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 [![Status](https://travis-ci.org/apoelstra/rust-bitcoin.png?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.org/apoelstra/rust-bitcoin)
 
-### Rust Bitcoin Library
+# Rust Bitcoin Library
 
-This library is badly incomplete --- though at this point it is perhaps stable
-enough that pull requests could be accepted.
+Library with support for de/serialization, parsing and executing on data
+structures and network messages related to Bitcoin and other blockchain-based
+currencies.
 
-Currently development is following the needs of the
-[Wizard's Wallet](https://github.com/apoelstra/wizards-wallet), which is
-a "lite" wallet which does SPV validation but maintains a full UTXO index.
-Its purpose is to be a usable-though-risky wallet which supports experimental
-user-facing features.
+[Documentation](https://www.wpsoftware.net/rustdoc/bitcoin/)
 
-Pull requests to generalize the library or introduce new use cases would
-be great.
+Supports (or should support)
 
-### Building
+* De/serialization of Bitcoin protocol network messages
+* De/serialization of blocks and transactions
+* Script de/serialization and execution
+* Blockchain validation and utxoset building
+* Private keys and address creation, de/serialization and validation (including full BIP32 support)
+* Pay-to-contract support as in Appendix A of the [Blockstream sidechains whitepaper](https://www.blockstream.com/sidechains.pdf)
 
-To build, start by obtaining [cargo](http://crates.io/). Then just run `cargo build`.
-To run the test cases, do `cargo test`. Note that the tests must pass (and reasonably
-complete unit tests provided for new features) before any submissions can be accepted.
+# Usage
+
+To use rust-bitcoin, just add the following to your Cargo.toml.
+
+```toml
+[dependencies]
+bitcoin = "0.3"
+```
+
+# Known limitations
+
+## Consensus
+
+This library **must not** be used for consensus code (i.e. fully validating
+blockchain data). It technically supports doing this, but doing so is very
+ill-advised because there are many deviations, known and unknown, between
+this library and the Bitcoin Core reference implementation. In a consensus
+based cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin it is critical that all parties are
+using the same rules to validate data, and this library is simply unable
+to implement the same rules as Core.
+
+Given the complexity of both C++ and Rust, it is unlikely that this will
+ever be fixed, and there are no plans to do so.
+
+## Memory Usage
+
+Currently this library's UTXO-set support is limited to an in-RAM hash tree.
+It can be serialized and deserialized to disk to avoid recomputing it all
+the time, but needs to be in memory to be used, which currently requires
+several gigabytes of RAM.
+
+Patches are welcome. This is a priority but not a high one, due to lack of
+developer time.
+
+## Documentation
+
+Currently the [documentation](https://www.wpsoftware.net/rustdoc/bitcoin/)
+is very sparse. Patches to add usage examples and to expand on existing
+docs would be extremely appreciated.
+
+
+# Policy on Altcoins/Altchains
+
+Patches which add support for non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies by adding constants
+to existing enums (e.g. to set the network message magic-byte sequence) are
+welcome. Anything more involved will be considered on a case-by-case basis,
+as the altcoin landscape includes projects which [frequently appear and
+disappear, and are poorly designed anyway](https://download.wpsoftware.net/bitcoin/alts.pdf)
+and keeping the codebase maintainable is a large priority.
+
+In general, things that improve cross-chain compatibility (e.g. support for
+cross-chain atomic swaps) are more likely to be accepted than things which
+support only a single blockchain.