Cryptography and Keys
8 posts
- 1Intermediate
Why a Hash Function Became the Backbone of Bitcoin
How SHA-256 underpins proof of work, Merkle trees, address generation, and the chain of blocks itself. The four properties that make a hash function useful and exactly where Bitcoin uses each.
- 2Intermediate
What Actually Makes a Bitcoin Yours
Bitcoin has no usernames, no passwords, and no banks. Ownership is proven by knowing a single number - the private key. A guide to the public-key cryptography that the entire system rests on.
- 3Advanced
How Schnorr Signatures Merge Many Signatures Into One
A deep technical exploration of Schnorr signatures in Bitcoin - from mathematical foundations and advantages over ECDSA to key aggregation, MuSig2, batch verification, and Taproot integration via BIP-340.
- 4Intermediate
Twelve Words That Hold Every Bitcoin You Own
How 12 or 24 words stand in for an unlimited number of Bitcoin keys. BIP-39 mnemonics, BIP-32 HD wallets, derivation paths, and the practical rules for backing up a seed safely.
- 5Intermediate
Why Bitcoin Addresses Start With 1, 3, or bc1
A comprehensive technical guide to Bitcoin address types - P2PKH (1...), P2SH (3...), P2WPKH (bc1q...), P2TR (bc1p...). Covers Base58Check vs Bech32/Bech32m encoding, checksum mechanisms, key derivation, and why Bech32m is superior.
- 6Advanced
Multisig - Multi-Signature Security
Multisig is a security mechanism that requires signatures from multiple private keys in Bitcoin transactions, with a threshold number of signatures needed for approval.
- 7Advanced
Backup & Inheritance Planning
Strategies for safely storing seed phrases and transferring assets upon owner death or incapacity. The final puzzle of Bitcoin self-sovereignty.
- 8Advanced
CoinJoin
CoinJoin is a Bitcoin privacy technique that combines multiple users' transactions into one, making it difficult to trace who sent to whom.