Welcome!
This is an implementation of a Bitcoin client with full node functionality, using the Rust programming language.
This project is based on the coursework for Principles of Blockchains (Fall 2023) at Princeton University.
The entire implementation for this project is contained in the src folder. The steps taken to complete a working Bitcoin client include:
- Implementing the Address and Transaction structs.
- Implementing the MerkleTree struct.
- Implementing the Block and Blockchain structs.
- Implement a mining module of the bitcoin client. The miner module will produce blocks by solving the proof-of-work puzzle.
- Implement the network module of Bitcoin client. The network module is in charge of communicating with other nodes/clients. It forms the peer-to-peer (p2p) network and uses gossip protocol to exchange data, including blocks and transactions.
- Combine the previously implemented modules (miner, network, and blockchain) to create a functioning data blockchain. You will need to add PoW validation and a block buffer to handle orphan blocks.
- Implement the Transaction struct. Integrate the transaction structure inside the block content, add network functionality to transaction propagation and adding a transaction Mempool to be used by the miner to include transaction content in the block being mined.
- Complete the Bitcoin client by maintaining a State for the ledger that the blockchain creates, which stores all the required information to check transactions.
- Build an API endpoint to output a representation of the state at a certain block in the longest chain.