Bitcoin whitepaper
| Full title | Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System |
| Author | Satoshi Nakamoto |
| Published | 31 October 2008 |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 9 |
| Original document |
Bitcoin whitepaper, titled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, is a technical document published by Satoshi Nakamoto on 31 October 2008, on the Cryptography Mailing List. The document describes a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that allows users to make payments directly to one another without relying on a financial institution or other central authority.
The whitepaper outlines the main mechanisms that formed the basis of Bitcoin, including the use of digital signatures, proof of work, and a distributed network to verify and record transactions (Blockchain).
Its publication preceded the launch of the Bitcoin network, whose first block, known as the Genesis block, was mined on 3 January 2009.
Contents
The whitepaper is organized into 12 sections describing how a decentralized electronic payment system works.
The main concepts presented include the use of digital signatures to transfer ownership of coins, the prevention of double spending through a peer-to-peer network, and the use of proof of work to establish a verifiable transaction history.
The document also discusses economic incentives for network participants, simplified payment verification, and aspects of user privacy.
Original document
- Read the Bitcoin whitepaper on the Bitcoin Wiki
- Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (PDF)
- Original announcement on the Cryptography Mailing List
Translations
The Bitcoin whitepaper has been translated into numerous languages by community contributors. The following list provides links to available translations.
- Albanian (Shqip)
- Amharic (አማርኛ)
- Arabic (العربية)
- Armenian (Հայերեն)
- Basque (Euskara)
- Bengali (বাংলা)
- Catalan (Català)
- Chinese Simplified (简体中文)
- Croatian (Hrvatski)
- Czech (Čeština)
- Dutch (Nederlands)
- Estonian (Eesti)
- Persian (فارسی)
- Finnish (Suomi)
- French (Français)
- German (Deutsch)
- Greek (Ελληνικά)
- Hebrew (עברית)
- Hindi (हिन्दी)
- Hungarian (Magyar)
- Icelandic (Íslenska)
- Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia)
- Italian (Italiano)
- Japanese (日本語)
- Korean (한국어)
- Lithuanian (Lietuvių)
- Malayalam (മലയാളം)
- Marathi (मराठी)
- Nepali (नेपाली)
- Norwegian (Norsk)
- Polish (Polski)
- Portuguese (Português)
- Portuguese Brazilian (Português Brasileiro)
- Romanian (Română)
- Russian (Русский)
- Serbian (Српски)
- Slovak (Slovenčina)
- Slovenian (Slovenščina)
- Somali (Af Soomaali)
- Spanish (Español)
- Swedish (Svenska)
- Tamil (தமிழ்)
- Telugu (తెలుగు)
- Thai (ภาษาไทย)
- Turkish (Türkçe)
- Ukrainian (Українська)
- Urdu (اُردُو)
- Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt)
Additional translations
The following translations are available through independent archives.
- Afrikaans
- Chinese Simplified (简体中文) – translated by BitcoinBlogger
- Chinese Traditional (繁體中文) – translated by BitcoinBlogger
- Chinese Traditional (繁體中文)
- Hausa
- Swahili (Kiswahili)
- Xhosa (isiXhosa)
- Zulu (isiZulu)