Bitcoin serialization format

Posted on May 7, 2020

I recently had to parse raw Bitcoin transactions and blocks for a project and struggled to find an easy to implement documentation.

I started out by following what was mentioned on the Protocol documentation and the Bitcoin Developer Reference but found that it was not as clear as I hoped and often ended up digging into the Bitcoin core source code to understand how things should be parsed.

In this post, I will cover the transaction and block formats which are used in the RPC format. This serialization format is also used to compute the transaction and block hashes.

Often, a code snippet is worth one thousand words, so I will add a simple Python implementation for each data type. The implementation is for illustrative purposes and should work for the happy path but does not perform any kind of error handling. The Python code covers the parsing from bytes to a Python dictionary and from a Python dictionary to bytes. The code in this article can also be found here.

Primitive Data Types

Below is a table containing most of the data types used in Bitcoin serialization format.

Name	Size (bytes)	Description
`uint8`	1	An 8 bits unsigned integer
`int32`	4	A 32 bits signed integer
`uint32`	4	A 32 bits unsigned signed integer
`H256Digest`	32	A 256 bits (32 bytes) digest of a (double sha256) hash. See [H256Digest][#h256digest].
`cuint`	Variable	A compact representation of a an unsigned integer. See Compact uint
`nbits`	4	A compact representation of a 256 bits unsigned integer. See nbits
`vector`	Variable	A vector containing multiple values of the same type. See vector

Byte order

All the internal number representation of Bitcoin are in little-endian. As a reminder, this means that when a number is expressed as bytes, the most significant byte is last.

For example, given the bytes \([210, 4]\) ([0xd2, 0x04]), the result would be:

\[ 4\cdot 16^2 + 210\cdot 16^0 = 1024 + 210 = 1234 \]

Most languages have some sort of builtin to perform the conversion.

Show code

>>> int.from_bytes([0xd2, 0x04], "little")
1234
>>> (1234).to_bytes(2, "little")
b'\xd2\x04'

`H256Digest`

Bitcoin uses a double SHA256 when hashing bytes. This is used to compute almost any hash in Bitcoin, including the block hash or transaction. We note the result of the hash, which is 256 bits long, as H256Digest.

Show code

def double_sha256(raw_bytes: bytes) -> bytes:
    """Computes a double SHA256 hash
    """
    return hashlib.sha256(hashlib.sha256(raw_bytes).digest()).digest()

`cuint`

cuint stands for “Compact Unsigned Integer” and is a compact representation of an unsigned integer of at most 64 bits.

Given the first byte \(b_0\), the format is as follow

if \(b_0 < 253~(\text{0xfd})\), result is \(b_0\)
if \(b_0 = 253~(\text{0xfd})\), result is the decoded 2 bytes following \(b_0\)
if \(b_0 = 254~(\text{0xfe})\), result is the decoded 4 bytes following \(b_0\)
if \(b_0 = 255~(\text{0xff})\), result is the decoded 8 bytes following \(b_0\)

Note that the bytes following \(b_0\) should be decoded in little-endian.

Show code

def parse_cuint(cuint: bytes) -> (int, int):
    """Parses a compact uint and return the value as well as the number of
    bytes consumed
    >>> parse_cuint(bytes([0xfa]))
    (250, 1)
    >>> parse_cuint(bytes([0xfd, 0xd2, 0x04]))
    (1234, 3)
    >>> parse_cuint(bytes([0xfe, 0x15, 0xcd, 0x5b, 0x07]))
    (123456789, 5)
    >>> parse_cuint(bytes([0xff, 0x15, 0x5f, 0xd0, 0xac, 0x4b, 0x9b, 0xb6, 0x01]))
    (123456789123456789, 9)
    """
    if cuint[0] < 0xfd:
        return cuint[0], 1
    elif cuint[0] == 0xfd:
        return int.from_bytes(cuint[1:3], "little"), 3
    elif cuint[0] == 0xfe:
        return int.from_bytes(cuint[1:5], "little"), 5
    else: # cuint[0] == 0xff:
        return int.from_bytes(cuint[1:9], "little"), 9

