Website catalogue: 151 chains. Current AI connection: 14 chains; approved accounts only.

Connect your AIConnect

Layer 1 blockchain

Bitcoin ticker BTC

  • Public-data lookups available
  • 10 reviewed developments
  • 25 cited sources

Summary

Miners search for a block-header hash below the current target; fully validating nodes accept only blocks that satisfy their consensus rules and follow the valid chain with the most accumulated proof of work. Value is held as unspent transaction outputs guarded by Script. 123

Design

System
Layer 1 blockchain
Settlement family
Bitcoin family
Scarce resource
Work (proof of work)
State model
UTXO
Finality
Probabilistic
Who makes blocks
Miners (usually coordinated through pools) propose blocks by performing proof of work; nodes independently decide whether each block is valid.
Fork choice
Valid chain with the most accumulated work, not the greatest height. Settlement confidence grows with confirmations but no depth is mathematically final.

Tradeoffs

This view follows one way of thinking about design priorities, often called the blockchain trilemma. The design-priorities lesson sets out the counter-view. Read the design-priorities lesson.

Emphasizes
Decentralization and Security
Gives up
Base-layer throughput and fast settlement: blocks target roughly ten minutes and confirmations give growing, not final, confidence, so high-volume payments are pushed to layers such as Lightning.Hashrate concentration is a real risk signal but not by itself a complete decentralization score.
Full node at home
Practical at home 819Bitcoin.org lists 2 GB RAM, 7 GB free disk at 100 MB/s or faster, 400 kbit/s upload, about 740 GB first-time download, 6 hours a day online, and over 750 GB unpruned. Its 7 GB pruned figure looks low: the prune setting caps only block and undo data (minimum 550 MiB), while every node also keeps the full set of unspent coins, which mempool research measured at about 11 GB on disk in April 2025. Plan for roughly 12 GB or more pruned. Initial sync and unpruned storage are the main costs.
Throughput claims
No classified figure recorded

Scaling layers

Capabilities

Capabilities of Bitcoin: how each one is provided, or its research status
CapabilityHow it is providedNotes and sources
Account abstractionStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Atomic swapsUnknownNot yet assessed under the current definitions; Script supports hash-locked, time-locked (HTLC) outputs that release funds on a preimage or refund after a timeout, and BIP 199 describes the pattern (its document status is Closed); the timelock opcodes it relies on are deployed. These are building blocks with which swaps can be built; no cited source shows a swap tool live on mainnet. 57
Authenticated data publicationUnknownNot yet assessed under this row's current definition.
Light clientsBuilt into the protocolFull scopeProtocol: consensus produces the proof-of-work header chain that a light client checks, with Merkle proofs of transaction inclusion; the whitepaper describes this simplified payment verification. BIP 157 client-side block filtering, marked Deployed, lets nodes serve filters that improve light-client privacy over BIP 37. 16
Native staking or delegationStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
On-chain governanceStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Parallel executionStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Payment or state channelsEcosystem software (publisher not distinguished) Earlier definitionLightning payment channels run through separate node implementations such as LND, using Bitcoin timelock and hash-lock scripts for settlement and disputes. See the Lightning entry among the scaling options described in this profile. 59
Programmable spendingNative (protocol or core-team software) Earlier definitionOutputs carry Script or witness-program spending conditions, extended by SegWit and Taproot. This constrains how outputs are spent; it is not an account VM with persistent contract storage. 34
Protocol-verified messagingStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Reversible transfers or recoveryUnknownNot yet assessed under the current definitions; relative timelocks (CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY) are building blocks with which wallets can build escrow-with-timeout and delayed or revocable spend paths, but no cited source shows a sender-reclaim window or pre-arranged recovery path live on mainnet. Consensus cannot reverse a confirmed payment. 5
RollupsUnknownNo rollup anchored to Bitcoin was reviewed for this profile. Lightning is a channel network and Liquid is a federated sidechain; neither is a rollup.
Shielded transfersStructured assessment pendingNot yet assessed for any chain.
Signed partial offersUnknownNot yet assessed under the current definitions; with a BIP 174 partially signed transaction a seller can sign one input and its matching output with SIGHASH_SINGLE|ANYONECANPAY, and a buyer adds inputs to settle both sides in one transaction. The traded non-BTC asset (ordinals or runes) exists only in indexer state, so the tooling publisher would set the value; no cited source shows such tooling (msigner) live in the 12 months before review, and ord's rune sell offers are a proposal. Limits: one signed input-output pair per listing, and no native multi-asset support. 3222324
Reading these values
How this feature is provided
Built into the protocol, core-team software or independent software says where a feature lives and who can change it. These are implementation layers, not quality: core-team software is not closer to the protocol than independent software.
Structured assessment pending
The shared review has not assessed this feature for any chain yet (Account abstraction, Native staking or delegation, On-chain governance, Parallel execution, Protocol-verified messaging and Shielded transfers). That does not mean it is absent, and a chain’s profile may already describe it.
Unknown
The review has not established this for this chain under the current definition; the note beside it says why. Unknown is not absent and not a low score. A feature reads “Not present” only when a source shows it is absent.
Earlier definition
Payment or state channels, Programmable spending and Rollups keep the earlier definition until the next fact-check. There, “Native” does not separate the protocol from core-team software, “Ecosystem software” does not say who publishes it, and “Partial” does not say which layer.
Reading across rows
The list of capabilities is incomplete. Do not read these rows as a chain leading or lagging overall.

