Bitcoin Transaction Pinning and Fee Bumping Reliability
Transaction pinning can trap a Lightning channel close at a low fee rate, blocking CPFP and RBF. The mechanics, the stakes, and the fixes underway.
№ 014BitcoinBitcoin Covenant Proposals: Security Assumptions Compared
CTV, CSFS, APO, and CAT rest on structurally different trust models. A mechanical breakdown of what actually separates them, and why it matters.
№ 015BitcoinBitcoin Script and Recursive Covenants: The Opcode Gap
Bitcoin Script cannot inspect its own outputs, making recursive covenants impossible today. The mechanics, the proposals, and the tradeoffs, examined plainly.
№ 016BitcoinBitcoin Tapscript: Conditional Spending, Hidden Branches
Tapscript lets Bitcoin transactions spend one condition while keeping all others permanently hidden. The exact mechanism, with a worked example.
№ 017BitcoinBitcoin Output Scripts and UTXO Set Growth Explained
P2PKH, P2SH, P2WPKH, and P2TR each leave a different footprint on Bitcoin's UTXO set, the tradeoffs affect every full node running today.
№ 018BitcoinBitcoin Locktime and Sequence Numbers Explained
How Bitcoin's locktime field and sequence numbers combine to create relative timelocks. The mechanics, a worked example, and one common misconception.
№ 019BitcoinBitcoin Dust: Why High-Fee Networks Create It Faster
Small UTXOs become unspendable dust when fees exceed their value. High-fee networks accelerate this faster than most people realise.
№ 020BitcoinBitcoin Script Cannot Read External Data
Bitcoin Script is a sealed execution environment with no I/O. This piece traces the exact mechanism, the design reasoning, and what DLCs build around it.
№ 021BitcoinBitcoin Mempool Replacement Policies Explained
Bitcoin nodes apply different replacement rules to the same transaction. The mechanics, tradeoffs, and practical fixes for a stuck or rejected bump.
№ 022BitcoinBitcoin Signet: Controlled Testing Without Testnet Chaos
Signet replaces proof-of-work with a signature check, giving Bitcoin developers stable block times and reproducible test conditions. The mechanism, examined.
№ 023BitcoinBitcoin's Unspendable Outputs and the Shrinking Float
Millions of BTC are locked in addresses no one controls. The supply effect is real; the estimates are murkier than most analysts admit.
№ 024BitcoinBitcoin Proof-of-Work: Why Blocks Cost Real Energy
Bitcoin's Hashcash mechanism forces miners to burn electricity to produce valid blocks. The energy expenditure is the security model, not a design flaw.