Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Fundamentals - Part 3: Transactions and Digital Signatures (Ohio Timed & Monitored Video)
Credit: 2 PDH
Subject Matter Expert: Dana DeMeo, P.E.
In Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Fundamentals - Part 3: Transactions and Digital Signatures , you'll learn ...
- Bitcoin transaction format and operation
- Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) purpose and function
- Digital signature purpose and detailed mathematical operation
Overview
To meet the Ohio Board's intent that online courses be "paced" by the provider, a timer will be used to record your study time. You will be unable to access the quiz until the required study time of 105 minutes has been met.
Credit: 2 PDH
Duration: 105 minutes
This is the third course in a series that explains the fundamentals of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency applications. Most of us have heard about blockchain, yet very few have invested the time to really understand what’s happening under the hood.
Engineers from all disciplines will satisfy their curiosity by learning how this amazing new technology actually works! The course is designed for a broad engineering audience beyond computer scientists and programmers. If you’re looking to earn PDHs about a refreshing, modern and different subject, this course is for you.
This course continues with a deep dive into Bitcoin’s blockchain operation. These learnings easily extend to most other blockchain technologies in the market. The majority of what we’ve covered so far is all about the ecosystem that allows for a distributed database. Now we will cover what information is contained with the data section of the Bitcoin’s block. This is where transactions are stored. Discussing transactions will also lead into digital signatures, ledger management and cryptocurrency wallets.
Account-based and transaction-based ledgers are explained with animated examples. This leads into a discussion about the requirements for a financial transaction and how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies wallets create transactions. The details about transaction inputs and outputs are described, along with the Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) database. This leads to an explanation of the entire end-to-end process of paying someone, or getting paid by someone on a blockchain.
Coinbase transactions are next described in detail. These are special transactions created only by miners to mint new money and begin the transaction history in a block. The fees miners are paid are also discussed.
Digital signatures are used by nearly all blockchains to prove ownership of a transaction, which ultimately proves who owns what on a blockchain. Digital signatures rely upon complex mathematical cryptographic proofs that are described using mostly graphical animations for simplicity.
Building upon transactions and digital signatures, one of the most common Bitcoin transaction types is described: Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH).
When this course is completed, an engineer of any background will be ready to learn the technical details of what happens under the hood of blockchain systems and will be better prepared to become personally involved with cryptocurrencies.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Different types of financial ledger systems
- How wallets create transactions when making payments
- Coinbase transaction purpose, format and function
- Detailed understanding of Bitcoin’s Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash (P2PKH) format
Certificate of Completion
You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 10 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.
| This course is applicable to professional engineers in: | ||
| Alabama (P.E.) | Alaska (P.E.) | Arkansas (P.E.) |
| Delaware (P.E.) | District of Columbia (P.E.) | Florida (P.E. Area of Practice) |
| Georgia (P.E.) | Idaho (P.E.) | Illinois (P.E.) |
| Illinois (S.E.) | Indiana (P.E.) | Iowa (P.E.) |
| Kansas (P.E.) | Kentucky (P.E.) | Louisiana (P.E.) |
| Maine (P.E.) | Maryland (P.E.) | Michigan (P.E.) |
| Minnesota (P.E.) | Mississippi (P.E.) | Missouri (P.E.) |
| Montana (P.E.) | Nebraska (P.E.) | Nevada (P.E.) |
| New Hampshire (P.E.) | New Jersey (P.E.) | New Mexico (P.E.) |
| New York (P.E.) | North Carolina (P.E.) | North Dakota (P.E.) |
| Ohio (P.E. Timed & Monitored) | Oklahoma (P.E.) | Oregon (P.E.) |
| Pennsylvania (P.E.) | South Carolina (P.E.) | South Dakota (P.E.) |
| Tennessee (P.E.) | Texas (P.E.) | Utah (P.E.) |
| Vermont (P.E.) | Virginia (P.E.) | West Virginia (P.E.) |
| Wisconsin (P.E.) | Wyoming (P.E.) | |

Live support chat

