Questions tagged [development]
The creation and ongoing work for different existing and future Bitcoin-related projects and source code.
81
questions
83
votes
3
answers
36k
views
How to redeem a basic Tx?
Given a raw, standard Tx (wiki):
01000000
01
26c07ece0bce7cda0ccd14d99e205f118cde27e83dd75da7b141fe487b5528fb
00000000
8b
...
36
votes
7
answers
21k
views
How to generate a valid bitcoin address for destroying bitcoins?
(Following up to this question.)
In order to put a bitcoin beyond use, the answer was to select a made up address. As this isn't a formal destruction of bitcoins, there's a risk that the private keys ...
44
votes
1
answer
10k
views
What do the different .dat files contain?
What data do different Bitcoin .dat files contain? How about the other files in the same folder?
The wallet.dat file is somewhat documented and there are some ways to convert it to human-readable ...
12
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How can I read information from the blockchain?
I don't want to use an existing service, like Blockchain.info or BlockExplorer.com. Is there some library out there that will let me read the blockchain programatically?
12
votes
9
answers
5k
views
Is there a reference, authoritative resource or book on Bitcoin programming?
Is there any reference or authoritative resource, or book on Bitcoin programming?
Bitcoin is dubbed "programmable money" but there is no obvious resource for how to do that aside from ...
39
votes
4
answers
68k
views
How to fork Bitcoin and build own cryptocurrency [closed]
Is there any step-by-step tutorial about how to build own cryptocurrency based on Bitcoin code?
12
votes
3
answers
8k
views
How can I generate a large number of Bitcoin addresses?
I would like to generate a large number of public Bitcoin addresses (several hundred thousand) quickly and efficiently into a simple text file. What would be the easiest way to get this done? I'm just ...
9
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is there developer documentation for the Bitcoin Core source code?
Is there a documentation somewhere to understand the C++ code of Bitcoin Core (available on Github) "from a to z" and being able to recreate it ?
24
votes
3
answers
13k
views
How do I implement a Merkle Tree?
I`m slowly implementing some Bitcoin protocols, and I'm not sure how to properly understand the Merkle Tree from the Bitcoin wiki:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Protocol_specification#Merkle_Trees
I have ...
23
votes
1
answer
18k
views
Get non-wallet transactions using bitcoin rpc (gettransaction)
I am playing around with Bitcoin-qt. I want to iterate all blocks and all their transactions.
So far I've been able to get a list of all tx's in the blocks I want to. Now I want to get information ...
12
votes
2
answers
4k
views
What are the steps in building bitcoind on Mac OS X 10.6?
Following the instructions in build-osx.txt (which seem sadly out of date) leaves me without a file named libboost_system.a.
Here is how I built boost:
% cd boost_1_42_0
% ./bootstrap.sh
% ./bjam ...
11
votes
3
answers
3k
views
How to implement a game like SatoshiDice?
Everyone knows what SatoshiDice is. Their core mechanic is gambling through the use of Bitcoin transactions with the payout being directly linked to the transaction that fuelled the bed to avoid ...
24
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Can a bitcoin be destroyed?
Its the hypothetical future and BTC2 is being designed. Everyone loves BTC2 and no-one wants the old BTC1 any more.
People who have BTC1 would be annoyed that their assets are suddently worth a lot ...
21
votes
2
answers
12k
views
How will multisig addresses work?
How will multisig addresses work? Will they consist of multiple traditional addresses, or will they have some different structure? Will one be able to specify whether they will require 2 out of 2, 2 ...
17
votes
3
answers
8k
views
How to calculate new "bits" value?
Every 2016 blocks one needs to calculate new bits value. What is the formula to calculate it?
16
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Given a private key, how do you get a public address [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
How are public & private keys in an address created?
I am scanning in a private key from a QR code in an app I am writting to handle the import of physical bitcoins.
...
13
votes
3
answers
3k
views
What will happen when SHA 256 needs to be replaced?
MD5 used to be the hash algorithm. Everyone loved it, but now, not so much.
