Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
Satoshi Nakamoto · 2008
The original proposal. It describes the design, not every detail of today’s implementation.
Read at bitcoin.org ↗The source library / Read the recordDon’t stop
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Follow the documents behind the stories. Read what was proposed, what was recorded, and what the evidence can actually tell us.
52 sources
Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper
Satoshi Nakamoto · October 31, 2008
The original announcement preserved in the Cryptography Mailing List archive.
Read at metzdowd.com ↗Bitcoin v0.1 released
Satoshi Nakamoto · January 8, 2009 (UTC)
An archived primary document announcing the first software release.
Read at satoshi.nakamotoinstitute.org ↗Bitcoin and me
Hal Finney · March 19, 2013
Finney’s retrospective account of his career and early Bitcoin experience. Personal recollections are attributed as such.
Read at bitcointalk.org ↗RPOW — Reusable Proofs of Work
Hal Finney · 2004
An archived primary description of Finney’s pre-Bitcoin proof-of-work system.
Read at nakamotoinstitute.org ↗Pizza for bitcoins?
Laszlo Hanyecz and forum participants · May 2010
The offer, negotiation, and May 22 confirmation. The record supports the transaction, not an exhaustive claim about every earlier purchase.
Read at bitcointalk.org ↗Get 5 free bitcoins
Gavin Andresen · June 2010
Andresen’s original announcement of the Bitcoin faucet.
Read at bitcointalk.org ↗b-money
Wei Dai · 1998
An archived copy of Dai’s proposal for pseudonymous payments and distributed accounting.
Read at nakamotoinstitute.org ↗Bit Gold
Nick Szabo · 2005
The published essay. Its publication date should not be confused with earlier work on the idea.
Read at nakamotoinstitute.org ↗Smart Contracts
Nick Szabo · 1994
An archived essay defining software-based transaction protocols and their contractual goals.
Read at nakamotoinstitute.org ↗COPA v Wright
High Court of England and Wales · May 20, 2024
The judgment and official findings concerning Craig Wright’s claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto.
Read at judiciary.uk ↗Bitcoin Core v29.0: chain parameters
Bitcoin Core contributors
Version-pinned code for the genesis block, subsidy interval, and network parameters.
Read at github.com ↗Bitcoin Core v29.0: validation
Bitcoin Core contributors
Version-pinned validation code, including GetBlockSubsidy and special handling of the genesis block.
Read at github.com ↗Developer Guide: Block Chain
Bitcoin developer documentation
Block structure, proof of work, chain selection, and consensus rules.
Read at developer.bitcoin.org ↗Developer Guide: Transactions
Bitcoin developer documentation
Inputs, outputs, scripts, transaction fees, and spending conditions.
Read at developer.bitcoin.org ↗Developer Guide: Wallets
Bitcoin developer documentation
Key management, wallet types, and deterministic key generation.
Read at developer.bitcoin.org ↗Developer Guide: Mining
Bitcoin developer documentation
How miners construct blocks and search for proof of work.
Read at developer.bitcoin.org ↗Running a Full Node
Bitcoin.org contributors
Independent validation and node operation, including pruning. Hardware requirements can change.
Read at bitcoin.org ↗Developer Guide: P2P Network
Bitcoin developer documentation
Peer discovery, block exchange, and transaction relay.
Read at developer.bitcoin.org ↗Protect your privacy
Bitcoin.org contributors
Public transaction records, address reuse, and the limits of Bitcoin privacy.
Read at bitcoin.org ↗Securing your wallet
Bitcoin.org contributors
Wallet backups, encryption, offline storage, and custody risks.
Read at bitcoin.org ↗Some things you need to know
Bitcoin.org contributors
Payment confirmations, volatility, fees, and transaction risks.
Read at bitcoin.org ↗The Bitcoin Lightning Network
Joseph Poon & Thaddeus Dryja · 2016
The original payment-channel design. Production implementations have developed beyond this proposal.
Read at lightning.network ↗BOLT #0: Introduction and Index
Lightning specification contributors
The entry point to the Lightning interoperability specifications. This is a living document.
Read at github.com ↗Statement on the Approval of Spot Bitcoin ETPs
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission · January 10, 2024
The approval’s scope, the Grayscale litigation, and the distinction between approval and endorsement.
Read at sec.gov ↗Mt. Gox trustee document archive
Mt. Gox rehabilitation trustee
Contemporaneous company notices and later trustee records. Notices reflect what was known at their publication dates.
Read at mtgox.com ↗Ross Ulbricht sentencing announcement
U.S. Department of Justice · May 29, 2015
The prosecution’s account and sentencing outcome as of 2015; not a statement of his current custody status.
Read at justice.gov ↗Application for civil rehabilitation
Mt. Gox · February 28, 2014
Contemporaneous estimates and a timeline supplied by the company; its explanation of the losses was preliminary.
Read at mtgox.com ↗Announcement regarding bitcoin balances
Mt. Gox · March 20, 2014
The company reports locating approximately 200,000 BTC and revises its estimate of missing bitcoin.
