Bitcoin for Beginners: An Archive
Introduction
- This post is an introduction to Bitcoin and an archive of Bitcoin Articles. This post is also the table of contents for the Bitcoin for Beginners Archive. This is a Beginner Friendly collection of articles, citations and memes to explain Bitcoin.
- The body of the archive is divided into three sections Bitcoin, Bitcoin Lightning and Bitcoin Ordinales.
- The Bitcoin Rabbit Hole. Bitcoin is the perfect subject to define the concept of a Rabbit Hole. It is a subject which is very simple and very complex at the same time.Once you start learning about Bitcoin you realize it is not something with a fixed knowledge base you can master, it is an incredibly large and growing database of information and ideas.
So in an attempt to create something unique and different, I have started this Bitcoin Archive because I wanted to do something I could find not already done here on Hive. - The End, there is no end, this is a living document.
- Please send me articles to include in this archive both on Hive and off Hive.
Body
The body of the archive is divided into three sections Bitcoin, Bitcoin Lightning and Bitcoin Ordinales.
Section 1 of the Body: Bitcoin
- This first section is starts with the introduction of the Bitcoin White Paper, the Bible of Bitcoin, so to speak. It is then followed by a definition of Bitcoin to get the newcomer started on the path to learning new terminoiology and concepts. But not all at once, just a few at a time. This definition is then followed by a various articles and citations explaining Bitcoin well.
Bitcoin White Paper
This is a photo of the first paragraph explaining what Bitcoin is, according to Satoshi Nakamoto
In the beginnning Bitcoin was a collaborative effort and the person credited with it's creation is Satoshi Nakamoto. This person or persons authored the so called Bitcoin White Paper, which is an essay explaining Bitcoin from A to Z. It is technical at times, and is explained further by the famous Satoshi E-mails, which are communications sent by Satoshi to the others working on the project, and the last email is the Good Bye Email from this mysterious person or persons, and they have not only not been heard from again, but their wallet used to mine Bitcoin hasn't moved a Bitcoin since then.
The Bitcoin White Paper
Link to White Paper and Photo Source
Bitcoin, a definition.
Bitcoin (BTC) is a cryptocurrency (a virtual currency) designed to act as money and a form of payment outside the control of any one person, group, or entity. This removes the need for trusted third-party involvement (e.g., a mint or bank) in financial transactions. This means Bitcoin isn't controlled by any country or group of countries. It is rewarded to blockchain miners who verify transactions and Bitcoin can be purchased on several exchanges.
Bitcoin was introduced to the public in 2009 by an anonymous developer or group of developers using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It has since become the most well-known and largest cryptocurrency in the world. Its popularity has inspired the development of many other cryptocurrencies.
source
Here is a brief history of Bitcoin by Investopedia.
In August 2008, the domain name Bitcoin.org was registered. It was created by Satoshi Nakamoto and Martti Malmi, who worked with the anonymous Nakamoto to develop Bitcoin.
source
In October 2008, Nakamoto announced to the cryptography mailing list at metzdowd.com: "I've been working on a new electronic cash system that's fully peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party." The now-famous white paper published on Bitcoin.org, entitled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," would become the Magna Carta for how Bitcoin operates today.
source
The next article is a good explanation of how Bitcoin works compared to the traditional financial system.
Bitcoin is a technological improvement of the current global money transfer and payment system. link
The next topic is the use of Bitcoin in a remote community to create a new economy where all the value generated by the community, stays in the community, and the community propser.
The next article is a really nice explaination of the money transfer system and comparing it to Bitcoin.
Jack Mailer, CEO of Strike: Why Bitcoin is the best money transfer system in the world link
The next few articles are topical discussions of different interesting things about Bitcoin.
Bitcoin, Buy, Borrow and Die link
The next few articles are topical discussions of different interesting things about Bitcoin.
US Banks becoming Bitcoiners ?? link
Does Bitcoin make you immortal? link
Bitcoin as your only investment link
Bitcoin represents our vehicle to exit a broken dollar dominated system, but will we ride it?link
Section 2 of the Body: Bitcoin Lightning Network
- This second section of the archive deals with the Bitcoin Ligtning Network the second layer on Bitcoin. This second software construct, built if you allow the phrase, on top of the bitcoin blockchain. It's purpose is to provide infrastructure for micropayments on Bitcoin, micro transaction fees and faster transaction times. The following selction of articles are differing viewpoints on the Lightening Network, which I feels gives us a 360 degree viewpoint of this proposed solution to some current problems with expanding the ability of the Bitcoin blockchain to help the world.
This article's strength is that it explains the Lightening Network in terms the Hive Community members can understand by comparing it to a situation on Hive, which we already understand. It helps us better understand Lightening Network as an unknown entity by comparing it to something we know on Hive-Engine.
