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Bitcoin with Rigor by Jose Sanchis

A technical study about how Bitcoin works

January 18, 2025 - 513 words - 3 mins Found a typo? Edit me
software bitcoin

Bitcoin with Rigor goes beyond a basic explanation of Bitcoin, offering a detailed analysis of how Bitcoin works. It breaks down its components clearly, helping readers understand both the parts and the system as a whole. This deep dive explores Bitcoin’s potential and risks, recognizing it as a decade-old monetary experiment that hasn’t yet stood the test of time like gold or silver. Despite this, its innovative design makes it a promising system for the present and future.

Bitcoin’s novelty makes it challenging to grasp fully. It requires knowledge of computing, economics, and finance while also being a digital asset with no historical precedent to guide understanding. Yet, much like the Internet—also relatively young but undeniably transformative—Bitcoin has the potential to redefine systems and leave a lasting impact.

This book aims to equip readers with the tools to understand how Bitcoin works, empowering them to form their own well-informed opinions about its role in society or, if they choose, to begin a professional journey in this evolving sector. Written with rigor but without excessive technicality, the content is designed to be concise, accessible, and engaging, providing the foundation needed to truly comprehend Bitcoin.


Content

1. Basic Computer Concepts

  • Information and Communication
  • How Computers Work
  • Languages and Protocols
  • The OSI Model: The Onion of Computing
  • Logic Gates: Fundamental Computing Functions
  • Client-Server and P2P Networks

2. Basic Cryptographic Concepts

  • Asymmetric Complexity
  • Ciphers, Keys, and Symmetric Cryptography
  • Asymmetric Cryptography
  • The Cypherpunk Movement
  • Cryptographic Hash Functions

3. The Basics of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

  • Key Generators and Randomness
  • Cryptographic Signatures
  • The Discrete Logarithm Problem
  • Elliptic Curve Cryptography
  • Merkle Tree
  • Traditional Digital Money
  • Distributed Consensus Algorithms
  • Proof of Work (PoW)

4. Bitcoin Piece by Piece

  • Blockchain or Hashchain?
  • Block Synchronization
  • The Headerchain
  • Keys and Signatures in Bitcoin
  • Transactions and the UTXO Model
  • Bitcoin Script and Opcodes
  • P2PKH (Pay to Public Key Hash) and P2PK
  • Multi signatures and P2SH (Pay to Script Hash)

5. Nodes and Blockchain in Detail

  • Transaction Size and Frequency
  • Initializing a Full Network Node
  • Databases and Pruning
  • How a Wallet Works
  • Wallets, SPV Nodes, and Others
  • From Mempool to Blockchain
  • Forks and Consensus Criticality
  • Hard Fork vs. Soft Fork

6. Bitcoin Updates and Applications

  • Much Work Ahead
  • Transaction Malleability
  • Segregated Witness (SegWit)
  • P2WPKH and P2WSH
  • Unilateral Payment Channels
  • Lightning Channels
  • Multi-channel Payments and HTLCs
  • Lightning Network
  • Discreet Log Contracts (DLCs)
  • MAST, P2SMR, and P2CH
  • Taproot and Grafroot

Book presentation


520 pages