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Hi, welcome!

If you are new to Bitcoin and it all seems a little perplexing - I get it, I was once there. This website is essentially a collection of notes I made when I was researching. Because I was the only one in my friend group who was interested in it, I became the person everyone asked their questions - and it was fun, but not the part where I had to google charts and images to show them and draw my own over and over. So I put it all here on the website for easy access...

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Latest Orange Notes

Below are a few of the latest. If you are looking for the full list, all the notes are here.

Watch-only wallet

A watch-only wallet has no private keys, can not spend bitcoin and can be used on a device that isn't very secure for easy monitoring and receiving of bitcoin.

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Partially signed Bitcoin transactions for cold storage

PSBT format enables easier air-gapped cold storage. An air-gapped device stores the private keys and signs transactions, and an online device has a watch-only wallet that prepares and broadcasts transactions.

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Seed, private and public keys, addresses

Keep your seed phrase and private key private as they can restore your wallet or spend your bitcoin. Your public key and Bitcoin addresses can be shared safely.

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Bitcoin change address

When your transaction inputs are larger than the amount you intend to pay someone the difference is another transaction output, a new UTXO stored in your own wallet.

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UTXO: what it is and why it matters

UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) is a transaction output (really just a bunch of sats, resulting from a single transaction) that hasn't yet been spent in a later transaction. Understanding UTXOs helps you 1. reduce what you spend on transaction fees, and 2. maintain your privacy and security.

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Where to store your bitcoin

Where you can store your bitcoin: exchanges, software wallets, hardware wallets. Important aspects of wallets: custodial vs. self-custodial, hot vs. cold, closed vs. open source.

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UTXO consolidation

UTXO consolidation is the process of turning a larger number of small UTXOs into fewer large UTXOs, in order to lower the fees of future transactions. At its simplest it is just sending the entire balance of your wallet to an address in that same wallet.

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Do I need to have my hardware wallet connected to my computer to receive bitcoin?

Your Bitcoin hardware wallet does not need to be connected to your computer or the Internet for you to receive bitcoin. It works a little like email: it arrives to a specified address whether you are at that time logged into your email account or not.

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Hardware and software wallets - what they are and how to use them

Two kinds of Bitcoin wallets: software wallets(apps) and hardware wallets(physical devices). Although you can use a software wallet on its own, it's much safer to use it with a hardware wallet.

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