Payments
Understanding Bitcoin Payment QR Codes and URIs
A scanned request can carry amounts, deadlines and several ways to pay. Check what your wallet decoded before approving.
BTC SLOPES / COVERAGE
The latest
Bitcoin reporting, analysis and ideas. In chronological order.
Learn
Bitcoin Test Networks and Safer Wallet Rehearsals
Mainnet, testnet4, signet and regtest can look familiar inside a wallet. Their different ledgers and testing assumptions make careful separation essential.
Institutions
Standard Chartered Expands UAE Bitcoin Trading to Wealth Clients
An October launch connects eligible wealth clients with Bitcoin trading. Its regulatory record is verifiable; customer uptake and commercial results remain to be measured.
Payments
LN GAP Proposal Explores Complex Contracts Inside Lightning
An October proposal aims to contain onchain disputes for multi-step contracts. Its prototype also exposes the importance of timing attestations, availability and committee trust.
Mining & Network
How Bitcoin Difficulty and Hashrate Estimates Work
Difficulty follows a consensus calculation. Network hashrate is inferred from block production, with uncertainty that changes across measurement windows.
Learn
Understanding Bitcoin UTXOs and Coin Control
A wallet balance is built from separate outputs. How those outputs are selected and combined shapes spending costs and privacy.
Security
Bitcoin’s Quantum Debate Turns to Migration and the Cost of Proofs
September’s technical debates show why quantum resistance depends on usable migration paths, resource costs and evidence beyond isolated benchmarks.
Security
Bitcoin Core’s Latest Privacy Fixes Target the Clues Left by a Broadcast
Recent code changes reduce clues about a transaction’s originating node, while developers clarify the feature’s experimental limits.
Mining & Network
How Bitcoin Mining Pools Pay Miners
PPS, FPPS and PPLNS divide block luck differently. Their reward formulas, withdrawal rules and unpaid balances deserve separate checks.
Security
Lightning Channel Backups and Safe Recovery
A seed preserves keys, while channel recovery depends on additional state and software-specific safeguards. Understanding the backup method helps avoid turning data loss into lost funds.
Payments
Bringin Business Beta Highlights Bitcoin Settlement Costs
The October launch combines Bitcoin payments with euro accounts. Conversion policy, account permissions and reconciliation will determine its practical value.
Payments
LDK October Candidate Advances Lightning Splicing
The 0.3 release cycle expands channel funding tools. Wallet developers still need to handle reserved coins, pending transactions and version transitions carefully.