What will happen to bitcoin if flaws are found in SHA256 in the future?
7
votes
3
answers
7k
views
How to know if a transaction is valid?
I understand there are a couple things that need to be checked for a transaction to be valid - the previous transaction had to be correct, no OP can invalidate the transaction, etc, but is there a ...
6
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How do I generate coins on testnet? CPU, GPU, FPGA? Are there pools?
Is it possible to mine coins on testnet using CPU? GPU? How about FPGAs?
Are there any pools running on testnet?
The reason I am looking for this is so I can master the new API's relating to ...
6
votes
9
answers
24k
views
Displaying price in BTC based on USD exchange rate
This is a pretty classic programming question, but I think it is a very common one for the Bitcoin community, and would be helpful to have the code publicly available.
My preference is for a php ...
5
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Monitor all transactions on bitcoin network - API
I am searching for a solution to monitor all bitcoin transactions (or for first ties at least for addresses inside my bitcoin client).
I found http://blockchain.info/api_websocket is this really ...
26
votes
5
answers
10k
views
how to monitor +20,000 addresses for new received transactions?
I have around 20000 generated addresses which I want to monitor for new transactions. More addresses should probably come. Customers should use every address only once but I would like to monitor ...
16
votes
3
answers
519
views
What happens if the developers make a controversial change to the "standard" client?
One criticism I commonly hear of Bitcoin is that it merely transfers trust from some sort of central bank or government entity to the developers of the main project. Can anyone provide a clean ...
14
votes
3
answers
4k
views
Is there a list of available APIs for Bitcoin exchanges?
So far I have seen some Perl modules; Finance:MtGox and Webservice:MtGox for interacting with Mt.Gox, a Ruby gem for Mt.Gox and a Python based command line client for again, Mt.Gox.
I'm wondering if ...
13
votes
1
answer
965
views
What are the February 20 changes to the Bitcoin protocol?
From the BitcoinJ mailing list:
the Bitcoin protocol bizarrely changes itself on February 20th
2012 in a backwards incompatible manner
What are these changes, why are they necessary, when was ...
10
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What's the best practice for creating and maintaining an address index?
I am working on a Blockchain.info-like block explorer, and I have some questions regarding best practice for data retrieval. Bitcoin Core stores and serves all blocks and, if txindex is set to 1, all ...
10
votes
1
answer
654
views
How is a BIP accepted?
Who decides to change the status from Draft to Accepted?
BIP 0001 doesn't seem to clearly state this.
Is this a vote by the developers?
Whose vote exactly do we count?
How is it conducted and ...
8
votes
5
answers
3k
views
Is there a remote, trustless bitcoin API that doesn't require anything (blockchain/SPV headers) to be stored locally?
This question asks about how to work with bitcoin via an API without requiring a local blockchain. The only answer is about blockchain.info's JSON API, but it appears that unlike the web version of ...
8
votes
2
answers
487
views
Is there a reliable way to measure bitcoin wealth distribution?
Given the difficult of detecting lost coins, or telling between hoarded and lost coins, it seems impossible to actually report on the real wealth distribution of the bitcoin currency.
7
votes
5
answers
1k
views
What challenges will bitcoin face in space?
What would the challenges of transacting in outerspace be for bitcoin? What improvements need to be implemented to address these challenges? I'm particularly curious about low-earth orbit.
5
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Does BTC-E have an API for alternate currencies?
BTC-E appears to have an API available at https://btc-e.com/api/1/ticker but this only lists the BTC/USD pair data. They also offer pairs of BTC against alternate currencies like Ixcoin and Tenebrix. ...
4
votes
1
answer
543
views
Web API to retrieve difficulty changes
I am looking for a website that allows me to retrieve the time at which each difficulty change happened. The time doesn't need to be accurate so a time stamp from the block will do. I want to fetch ...
4
votes
1
answer
541
views
Is there a remote Bitcoin API that doesn't require anything to be stored locally?
