Bitcoin Transaction Details - Part 1

A look at how a transaction is constructed

This video is part of a larger online course, "From Barter to Bitcoin: Society, Technology and the Future of Money" run by Prof. Bill Maurer and Prof. Donald J. Patterson In addition to the video on YouTube there is a variety of other content available to students enrolled in the class.

"In 2008, a person calling himself or herself or themselves Satoshi Nakamoto released a paper suggesting a system for an anonymous, peer-to-peer alternative money. Bitcoin was born. Although not the first digital currency ever proposed, nor the first challenger to fiat money, bitcoin is the first to have captured the broad imagination of speculators, coders, regulators, criminals and the mass media. This course puts Bitcoin in context: how do we understand money as a social, political and technological phenomenon? From discussions of ancient transactions to the rise of state-issued currencies, we will explore the social and technical aspects of bitcoin, its predecessors and potential successors, and how its features echo aspects of many different historical transaction systems. No prior knowledge of economics or computing is required.

There is little academic writing on bitcoin. And this may be the first truly academic class on the topic. We want to put bitcoin in a wider perspective, to reflect on what it means for society, politics and economics, as well as how it helps us think about money both a social and a technical phenomenon. This class is not an advanced seminar on bitcoin--we will not be delving deeply into the inner workings of the system, but instead providing a bird's-eye overview with enough technical detail for you to be able to put media stories, hype and hope around bitcoin in perspective. Similarly, this is not a class in monetary economics--we won't go too deeply into monetary theory or policy, the money supply, or inflation. Instead the class invites you to think more deeply about one of the oldest systems of technology on the planet, and most ubiquitous: money, whether coin, cash, credit card or cryptocurrency, we humans have been making money for most of the past 10,000 years. How we do so in the future is a question bitcoin just maybe helps us answer."

[raidboulahdid]

I just spent the last 2 hours trying to understand this thing, and with your video i did understand it in 15 min. Keep up your Awesome work.

[asonganyderick]

when i checked out the date of the video and i saw 2014 i was like waao... this is 2017 and yet this is still the best video around.. tums up i hope you are still around because i want to be your students.. best bitcoin youtube channel ever

[jonathangarcia]

This is my first vid I watch from you, it's 2017 and Just caught on the wave of BTC but honestly a very clear explanation, you really make it simple to understand. Hope you are still around, gotta keep watching more of your videos. Thanks a bunch.

[gabriel]

Hello! Might be a bit late but thank you so much for making this video and explaining everything so clearly and well! You got a new subscriber here!

[insanity]

So good. The bitcoin wiki scared me at first. This really broke it down into digestible chunks.

[theswanand]

I have atleast watched 10 vids and 15-20 articles couldnt understand the thing... this made is so much clear thank you so much

[djp]

When you send 1 bitcoin you have to match that outgoing transaction to an incoming transaction or set of incoming transactions  in which you received 1 or more bitcoins.  It would be unusual to have received exactly the right number of bitcoins.  So when you send out bitcoins, whatever change there was from the incoming set is sent back to you as change.  Bitcoin doesn't have a "wallet" per se.  You have rights to the outputs of transactions.  It's slightly different than the way we are used to with bank accounts.

[photoncannon]

Thanks you so much for putting up such video in explaining bitcoin transaction. Only one I found so far that answers all the questions I have regarding bitcoin transactions

[leemchugh]

I have tried tutorials and articles claiming to explain bitcoun transactions and could not get my head around it. Thankyou so much for helping me to undetstand. Your delivery is clear, cogent and easy to digest. Best tutorial.

[dizonchrystophercasero]

THANK YOU, ONE OF THE MOST CLEAR, EXPLANATIONS I WATCHED, , still a bit complicated though...lol..

[jiggartala]

He was happy while he was saying in C.S we start from 0 not 1. it's the only thing that distinguish us from others :))
I'm proud to be a C.S graduate

[harryhindsight]

I really like this video.
One subtle but interesting point to me about bitcoin transactions is that the recipient seems to be completely passive... it's not like they receive a knock at the door and need to produce a signature to take "possession" of the bitcoin that is being sent to them - as you might expect if someone had sent a really valuable item in the post.
They ONLY need to provide a signature / private key if the day ever comes that THEY themselves wish to play the role of "sender" of those same bitcoins to somebody else.

[JusticeLeagueFan]

Great explanation! Really helped solidify what I was having trouble learning today.

[lordofthedance]

Thanks for producing this video. This pulled together all the random pieces I've been reading.

[Funky]

Super explanation, even it is some years old 👍

[MKification]

Excellent explanation, Truly professor. Thank you.

[MasterEquinoX]

You are explaining the UTXO model, maybe you should include this in the video title ? :)
Thanks !

[theaman]

You're such a nice guy; love you! I could hear you talk for hours on end...
Though I noticed you're not from Computer Science; remarkable it is, the amount of stuff you know about the under-the-hoods without even being from CS.

[Spcecde]

Great explaination. 2021 is gonna be amazing for btc

[raulcerezo]

You are dope bro! Damn, thank you so much, subbed