Learn Bitcoin

From EDVAC and the transistor through Cell/B.E., CPUs, GPUs, FPGAs, and ASICs: a primary-source history of the PS3 Folding@home client, BOINC, Bitcoin mining, the companies, and the supply chain.

From ENIAC, CDC 6600, Cray-1, the Earth Simulator, Fugaku, and exascale to AI-HPC integration, hybrid quantum computing, and evidence-bounded scenarios for 2031 and 2036.

How CPU latency, GPU throughput, RAM, VRAM, HBM, training state, inference, and the KV cache shape AI computers, and where computing goes next.

A primary-source guide to qubits, Shor and Grover, error correction, Bitcoin signatures and SHA-256, public-key exposure, and draft BIP 360.

Five- and ten-year computing scenarios with labeled confidence, why AI capability is task-specific while responsibility stays human, and what blockchain, identity, payments, and audit can and cannot do for AI agents.

From ARPANET to logical clocks, Byzantine faults, FLP, CAP, and replicated state machines: the foundations that long predate blockchain.

From GIMPS, SETI@home, and BOINC through PS3 Cell/Folding@home and NTT DATA cell computing Gene: how spare computing capacity became research infrastructure and managed grids.

PrimeGrid from its 2005 origins onward: BOINC searching, sieving, PRP tests, proofs, CPUs and GPUs, record primes and open conjectures, rankings, and the exact boundary with RSA, Bitcoin, and quantum computing.

From BOINC points and team competition to Bitcoin and Ethereum rewards, AI demand, and computing in space: a primary-source account of who directed CPUs, GPUs, and electricity, and why.

How WCG works, from its 2004 launch at IBM and its transfer to the Krembil Research Institute to BOINC work distribution, validation, medical and climate research, published results, and how it runs today.

Compare distributed consensus by membership, fault model, synchrony, quorums, Sybil resistance, and finality, from Paxos and Raft to PBFT and Bitcoin.

A primary-source guide that treats blockchain as a design space, combining membership, data models, consensus, finality, execution, data availability, oracles, and governance, rather than as one monolithic technology.

From cypherpunk ideals to a global financial asset. The complete record of Bitcoin's birth and evolution.

Blocks, hashes, consensus — an illustrated guide to the distributed ledger technology behind Bitcoin.

Who created Bitcoin? A neutral, evidence-based review of the leading Satoshi Nakamoto theories, their grounds, refutations, and current standing, plus the COPA v Wright ruling and how primary records are actually verified.

What does the Bitcoin whitepaper actually say? A section-by-section guide to Satoshi Nakamoto's nine-page 2008 paper, plus a neutral account of how today's implementation differs.

Proof of Work, difficulty adjustments, hardware evolution — the full picture of Bitcoin mining.

A supply turning point every four years. The mechanism that underpins Bitcoin's scarcity.

The precise issuance plan approaching 21 million. Supply schedule, lost coins, and the final coin in 2140.

The UTXO model, transaction structure, fees, and signature verification — the complete mechanics of Bitcoin transfers.

What is a Bitcoin full node? Why verifying for yourself matters, the differences between full/pruned/archival/SPV, storage and bandwidth needs, how Bitcoin Core setup works, the privacy implications, and the practical limits, explained neutrally.

Wallets protect keys, not coins. Learn the difference between receiving addresses, private keys, and recovery phrases, then check custody and backup requirements.

No transaction reversal, no key reissuance, no public compensation. A beginner's guide to why Bitcoin is irreversible, how coins are lost, recovery scams, and practical defenses.

The scale of the damage as recorded by Japan's National Police Agency and consumer-affairs data, the mechanics of social-media investment and romance fraud, phishing and Ponzi schemes, how to verify operators against the FSA registry, and where to turn if you are victimized. Figures current as of August 2026.

An answer hub for "is Bitcoin safe?" Separating the question into four layers (protocol, custody, counterparty, and institutional) and setting out, from primary sources, what 17-plus years of operation has protected and what it has never protected. Current as of August 2026.

Lose the keys and no one can move the coins — yet for tax purposes they are still property that can be taxed. Bitcoin inheritance lives at that intersection. A neutral walkthrough from primary sources: NTA valuation rules and carried-over cost basis, the Diet testimony that taxation applies even without the password, lifetime planning, technical options such as multisig and SLIP-39, exchange account procedures, and how other countries legislate digital estates.

Pseudonymity, chain analysis, and CoinJoin — the reality of Bitcoin privacy and how to protect it.

Fixed supply, digital gold, store of value — an analysis of Bitcoin's economic properties.

Bitcoin set beside cash, bank deposits, gold, equities, Ethereum, stablecoins, CBDCs, and card payments — compared neutrally on issuance, backing, custody and transfer, protection schemes, and volatility (as of August 2026).

Mt.Gox, Silk Road, The DAO, FTX: a record of the events that shaped Bitcoin.

The January 2024 spot Bitcoin ETF approvals made BTC a standard institutional asset. This topic covers the path to approval, the market impact, and adoption by companies and governments.

Bitcoin's "second layer." Payment channels, routing, and micropayments explained.

A new movement for inscribing digital assets onto Bitcoin blocks: what Ordinals (2023) and Runes (2024) opened up, and the community argument they set off.

Beyond Lightning: BitVM, Rootstock, Stacks, Babylon, and other Bitcoin Layer 2s, their design philosophies and their real-world progress.

Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, and soft forks: the major schisms in Bitcoin's history and the philosophical battles over "immutability."

Not where to buy, but how buying works and what to watch for. The full map of acquisition paths, the structural difference between dealer desks and order books, identity verification under Japan's anti-money-laundering law, how to verify registration with the FSA, the four distinct kinds of fees, selling and where taxation attaches, and the real position of offshore exchanges and DEXs. This site operates no exchange and carries no advertising or affiliate links. Regulatory descriptions current as of August 2026.

Examining common misconceptions one by one. Understanding Bitcoin based on facts, not fear.

Essential Bitcoin terminology and the Script language explained. From blocks and nodes to PoW, UTXO, and opcodes.

How far can bitcoin actually be used to pay? On-chain versus Lightning, the registered counts verifiable on BTC Map for the world and for Japan, the lessons of El Salvador, the types of processors on the receiving side, stablecoins on Lightning, and the friction of volatility, taxation, and irreversible refunds — set out from primary sources, with no recommendations and no forecasts. Current as of August 2026.

Understand BTC and sat, check the destination and network, calculate an example fee, and distinguish confirmation delays from service crediting. A practical pre-send checklist.

FSA oversight, the FIEA migration, U.S. FIT21 and CLARITY, EU MiCA, and the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. Taxes are covered in the dedicated Bitcoin Taxes topic.

Japan's crypto tax regime from primary sources: miscellaneous income under progressive taxation, taxable events, cost-basis calculation, filing in practice, and exactly what the 2026 reform (20.315% separate taxation, reclassification as capital gains) has settled, plus what still awaits a cabinet order.

A neutral examination of Bitcoin's weaknesses: the 2010 overflow bug, 51% attacks, network- and mining-layer attacks, quantum risk, and the user layer.

Monetary shortcomings, intrinsic value, wealth concentration, energy use, and speculative culture: the main criticisms of Bitcoin, examined neutrally and with sources.

A neutral examination of the distance between Bitcoin's stated ideals and its reality as of August 2026: mining concentration, custody, censorship resistance, governance, institutionalization, and the two faces of energy.