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But how does bitcoin actually work?

A 25-minute video by 3Blue1Brown about cryptographic mechanisms, on the Security shelf. It came up in 5 Reddit threads, in r/BitcoinBeginners, r/3Blue1Brown, r/CryptoCurrency, r/ethereum and r/Bitcoin. It is pitched at introductory level.

3Blue1Brown, Video, 25 min, 2017, on the Security shelf

Builds the mathematics of Bitcoin from hashing, transaction records and decentralized agreement.

Study notes

Introductory, Derivation. Step 7 of 7 in Information, error and trust

Helpful first

• Basic arithmetic
• Basic idea of a digital record

What it builds

• Separate a transaction record from a trusted central authority.
• Use cryptography to verify claims without trusting a person.
• Understand why the ledger with the most computational work wins.

Useful moments

• 2:20Trustless verification using cryptography
• 11:38Trusting the ledger with the most work

Check yourself: What problem does a signature solve that a hash alone does not?

Notes are based on metadata, Reddit context and selected English caption passages. They are not a review of every claim in the video.

Builds the mathematics of Bitcoin from hashing, transaction records and decentralized agreement.