Definitions, schema version and review history

Ecosystem & custody

Ecosystem products for Bitcoin
Product typeStatusNotes and sources
Automated market makersUnknownBitcoin's base protocol has no built-in AMM. Token venues defined by indexers were not reviewed: Oyl's site says Alkanes tokens are live on Bitcoin mainnet and shows an Oyl AMM, but does not say whether that AMM is live. Venues on sidechains or other chains were not reviewed either. 25 As of Sep 27, 2026.
Issuer-native stablecoinsUnknownBitcoin Script has no native asset issuance; stablecoins issued through indexer protocols or sidechains were not reviewed. As of Sep 27, 2026.
Algorithmic stablecoinsUnknownNo algorithmic stablecoin with material usage on Bitcoin was identified, but stablecoins issued through indexer protocols, sidechains or other chains were not reviewed, so absence is not established. As of Sep 27, 2026.
BridgesEstablished in the ecosystemLiquid two-way peg, WBTCLiquid pegs BTC into a federated sidechain. WBTC is a token on other chains (the WBTC site lists Ethereum, Solana, Tron, BNB Chain and Base among its networks) backed by BTC in custody; BitGo announced in August 2024 that custody would move to a joint venture with BiT Global, spreading operations from the US to Hong Kong and Singapore. Risk: Both rely on trusted parties, not Bitcoin consensus. Liquid peg-outs are permissioned, and a timelocked set of three emergency keys can reach all pegged funds. Only identity-verified merchants approved through DAO governance can mint and burn WBTC; custody sits with the BitGo and BiT Global joint venture, which BitGo called a partnership with Justin Sun and the TRON ecosystem, and Chaos Labs on the Aave forum questioned the new partner's regulatory standing. 12132021 As of Sep 27, 2026.
Block explorersEstablished in the ecosystemmempool.space, Blockstream Explorer (Esplora)Both run open-source explorer software that can be self-hosted; a public instance's view is provider data, not independent validation. 141516 As of Sep 27, 2026.
Hardware walletsEstablished in the ecosystemLedger, TrezorSee the Ledger and Trezor custody entries in this profile: both vendors document native Bitcoin support in their own wallet apps. 1718 As of Sep 27, 2026.

Hardware-wallet custody

Hardware-wallet custody for Bitcoin
Device makerStatusWhat users can and cannot do
LedgerNative supportSame as native: YesCan: Manage BTC accounts in Ledger Wallet (formerly Ledger Live) with each transaction verified and signed on the device
Can: Use Native SegWit by default, or Legacy and Taproot account types 17 As of Sep 27, 2026.
TrezorNative supportSame as native: YesCan: Use BTC on all Trezor models
Can: Manage BTC in Trezor Suite or supported third-party wallets 18 As of Sep 27, 2026.

Public data

Your AI can request these lookups through the connection. The website itself runs no lookups. Networks: mainnet, signet.