def format_cuint(value: int) -> bytes:
    """Formats an integer value as a cuint
    >>> format_cuint(250)
    b'\\xfa'
    >>> format_cuint(1234)
    b'\\xfd\\xd2\\x04'
    >>> format_cuint(123456789)
    b'\\xfe\\x15\\xcd[\\x07'
    >>> format_cuint(123456789123456789)
    b'\\xff\\x15_\\xd0\\xacK\\x9b\\xb6\\x01'
    """
    if value < 0xfd:
        return value.to_bytes(1, "little")
    elif value <= 2 ** 16 - 1:
        return b"\xfd" + value.to_bytes(2, "little")
    elif value <= 2 ** 32 - 1:
        return b"\xfe" + value.to_bytes(4, "little")
    elif value <= 2**64 - 1:
        return b"\xff" + value.to_bytes(8, "little")
    else:
        raise ValueError("{0} too large for u64".format(value))

`nbits`

nbits is a compact representation of an unsigned 256 bits integer. It is expressed in 4 bytes where the first three bytes are the mantissa and the last byte is the exponent. The mantissa is parsed as a little-endian encoded integer. The value is computed using \(n = \text{mantissa} \cdot 256^{\text{exponent} - 3}\).

Show code

def parse_nbits(nbits: bytes) -> int:
    """Parses u256 represented as nbits into an integer
    >>> parse_nbits(bytes([0x30, 0xc3, 0x1b, 0x18])) # 0x1bc330 * 256**(0x18-3)
    680733321990486529407107157001552378184394215934016880640
    """
    exponent = nbits[3]
    mantissa = int.from_bytes(nbits[:3], "little")
    return mantissa * 256 ** (exponent - 3)

def format_nbits(value: int) -> bytes:
    """Formats an integer into a 4 bytes nbits representation
    >>> format_nbits(680733321990486529407107157001552378184394215934016880640)
    b'0\\xc3\\x1b\\x18'
    """
    exponent = 0
    while value > 256 ** 3 or value % 256 == 0:
        value //= 256
        exponent += 1
    return value.to_bytes(3, "little") + (exponent + 3).to_bytes(1, "little")

`vector`

A vector is a collection of multiple objects of the same type. The first part of a vector is its number of element represented as a cuint. The rest is the elements concatenated together. For example, for a vector of 4 uint8 could be expressed as [0x04, 0x00, 0x01, 0x02, 0x03] where 0x04 is the length of the vector. Do note that the cuint could be more than a single byte depending on the value.

Show code

def parse_vector(raw_vector: bytes, parse_element: callable = None) -> (list, int):
    """Given a parsing function, parses a vector
    Defaults to parsing elements as simple `uint8`
    >>> parse_vector(bytes([0x4, 0x0, 0x1, 0x2, 0x3]), lambda v: (v[0], 1))
    ([0, 1, 2, 3], 5)
    """
    if parse_element is None:
        parse_element = lambda raw_bytes: (raw_bytes[0], 1)
    element_count, offset = parse_cuint(raw_vector)
    results = []
    for _ in range(element_count):
        element, new_offset = parse_element(raw_vector[offset:])
        offset += new_offset
        results.append(element)
    return results, offset

def format_vector(vector: list, format_element: callable = None) -> bytes:
    """Given a formatting function, formats a vector
    Defaults to formatting elements as simple `uint8`
    >>> format_vector([0, 1, 2, 3], lambda v: v.to_bytes(1, 'little'))
    b'\\x04\\x00\\x01\\x02\\x03'
    """
    if format_element is None:
        format_element = lambda elem: elem.to_bytes(1, 'little')
    result = format_cuint(len(vector))
    for element in vector:
        result += format_element(element)
    return result

Block Header

The block header contains all the information about the block except the actual transactions.

Name	Type	Size	Description
`version`	`int32`	4	The version of the block header
`previous_hash`	`H256Digest`	32	The hash of the previous block header
`merkle_root`	`H256Digest`	32	The merkle root of the block
`timestamp`	`u32`	4	The time at which the block was mined
`target`	`nbits`	4	The target (“inverse difficulty”) of the block
`nonce`	`u32`	4	An arbitrary integer used by miners

A block header is always 80 bytes. The hash of a block can be computed by computing the double-hash of the serialized representation of the header.

