Bitcoin: A Work in Progress

With thousands of “crypto” projects out there, they say Bitcoin is old and boring, but nothing could be further from the truth. This book will guide you through the latest developments in Bitcoin, as seen through the eyes of one of its many developers.

You’ll learn about the latest soft fork known as Taproot, the challenges of keeping open source software free of money-stealing bugs and malware, new ways to protect nodes against evildoers on the internet, how to deal with the ever-growing blockchain, and more!

The book links to more than two hundred articles, videos, podcasts, and even the source code. And thanks to a tiny QR code next to every link, you’ll never have to type long URLs.

Mailinglist

Join the Bitcoin Work in Progress mailinglist to receive content from the book in small bites, with some added thoughts from the author.

You can also read the archive or subscribe via RSS.

Podcast

The book is based on the Bitcoin, Explained podcast, where you’ll learn something new about Bitcoin every couple of weeks.

Endorsements

“Great read, wish I read this earlier.” - Jack Dorsey

The Author

Sjors Provoost

The author is a software developer based in Utrecht, The Netherlands. He has been working in the Bitcoin industry since 2014 and became a Bitcoin Core contributor in 2017, giving him a front row seat to all the latest and most exciting technical developments. He is a co-host on the Bitcoin Magazine podcast Bitcoin, Explained.

A few chapters can be read online for free, others can be purchased as a printer friendly PDF (⚡ only).

Bitcoin Addresses: Blog Post | Buy PDF
DNS Bootstrap and Tor V3: Buy PDF
SegWit: Buy PDF
libsecp256k1: Buy PDF
Sync Time and AssumeUTXO: Buy PDF
Utreexo: Buy PDF
Eclipse Attacks: Blog Post | Buy PDF
Fake Nodes: Buy PDF
Guix - Why Open Source Matters: BitMEX Research blog | Buy PDF
Script, P2SH, and Miniscript: Buy PDF
Taproot and Schnorr
Soft Fork Activation Options

Buy Now

Online

Find the book at your favorite online retailer, probably Amazon.

Physical shops

Amsterdam: The American Book Center (Spui 12) can print the book, sometimes even while you wait!

I’m not aware of any physical book store that has the book on a shelf, but in many countries they can order it for you. ISBN: 9789090360423

eBook

Don’t like dead trees? You can buy the e-book from me in .epub or .pdf format (pay with Bitcoin).

Contact

Media appearances

BNR Cryptocast 218 B: Hoe kwetsbaar is bitcoin? (2022-05-03, Dutch)

Tip jar

Lightning Address

Scan the QR or copy sjors@sprovoost.nl and paste it into a compatible wallet. Learn more at lightningaddress.com.

Bolt 12

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