Most Popular
1500 questions
49
votes
7 answers
Is there any way to track an individual bitcoin (or satoshi)?
For example, if I wanted to "collect" important bitcoins is there any way to track a coin rather than a series of transactions? If I wanted one of the bitcoins from the infamous "Bitcoin pizza" purchase, for example, is there any way to do…
David Perry
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48
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4 answers
ECDSA: (v, r, s), what is v?
Deterministically signing a Tx with RFC6979 returns v, r, s, where r and s are the 2 values used in standard ECDSA signatures. v = 27 + (y % 2), so 27 + the parity of r, as pybitcointools indicates.
So for even r, we get v = 27, odd r we get v =…
Wizard Of Ozzie
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48
votes
4 answers
What are multi-signature transactions?
What are multi-signature transactions, and why might they be used?
Also see:
How does one make multisignature transactions with the bitcoin client?
How can I create a multi signature 2-of-3 transaction?
Highly Irregular
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47
votes
6 answers
Why is downloading blocks taking longer and longer?
First off, this really needs to get fixed. I'm downloading blocks for at least 8 hours now, and it's still not done. I know the problem of having to download the entire block chain is being worked on, but I feel it's already out of hand. Setting up…
Luc
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47
votes
4 answers
How can I accept Bitcoin donations on my blog or site?
If I sell things, there are many services that allow me to accept bitcoins as payment. But for those who simply want to accept bitcoins on their blog or other site ... as donations.
A simple bitcoin address can be listed but what other options are…
Stephen Gornick
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47
votes
8 answers
Where are the user's bitcoins actually stored?
On the person's computer?
On bitcoin.org? :)
Where does that information reside that tells others and me how much bitcoins I have?
I assume it can't be on my PC because I could easily hack the file that contains that data and get myself more…
Alex
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46
votes
1 answer
ELI5: What's the difference between a child-key and a hardened child-key in BIP32
I've read BIP32, and I do understand it more or less.
Could someone please explain to me like I'm 5 years old what the difference between a child-key and a hardened child-key is?
I'm trying to add HD wallet generation to a service I'm building. I…
Amin Shah Gilani
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46
votes
8 answers
How long would it take a large computer to crack a private key?
I am doing a presentation on Bitcoins and I was looking for some calculations to make people feel safe about the private key encryption. Please first answer, how long in bytes the private key is, then how many combinations of numbers it will…
shoeless joe
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46
votes
3 answers
How does the bitcoin client make the initial connection to the bitcoin network?
Once the bitcoin client is connected to a machine (or multiple machines) on the bitcoin network, they can share information (e.g. the block-chain, IP addresses of other nodes, etc). I understand how this peer-to-peer architecture is robust to nodes…
Ciaran
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46
votes
2 answers
What prevents a pool miner from stealing an entire block?
As I understand it,when mining BTC, and calculating a block, the goal is to find a SHA-256 hash below a certain value (with the previous block, a nonce, and other things as the input). Are pool miners all performing that calculation directly (just…
Jonathon Reinhart
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45
votes
2 answers
How do I import a private key into Bitcoin-Core?
How do I import a private key into Bitcoin-Qt? bitcoind is nowhere to be found, and pywallet says it requires "bsddb" when I run it, which is also nowhere to be found. I generated some vanity addresses and I want to use them.
lurf jurv
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45
votes
1 answer
How does Bitcoin Cash implement replay protection?
Bitcoin Cash says that they are providing replay protection for their fork. How does this replay protection work?
Murch
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45
votes
4 answers
How do I see the IP address of a bitcoin transaction?
How do I see the IP address that someone used to send or receive bitcoins with? Is it stored in the blockchain?
lemonginger
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45
votes
2 answers
Nonce size - Will it always be big enough?
If I understand correctly, the block only has 4 bytes (32 bits) for the nonce.
Is it possible for the difficulty to become high enough that there are no nonce solutions?
If so, then what options does a miner have?
Michael Pickens
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45
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3 answers
Why does Bitcoin send the "change" to a different address?
For example I have an address (A) with 20 BTC and send 9 BTC to address (B). Bitcoin will create a "change" portion of the transaction where the remaining 11 BTC goes to address (C).
Why not send the change back to A?
Instead of:
Initial balance:…
DeathAndTaxes
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