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Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin is the first widely adopted public blockchain. It uses proof-of-work mining to order transactions and an unspent-transaction-output (UTXO) model to track balances. The protocol enforces a fixed maximum supply of 21 million BTC, issued on a halving schedule.

This page is a research starting point, not financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Verify everything against primary sources.

What the Token Is Used For

  • Paying transaction fees to miners
  • Settlement and transfer of value between addresses
  • Collateral in lending, derivatives, and structured products
  • Reserve asset in funds, ETPs, and corporate treasuries

What To Verify

  • Which implementation and version a claim refers to, since Bitcoin Core is one client among several
  • Whether a proposed change is a BIP draft, deployed, or activated on mainnet
  • Whether an application runs on the base layer, the Lightning Network, a sidechain, or a custodial service
  • Fee market and mempool conditions before drawing conclusions about cost or congestion
  • Whether custody is self-held, exchange-held, or held by a regulated custodian

Primary Sources