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Unlocking Knowledge: Bitcoin in Plain Language

The following series will translate the original white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto to plain language for the nostr audience. The goal is to have easily shared content, and send new people directly to nostr to read it. The original content will be posted, with the plain language following.

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Original
Abstract. A purely peer-to-peer version of electronic cash would allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution. Digital signatures provide part of the solution, but the main benefits are lost if a trusted third party is still required to prevent double-spending. We propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer network. The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work. The longest chain not only serves as proof of the sequence of events witnessed, but proof that it came from the largest pool of CPU power. As long as a majority of CPU power is controlled by nodes that are not cooperating to attack the network, they’ll generate the longest chain and outpace attackers. The network itself requires minimal structure. Messages are broadcast on a best effort basis, and nodes can leave and rejoin the network at will, accepting the longest proof-of-work chain as proof of what happened while they were gone.

Plain Language
Imagine you have a way to trade things online, and you don't need any banks or outsiders to help out. Like a secret code that makes sure no one cheats and spends the same money twice.

Here's the tricky part: sometimes, you still need someone to make sure nobody's manipulating the system. The solution: instead of having just one person in charge, everyone participates in the system. Every time someone trades something, we write it down on a special list and solve a puzzle to make sure it's a real trade.

This list keeps growing. The longest list, with the most puzzles solved, becomes the official record of all the trades. It's so strong that nobody can change it or cheat because it would take too much work to redo all the puzzles.

The people trading are very easygoing. People can come and go as they want, and we still trust the longest list to show us what happened when someone was away. As long as most people in our team are playing fair and not trying to mess things up, our trading system stays safe and works well.

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