Show code

def parse_block_header(header: bytes) -> dict:
    """Parses a header header from its raw bytes representation
    >>> raw_header = bytes.fromhex(
    ... '02000000'                         # Block version: 2
    ... 'b6ff0b1b1680a2862a30ca44d346d9e8'
    ... '910d334beb48ca0c0000000000000000' # Hash of previous header's header
    ... '9d10aa52ee949386ca9385695f04ede2'
    ... '70dda20810decd12bc9b048aaab31471' # Merkle root
    ... '24d95a54'                         # Unix time: 1415239972
    ... '30c31b18'                         # Target: 0x1bc330 * 256**(0x18-3)
    ... 'fe9f0864')
    >>> header = parse_block_header(raw_header)
    >>> header['version']
    2
    """
    return {
        "version": int.from_bytes(header[0:4], "little", signed=True),
        "previous_hash": header[4:36],
        "merkle_root": header[36:68],
        "timestamp": int.from_bytes(header[68:72], "little"),
        "target": parse_nbits(header[72:76]),
        "nonce": int.from_bytes(header[76:80], "little"),
    }

def format_block_header(header: dict) -> bytes:
    """Formats a block header into its raw byte representation
    >>> raw_header = bytes.fromhex(
    ... '02000000b6ff0b1b1680a2862a30ca44d346d9e8910d334beb48ca0c0000000000000000'
    ... '9d10aa52ee949386ca9385695f04ede270dda20810decd12bc9b048aaab31471'
    ... '24d95a5430c31b18fe9f0864')
    >>> header = parse_block_header(raw_header)
    >>> assert(format_block_header(header) == raw_header)
    """
    return (
        header["version"].to_bytes(4, "little", signed=True) +
        header["previous_hash"] +
        header["merkle_root"] +
        header["timestamp"].to_bytes(4, "little") +
        format_nbits(header["target"]) +
        header["nonce"].to_bytes(4, "little")
    )

Transaction

A transaction is mainly composed of inputs, outputs and witnesses with a small amount of other additional metadata.

The format is as follow.

Name	Type	Size	Description
`version`	`int32`	4	The version of the transaction
`witness_marker`	`uint8`	1	Marker present for segregated witness inputs. Must be equal to 0.
`flags`	`uint8`	1	Flags used for parsing. Only present if `witness_marker` is present.
`inputs`	`vector<input>`	Variable	An arbitrary number of inputs. See transaction input
`outputs`	`vector<output>`	Variable	An arbitrary number of outputs. See transaction output
`witnesses`	`witness[len(inputs)]`	Variable	Witness of each transaction input. Only present if `witness_marker` is present
`locktime`	`uint32`	4	A locktime or block height. See BIP 113

Note that the witness_marker might or not be present. If the byte following the version is 0, it should be interpreted as the witness_marker. The flag after the witness_marker must be flags and at the time of writing must always be equal to 1. If the byte following version is anything else than 0, the bytes following version should be parsed as the start of the inputs and the flags and witnesses will not be present.

If the witness_marker is set, the witnesses part of the transaction will contain a vector of witnesses per transaction input. A witness has a type of vector<vector<uint8>>, which means that if there are n inputs, there will be n different vector<vector<uint8>> in the witnesses field.

The transaction hash can be computed by double-hashing the serialized transaction. The transaction ID can be computed by double-hashing the serialized transaction without witnesses, i.e. no witness_marker, flags and witnesses fields.

Show code

SAMPLE_TRANSACTION = (
    "0200000000010140d43a99926d43eb0e619bf0b3"
    "d83b4a31f60c176beecfb9d35bf45e54d0f74201"
    "00000017160014a4b4ca48de0b3fffc15404a1ac"
    "dc8dbaae226955ffffffff0100e1f50500000000"
    "17a9144a1154d50b03292b3024370901711946cb"
    "7cccc387024830450221008604ef8f6d8afa892d"
    "ee0f31259b6ce02dd70c545cfcfed81481799718"
    "76c54a022076d771d6e91bed212783c9b06e0de6"
    "00fab2d518fad6f15a2b191d7fbd262a3e012103"
    "9d25ab79f41f75ceaf882411fd41fa670a4c672c"
    "23ffaf0e361a969cde0692e800000000"
)

