<p>I found this awesome article that answered all my questions:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.michaelnielsen.org/ddi/how-the-bitcoin-protocol-actually-works/" rel="nofollow">How the Bitcoin Protocol Actually Works</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-07T16:16:25.843Z
2013-12-07T16:16:25.843Z
ConditionRacer
<p><a href="http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf" rel="nofollow">Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System</a></p>

<p>by: Satoshi Nakamoto</p>

<p>That would be a good place to start.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-03T02:22:31.823Z
Google has become so convenient, sometimes I forget to go to the source :) Thanks
ConditionRacer
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-02T22:14:08.660Z
2013-12-02T22:14:08.660Z
sprinklestereo
<p>The cryptographic primitives used in Bitcoin are SHA-256 and ECDSA.</p>

<p>For ECDSA: <a href="http://www.secg.org/collateral/sec2_final.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://www.secg.org/collateral/sec2_final.pdf</a></p>

<p>For SHA-256: <a href="http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-4/fips-180-4.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-4/fips-180-4.pdf</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-03T00:09:42.897Z
2013-12-03T00:09:42.897Z
Felipe Voloch
<p>I haven't been able to find a whitepaper or technical spec detailing the bitcoin algorithms and protocols. Google is flooded with too much hand-wavy nonsense. Can someone point me in the right direction?</p>

<specification>
Best place to read about the algorithms and protocols underlying bitcoin?
ConditionRacer
# Best place to read about the algorithms and protocols underlying bitcoin?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-02)

I haven't been able to find a whitepaper or technical spec detailing the bitcoin algorithms and protocols. Google is flooded with too much hand-wavy nonsense. Can someone point me in the right direction?

**Tags:** specification


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2013-12-07. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

I found this awesome article that answered all my questions:

[How the Bitcoin Protocol Actually Works](http://www.michaelnielsen.org/ddi/how-the-bitcoin-protocol-actually-works/)


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### Answer by username_1 on 2013-12-02. Score: 2

[Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System](http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf)

by: Satoshi Nakamoto

That would be a good place to start.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Google has become so convenient, sometimes I forget to go to the source :) Thanks  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2013-12-03. Score: 1

The cryptographic primitives used in Bitcoin are SHA-256 and ECDSA.

For ECDSA: <http://www.secg.org/collateral/sec2_final.pdf>

For SHA-256: <http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/fips/fips180-4/fips-180-4.pdf>


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