Course

Everything Bitcoin, step by step

Part 1

Why Bitcoin

The ideas: money, sound money, and why a scarce, neutral, open network matters.

Module 1
~45 min
What is money?
Explain what makes good money and why fiat inflation leads people to Bitcoin
Basics
- Barter and why money emerges
- Properties of good money: scarce, durable, portable, divisible, verifiable, hard to censor
- Fiat money, money printing and inflation
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Stock-to-flow as a scarcity lens (and its limits)
- Why those problems lead to Bitcoin
+ Advanced (optional)
- Monetary history case studies: gold standard, Bretton Woods, 1971
Coming soon
Module 2
~45 min
Cypherpunk and Austrian roots
Trace the ideas and earlier attempts that Bitcoin builds on
Basics
- Who the cypherpunks were
- Austrian economics and sound money
+ Go deeper (optional)
- DigiCash, b-money, Hashcash and bit gold
- The Cypherpunk Manifesto
+ Advanced (optional)
- Reading Satoshi's 2008 announcement and the first replies on the list
Primary sources: Satoshi's announcement, cryptography mailing list (Oct 31, 2008) · A Cypherpunk's Manifesto (Hughes, 1993) · b-money (Wei Dai, 1998)
Coming soon
Module 3
~60 min
Satoshi's white paper
Read the white paper and summarize the problem it solves
Basics
- The double-spend problem without a trusted third party
- Proof-of-work and the longest chain
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Incentives for honest miners
- Simplified payment verification
+ Advanced (optional)
- Section 11: the attacker probability math
Primary sources: Bitcoin white paper (Nakamoto, 2008)
Coming soon
Module 4
~45 min
Sovereignty, decentralization and “Bitcoin, not crypto”
Explain why decentralization, censorship resistance and a fixed supply set Bitcoin apart
Basics
- Self-sovereignty and censorship resistance
- Why decentralization matters
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Who controls the rules: users, nodes, miners
- Bitcoin vs other tokens: issuance, founders, premines and trust
+ Advanced (optional)
- Soft forks, activation and governance debates
Primary sources: Bitcoin white paper (Nakamoto, 2008)
Coming soon

Part 2

How it works

Deep dives into issuance, difficulty, mining and the security budget, straight from the source code and BIPs.

Module 5
~60 min
Inside a block
Read a block header field by field and trace a transaction into a block
Basics
- Transactions, the mempool and fees
- Using a block explorer
+ Go deeper (optional)
- The six header fields: version, previous hash, Merkle root, time, bits, nonce
- Merkle trees and why SPV works
+ Advanced (optional)
- The 80-byte header and why the nonce alone is not enough (extranonce)
+ Things most Bitcoiners don't know
- A block header has exactly six fields; the nonce is only 32 bits, so miners also vary an extranonce in the coinbase to get fresh Merkle roots. [Bitcoin Core primitives/block.h]
Primary sources: Bitcoin white paper (Nakamoto, 2008) · Bitcoin Core primitives/block.h
Coming soon
Module 6
~75 min
Issuance and the halving
Derive the supply schedule from the code and explain why it is not exactly 21M
Basics
- Block subsidy starts at 50 BTC
- Halving every 210,000 blocks (roughly four years)
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Integer satoshi math and the right-shift halving in GetBlockSubsidy
- Why the cap is 20,999,999.9769 BTC
- The last subsidy at block 6,929,999 (around 2140)
+ Advanced (optional)
- Unspendable coins: the genesis coinbase, the BIP30 duplicate coinbases (blocks 91842 and 91880), provable burns, underclaimed rewards
+ Things most Bitcoiners don't know
- The halving is a bit shift (nSubsidy >>= halvings) on an integer number of satoshis, so fractions are dropped; summing all 33 non-zero eras gives 20,999,999.9769 BTC, not 21M. [Bitcoin Core validation.cpp, GetBlockSubsidy]
- The genesis block's 50 BTC can never be spent: Core skips connecting its transactions. [Bitcoin Core validation.cpp, ConnectBlock genesis special case]
- Blocks 91842 and 91880 reused earlier coinbase transaction IDs, overwriting those outputs; BIP30 was added so it can't happen again. [BIP30: duplicate transactions]
- Consensus only rejects a coinbase that claims too much. Claiming less is valid, and the unclaimed satoshis never come into existence. [Bitcoin Core validation.cpp, GetBlockSubsidy]
Primary sources: Bitcoin Core validation.cpp, GetBlockSubsidy · Bitcoin Core chainparams.cpp (nSubsidyHalvingInterval = 210000) · BIP30: duplicate transactions
Coming soon
Module 7
~75 min
The difficulty adjustment
Explain exactly how and when difficulty retargets and where the edge cases are
Basics
- Target of one block every 10 minutes
- Retarget every 2016 blocks
+ Go deeper (optional)
- The 4x clamp in either direction
- Median-time-past and the 2-hour future limit
- Testnet's 20-minute minimum-difficulty rule
+ Advanced (optional)
- The off-by-one: only 2015 intervals are measured
- The timewarp vulnerability and the Consensus Cleanup (BIP54)
+ Things most Bitcoiners don't know
- Retargeting measures from block N-2015 to block N, so it times 2015 intervals, not 2016. That off-by-one is part of what makes the timewarp attack possible. [Bitcoin Core pow.cpp]
- Each retarget is clamped: the measured timespan is limited to between 1/4 and 4x the two-week target. [Bitcoin Core pow.cpp]
- A block can't be more than 2 hours ahead of network-adjusted time, and must be later than the median of the previous 11 blocks. [Bitcoin Core chain.h (MAX_FUTURE_BLOCK_TIME)]
- On testnet, if no block arrives within 20 minutes, a minimum-difficulty block is allowed. [Bitcoin Core pow.cpp]
- BIP54 fixes timewarp by requiring the first block of each period to be no more than 7200 seconds earlier than the block before it. [BIP54: Consensus Cleanup]
Primary sources: Bitcoin Core pow.cpp · Bitcoin Core chain.h (MAX_FUTURE_BLOCK_TIME) · BIP113: median time-past · BIP54: Consensus Cleanup
Coming soon
Module 8
~60 min
Mining: hardware, pools and protocols
Follow a hash from an ASIC to a pool payout
Basics
- What mining actually does
- Why pools exist
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Coinbase maturity: 100 blocks before a reward can be spent
- Stratum v1 vs Stratum v2 (job negotiation)
- Pool payout schemes: FPPS vs PPLNS
+ Advanced (optional)
- Selfish mining and the 1/3 hash-power result
+ Things most Bitcoiners don't know
- A coinbase output can't be spent until it has 100 confirmations. [Bitcoin Core consensus.h (COINBASE_MATURITY)]
- Stratum v2 lets miners choose their own block templates instead of the pool choosing for them. [Stratum V2 specification]
- Selfish mining can pay off with less than half the hash power; the paper shows a threshold as low as 1/3 under its assumptions. [Eyal & Sirer, Majority is not Enough (2013)]
Primary sources: Bitcoin Core consensus.h (COINBASE_MATURITY) · Stratum V2 specification · Eyal & Sirer, Majority is not Enough (2013)
Coming soon
Module 9
~45 min
Mining economics and the security budget
Reason about who pays for security as the subsidy shrinks
Basics
- Subsidy plus fees = miner revenue
- Hashprice: revenue per unit of hash rate
+ Go deeper (optional)
- The fee market after the subsidy ends
- How halvings hit miner margins
+ Advanced (optional)
- The security budget debate: arguments on each side
+ Things most Bitcoiners don't know
- Miner revenue per block is capped at subsidy plus fees; consensus enforces it directly. [Bitcoin Core validation.cpp, GetBlockSubsidy]
- Satoshi expected fees to take over once the coins were issued (white paper section 6). [Bitcoin white paper (Nakamoto, 2008)]
Primary sources: Bitcoin white paper (Nakamoto, 2008) · Bitcoin Core validation.cpp, GetBlockSubsidy
Coming soon
Module 10
~45 min
Don't trust, verify: nodes
Know what a full node checks and how to run or connect to one
Basics
- What a full node verifies
- Nodes vs miners: who enforces the rules
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Running your own node or using Tor
- Verifying software downloads
+ Advanced (optional)
- Reproducible builds and signed releases
Coming soon
Module 11
~60 min
Keys, seeds and your threat model
A written one-page threat model
Basics
- Keys, seeds and exchange IOUs
- Golden rules: never type or photograph your seed, verify on device, test first
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Theft vs loss failure modes
- Choosing tier A, B or C
+ Advanced (optional)
- How a seed becomes keys (BIP39 and BIP32)
Coming soon

