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Mastering Bitcoin
book

Mastering Bitcoin

by Andreas M. Antonopoulos
December 2014
Beginner
298 pages
8h 5m
English
O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Content preview from Mastering Bitcoin

Chapter 3. The Bitcoin Client

Bitcoin Core: The Reference Implementation

You can download the reference client Bitcoin Core, also known as the “Satoshi client,” from bitcoin.org. The reference client implements all aspects of the bitcoin system, including wallets, a transaction verification engine with a full copy of the entire transaction ledger (blockchain), and a full network node in the peer-to-peer bitcoin network.

On Bitcoin’s Choose Your Wallet page, select Bitcoin Core to download the reference client. Depending on your operating system, you will download an executable installer. For Windows, this is either a ZIP archive or an .exe executable. For Mac OS it is a .dmg disk image. Linux versions include a PPA package for Ubuntu or a tar.gz archive. The bitcoin.org page that lists recommended bitcoin clients is shown in Figure 3-1.

bitcoin choose client
Figure 3-1. Choosing a bitcoin client at bitcoin.org

Running Bitcoin Core for the First Time

If you download an installable package, such as an .exe, .dmg, or PPA, you can install it the same way as any application on your operating system. For Windows, run the .exe and follow the step-by-step instructions. For Mac OS, launch the .dmg and drag the Bitcoin-QT icon into your Applications folder. For Ubuntu, double-click the PPA in your File Explorer and it will open the package manager to install the package. Once you have completed installation you should ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781491902639Errata Page