Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System

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1. Abstract: Electronic cash that can be sent peer-to-peer without going through a financial institution. Double-spending is solved by a proof-of-work chain of hashed transactions. The longest chain serves as proof of the sequence of events.
2. Introduction: Commerce on the Internet relies on financial institutions as trusted third parties, which prevents non-reversible transactions and whose mediation costs exclude small casual transactions.
3. Section 4: Proof-of-work is the task of finding a value such that its SHA-256 hash begins with a given number of zero bits. The more subsequent blocks are chained, the more work is required to modify it.
4. Section 6: The first transaction in each block creates a new coin for the block's creator. With no central issuer, this is the method of distribution, similar to gold mining. Once a predetermined number is reached, the reward will transition to transaction fees.
5. Conclusion: A system for electronic transactions without relying on trust. Nodes can remain anonymous and are free to leave and rejoin the network.

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