def parse_transaction(raw_transaction: bytes) -> (dict, int):
    """Parses a raw transaction
    >>> raw_tx = bytes.fromhex(SAMPLE_TRANSACTION)
    >>> tx, consumed = parse_transaction(raw_tx)
    >>> assert(consumed == len(raw_tx))
    >>> assert(tx["version"] == 2)
    >>> assert(len(tx["inputs"]) == 1)
    >>> assert(len(tx["inputs"][0]["witnesses"]) == 2)
    >>> assert(len(tx["inputs"][0]["witnesses"][0]) == 72)
    >>> assert(len(tx["inputs"][0]["witnesses"][1]) == 33)
    >>> assert(len(tx["outputs"]) == 1)
    >>> assert(tx["locktime"] == 0)
    """
    version = int.from_bytes(raw_transaction[0:4], "little", signed=True)
    if version not in [1, 2]:  # supported versions
        raise ValueError("unsupported version: {0}".format(version))
    inputs, consumed = parse_vector(raw_transaction[4:], parse_transaction_input)
    index = consumed + 4
    has_witness = len(inputs) == 0
    if has_witness:
        flags = raw_transaction[5]  # must currently be 1
        if flags != 1:
            raise ValueError("invalid flag: {0}".format(flags))
        inputs, consumed = parse_vector(raw_transaction[6:], parse_transaction_input)
        index += consumed + 1
    outputs, consumed = parse_vector(raw_transaction[index:], parse_transaction_output)
    index += consumed
    if has_witness:
        for tx_input in inputs:
            witnesses, consumed = parse_vector(raw_transaction[index:], parse_vector)
            tx_input["witnesses"] = witnesses
            index += consumed
    locktime = int.from_bytes(raw_transaction[index:index + 4], "little")
    return dict(
        version=version,
        inputs=inputs,
        outputs=outputs,
        locktime=locktime,
    ), index + 4


def format_transaction(transaction: dict, with_witness: bool = True) -> bytes:
    """Formats a transaction in its bytes representation
    >>> raw_tx = bytes.fromhex(SAMPLE_TRANSACTION)
    >>> tx, _consumed = parse_transaction(raw_tx)
    >>> assert(format_transaction(tx) == raw_tx)
    >>> expected_txid = bytes.fromhex("c586389e5e4b3acb9d6c8be1c19ae8ab2795397633176f5a6442a261bbdefc3a")[::-1]
    >>> expected_hash = bytes.fromhex("b759d39a8596b70b3a46700b83e1edb247e17ba58df305421864fe7a9ac142ea")[::-1]
    >>> assert(double_sha256(raw_tx) == expected_hash)
    >>> assert(double_sha256(format_transaction(tx, with_witness=True)) == expected_hash)
    >>> assert(double_sha256(format_transaction(tx, with_witness=False)) == expected_txid)
    """
    has_witness = any("witnesses" in tx_in for tx_in in transaction["inputs"])
    include_witness = with_witness and has_witness

    result = transaction["version"].to_bytes(4, "little", signed=True)
    if include_witness:
        result += bytes([0, 1])  # marker and flags
    result += format_vector(transaction["inputs"], format_transaction_input)
    result += format_vector(transaction["outputs"], format_transaction_output)
    if include_witness:
        for tx_input in transaction["inputs"]:
            result += format_vector(tx_input.get("witnesses", []), format_vector)
    result += transaction["locktime"].to_bytes(4, "little")
    return result

Transaction input

Name	Type	Size	Description
`previous_hash`	`H256Le`	32	The hash of the transaction ID to spend from
`previous_index`	`uint32`	4	The transaction output index to spend from
`script`	`vector<uint8>`	Variable	The script used to spend from the given input
`sequence`	`uint32`	4	The sequence number of the transaction

The transaction input may contain a witness but the witness is segregated, i.e. not in the transaction input itself but elsewhere in the transaction. In our sample code, it will be added by parse_transaction when available.

