Download - Bitcoin (2024)

Check your bandwidth and space

Bitcoin Core requires a one-time download of about 600GB of data plus a further 5-10GB per month. By default, you will need to store all of that data, but if you enable pruning, you can store as little as 10GB total without sacrificing any security. For more information about setting up Bitcoin Core, please read the full node guide.

Verify your download

Download verification is optional but highly recommended. Performing the verification steps here ensures that you have not downloaded an unexpected or tampered version of Bitcoin, which may result in loss of funds.

Click one of the lines below to view verification instructions for that platform.

Windows verification instructions
  1. Click the link in the list above to download the release for your platform and wait for the file to finish downloading.

  2. Download the list of cryptographic checksums: SHA256SUMS

  3. Download the signatures attesting to validity of the checksums: SHA256SUMS.asc

  4. Open a terminal (command line prompt) and Change Directory (cd) to the folder you use for downloads. For example:

    cd %UserProfile%\Downloads
  5. Run the following command to generate a checksum of the release file you downloaded. Replace 'bitcoin-27.0-win64-setup.exe' with the name of the file you actually downloaded.

    certUtil -hashfile bitcoin-27.0-win64-setup.exe SHA256
  6. Ensure that the checksum produced by the command above matches one of the checksums listed in the checksums file you downloaded earlier. We recommend that you check every character of the two checksums to ensure they match. You can see the checksums you downloaded by running the following command:

    type SHA256SUMS
  7. If you haven't previously installed GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) on your system, install it now or see other installation options.

  8. Bitcoin releases are signed by a number of individuals, each with a unique public key. In order to recognize the validity of signatures, you must use GPG to load these public keys locally. You can find many developer keys listed in the bitcoin-core/guix.sigs repository, which you can then load into your GPG key database.

    For example, you could load the key builder-keys/fanquake.gpg by downloading the file as fanquake.gpg and using this command:

    C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuPG\bin\gpg.exe --import fanquake.gpg

    The output of the command above should say that one key was imported, updated, has new signatures, or remained unchanged.

  9. It is recommended that you choose a few individuals from this list who you find trustworthy and import their keys as above. You will later use their keys to check the signature attesting to the validity of the checksums you use to check the binaries. You can import all keys at once by cloning the repo and importing the directory:

  10. Verify that the checksums file is PGP signed by a sufficient amount of keys you trust and have imported into your keychain:
    C:\Program Files (x86)\GnuPG\bin\gpg.exe --verify SHA256SUMS.asc
  11. The command above will output a series of signature checks for each of the public keys that signed the checksums. Each valid signature will show the following text:

    1. A line that starts with: gpg: Good signature

    2. A complete line saying: Primary key fingerprint: E777299FC265DD04793070EB944D35F9AC3DB76A

    The output from the verify command may contain warnings that a public key is not available. As long as you have all the public keys of signers you trust, this warning can be disregarded. There may be additional warnings that a "key is not certified with a trusted signature." This means that to fully verify your download, you need to confirm that the signing key's fingerprint (e.g. E777 299F...) listed in the second line above matches what you had expected for the signers public key.

MacOS verification instructions
  1. Click the link in the list above to download the release for your platform and wait for the file to finish downloading.

  2. Download the list of cryptographic checksums: SHA256SUMS

  3. Download the signatures attesting to validity of the checksums: SHA256SUMS.asc

  4. Open a terminal (command line prompt) and Change Directory (cd) to the folder you use for downloads. For example:

    cd Downloads/
  5. Verify that the checksum of the release file is listed in the checksums file using the following command:

    shasum -a 256 --check SHA256SUMS

    In the output produced by the above command, you can safely ignore any warnings and failures, but you must ensure the output lists "OK" after the name of the release file you downloaded. For example: bitcoin-27.0-x86_64-apple-darwin.zip: OK

  6. If you haven't previously installed GNU Privacy Guard (GPG) on your system, install it now or see other installation options.

  7. Bitcoin releases are signed by a number of individuals, each with a unique public key. In order to recognize the validity of signatures, you must use GPG to load these public keys locally. You can find many developer keys listed in the bitcoin-core/guix.sigs repository, which you can then load into your GPG key database.

    For example, you could load the key builder-keys/fanquake.gpg by downloading the file as fanquake.gpg and using this command:

    gpg --import fanquake.gpg

    The output of the command above should say that one key was imported, updated, has new signatures, or remained unchanged.