Part 3

Self-custody hands-on

Hold your own keys: a hardware wallet, a durable backup and safe habits.

Module 12
~65 min
Your first hardware wallet setup →
A device bought direct, verified, and a successful test transaction
Basics
- All 8 built lessons: buy direct, inspect, verify firmware, initialize offline, write and verify the seed, check addresses on the device, send a test transaction
+ Go deeper (optional)
- (to write) Attestation checks and what they prove
- (to write) Verifying the companion app download (PGP + SHA-256)
+ Advanced (optional)
- (to write) Full wipe-and-restore test with fingerprint and first-address match
Available now
Module 13
~90 min
Seed phrase backup
A durable, tested backup and an optional passphrase
Basics
- Paper to metal
- No digital copies
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Passphrase rules and fingerprints
+ Advanced (optional)
- Why firmware updates don't fix old seeds
Coming soon
Module 14
~60 min
Sending, receiving and scams
Safe habits and a scam-spotting reflex
Basics
- Fresh addresses and on-device verification
- Seed requests and fake firmware
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Fees, RBF and CPFP
- Address poisoning
+ Advanced (optional)
- Tampered devices and supply-chain attacks
Coming soon
Module 15
~45 min
Moving off an exchange safely
Your coins in your custody, moved in stages
Basics
- Lock down the exchange account (non-SMS 2FA, allowlists)
- Test withdrawal, then tranches
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Record keeping for taxes
+ Advanced (optional)
- Migrating after a wallet advisory
Coming soon

Part 4

Advanced

Multisig, inheritance, privacy and verifying everything you built.

Module 16
~120 min
Multisig basics
A 2-of-3 multisig wallet plus descriptor backups
Basics
- What 2-of-3 means
- Vendor diversity
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Descriptor backups with every seed
- On-device registration
+ Advanced (optional)
- Test every key pair
Coming soon
Module 17
~60 min
Inheritance
A completed letter of instruction
Basics
- A map, not the treasure
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Roles and a technical helper
- Legal layer with an estate attorney
+ Advanced (optional)
- Rehearse with a test wallet
Coming soon
Module 18
~60 min
Privacy
A privacy routine that fits your threat model
Basics
- Address reuse
- KYC vs non-KYC sources
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Coin control and labeling
- Own node or Tor for wallet lookups
+ Advanced (optional)
- Chain analysis heuristics
Coming soon
Module 19
~60 min
Verifying your setup and recovery drills
A passed recovery drill and a yearly calendar
Basics
- Monthly, quarterly and yearly routine
+ Go deeper (optional)
- Yearly recovery drill on a device
- Incident playbook
+ Advanced (optional)
- Device advisory vs seed advisory
Coming soon

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