Protocol & Consensus • Estimated 30m

What Is a Protocol?

fundamentals.protocol-basics

A protocol is a shared rule set that independent participants follow to coordinate behavior without central control. Bitcoin works as a monetary protocol because nodes enforce rules the same way.

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Curated resources (4)

• Bitcoin Developer Guide: P2P Network (article) Concrete example of protocol rules in a peer network.
• Bitcoin Core Academy: Consensus Model (article) How protocol rules produce shared canonical state.
• Bitcoin Dev Network: Wire Protocol (article) Developer-oriented protocol message walkthrough.
• Inventing Bitcoin (book) Accessible first technical mental model for protocol rules, nodes, and consensus.

Direct prerequisites (1)

• Peer-to-Peer Network Topology

Direct dependents (1)

• Token Basics

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