Learn Bitcoin, one BIP at a time
Plain-English guides to the ideas behind Bitcoin Improvement Proposals.
- What is a BIP? Bitcoin Improvement Proposals explained: What a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal is, how the BIP process works under BIP 3, what each status and type means, and how to write and submit your own BIP.
- The most important BIPs every Bitcoiner should know: The most important Bitcoin Improvement Proposals, grouped by topic: consensus, wallets and keys, network, payments and process, and why each one matters.
- How seed phrases work: BIP 39 explained: How a BIP 39 seed phrase is built from random entropy and a checksum, why it has 12 or 24 words, what the passphrase does, and how to back it up safely.
- Bitcoin derivation paths explained: What a derivation path like m/84'/0'/0'/0/0 means, which path each address type uses, what xpub, ypub and zpub are, and why a restored wallet shows zero.
- Bitcoin address types explained: legacy, SegWit and Taproot: What addresses starting with 1, 3, bc1q and bc1p mean, which BIPs define P2PKH, P2SH, P2WPKH, P2WSH and P2TR, and how fees and privacy differ between them.
- SegWit explained: Segregated Witness and its BIPs: What SegWit is, how Segregated Witness fixed malleability, how block weight and vbytes work, which BIPs define it and how it activated in 2017.
- Taproot explained: BIP 340, 341 and 342: Taproot explained: Schnorr signatures (BIP 340), P2TR key and script paths (BIP 341), Tapscript (BIP 342), bc1p addresses and the 2021 activation.
- PSBT explained: Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions: What a PSBT is, how the BIP 174 roles pass a transaction from wallet to signer, what is inside the format, and how PSBT v2, Taproot and MuSig2 fields work.
- Bitcoin multisig explained: How Bitcoin multisig works, from 2-of-3 P2SH and P2WSH wallets to Taproot and MuSig2, which BIPs define each part, and what you must back up to recover.
- Output descriptors explained (BIP 380 to 386): How Bitcoin output descriptors like wpkh() and tr() describe a wallet's scripts, keys and paths, how the checksum works, and how to back up a descriptor.
- Bitcoin soft forks: every consensus upgrade and how it activated: Bitcoin soft forks: soft fork vs hard fork, every consensus upgrade with its BIPs and block height, and how BIP 9, BIP 8, UASF and Speedy Trial work.
- Replace-by-fee (RBF) explained: BIP 125 and full RBF: What replace-by-fee is, how BIP 125 signaling and its rules work, what full RBF changed, RBF vs CPFP, and how to speed up a stuck Bitcoin transaction.
- The BIPs behind the Lightning Network: Which BIPs the Lightning Network depends on: SegWit, CLTV, CSV and HTLCs, anchors and package relay, Taproot and MuSig2, plus proposals like APO and CTV.
- Silent payments explained (BIP 352): How BIP 352 silent payments give you one reusable sp1 address with unlinkable Taproot payments, what scanning costs, and how they compare to BIP 47.
- Bitcoin covenant proposals compared: CTV, OP_CAT, APO, CSFS and more: Bitcoin covenants explained: what CTV (BIP 119), OP_CAT (BIP 347), APO (BIP 118), CSFS (BIP 348), OP_VAULT, TXHASH and LNHANCE propose, and the arguments.
- Bitcoin and quantum computers: the post-quantum BIPs: How quantum computers could affect Bitcoin, which outputs expose public keys, and what BIP 360 (Pay-to-Merkle-Root) and BIP 361 propose, explained calmly.