"Right now Bitcoin feels like the Internet before the browser." | ||
| --Wences Casares, founder and CEO of Xapo | ||
Bitcoin was officially launched to the public with the release of its first client, Bitcoin-QT. The software is a fully functional Bitcoin node and implements the necessary functionality to bootstrap the Bitcoin network.
In this chapter, we will set up and install our own copy of Bitcoin Core, the official client. Several other fully functional clients exist, but we'll use the official client in this chapter. Through the process we will cover the following areas:
Understanding a Bitcoin node
Installing Bitcoin Core
Using Bitcoin Core
Executing Bitcoin operations