Bitcoin Forum

Is it possible to just copy and paste the bitcoin code and run it as your own bitcoin/ crypto without it updating/ syncing to the current blockchain.

If this is possible would this produce the key to the genesis block? I am very curious why you'd see bitcoin spinoffs like BCH have different wallet formats than bitcoin. 

It is possible to copy the Bitcoin network and create your own which has no relation with the current one, yes. In other words, you can, indeed, copy the source code, build an implementation of an altcoin client, which has different consensus rules such as total coins, difficulty adjustment period, block interval, genesis block etc.

I've created a thread explaining how: How to create your own altcoin (v0.20.1) (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5309100.0)

What do you mean “produce the key to the genesis block”? What's the key to the genesis block?

In short words, yes you can copy and paste Bitcoin code and you may run your own altcoin. Just keep in mind it will call altcoin, not Bitcoin. Its because the chain will be totally different from Bitcoin, it does not have any relationship with the current Bitcoin blockchain. As you are asking about the BCH address, the best explanation has been given here, Why do Bitcoin Cash addresses look different from Bitcoin addresses?  (https://support.blockchain.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000093403-Why-do-Bitcoin-Cash-addresses-look-different-from-Bitcoin-addresses-). They have added a new format of the address called CashAddr.

As part of the source code for bitcoin, the genesis block reward is unspendable so you wouldn't be able to spend it unless you changed that and you might have to fix any security loopholes it could produce.

Although if you meant just making your own genesis block, you can of course do that but it's normally hard coded into clients that are distributed - potentially either for security reasons or to reduce errors/error handling as soon as the client is started.

Aside on becoming an altcoin it wouldnt really get out some assurance that it would be adopted or would be supported by the community even if you do copy out Bitcoin code nd tend to
market it out.It would really just be always be ending up on the position of being an altcoin.Dont know on what are op's things in mind but i do have those hunches. :D

Another topic in related to this
https://www.quora.com/Can-you-create-a-new-bitcoin

Good to read up others relevant responses too.

Ever heard of litecoin?  It's not only possible, it's extremely easy.  It shouldn't take even a script kiddie more than a day or two to figure it out.

However, most people caught on to this half a decade ago, so don't expect too much success.  Even coblee has been taking a lot of shit lately on social media as I see people call him a scammer for the infamous dump from the ATH. 

I think most people don't understand how easy it is to clone open source projects.  Otherwise, the ICO bubble of 2017 probably wouldn't have happened and 95% of altcoins would have never gotten any attention. 

As far as I know, it is very possible. You can fork the main project and even organize it according to your own taste. However, only you are going to be able to use that version. It won't make any changes in the main version. For you to make people use your version of Bitcoin, you will need to have all the support for it. And it seems near impossible to me at least for now.

You can copy code, but the code by itself doesn't do much.  The thing you can't duplicate is the network effects and resulting utility from having people running the code and using the network.  You have to build that for yourself and others have to join you.  Or it fails.

If you literally copy Bitcoin's code, you just have a Bitcoin wallet. If you start changing the code and your rules are not compatible with Bitcoin network, you will have either a hard fork or a soft fork. A soft fork means that some transactions that were valid in previous versions are invalid in new version. A hard fork is introductions of new rules that are not compatible in any way with old rules. A hard fork always results in chain split, while soft forks not always lead to chain split.

But even if you do a soft fork on with a minority chain, you will likely have a chain split. So you will have an altcoin split off Bitcoin with only your node running it. And in case of forks devs must implement replay protection and new address formats to prevent their users from suffering losses.

Copypasting Bitcoin code is not as easy as it may seem, and even if it's done more or less correctly, such coin is not getting any popularity. So most altcoin creators either make Ethereum tokens or create a new codebase for their coin, even if they heavily borrow the design from some other coin.

Bitcoin source code is opened so you can use its source code to create your own cryptocurrency. In history, hundreds of altcoins were created as Bitcoin forks.

• How Many Bitcoin Forks Are There? You will be surprised!!! (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5221882.0)

Because those coins were created with financial incentives for their owners so after months and years, they end with failures. You can not expect success from developers who simply steal other projects' source codes and don't have capability to develop their own source codes.

Those projects fail at their beginnings.

Totally you can! Bitcoin source code is available publicly and it is under the MIT licensing. So you indeed can copy and use the source code and run your own shitcoin. But at the end of the day, it will probably be only you running network with no taker of your coin just like thousands other shitcoin in the market which no one really cares about!

Dor example, look at the ICO scene happened in 2017-18 period where people have lost millions.

Possible. In fact, if I remember correctly one of the infamous Bitcoin forks, BSV, has some of their community members wanting to fork the BSV chain and hand over the Satoshi coins to Craig "Faketoshi" Wright. It seems like they haven't went through with it, but yea it's a possibility.

Instead of using words such as copy-paste you better way fork. The short answer is yes since bitcoin is an open-source project and anyone can see the source or create another form of it, you can also fork the whole project and create your own coin and you can even change some stuff, for example, you can change the block times. But the most important thing is what makes your project desirable for people and investors to use your project.

Copypasting it is easy changing the parameters to make it look like it is different from Bitcoin is a little more difficult but anyone with a small amount of programming knowledge should be able to make the changes without breaking anything. If you go to the altcoin board you will see that this is common and most people copy the code and then replace the name and total supply with their own but they are not different from any of the other 100s of altcoins in that board except for their custom name and total supply. They are never successful but it does not stop people from trying.

That's basically creating your own coin which you can do provided that you have prior knowledge in programming languages. You could pretty much copy and paste everything and it would be yours. The thing about this though is that even if you copy bitcoin along with its framework and system, the people are still to decide whether your bitcoin bootleg is worth their time and money. Which in the case of bitcoin classic, is indeed worth everyone's time. If they see through your bullshit they may decide to shrug your coin and leave it hanging, leaving you as well not hanging this time but with an effort wasted. basically copy it along with the concept and the mechanisms behind the coin but at the end of the day it wouldn't be Bitcoin. So people will still be able to perceive the difference between the new coin you just created and bitcoin itself. And just like what I have said above, it will be up to the people whether they deem your coin valuable or not. If they do not see fit to invest on your coin, then the coin you just create will have no value and would just be another bitcoin bootleg that died along the way as casualties of war.

Anyone can copy Bitcoin's source code and make a new cryptocurrency with a few simple tweaks. I don't know about the Genesis block since that's the first block generated when you give birth to a new blockchain network. As far as I'm aware, there's no key needed for that. Copying Bitcoin may be easy, but the tricky part would be getting your new coin to get the attention it deserves from people in the mainstream world. If you don't know much about programming or even cryptography, you'll be out of luck. A direct copy of Bitcoin would prove to be a failure in the long run. It's all about bringing innovation in order to attract as much people into your project as possible. Everything is decentralized and open source, so anyone can copy Bitcoin's code and make a new coin without any restrictions whatsoever. Just my opinion :)