How Bitcoin Uses Hashes and Digital Signatures to Keep Transactions Honest

The article explains how Bitcoin enables trustless value transfer using cryptographic primitives and incentives. It introduces hash functions (esp. SHA-256) and why “tamper-evident” security matters, covers digital signatures/ECDSA and public-private keys, clarifies address types (P2PKH, P2SH, Bech32), and shows how UTXOs structure transactions. It also outlines pseudonymity, forensic implications, and the potential quantum-computing risk to SHA-256/ECDSA.