Introductory posts

Bitcoin non-technical FAQ. When I learned about Bitcoin for the first time, I immediately started digging articles, forums and wiki pages for answers to many of my questions. While doing that, I compiled a list of answers which turned out to be quite valuable. Bitcoin Magazine publishes it in every printed issue for over a year now. This is a good place to start learning about Bitcoin.

See also my Bitcoin glossary — the most complete reference of Bitcoin-related terms and abbreviations.

Bitcoin is like… Understand Bitcoin by comparing it to paper cash, banks, gold, Git and Bittorrent.

Original vision of Bitcoin: what Bitcoin is, what it is not and why is that so.

Satoshi on Bitcoin design. “The nature of Bitcoin is such that once version 0.1 was released, the core design was set in stone for the rest of its lifetime.”

Journalist’s guide to describe Bitcoin and not look like an idiot. Must-read for anyone confronted with a task of describing Bitcoin to people in a few sentences.

How to keep your bitcoins safe. Slightly outdated, but still valuable overview of security options and precautions.

Finally, my only advice about Bitcoin to newcomers.

Economics of Bitcoin

Bitcoin and Gold. How Bitcoin relates to gold and why only one will survive.

The universe wants one money. Money is a standard that everyone wants to share with the whole world. Various intermediaries and restrictions make people use local currencies while everyone would be better off with one most universally accepted token.

There is only one blockchain and it’s called Bitcoin. Informal proof of how alternative blockchains are not viable in the long term.

Real crypto-anarchy without anonymity. How crypto-anarchy can happen worldwide without everyone remaining actually anonymous.

Money and Security. Money is a measure of personal security against risks created by nature, people and institutions.

You can own Bitcoin, you can’t own your dollars. What does it mean to “own” your money.

Bitcoin is not compatible with the State. Bitcoin and State do not go together at all. Neither logically, nor economically. Choose one.

Arguments for Litecoin are fraudulent. While Litecoin itself is just as good as Bitcoin, most prominent arguments about its superiority are plain wrong.

Economics of block size limit and part two. People worry about block size limit: should it remain as it is, or be raised? How much? We do not answer these questions, but we show what will happen, regardless of our opinions on this matter.

Last, but not least, three important notes on “deflation” and “circulation”:

1) Murray Rothbard on circulation of money

2) A thought experiment on deflationary spiral

3) Transactional Currency and Store of Value

Technical articles

Blind ECDSA signatures for Bitcoin. The ultimate solution to secure and private Bitcoin storage. Use many semi-trusted friends to sign your transactions, but keep information about your funds completely private.

Idea of a useful altcoin. How to make an altcoin based on existing Bitcoin blockchain, inherit the entire userbase and stay compatible with their wallets.

Complimentary reading: soft-fork way to fix transaction malleability.

Contracts without trust or third parties. How to make Ebay without Ebay, where two persons can secure promises to each other by committing to a single bilateral insurance deposit (that can be unlocked only simultaneously by both parties when agreement is reached).

How to launder Bitcoins perfectly. A theoretically perfect way to mix Bitcoin in a way that does not leave any “suspicious” transactions on the blockchain or a server.

The Ultimate Wallet. My personal checklist for every Bitcoin wallet to be considered safe and secure (such wallet does not exist yet).