Bitcoin 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.
№ 062BitcoinBitcoin 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.
№ 063BitcoinBitcoin 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.
№ 064BitcoinBitcoin 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.
№ 065BitcoinBitcoin 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.
№ 066BitcoinBitcoin'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.
№ 067BitcoinBitcoin 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.
№ 068BitcoinBitcoin Node Security: Outbound vs Inbound Connections
Bitcoin Core trusts outbound connections more than inbound, and for precise reasons. The security logic behind that asymmetry, explained for node operators.
№ 069BitcoinBitcoin's Script Version Byte and Soft Fork Upgrades
Bitcoin's one-byte witness version field lets soft forks add new spending rules without invalidating old wallets or splitting the chain.
№ 070BitcoinBitcoin Full Node Economics: A Ten-Year Breakdown
Hardware, bandwidth, and opportunity costs all shape whether running a full Bitcoin node makes financial sense. The arithmetic, read straight.
№ 071BitcoinBitcoin Coin Selection: Fees, UTXOs, and Wallet Algorithms
Coin selection algorithms quietly determine your transaction fees and UTXO bloat. This piece breaks down Branch and Bound, dust, and consolidation strategy.
№ 072BitcoinBitcoin Timelocked Multisig for Inheritance Planning
Timelocked multisig scripts can serve as a Bitcoin dead-man's switch. Here are the mechanics, the design tradeoffs, and the failure modes.