Bitcoin UTXO Set Growth and the Cost of Pruned Nodes
The UTXO set grows with every block and pruning cannot touch it. A look at the mechanics, the real numbers, and the long-term cost for node operators.
№ 002BitcoinBitcoin Median Time Past: Block Timestamp Manipulation
Median Time Past prevents miners from faking Bitcoin block timestamps. The exact mechanic, its real limits, and what a 15% miner actually controls.
№ 003BitcoinBitcoin Compact Blocks and Mempool Divergence Explained
Compact block reconstruction stalls when mempools diverge. This piece traces the exact failure cascade, the 85% overlap threshold, and what miners do about it.
№ 004BitcoinBitcoin's Dust Limit: How the 546-Sat Threshold Works
Bitcoin's dust limit is derived from relay fees and input byte sizes, not policy preference. The exact arithmetic behind 546, 294, and 330 satoshis, explained.
№ 005BitcoinBitcoin's assumevalid and Pruned Nodes Explained
How Bitcoin's assumevalid parameter and pruned node sync work together, what they skip, and what that means for historical audit depth.
№ 006BitcoinBitcoin Mempool Eviction: When Low-Fee Txs Disappear
Bitcoin's mempool purges low-fee transactions during fee spikes, a deliberate mechanism every sender should understand before broadcasting.
№ 007BitcoinBitcoin AssumeValid and IBD Security Explained
AssumeValid skips signature checks during Bitcoin's initial sync, the mechanics, the real risks, and what malicious peers can and cannot do.
№ 008BitcoinBitcoin Script Clean Stack Rule and Taproot Witness Discount
How Bitcoin's clean stack rule shapes Taproot witness discount calculations, with a concrete worked example of script weight and fee math.
№ 009BitcoinWhy Compact Blocks Can't Compress Unknown Transactions
Compact blocks cut bandwidth by sending transaction IDs, not full data. But that shortcut breaks the moment a peer hasn't seen the transaction before.
№ 010BitcoinBitcoin Weight Units and SegWit Fee Rates Explained
Weight units split transactions into base and witness data, priced at 4:1. The math behind sat/vB, vbytes, and why SegWit inputs cost ~40% less.
№ 011BitcoinBitcoin's Median Time Past Rule Explained
Miners set their own block timestamps. Bitcoin's Median Time Past rule is why that doesn't let them unlock CLTV-protected coins early, the mechanic, precisely.
№ 012BitcoinBitcoin Fee Estimation: How Wallets Diverge Under Congestion
Same mempool, two wallets, wildly different fee suggestions. The mechanics of Bitcoin fee estimation algorithms, and why they split under congestion.