Show code

def parse_transaction_input(raw_tx_input: bytes) -> (dict, int):
    """Parses a raw transaction input
    >>> raw_tx_input = bytes.fromhex(
    ... "7b1eabe0209b1fe794124575ef807057"
    ... "c77ada2138ae4fa8d6c4de0398a14f3f"   # Outpoint TXID
    ... "00000000"                           # Outpoint index number
    ... "49"                                 # Bytes in sig. script: 73
    ... "48"                                 # Push 72 bytes as data
    ... "30450221008949f0cb400094ad2b5eb3"
    ... "99d59d01c14d73d8fe6e96df1a7150de"
    ... "b388ab8935022079656090d7f6bac4c9"
    ... "a94e0aad311a4268e082a725f8aeae05"
    ... "73fb12ff866a5f01"                   # Secp256k1 signature
    ... "ffffffff")
    >>> tx_input, consumed = parse_transaction_input(raw_tx_input)
    >>> assert(consumed == len(raw_tx_input))
    >>> assert(tx_input["previous_index"] == 0)
    >>> assert(len(tx_input["script"]) == 73)
    >>> assert(tx_input["sequence"] == 0xffffffff)
    >>> assert(tx_input["previous_hash"] == bytes.fromhex("7b1eabe0209b1fe794124575ef807057c77ada2138ae4fa8d6c4de0398a14f3f"))
    """
    previous_hash = raw_tx_input[0:32]
    previous_index = int.from_bytes(raw_tx_input[32:36], "little")
    script, consumed = parse_vector(raw_tx_input[36:])
    index = consumed + 36
    sequence = int.from_bytes(raw_tx_input[index:index + 4], "little")
    return {
        "previous_hash": previous_hash,
        "previous_index": previous_index,
        "script": script,
        "sequence": sequence,
    }, index + 4

def format_transaction_input(tx_input: dict) -> bytes:
    """Formats a transaction input into its serialized representation
    >>> raw_tx_input = bytes.fromhex(
    ... "7b1eabe0209b1fe794124575ef807057c77ada2138ae4fa8d6c4de0398a14f3f"
    ... "00000000494830450221008949f0cb400094ad2b5eb399d59d01c14d73d8fe6e96df1a7150de"
    ... "b388ab8935022079656090d7f6bac4c9a94e0aad311a4268e082a725f8aeae0573fb12ff866a5f01ffffffff")
    >>> tx_input, _consumed = parse_transaction_input(raw_tx_input)
    >>> assert(format_transaction_input(tx_input) == raw_tx_input)
    """
    result = tx_input["previous_hash"]
    result += tx_input["previous_index"].to_bytes(4, "little")
    result += format_vector(tx_input["script"])
    result += tx_input["sequence"].to_bytes(4, "little")
    return result

Transaction output

Name	Type	Size	Description
`value`	`int32`	4	The value of the output
`script`	`vector<uint8>`	Variable	The spend script (e.g. P2PKH script)

The transaction output spend script is typically formatted using one of the supported output formats, such as P2PKH or P2SH can typically be parsed further, to extract information such as the address of the payee, but our code below leaves the spend script as-is.

Show code

def parse_transaction_output(raw_tx_output: bytes) -> (dict, int):
    """Parses a raw transaction output
    >>> raw_tx_output = bytes.fromhex(
    ...   "f0ca052a01000000"                   # Satoshis (49.99990000 BTC)
    ...   "19"                                 # Bytes in pubkey script: 25
    ...   "76"                                 # OP_DUP
    ...   "a9"                                 # OP_HASH160
    ...   "14"                                 # Push 20 bytes as data
    ...   "cbc20a7664f2f69e5355aa427045bc15"
    ...   "e7c6c772"                           # PubKey hash
    ...   "88"                                 # OP_EQUALVERIFY
    ...   "ac")                                # OP_CHECKSIG
    >>> tx_output, consumed = parse_transaction_output(raw_tx_output)
    >>> assert(consumed == len(raw_tx_output))
    >>> assert(tx_output["value"] == 4999990000)
    >>> assert(len(tx_output["script"]) == 25)
    """
    value = int.from_bytes(raw_tx_output[0:8], "little", signed=True)
    script, consumed = parse_vector(raw_tx_output[8:])
    return {
        "value": value,
        "script": script,
    }, 8 + consumed

def format_transaction_output(tx_output: dict) -> bytes:
    """Formats a transaction output in its bytes representation
    >>> raw_tx_output = bytes.fromhex(
    ...   "f0ca052a010000001976a914"
    ...   "cbc20a7664f2f69e5355aa427045bc15e7c6c77288ac")
    >>> tx_output, _consumed = parse_transaction_output(raw_tx_output)
    >>> assert(format_transaction_output(tx_output) == raw_tx_output)
    """
    return tx_output["value"].to_bytes(8, "little", signed=True) + \
           format_vector(tx_output["script"])

Merkle proof

Name	Type	Size	Description
`block_header`	`BlockHeader`	80	The header of the block containing the transaction
`transactions_count`	`uint32`	4	The number of transactions in the block
`hashes`	`vec<H256Digest>`	Variable	The hashes in the proof
`flags`	`vec<u8>`	Variable	Packed flags with information about which hash is of interest

Each flag in flags represent 8 booleans packed in a single byte. A single boolean represent if the hash at the same index is a parent of one of the transaction which needs to be proven. See the proof implementation for more details.

