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Bitcoin 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.
* An essential introduction to the new technologies of digital currency* Covers the history and mechanics of Bitcoin and the block chain, security, decentralization, anonymity, politics and regulation, altcoins, and much more* Features an accompanying website that includes instructional videos for each chapter, homework problems, programming assignments, and lecture slides* Also suitable for use with the authors' Coursera online course* Electronic solutions manual (available only to professors) Honorable Mention for the 2017 PROSE Award in Computing and Information Sciences, Association of American Publishers "For people interested in the inner workings of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies, this is an excellent book."--Choice

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies: A Comprehensive Introduction

PREFACE vii FOREWORD 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