What I imagine is a trusted centralized server (say run by Mt. Gox or some other exchange), that exposes a simple medium/low level API (let's say in JSON):
getTransaction(fromAddress)
getTxDetails()
...
4
votes
2
answers
5k
views
OSX Vanitygen error: pattern.c:32:10: fatal error: 'pcre.h' file not found
I get the error below when I try to make vanitygen according to the instructions listed in "install"
Error from make (short version)
27 warnings generated.
cc -ggdb -O3 -Wall -c -o pattern.o ...
4
votes
2
answers
19k
views
How do I call JSON RPC API using C#?
How do I access the JSON RPC API in C# in such a way that I can also read the errors that the interface provides?
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Developments to prevent 51% hack [duplicate]
How might Bitcoin be made impervious from attack by large monied interests that could atttack with a brute force majority hashrate hack?
2
votes
2
answers
179
views
testnet3 frequent tx malleability
Related How confirm my own doublespend transaction got confirmed
This is not about double spends and I believe that the related question is not about double spends ether!
On bitcoin's testnet3 I am ...
2
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Need sample compressed and uncompressed Public / Private key pairs for BigInteger
I am testing a different version of BigInteger that has different endian formats and the native implementation likes to add or remove zeros from the final output.
Can anyone provide some sample ...
1
vote
1
answer
171
views
Metamask-like web3 inject for bitcoin
Is there a browser extension that works similarly to Ethereum's Metamask? I am wondering that if there isn't one, is it because of some technical limitation, or that just no one has gotten around to ...
0
votes
1
answer
237
views
How do we prevent the Test network from being misrepresented as production?
I'm concerned that people new to Bitcoin may not be aware that the test network exists, and the new users will end up "paying" for Bitcoins that are essentially worthless.
What protections are in ...
31
votes
1
answer
15k
views
How do I build Bitcoin source in Windows 7?
I am trying to build the current Bitcoin source in Windows 7x64 - Does anyone know of an idiot-proof tutorial? Some of the steps in the included doc give me errors.
When I try to tar openssl with ...
18
votes
2
answers
3k
views
How to start programming your own Bitcoin client?
I want to develop my own Bitcoin client in a language that is not yet supported. Are there any resources that can be referenced to help me, or any other future developer with the task, or is the ...
17
votes
5
answers
14k
views
How to validate a Bitcoin address is a real one?
Is there a code snippet that validates a bitcoin address?
I'm looking for both javascript and java snippets. The code should support both testnet and real addresses.
14
votes
4
answers
624
views
How do I develop mobile applications for Bitcoin?
I would like to develop a mobile Bitcoin application for the Android and iPhone platforms. What libraries and resources can I use?
11
votes
6
answers
5k
views
Are there any C# wrappers for the Bitcoin REST API?
Are there any C# wappers that take an OOO approach to the Bitcoin REST API, and encapsulate it in an easy to use format?
11
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Turing completeness of Bitcoin Script
For me, scripts are one of the most interesting features of Bitcoin. They provide possibilities which have no equivalent in classical currencies. However, the wiki states
It is purposefully not ...
11
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How many bitcoins have been sent to Base58-invalid addresses?
Some bitcoins have been permanently lost when they are sent the the following addresses. The explanation I've found is that they contain characters that are invalid in Base58
...
10
votes
2
answers
729
views
Why don't developers switch from bitcoin-qt to a cleaner implementation?
The "reference client" bitcoin-qt receives a lot of complaints from developers on the messy way it was coded. It seems to require a big overhead to learn, and a lot of time is being spent on ...
10
votes
1
answer
743
views
How to build Bitcoin from source on Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal?
We have this detailed tutorial for Lucid Lynx, but somehow it doesn't work for Natty.
We also have a similar question but it is too broad and the solution there isn't complete enough to work.
I ...
10
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What is an explanation of the P2SH voting in layman's terms?
Reading this question and looking in the bitcointalk forums at the related discussion, there seems to be some kind of miner vote being done on whether a change will be implemented in the bitcoin ...