This report consists of a brief analysis of Bitcoin and its protocol, exploring its surge and growth in the cryptocurrency market, as well as the seven pillars of Bitcoin. The main goal is to explain Bitcoin in a way that anyone can understand.

We started by addressing the topic of cryptocurrencies, explaining what they, how they work, and howthey are compared to the money we know, also went through the topic of cryptocurrencies mining. We also addressed the topic of blockchain, explaining what it is and how does it work.

To finish, we explained some of Bitcoin’s socio-economical impact.

• Cryptocurrency
  • Definition of Cryptocurrency
    • What is Money
    • What is Cryptocurrency
    • Comparison Between Cryptocurrencies and Fiat Money
  • How Cryptocurrencies Work
  • Cryptocurrencies Mining
• Blockchain
  • What Is The Blockchain
  • How Does It Work?
    • Proof-of-work
    • Smart contracts
• Bitcoin
  • What is Bitcoin
  • The Pillars of Bitcoin
    • Open Source
    • Transparent
    • Neutral
    • Decentralized
    • Censorship-Resistant
    • Secure
    • Monetary Policy
    • Media
  • The Bitcoin Protocol
    • ECDSA
    • Private-Public Key Pair Generation
• Socio-Economic Impacts of Bitcoin
  • Price Increases and Lack of Hardware Stock Related To "Mining"
  • Monetary System
  • Energy Expenditure
  • Political Implications

This project was developed under the Professional and Social Aspects of Computer Science course of University of Aveiro.

• Eduardo Santos: eduardosantoshf
• Pedro Bastos: bastos-01
• Hugo Ferreira
• João Soares