If you. are familiar with the Hive Blockchain, and it's side chain called Hive-Engine, which is a sidechain of Hive, so it is connected to the Hive blockchain, but it allows functionality not possible on the Hive Blockchain.
Bitcoin Lightening or more precisely it's actual name Lightening Network is very similar to Hive-Engine in that it is a side chain of the Bitcoin blockchain, which has functionality that Bitcoin doesn't have.
The main functionalities that Lightening brings to the Bitcoin ecosystem is (1) higher speed (faster) and (2) lower transaction costs (cheaper).
- Other interesting things in this article were:
Lightening Network is ... faster then the fastest transaction processing network in the world run by Visa Credit Card Services, a multi-billion dollar global corporation.
The Visa Credit Card Network is reported to have a top speed of one million transactions per second or 1 million TPS
The Lightening Network or Bitcoin Lightening as it is commonly known reportedly has a speed of one million transactions per second, but has the potential to run at speeds of 47 million transactions per second.
Both of these Networks are faster then the Bitcoin blockchain, whose fastest speed is 7 transactions per second.
In defense of Bitcoin, I should mention that when Bitcoin was invented, it was compared to human transaction speed, as there were no cryptocurrency blockchains to compare it to. And the fastest human transaction speed was one transaction per 15 minutes. So Bitcoins speed of 420 per minute or over 6000 transactions in 15 minutes was considered very, very fast.
[Source]
@shortsegments/bitcoin-lightening-a-brief-explainer
Bitcoin's Lightning Network: written by Investopedia author.
This is a nice description of the Lghtening Network by a Traditional Finance Education Site. It gives us a different perspective and different vocabulary then cryptocurrency afficionados would use.
This explanation will be more useful to people outside the cryptocurrency community to help them understand the importance of the Lightening Network.
The Lightning Network is a second layer added to Bitcoin's network, enabling transactions between parties off the main blockchain—called off-chain transactions. Lightning Network has often been advertised as a game-changer in the cryptocurrency's evolution. It is designed to speed up transaction processing times and decrease the associated costs of Bitcoin's blockchain. The lightning network was conceived by two developers, Thaddeus Dryja and Joseph Poon in 2015.
The Lightning Network is a secondary layer on the Bitcoin blockchain which allows users to create payment channels where transactions can occur away from the main blockchain, but still benefit from the blockchain’s security and decentralization. These are known as off-chain transactions. The second layer offers speed, cost savings and scalability for the entire Bitcoin network.
Source: https://bitpay.com/blog/what-is-the-lightning-network/
The Lightning Network - enabling scalable Blockchains!
Lightning Network is a project that emerged to add intelligent contracts at Bitcoin Blockchain, of course, if it has its own software and is totally independent of Bitcoin, with its own nodes and network, even This can operate in other Blockchain. It began being developed by Joseph Poon and Thaddeus Dryja (although the project is currently taken Blockstream, Lightning Labs and ACIN). Lightning Network is described in its Whitepaper as a solution to the growing bitcoin scalability problem, network that can only process blocks every 10 minutes and that it impossible would improve it from that due to the structure in which it works, say how bitcoin is made , then this project seeks to implement a type of P2P payment channels that will work in isolation to the network. It is expected that millions of transactions per second are expected to be allowed, with the assurance that they will be signed by a special hash through an intelligent contract, which will give security to the parties that are involved in any transaction that occurs in the network.
Source
How does Bitcoin get scalable with the Lightning Network? by TheLuWizz
This is a slightly technical explanation of lightening, Enjoy.
The Lightning Network is an off-chain solution for the Bitcoin blockchain. It is a "second layer solution." With such technologies, actions for a blockchain can be outsourced and handled in an external system. For scaling blockchains, such technologies are one of the best known and best solutions. While the Bitcoin blockchain can handle about 7 transactions per second, it is possible to handle up to 1,000,000 transactions per second within a channel with the Lightning Network. We explain what a channel is in this post. The transactions are transferable in almost real-time and cost almost nothing, in some cases even nothing at all.
The next two articles focus on running a Lightning Node so you can send payments.
Dear Amateur Lightning Node operators: you're not going to profit from routing - part 1
Answering some Lightning Node Questions and replying to comments part 3
What sort of Lightning Node do you need? - Part 4
Success!! First sending of Hive to a Salvadoran BTC « Chivo » wallet!
What is Bitcoin Lightening Network link
Section 3 of the Body: Bitcoin Ordinales
- This third section of the archive deals with the latest technological development on the Bitcoin Ecosystem called Bitcoin Ordinals or more loosely, as in less precise, Bitcoin NFTs. Bitcoin NFTs done differently from other blockchains, called Ordinals.
The End.
- There is no end, this is a living document.
- Please send me articles to include in this archive both on Hive and off Hive. This is a living document, please send articles in the comments. Thank you