Um, this is not part of the bitcoin block-chain? The bitcoin blockchain started ...

trotsky · on Aug 1, 2011

Sure it is. You can verify it yourself.

  [tsl@pepper ~]$ strings -n 20 ~/.bitcoin/blk0001.dat | tail -3
  :TXXXWw,_ "), ,wWT: 
  ::TTXXWWW lXl WWT:  
  ----END TRIBUTE---- 
  [tsl@pepper ~]$

The bitcoin blockchain contains a record of every verified transaction that's happened to date - it needs this information to verify new transactions. Sometime in the last 500 blocks or so, Kaminsky and Goodspeed used a trick to embed this memorial inside a transaction, which is then dutifully stored by all bitcoin clients.

rphlx · on Aug 1, 2011

One wonders how the creators intend to scale a system where every user needs the entire past state of every coin..

wcoenen · on Aug 1, 2011

See https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Scalability.

It is true that the network would have to evolve to a two-tiered structure with supernodes and client nodes. In Satoshi's paper it is explained how low-power client nodes can do "Simplified Payment Verification" (Section 8 of http://www.bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf). This is the mode implemented by bitcoinj (http://code.google.com/p/bitcoinj/) and it is already used to run bitcoin clients on android.

drivebyacct2 · on Aug 1, 2011

How else are you going to guarantee the irreversibility and proof in such a system? The block chain was very much a careful design consideration.

Every user doesn't even need the full set of transactions. I buy and sell bitcoins and have only run the desktop client for a few minutes to see what it looked like.

tlrobinson · on Aug 1, 2011

The block chain is always growing. This was recently added to it.

kiba · on Aug 1, 2011

Edit: Never mind, I understand.