  8. It is recommended that you choose a few individuals from this list who you find trustworthy and import their keys as above. You will later use their keys to check the signature attesting to the validity of the checksums you use to check the binaries. You can import all keys at once by cloning the repo and importing the directory:
    git clone https://github.com/bitcoin-core/guix.sigs
    gpg --import guix.sigs/builder-keys/*
  9. Verify that the checksums file is PGP signed by a sufficient amount of keys you trust and have imported into your keychain:
    gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc
  10. The command above will output a series of signature checks for each of the public keys that signed the checksums. Each valid signature will show the following text:

    1. A line that starts with: gpg: Good signature

    2. A complete line saying: Primary key fingerprint: E777299FC265DD04793070EB944D35F9AC3DB76A

    The output from the verify command may contain warnings that a public key is not available. As long as you have all the public keys of signers you trust, this warning can be disregarded. There may be additional warnings that a "key is not certified with a trusted signature." This means that to fully verify your download, you need to confirm that the signing key's fingerprint (e.g. E777 299F...) listed in the second line above matches what you had expected for the signers public key. See the GNU handbook section on key management for more details.

Linux verification instructions
  1. Click the link in the list above to download the release for your platform and wait for the file to finish downloading.

  2. Download the list of cryptographic checksums: SHA256SUMS

  3. Download the signatures attesting to validity of the checksums: SHA256SUMS.asc

  4. Open a terminal (command line prompt) and Change Directory (cd) to the folder you use for downloads. For example:

    cd Downloads/
  5. Verify that the checksum of the release file is listed in the checksums file using the following command:

    sha256sum --ignore-missing --check SHA256SUMS

    In the output produced by the above command, you can safely ignore any warnings and failures, but you must ensure the output lists "OK" after the name of the release file you downloaded. For example: bitcoin-27.0-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz: OK

  6. Bitcoin releases are signed by a number of individuals, each with a unique public key. In order to recognize the validity of signatures, you must use GPG to load these public keys locally. You can find many developer keys listed in the bitcoin-core/guix.sigs repository, which you can then load into your GPG key database.

    For example, you could load the key builder-keys/fanquake.gpg by downloading the file as fanquake.gpg and using this command:

    gpg --import fanquake.gpg

    The output of the command above should say that one key was imported, updated, has new signatures, or remained unchanged.

  7. It is recommended that you choose a few individuals from this list who you find trustworthy and import their keys as above. You will later use their keys to check the signature attesting to the validity of the checksums you use to check the binaries. You can import all keys at once by cloning the repo and importing the directory:
    git clone https://github.com/bitcoin-core/guix.sigs
    gpg --import guix.sigs/builder-keys/*
  8. Verify that the checksums file is PGP signed by a sufficient amount of keys you trust and have imported into your keychain:
    gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc
  9. The command above will output a series of signature checks for each of the public keys that signed the checksums. Each valid signature will show the following text:

    1. A line that starts with: gpg: Good signature

    2. A complete line saying: Primary key fingerprint: E777299FC265DD04793070EB944D35F9AC3DB76A

    The output from the verify command may contain warnings that a public key is not available. As long as you have all the public keys of signers you trust, this warning can be disregarded. There may be additional warnings that a "key is not certified with a trusted signature." This means that to fully verify your download, you need to confirm that the signing key's fingerprint (e.g. E777 299F...) listed in the second line above matches what you had expected for the signers public key. See the GNU handbook section on key management for more details.

Snap package verification instructions

While the Snap packages use the deterministically generated executables, the Snap tool itself does not provide a streamlined way to reveal the contents of a Snap package. Thus, the Bitcoin Core project does not have the information necessary to help you verify the Bitcoin Core Snap packages.

Additional verification with reproducible builds

Experienced users who don't mind performing additional steps can take advantage of Bitcoin Core's reproducible builds and the signed checksums generated by contributors who perform those builds.

  • Reproducible builds allow anyone with a copy of Bitcoin Core's MIT-licensed source code to build identical binaries to those distributed on this website (meaning the binaries will have the same cryptographic checksums as those provided by this website).

  • Verified reproduction is the result of multiple Bitcoin Core contributors each independently reproducing identical binaries as described above. These contributors cryptographically sign and publish the checksums of the binaries they generate.

The preceding verification instructions will verify that several contributors you trust all signed the same checksums distributed in the release checksums file. Additionally, reproducing a binary for yourself will provide you with the highest level of assurance currently available. For more information, visit the project's repository of trusted build process signatures.

Bitcoin Core is a community-driven free software project, released under the open source MIT license.

Download - Bitcoin (2024)

FAQs

What is Bitcoin answers? ›

Bitcoin (BTC) is a cryptocurrency (a virtual currency) designed to act as money and a form of payment outside the control of any one person, group, or entity. This removes the need for trusted third-party involvement (e.g., a mint or bank) in financial transactions.

How much Bitcoin should I buy to become a millionaire? ›

So, 10 times from those levels would mean that Bitcoin could go as high as $350,000, Saylor said. If this is the case, you would need to own 2.86 BTC to become a millionaire. It would cost around $190,000 today.

How many bitcoins should you own? ›

The launch of the new spot Bitcoin ETFs is leading some investors to re-think how much Bitcoin they should be holding in their portfolios. In its latest research report, Ark Invests suggests an optimal Bitcoin allocation of 19.4%. In previous years, Ark Invest's optimal Bitcoin allocation was in the 0.5% to 6% range.

