The Bitcoin whitepaper explains a system of electronic transactions that does not rely on a trusted third party to prevent double-spending. It combines digital signatures, a peer-to-peer network and proof of work into a public transaction history.
Digital information can be copied, so digital money needs a way to establish which payment came first. Bitcoin’s solution is a publicly observable ordering of transactions whose history becomes costly to rewrite.
The running system is the ultimate specification. Several details evolved beyond the paper, including scripting practices, fee markets, modern address formats and second-layer protocols.
Published 31 October 2008
Nine pages plus references
Frames double-spending as the core problem
The code remains authoritative