Does anybody knows how bitcoin is validated?

[loicatraile]

My question is.. if bitcoin is a file in your computer.. how does the "wallet" knows that the file is an authentic or just a copy? thanks for the help!

[Peter R]

Using a breakthrough in computer science: the blockchain proof-of-work-based timestamp server.  It is described succinctly in the original bitcoin white paper:

https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

[yogi]

There is no difference between the original file and the copy, both can be considered authentic.

[jonald_fyookball]

Bitcoin is basically a distributed public ledger which stores everyone's balances based on inputs and outputs.

Your wallet generally contains your private keys which let you transfer funds out.

[juju]

There is no difference between the original file and the copy, both can be considered authentic.

This is true no differences at all between a wallet.dat file and a copy of a wallet.dat file both are usable on any persons computer.

If someone has a copy of your non-encrypted wallet.dat file, they will essentially own any coins that are sent to the addresses associated with the .dat file.  In that case its who ever spends the coins first, I don't think even encrypting the wallet after this point will have any effect to protect the coins because the attacker has copied a non-encrypted wallet.dat file and can sign transactions with the non-encrypted dat file for the same address. (Someone correct me if I am wrong)

Its best to have your wallet.dat files backed up on offline machines and encrypted with a long password.

Cheers,
juju

[loicatraile]

thanks for the answers! and hows the bitcoin as coin coded?  i mean there has to be someway to proof.. this is a real bitcoin or not?

[cp1]

Everyone has to have a record of you receiving those bitcoins or you won't be able to spend them.

[yogi]

thanks for the answers! and hows the bitcoin as coin coded?  i mean there has to be someway to proof.. this is a real bitcoin or not?

All bitcoins are created as a reward for the miner. The transaction in the block that gives the miner his block reward is called the coinbase transaction.  All bitcoins can be traced back to the coinbase transaction they were created in. In-order to send bitcoins from one address to another the transaction must be signed using a valid private key.

[jonald_fyookball]

thanks for the answers! and hows the bitcoin as coin coded?  i mean there has to be someway to proof.. this is a real bitcoin or not?

Actually there's no "coin itself" that's a file on your computer.

a bitcoin address resides in the public ledger.  In order to spend those coins in that address,
you need the encryption key (private key) to move coins to another address.

Your wallet contains those keys.

If you want to see if you actually own the coins, you have to create a transaction
and move them to another address.  If you can do so sucesfully, it means
your keys work.