Do you get paid for running a Bitcoin node? ›

While no one will pay you for running a Lightning Node, you can charge routing fees for payments that go through your channels. This can become a good source of revenue, but it takes a lot of learning, effort and manual tweaking to make a node profitable.

How much is $1 Bitcoin in US dollars? ›

Current BTC to USD exchange rate

1 BTC equals 63,641.00 USD. The current value of 1 Bitcoin is +0.74% against the exchange rate to USD in the last 24 hours. ​ The current Bitcoin market cap is $1.25T. ​Create a free Kraken account to instantly convert BTC to USD today.

Is Bitcoin real money on Cash App? ›

You can own bitcoin by buying it with money you already have on any exchange or app that offers it. You can buy, sell, send, and receive bitcoin on Cash App. You can also auto-invest a percentage of your paycheck into bitcoin or even round up your Cash App Card transactions and turn the spare change into bitcoin.

Can anyone get rich from Bitcoin? ›

Bitcoin has made many millionaires already, and you could be one, too. Over the course of its 15-year history, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has made plenty of millionaires. In fact, data from the blockchain analytics platform Glassnode shows roughly 115,000 wallet addresses with a balance of more than $1 million today.

Is Bitcoin still a good investment? ›

Edelman stresses that bitcoin is highly speculative, with a history of volatility, but he believes its potential makes it appropriate for a long-term portfolio, provided that investors limit it to 1% to 5%. "The risks are high, and if it fails, a low single-digit allocation won't cause material harm," he said.

Is Bitcoin worth buying? ›

Fidelity Investments

2023, researchers at Fidelity released a report that concluded Bitcoin was "fundamentally different than any other digital asset" and that other digital assets were unlikely to improve upon Bitcoin, because it is the most "secure, decentralized, sound digital money." Fidelity Digital Assets.

How many people own 1 Bitcoin? ›

However, some estimates can be made based on blockchain data and surveys of Bitcoin holders. According to data from Bitinfocharts, as of March 2023, there are approximately 827,000 addresses that hold 1 bitcoin or more, representing around 4.5% of all addresses on the Bitcoin network.

How much Bitcoin do I need to be rich in 10 years? ›

However, based on all of this analysis, I believe that $100K BTC is definitely possible, which means you would need about 10 BTC to be a millionaire by 2030. My thesis can be broken down into these parts: We still have 2 more halvings before 2030 (The halving was initially designed as a countermeasure to inflation.

How much Bitcoin should a beginner buy? ›

Some experts recommend investing no more than 1% to 5% of your net worth. When looking at how much of your portfolio to invest in crypto, limiting your overall exposure to crypto is crucial. It's important to never invest more than you can afford to lose.

How much does it cost to run a Bitcoin full node? ›

Bitcoin Full Node with Ordinal Protocol support on AWS by Techlatest.net
EC2 Instance typeSoftware/hrTotal/hr
m4.large$0.13$0.23
m4.xlarge$0.13$0.33
m4.2xlarge$0.13$0.53
m4.4xlarge$0.13$0.93
71 more rows

Why would someone run a Bitcoin node? ›

While there are no monetary rewards, running a full Bitcoin node comes with its own intangible benefits. For example, it increases the security of transactions conducted by a user. This is especially important if you plan to conduct multiple bitcoin transactions in a day.

What do I need to run my own Bitcoin node? ›

Minimum Requirements
  1. Desktop or laptop hardware running recent versions of Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux.
  2. 7 gigabytes of free disk space, accessible at a minimum read/write speed of 100 MB/s.
  3. 2 gigabytes of memory (RAM)
  4. A broadband Internet connection with upload speeds of at least 400 kilobits (50 kilobytes) per second.

How do you explain what Bitcoin is? ›

Bitcoin is an alternative form of digital money that is not issued by nation states or corporations and is not controlled by financial intermediaries like banks. People who find value in this new form of money include investors, libertarians, the financially oppressed (no matter where they live), and others.

What is the simplest explanation of Bitcoin? ›

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell and exchange directly, without an intermediary like a bank. Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, originally described the need for “an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust.”

What is Bitcoin and how does it work? ›

A bitcoin, at its core, is a token representing value. The token is digital (or virtual), and your public key is used to assign it to you. Ownership is transferred when transactions are made to another person's public key. You use your wallet, the mobile application, to send or receive bitcoin.

How to get money from Bitcoin? ›

Here are five ways you can cash out your crypto or Bitcoin.
  1. Use an exchange to sell crypto.
  2. Use your broker to sell crypto.
  3. Go with a peer-to-peer trade.
  4. Cash out at a Bitcoin ATM.
  5. Trade one crypto for another and then cash out.
  6. Bottom line.
Feb 9, 2024

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