4 [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.org/btcsuite/btcd.png?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/btcsuite/btcd)
5 [![ISC License](http://img.shields.io/badge/license-ISC-blue.svg)](http://copyfree.org)
6 [![GoDoc](https://img.shields.io/badge/godoc-reference-blue.svg)](http://godoc.org/github.com/btcsuite/btcd)
8 btcd is an alternative full node bitcoin implementation written in Go (golang).
10 This project is currently under active development and is in a Beta state. It
11 is extremely stable and has been in production use since October 2013.
13 It properly downloads, validates, and serves the block chain using the exact
14 rules (including consensus bugs) for block acceptance as Bitcoin Core. We have
15 taken great care to avoid btcd causing a fork to the block chain. It includes a
16 full block validation testing framework which contains all of the 'official'
17 block acceptance tests (and some additional ones) that is run on every pull
18 request to help ensure it properly follows consensus. Also, it passes all of
19 the JSON test data in the Bitcoin Core code.
21 It also properly relays newly mined blocks, maintains a transaction pool, and
22 relays individual transactions that have not yet made it into a block. It
23 ensures all individual transactions admitted to the pool follow the rules
24 required by the block chain and also includes more strict checks which filter
25 transactions based on miner requirements ("standard" transactions).
27 One key difference between btcd and Bitcoin Core is that btcd does *NOT* include
28 wallet functionality and this was a very intentional design decision. See the
29 blog entry [here](https://blog.conformal.com/btcd-not-your-moms-bitcoin-daemon)
30 for more details. This means you can't actually make or receive payments
31 directly with btcd. That functionality is provided by the
32 [btcwallet](https://github.com/btcsuite/btcwallet) and
33 [Paymetheus](https://github.com/btcsuite/Paymetheus) (Windows-only) projects
34 which are both under active development.
38 [Go](http://golang.org) 1.8 or newer.
42 #### Windows - MSI Available
44 https://github.com/btcsuite/btcd/releases
46 #### Linux/BSD/MacOSX/POSIX - Build from Source
48 - Install Go according to the installation instructions here:
49 http://golang.org/doc/install
51 - Ensure Go was installed properly and is a supported version:
55 $ go env GOROOT GOPATH
58 NOTE: The `GOROOT` and `GOPATH` above must not be the same path. It is
59 recommended that `GOPATH` is set to a directory in your home directory such as
60 `~/goprojects` to avoid write permission issues. It is also recommended to add
61 `$GOPATH/bin` to your `PATH` at this point.
63 - Run the following commands to obtain btcd, all dependencies, and install it:
66 $ go get -u github.com/Masterminds/glide
67 $ git clone https://github.com/btcsuite/btcd $GOPATH/src/github.com/btcsuite/btcd
68 $ cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/btcsuite/btcd
70 $ go install . ./cmd/...
73 - btcd (and utilities) will now be installed in ```$GOPATH/bin```. If you did
74 not already add the bin directory to your system path during Go installation,
75 we recommend you do so now.
83 #### Linux/BSD/MacOSX/POSIX - Build from Source
85 - Run the following commands to update btcd, all dependencies, and install it:
88 $ cd $GOPATH/src/github.com/btcsuite/btcd
89 $ git pull && glide install
90 $ go install . ./cmd/...
95 btcd has several configuration options avilable to tweak how it runs, but all
96 of the basic operations described in the intro section work with zero
99 #### Windows (Installed from MSI)
101 Launch btcd from your Start menu.
103 #### Linux/BSD/POSIX/Source
113 - [webchat](https://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=btcd)
117 The [integrated github issue tracker](https://github.com/btcsuite/btcd/issues)
118 is used for this project.
122 The documentation is a work-in-progress. It is located in the [docs](https://github.com/btcsuite/btcd/tree/master/docs) folder.
124 ## GPG Verification Key
126 All official release tags are signed by Conformal so users can ensure the code
127 has not been tampered with and is coming from the btcsuite developers. To
128 verify the signature perform the following:
130 - Download the Conformal public key:
131 https://raw.githubusercontent.com/btcsuite/btcd/master/release/GIT-GPG-KEY-conformal.txt
133 - Import the public key into your GPG keyring:
135 gpg --import GIT-GPG-KEY-conformal.txt
138 - Verify the release tag with the following command where `TAG_NAME` is a
139 placeholder for the specific tag:
146 btcd is licensed under the [copyfree](http://copyfree.org) ISC License.