Show code

SAMPLE_PROOF = (
    "00000020ecf348128755dbeea5deb8eddf64566d9d4e59bc65d485000000000000000000901f0d92"
    "a66ee7dcefd02fa282ca63ce85288bab628253da31ef259b24abe8a0470a385a45960018e8d672f8"
    "a90a00000d0bdabada1fb6e3cef7f5c6e234621e3230a2f54efc1cba0b16375d9980ecbc023cbef3"
    "ba8d8632ea220927ec8f95190b30769eb35d87618f210382c9445f192504074f56951b772efa43b8"
    "9320d9c430b0d156b93b7a1ff316471e715151a0619a39392657f25289eb713168818bd5b37476f1"
    "bc59b166deaa736d8a58756f9d7ce2aef46d8004c5fe3293d883838f87b5f1da03839878895b7153"
    "0e9ff89338bb6d4578b3c3135ff3e8671f9a64d43b22e14c2893e8271cecd420f11d2359307403bb"
    "1f3128885b3912336045269ef909d64576b93e816fa522c8c027fe408700dd4bdee0254c069ccb72"
    "8d3516fe1e27578b31d70695e3e35483da448f3a951273e018de7f2a8f657064b013c6ede75c74bb"
    "d7f98fdae1c2ac6789ee7b21a791aa29d60e89fff2d1d2b1ada50aa9f59f403823c8c58bb092dc58"
    "dc09b28158ca15447da9c3bedb0b160f3fe1668d5a27716e27661bcb75ddbf3468f5c76b7bed1004"
    "c6b4df4da2ce80b831a7c260b515e6355e1c306373d2233e8de6fda3674ed95d17a01a1f64b27ba8"
    "8c3676024fbf8d5dd962ffc4d5e9f3b1700763ab88047f7d0000"
)

def parse_merkle_proof(raw_merkle_proof: bytes) -> (dict, int):
    """Parses a Merkle proof as returned by `gettxoutproof`
    >>> raw_proof = bytes.fromhex(SAMPLE_PROOF)
    >>> proof, consumed = parse_merkle_proof(raw_proof)
    >>> assert(consumed == len(raw_proof))
    >>> assert(proof["transactions_count"] == 2729)
    >>> assert(len(proof["hashes"]) == 13)
    >>> assert(len(proof["flags"]) == 4)
    >>> expected_merkle_root = bytes.fromhex("a0e8ab249b25ef31da538262ab8b2885ce63ca82a22fd0efdce76ea6920d1f90")[::-1]
    >>> assert(proof["block_header"]["merkle_root"] == expected_merkle_root)
    """
    block_header = parse_block_header(raw_merkle_proof)
    transactions_count = int.from_bytes(raw_merkle_proof[80:84], "little")
    hashes, consumed = parse_vector(raw_merkle_proof[84:], lambda x: (x[:32], 32))
    index = consumed + 84
    flags, consumed = parse_vector(raw_merkle_proof[index:])
    return {
        "block_header": block_header,
        "transactions_count": transactions_count,
        "hashes": hashes,
        "flags": flags,
    }, consumed + index

def format_merkle_proof(proof: dict) -> bytes:
    """Format a merkle proof into its byte representation
    >>> raw_proof = bytes.fromhex(SAMPLE_PROOF)
    >>> proof, _consumed = parse_merkle_proof(raw_proof)
    >>> assert(format_merkle_proof(proof) == raw_proof)
    """
    result = format_block_header(proof["block_header"])
    result += proof["transactions_count"].to_bytes(4, "little")
    result += format_vector(proof["hashes"], lambda x: x)
    result += format_vector(proof["flags"])
    return result

Final words

There are of course many other types used in Bitcoin but this should at least cover a good part of what is needed for an SPV clients or other software which mainly care about blocks and transactions. Do not hesitate to leave a comment if you find any mistake in the article or the code.

The code in this article is available at the following repository:

https://github.com/danhper/simple-bitcoin-parser