Fwd: Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper

R.A. Hettinga rah at shipwright.com
Sat Nov 1 17:20:14 PDT 2008


Begin forwarded message:

 > From: "Satoshi Nakamoto" <satoshi at vistomail.com>
 > Date: October 31, 2008 2:10:00 PM GMT-04:00
 > To: cryptography at metzdowd.com
 > Subject: Bitcoin P2P e-cash paper
 >
 > I've been working on a new electronic cash system that's fully
 > peer-to-peer, with no trusted third party.
 >
 > The paper is available at:
 > http://www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
 >
 > The main properties:
 > Double-spending is prevented with a peer-to-peer network.
 > No mint or other trusted parties.
 > Participants can be anonymous.
 > New coins are made from Hashcash style proof-of-work.
 > The proof-of-work for new coin generation also powers the
 >    network to prevent double-spending.
 >
 > Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
 >
 > Abstract.  A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would
 > allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another
 > without the burdens of going through a financial institution.
 > Digital signatures provide part of the solution, but the main
 > benefits are lost if a trusted party is still required to prevent
 > double-spending.  We propose a solution to the double-spending
 > problem using a peer-to-peer network.  The network timestamps
 > transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based
 > proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without
 > redoing the proof-of-work.  The longest chain not only serves as
 > proof of the sequence of events witnessed, but proof that it came
 > from the largest pool of CPU power.  As long as honest nodes control
 > the most CPU power on the network, they can generate the longest
 > chain and outpace any attackers.  The network itself requires
 > minimal structure.  Messages are broadcasted on a best effort basis,
 > and nodes can leave and rejoin the network at will, accepting the
 > longest proof-of-work chain as proof of what happened while they
 > were gone.
 >
 > Full paper at:
 > http://www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
 >
 > Satoshi Nakamoto
 >
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