4.2. Summary¶
Bitcoin is a PoW UTxO-model public blockchain that runs on a turing-incomplete language called Script. Bitcoin was the first blockchain project and so its analysis is an important retrospective into the origins of blockchain.
Bitcoin was created in the backdrop of the ‘08 financial crisis when trust in traditional finance was at a record low.
Bitcoin is a public PoW blockchain with an ABCT of 10 minutes.
Bitcoin’s main software implementation is Bitcoin core.
Bitcoin’s data is transactions verified with a language called Script.
Bitcoin transactions are a collection of input and outputs, UTxO model.
Transactions are said to be confirmed when they are included in a valid block on the valid chain.
Bitcoin nodes keep a set of UTxOs and valid, but not yet confirmed transactions.
Bitcoin’s PoW rewards miners through the coinbase transaction which is a combination of block reward, blockchain generated, and transaction fees, user generated.
Wallets store the private-public keys necessary for engagement with the blockchain. There are multiple types of wallets for different use-cases.
Bitcoin’s drawbacks as an archaic and stalled blockchain have prompted rising competition from projects like Ethereum or Cardano. There is however a developer community striving to improve Bitcoin through methods such as Layer 2.