An authoritative introduction to the exciting new technologies of digital moneyBitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies provides a comprehensive introduction to the revolutionary yet often misunderstood new technologies of digital currency. Whether you are a student, software developer, tech entrepreneur, or researcher in computer science, this authoritative and self-contained book tells you everything you need to know about the new global money for the Internet age.How do Bitcoin and its block chain actually work? How secure are your bitcoins? How anonymous are their users? Can cryptocurrencies be regulated? These are some of the many questions this book answers. It begins by tracing the history and development of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and then gives the conceptual and practical foundations you need to engineer secure software that interacts with the Bitcoin network as well as to integrate ideas from Bitcoin into your own projects. Topics include decentralization, mining, the politics of Bitcoin, altcoins and the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the future of Bitcoin, and more.

PREFACE viiFOREWORD The Long Road to Bitcoin ix
Jeremy clark
1 Introduction to Cryptography and Cryptocurrencies 1
2 How Bitcoin Achieves Decentralization 27
3 Mechanics of Bitcoin 51
4 How to Store and Use Bitcoins 76
5 Bitcoin Mining 104
6 Bitcoin and Anonymity 138
7 Community, Politics, and Regulation 168
8 Alternative Mining Puzzles 190
9 Bitcoin as a Platform 213
10 Altcoins and the Cryptocurrency Ecosystem 242
11 Decentralized Institutions: The Future of Bitcoin? 272
CONCLUSION 286
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 287
ABOUT THE AUTHORS 289
INDEX 291