Read at mtgox.com ↗Clemency grants: Ross William Ulbricht
U.S. Department of Justice · January 21, 2025
The Office of the Pardon Attorney records the date of Ulbricht’s pardon and links the warrant.
Read at justice.gov ↗Bitcoin block 0
Bitcoin ledger · January 3, 2009
Block data displayed by an independent explorer. The timestamp is a header field, not a certified wall-clock measurement.
Read at blockstream.info ↗Bitcoin block 170
Bitcoin ledger · January 12, 2009
Contains the early 10 BTC transfer associated with Finney’s account. Addresses alone do not prove identities.
Read at blockstream.info ↗Bitcoin block 210,000
Bitcoin ledger · November 28, 2012
The first mainnet block whose permitted subsidy was 25 BTC. The total coinbase also includes transaction fees.
Read at blockstream.info ↗Eleven years ago today…
Gavin Andresen · April 26, 2022
Andresen’s publication of an April 2011 email exchange, now hosted on his wiki. A retrospective publication, not an independent authentication.
Read at riski.wiki ↗BIP 141: Segregated Witness
Eric Lombrozo, Johnson Lau & Pieter Wuille
The consensus specification for witness data, transaction IDs, and block weight.
Read at github.com ↗Bitcoin block 481,824
Bitcoin ledger · August 24, 2017
The SegWit activation-height block; its header timestamp supplies the UTC date.
Read at blockstream.info ↗BIP 341: Taproot
Pieter Wuille, Jonas Nick & Anthony Towns
Taproot output and spending rules, including key and script paths. Read alongside BIPs 340 and 342 for the full upgrade.
Read at github.com ↗Bitcoin Core 0.21.1 release notes
Bitcoin Core contributors · 2021
The Taproot activation parameters, including minimum activation height 709,632.
Read at bitcoin.org ↗Bitcoin block 709,632
Bitcoin ledger · November 14, 2021
The Taproot activation-height block, with its recorded UTC timestamp.
Read at blockstream.info ↗Bitcoin Core v29.0 — proof-of-work validation
Bitcoin Core contributors · v29.0
The version-pinned implementation accepts a header hash at or below its valid target; a hash greater than the target is rejected.
Read at github.com ↗Hashcash — A Denial of Service Counter-Measure
Adam Back · August 1, 2002
Archived original paper, including Back’s account of the 1997 proposal. Hashcash is a predecessor, not the complete Bitcoin protocol.
Read at cdn.nakamotoinstitute.org ↗BIP 32: Hierarchical Deterministic Wallets
Pieter Wuille
Key derivation from a seed, extended keys, and the distinction between public and private derivation. Not a universal wallet recovery format.
Read at github.com ↗BIP 39: Mnemonic code for generating deterministic keys
Marek Palatinus, Pavol Rusnak, Aaron Voisine & Sean Bowe
Mnemonic generation and seed derivation, including optional passphrases. This is one wallet standard, not a Bitcoin consensus requirement.
Read at github.com ↗BIP 380: Output Script Descriptors General Operation
Pieter Wuille & Ava Chow
Describes scripts and key derivation information. Explains why keys alone can be insufficient for reconstructing a wallet.
Read at github.com ↗BIP 16: Pay to Script Hash
Gavin Andresen
P2SH validation and a 2-of-3 multisignature example. Multisignature can also use other output types.
Read at github.com ↗BIP 174: Partially Signed Bitcoin Transaction Format
Ava Chow
A format for moving transaction information and signatures between participants, including offline signers. A PSBT is not itself proof of confirmation.
Read at github.com ↗BIP 50: March 2013 Chain Fork Post-Mortem
Gavin Andresen · 2013
The technical post-mortem describes the database-lock incompatibility, the response, and subsequent fixes.
Read at github.com ↗11/12 March 2013 Chain Fork Information
Bitcoin.org · March 11, 2013; subsequently updated
A historical incident notice identifying height 225,430. Its operational instructions applied to the 2013 incident, not current software.
Read at bitcoin.org ↗Bitcoin block 840,000
Bitcoin ledger · April 20, 2024 (UTC)
The fourth-halving block. Its header records 00:09:27 UTC; in some time zones the local date was April 19.
Read at blockstream.info ↗Developer Guide: Payment Processing
Bitcoin developer documentation
Used for the distinction between broadcast and confirmed payments. Some wallet and payment-protocol material is historical; confirmation counts are not universal guarantees.
Read at developer.bitcoin.org ↗Bitcoin Core v29.0: Mempool Replacements
Bitcoin Core contributors · v29.0
Version-pinned transaction replacement policy. Mempool policy is distinct from consensus, and wallet behavior and later releases may differ.
Read at github.com ↗BIP 3: Updated BIP Process
Murch
The process document replaces BIP 2 and distinguishes publishing a proposal from community support or deployment. It is a living document.
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A source is evidence, not a guarantee.
Personal accounts can be incomplete. Company statements can be preliminary. Technical documentation can change. We identify the source type, explain its limits, and use version-pinned code when discussing exact rules.
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