Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line is a tutorial for working with Bitcoin (and Lightning) that teaches direct interaction with the servers themselves, as the most robust and secure way to begin cryptocurrency work.
NOTE: This is a draft in progress, so that I can get some feedback from early reviewers. It is not yet ready for use.
This tutorial assumes that you have some minimal background of how to use the command line interface. If not, there are many tutorials available, and I have one for Mac users at https://github.com/ChristopherA/intro-mac-command-line.
- Portuguese — v2.0.1 translation
- Spanish - v2.0.1 translation
If you'd like to make your own translation, please see Contributing, below.
Status: Finished. Updated for 0.20.
Status: Finished. Updated for 0.20.
- 3.0: Understanding Your Bitcoin Setup
- 4.0: Sending Bitcoin Transactions
- 5.0: Controlling Bitcoin Transactions
- 6.0: Expanding Bitcoin Transactions with Multisigs
- 7.0: Expanding Bitcoin Transactions with PSBTs
- 8.0: Expanding Bitcoin Transactions in Other Ways
Status: Finished. Updated for 0.20 and btcdeb.
- 9.0: Introducing Bitcoin Scripts
- 10.0: Embedding Bitcoin Scripts in P2SH Transactions
- 11.0: Empowering Timelock with Bitcoin Scripts
- 12.0: Expanding Bitcoin Scripts
- 13.0: Designing Real Bitcoin Scripts
Status: Finished.
Status: Finished.
- 16.0: Talking to Bitcoind with C
- 17.0: Programming Bitcoin with Libwally
- 18.0: Talking to Bitcoind with Other Languages
Status: Finished.
Status: Finished.
v2.1.0 of Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line is feature complete and has undergone full editing and integration. It is ready for learning
We are also tentatively considering what we could include in a v3.0 of the course. If you'd like to support work of that sort, become a GitHub Sponsor or support us at our BTCPay Server, and let us know that Learning Bitcoin was the reason why.
- New chapter 15 (i2p).
- Added fixes to wallet usage from 0.21
- Updated install to new Bitcoin Scripts for 22.0
- Incorporated numerous fixes revealed by first translation projects
- Numerous small patches following 2.0
- Intended as baseline for translations (2.2.0), but 2.1.0 material on i2p slipped in
- Second major release of Learning Bitcoin
- Added material on Segwit, Tor, hardware wallets, lightning, regtest
- Completely previous unfinished work on programming using a variety of languages
- Original, extensive but incomplete version
- Contained comprehensive sections on setup, bitcoin-cli, and scripting
Unless otherwise noted (either in this /README.md or in the file's header comments) the contents of this repository are Copyright © 2020 by Blockchain Commons, LLC, and are licensed under CC-BY.
Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line is a project of Blockchain Commons. We are proudly a "not-for-profit" social benefit corporation committed to open source & open development. Our work is funded entirely by donations and collaborative partnerships with people like you. Every contribution will be spent on building open tools, technologies, and techniques that sustain and advance blockchain and internet security infrastructure and promote an open web.
To financially support further development of Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line and other projects, please consider becoming a Patron of Blockchain Commons through ongoing monthly patronage as a GitHub Sponsor. You can also support Blockchain Commons with bitcoins at our BTCPay Server.
We encourage public contributions through issues and pull requests! Please review CONTRIBUTING.md for details on our development process. All contributions to this repository require a GPG signed Contributor License Agreement.
if you would like to provide a translation of Learning Bitcoin into another language, please additionally see TRANSLATING.md.
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Blockchain Commons Discussions. For developers, interns, and patrons of Blockchain Commons, please use the discussions area of the Community repo to talk about general Blockchain Commons issues, the intern program, or topics other than the Gordian System or the wallet standards, each of which have their own discussion areas.
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The following people directly contributed to this repository. You can add your name here by getting involved. The first step is learning how to contribute from our CONTRIBUTING.md documentation.
| Name | Role | Github | GPG Fingerprint | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christopher Allen | Lead Author | @ChristopherA | <ChristopherA@LifeWithAlacrity.com> | FDFE 14A5 4ECB 30FC 5D22 74EF F8D3 6C91 3574 05ED |
| Shannon Appelcline | Lead Author | @shannona | <shannon.appelcline@gmail.com> | 7EC6 B928 606F 27AD |
Additional contributions are listed below:
| Role | Names |
|---|---|
| Contributors: | gg2001 (Go, Node.js sections), gorazdko (Rust section), Javier Vargas (C, Java, Lightning, Tor sections), jodobear (Appendix: Compiling Bitcoin, Python section), Prayank (i2p sections) |
| Reviewers: | Glen Willem @gwillem |
| Sponsors: | Blockstream Corporation |
Thanks to the volunteers who spent extensive time writing and reviewing other-language translations of the original English-language course.
| Name | Role | Github |
|---|---|---|
| Namcios | Translator & Reviewer | @namcios |
| Korea | Translator & Reviewer | @KoreaComK |
| Luke Pavsky | Translator & Reviewer | @lukedevj |
| hgrams | Translator & Reviewer | @hgrams |
| Name | Role | GitHub |
|---|---|---|
| Ian Culp | Translator & Reviewer | @icculp |
| Maxi Goyheneche | Translator | @maxcrowar |
| Said Rahal | Translator | @srahalh |
| César A. Vallero | Translator & Reviewer | @csralvall |
| Javier Vargas | Translator & Reviewer | @javiervargas |
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We do ask that you offer us good faith and use best efforts not to leak information or harm any user, their data, or our developer community. Please give us a reasonable amount of time to fix the issue before you publish it. Do not defraud our users or us in the process of discovery. We promise not to bring legal action against researchers who point out a problem provided they do their best to follow the these guidelines.
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The following keys may be used to communicate sensitive information to developers:
| Name | Fingerprint |
|---|---|
| Christopher Allen | FDFE 14A5 4ECB 30FC 5D22 74EF F8D3 6C91 3574 05ED |
You can import a key by running the following command with that individual’s fingerprint: gpg --recv-keys "<fingerprint>" Ensure that you put quotes around fingerprints that contain spaces.