protocols underlying bitcoin?

Question

I haven't been able to find a whitepaper or technical spec detailing the bitcoin algorithms and protocols. Google is flooded with too much hand-wavy nonsense. Can someone point me in the right direction?

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Dec 02 '13 at 22:14

2

Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System

by: Satoshi Nakamoto

That would be a good place to start.

answered Dec 02 '13 at 22:14

sprinklestereo

21
2

Google has become so convenient, sometimes I forget to go to the source :) Thanks – ConditionRacer Dec 03 '13 at 02:22

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 03 '13 at 00:09

1

The cryptographic primitives used in Bitcoin are SHA-256 and ECDSA.

For ECDSA: http://www.secg.org/collateral/sec2_final.pdf

For SHA-256: http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-4/fips-180-4.pdf

answered Dec 03 '13 at 00:09

Felipe Voloch

236
2
9

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 07 '13 at 16:16

0

I found this awesome article that answered all my questions:

How the Bitcoin Protocol Actually Works

answered Dec 07 '13 at 16:16

ConditionRacer

119
3

Best place to read about the algorithms and protocols underlying bitcoin?

3 Answers3