gistfile1.txt

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**Welcome to the Bitcoin Wiki**,
for all your Bitcoin information needs.

This wiki is maintained by the Bitcoin community, and is the first
strongly distributed and decentralized
Bitcoin Wiki.
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[[!img BC_Logo_.png size=64x64 class="floatLeft"]] Bitcoin is a decentralized
[[digital_currency]] that enables instant payments to anyone, anywhere in
the world. Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central
authority: [[transaction management|Transaction]] and [[money issuance]]
are carried out collectively by the network.

The original Bitcoin software by [[Satoshi_Nakamoto]] was released under the
MIT license. Most client software, derived or "from scratch", also use open
source licensing.

Bitcoin is the first successful implementation of a *distributed
crypto-currency*, described in part in 1998 by [[Wei_Dai]] on the
cypherpunks mailing list. Building upon the notion that money is any
object, or any sort of record, accepted as payment for goods and services
and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context,
Bitcoin is designed around the idea of using cryptography to control the
creation and transfer of money, rather than relying on central authorities.

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**Why?**

* Bitcoins are sent easily through the Internet, without needing to trust
  any third party.
* [[Transactions]]:
        * Are irreversible by design
        * Are fast. Funds received are available for spending within minutes.
        * Cost very little, especially compared to other payment networks.
* The supply of bitcoins is regulated by software and the agreement of
  users of the system and cannot be manipulated by any government, bank,
  organization or individual. The limited inflation of the Bitcoin system's
  money supply is distributed evenly (by CPU power) to miners who help
  secure the network.

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**Getting Started**

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* [[Introduction]]
* [[Getting_started]]
* [[Myths]]
* [[Securing_your_wallet]]
* [[FAQ]]
* [[Technical articles|tags/Technical]]
* [[Protocol_specification]]
* [[Best practices for traders|Secure_Trading]]
* [[Bitcoin_Improvement_Proposals]]

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* [[Software]]
* [[Mining]]
* [[Exchanges|Trading_bitcoins]]
* [[Local Directories|tags/Directories]]
* [[Marketing resources|tags/Marketing]]
* [[Clients|tags/Clients]] / [[Frontends|tags/Frontends]]
* [[Economics|tags/Economics]]
* [[Businesses|Trade]]
* [[Games|tags/Games]]
* [[Donation-accepting sites|Donation-accepting_organizations_and_projects]]
* [[Meetups]] and [[Conferences]]

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**FAQ**


**Q) What is Bitcoin?**

A) Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer currency. Peer-to-peer means that no central
authority issues new money or tracks transactions. These tasks are managed
collectively by the [[network|Network]].


**Q) How does Bitcoin work?**

A) Bitcoin uses [[!wikipedia Public-key_cryptography]], peer-to-peer networking, and
[[proof-of-work|Proof_of_work]] to process and verify payments. Bitcoins
are sent (or signed over) from one address to another with each user
potentially having many, many addresses. Each payment transaction is
broadcast to the network and included in the blockchain so that the
included bitcoins cannot be spent twice. After an hour or two, each
transaction is locked in time by the massive amount of processing power
that continues to extend the blockchain. Using these techniques, Bitcoin
provides a fast and extremely reliable payment network that anyone can use.

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## Other pages

* [[Help|ikiwiki/formatting]] - Documentation on wiki editing.
* [[About|Bitcoin_Wiki:About]] - Information on this site.