CBGTBT - Part 3 - Transactions 101
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The document provides an overview of transactions in Bitcoin, explaining the concepts of public and private keys, the blockchain as a ledger, and how control of Bitcoin is transferred between users. It emphasizes the importance of securing private keys, the nature of programmatic transactions, and the implications of transaction inputs and outputs. Key takeaways include that users do not 'have' bitcoins, but rather control them through cryptographic keys, and the necessity of safeguarding these keys to prevent loss or theft.
CBGTBT - Part 3 - Transactions 101
- 2. Introduction & Primer First, some context These slides are from the #StartingBlock2015 tour by @blockstrap. 6 European countries in 8 days β (Istanbul, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Prague, Berlin & London). We met lots of great people, answered lots of great questions and had a great time. We look forward to meeting many of them again in the near future. These slides might only make perfect sense if you were at the talks and can remember all the additional points we made whilst discussing the tech. This deck is 3rd of 6. Questions? Comments? @MrAdamGiles adam@neuroware.io
- 3. Transactions 101 Refresher Transactions are what itβs all about Transactions transfer value between the sender and recipient Refresh on public/private keys: β Two keys, one private one public β Encryption by one, decryption by the other and vice versa β If you can encrypt a known value, which is then decrypted by the public key, you must have the private key
- 4. Transactions 101 Frame Your Understanding β Nobody actually βhasβ bitcoins - you canβt download them, or store them on your computer β Remember that the blockchain is a ledger - it records the transfer of bitcoin between people β The records stay on the blockchain - what gets transferred is the βcontrolβ of the bitcoin β βAlice gives Bob 2btcβ becomes βAlice transfers control of 2 of her bitcoins to Bobβ β Control through cryptography
- 5. Transactions 101 Control via Cryptography β When someone sends you coins they publicly place them under the control of your public key (in the form of an Address) β If you can prove that you have the matching public key, and the matching private key, the network lets you control the coins β This gets super technical, super quick. Donβt panic if you donβt get all of this in your first pass
- 6. Transactions 101 Control via Cryptography β Because blockchain transactions are anonymous, there needs to be a way to enforcing controls on the coins β Transactions are programmable β Each transaction contains a program that specifies conditions that must be met in order to spend the coins
- 7. Transactions 101 Think of it this way... β You don't have the amount of money you claim to have β You only have the money that you can convince the network that you control β You convince the network by proving you have both the public key and the private key that controls those coins β If you can't convince the network, you don't have that money any more
- 8. Transactions 101 Protect your Private Keys β Your private keys control your money. Most bitcoin βhacksβ or βtheftsβ are in reality, crackers getting a copy of your private key. They then use this to move your coins to an address they control β If you lose your private key, you lose your money β Keep the offline (on paper!) or a specialised hardware device β If they must be online, encrypt them when not in use, only use for small amounts of money, use cold/warm/hot wallets to manage risk
- 14. Transactions 101 Addresses Private key Public key Hash Encode Address
- 15. Transactions 101 Addresses β Hides your public key (because of the hashing), but you still have both the public and private key β This is your bitcoin βAddressβ - you tell people who need to send you coins this address β You will have many Addresses β Your wallet software keeps track of all payments made βtoβ your Address
- 16. Transactions 101 Transactions Control Ownership β Transaction transfer control from itβs inputs to itβs outputs β Someone controls some bitcoin and they put them into the transaction, the recipient receives the outputs from the transaction β The outputs from an earlier transaction form the inputs of the latter one β When we say βBob has 2 bitcoinβ what we mean is βBob has control of one or more unspent transaction outputs that total 2 bitcoin
- 18. Transactions 101 How to spend an input β When you create a transaction, you transfer control to a hashed public key β βWhomever has the private key that matches the public key that matches the hash+enc of the public key (i.e. the Address) can spend these coinsβ β These instructions are embedded in the transaction in a field called scriptPubKey β looks a bit like this: 76A9149260C8E4924720B040F20B00D7F78C0F0FDBA3C288AC
- 19. Transactions 101 Spending an input uses it up β Once a Transactionβs outputs are used as inputs in a new transaction, they are considered βspentβ. If the owner tries to use them again, itβs known as a βdouble spendβ β A Txnβs inputs just reference the UTXO they are taken from β Using a UTXO destroys it - you must fully spend all of the value β If you donβt want to spend that much, you send the βspareβ value back to yourself to a βchange addressβ
- 20. Any Questions?
Editor's Notes
- #3: Assume familiar with software, just not blockchains Bitcoin can be polizing, quickly decends into conversations/arguments about politics, But as software is eating the workd, that's what we'll be focusing on Simplified first , then circle back round and dive deeper Simplifications can be missleading Tell meif too fast/slow