Bitcoin for Pros

Taproot makes it possible to process transactions in batches. This helps to improve Bitcoin’s network speed, privacy, security features, and scalability. 

As the name suggests, the Lightning Network is a second-layer blockchain that sits on top of Bitcoin and helps make the transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain faster by processing multiple transactions at once. First proposed in 2015, the Lightning Network…

Cryptocurrency investors argue that Bitcoin is the digital equivalent of investing in gold, in the sense that it is a hedge against inflation and turbulence in the financial markets. In other words, investors have long invested in gold as a…

A Schnorr signature is a type of digital signature used to verify and authorise transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. Think of a digital signature as an electronic version of a physical signature that is virtually impossible to fake. It was…

To mine Bitcoin, computers solve cryptographic puzzles to process and validate blocks and their transactions. However, as pointed out by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008, the capability of computer hardware and processing power becomes more advanced over time. To solve this…

A BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal) is the document standard used for proposing changes to Bitcoin.  Proposals are usually first roughly outlined using a mailing list of developers, where feedback and their feasibility are assessed before a decision is made to…

Bitcoin that is “lost” refers to wallet owners that have lost access to their private keys. Critics argue that this is a vulnerability of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. If users lose access to their wallets, there is no way to recover…

Bitcoin is created through a process called mining. Using supercomputers, these miners confirm transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain and are rewarded for their efforts in the form of newly-created Bitcoin. These payments are called block rewards.  Through a process called…

Bitcoin miners are much like the Ringo Starr of the crypto market. Quite literally hidden in the background or network in our example, miners aren’t usually at the forefront of any discussions or articles you may have read about Bitcoin….

The process of mining gold can be understood as it is a mineral found deep underground that can only be reached and salvaged using mining equipment. But can the same be said for something that only exists on computers?  While…

Proof-of-work is a consensus mechanism used to confirm transactions on Bitcoin and other networks.

Segregated Witness (SegWit) refers to a process to reduce the requirements for processing Bitcoin transactions by allowing information to be processed more efficiently to speed up the network. Specifically this refers to digital signatures used to verify transactions, which take…