Public-data lookups for Bitcoin
LookupStatusWhat it covers and its limits
Address or accountAvailablenative BTC summary plus caller-bounded associated UTXOs and recent transactions
  • One public address is not a wallet or ownership proof.
  • UTXO and history output can be partial; confirmed-history pagination is not exposed.
Tokens and assetsNeeds a provider key on our servernative BTC classification plus bounded Ordinals inscription and Runes inventory when a server-side Xverse key is configured
  • Without a key the callable response returns requires-provider, assets=null, and complete=false.
  • With a key coverage remains indexed and partial, never consensus-complete.
NFTsNot available yetNot implemented in this build
TransactionsAvailableone mainnet or Signet transaction with exact aggregates and first 20 outputs
  • One centralized indexer is not independent validation.
  • Output detail is partial for transactions with more than 20 outputs.

A lookup covers one address or transaction from one provider. It is never a complete wallet, and an error or private value is reported as unknown, not zero. About public data · Connect your AI

Sourced developments

Developments: Review overdue Reviewed Sep 26, 2026; next review was due Oct 6, 2026.

Publication date · newest first

Publication date unknown

Topics your AI can explain

Your AI can explain these topics for Bitcoin through the connection, with sources.

Known gaps

What this profile's review did not establish:

Sources

Oldest dated source check: Source checked Sep 27, 2026 Next check due Oct 27, 2026.

19 of 25 sources checked in the last 30 days; 6 have no recorded check date.

  1. Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (external site)Satoshi Nakamoto · retrieval date not recorded
  2. Bitcoin Developer Guide: Block Chain (external site)Bitcoin.org contributors · retrieval date not recorded
  3. Bitcoin Developer Guide: Transactions (external site)Bitcoin.org contributors · retrieval date not recorded
  4. BIP 341: Taproot (external site)Bitcoin BIP contributors · retrieval date not recorded
  5. BIP 112: CHECKSEQUENCEVERIFY (external site)Bitcoin BIP contributors · retrieved
  6. BIP 157: Client Side Block Filtering (external site)Bitcoin BIP contributors · retrieved
  7. BIP 199: Hashed Time-Locked Contract transactions (external site)Bitcoin BIP contributors · retrieved
  8. Running A Full Node (external site)Bitcoin.org · retrieved
  9. LND: Lightning Network Daemon (external site)Lightning Labs · retrieved
  10. Understanding Liquidity (external site)Lightning Labs · retrieved
  11. Watchtowers (external site)Lightning Labs · retrieved
  12. Liquid technical overview (external site)Blockstream · retrieved
  13. Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) (external site)WBTC · retrieved
  14. mempool.space (external site)The Mempool Open Source Project · retrieval date not recorded
  15. Blockstream Explorer (external site)Blockstream · retrieved
  16. Esplora HTTP API (external site)Blockstream · retrieval date not recorded
  17. Bitcoin wallet on Ledger Wallet (external site)Ledger · retrieved
  18. Supported coins and assets (external site)Trezor · retrieved
  19. UTXO Set Report (external site)mempool research · retrieved
  20. BitGo to Move WBTC to Multi-Jurisdictional Custody to Accelerate Global Expansion Plan (external site)BitGo · retrieved
  21. Chaos Labs - wBTC BitGo Custody Update (external site)Aave Governance Forum (Chaos Labs) · retrieved
  22. BIP 174: Partially Signed Bitcoin Transaction Format (external site)Bitcoin BIP contributors · retrieved
  23. msigner: Bitcoin Ordinals PSBT signer library (external site)me-foundation (GitHub) · retrieved
  24. Proposed Specification for Asynchronous Rune Sell Offers (issue #4290) (external site)ordinals/ord (GitHub) · retrieved
  25. Oyl (external site)Oyl Corp · retrieved

Report an error

Found something wrong or out of date? Reporting is free, and every chain goes through the same process. Published corrections appear in the public log.

Report an error about BitcoinCorrections log

Funding disclosure

Funding disclosures appear here when an upkeep arrangement exists, in the form “Upkeep funded by [name]; verdicts unaffected.” The funder ledger has not been published yet. Neutrality & funding