🔒 Coinbase was attacked by hackers. The bug was not in the code, but in human error. The hackers who attacked Coinbase did not crack the code, breach the firewalls, or exploit technical vulnerabilities. They didn't write malware or force cryptographic algorithms. They did something much simpler—and much more effective. They bought the silence of some customer support employees. Through bribery, they obtained sensitive data from some 97,000 users, including names, identity documents, banking information, and transaction history. There were no software breaches. There was no theft of private keys. Only corruption. Just human frailty. Once they had the data, the cybercriminals demanded $20 million in Bitcoin in exchange for not publicly disclosing everything. Coinbase refused. The company chose to face the consequences instead, spending up to $400 million to contain the damage, strengthen systems, compensate customers, and regain control of the situation. This time, the real bug was not in the code. It was in the people. This episode reminds us that security involves not only technology but also trust, transparency, and human integrity. No matter how robust a cryptographic protocol is, if those managing it are vulnerable, the whole system can collapse. 🔗 Official sources: Coinbase Blog, May 2025:

Protecting Our Customers - Standing Up to Extortionists

Tl;dr: Cyber criminals bribed and recruited a group of rogue overseas support agents to steal Coinbase customer data to facilitate social engineeri...

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/coinbase-says-cyber-criminals-stole-account-data-some-customers-2025-05-15/?utm_source= #coinbase #hack #crack #human #blog #corruption #attack #data

🧱 What is the "UTXO set"? The Invisible Heart of Bitcoin 🧮 You often hear about transactions, addresses, and wallets, but behind the scenes is a fundamental mechanism that makes it all possible: the UTXO set. 🔐🔄 🔎 UTXO stands for unspent transaction output. Every Bitcoin transaction spends one or more previous outputs and generates new ones. These "unspent" outputs are called UTXOs. 📦 Think of them as ready-to-use digital coins, each with a precise value and a cryptographic "unlock condition." 💼 Your BTC balance is not like a bank account! 👉 If you see 0.1 BTC in your wallet, it means you have one or more UTXOs whose values add up to that amount. There is no aggregate account; rather, there is a set of traceable and verifiable "mini-coins." 🧠 What is the UTXO set? It is the complete, up-to-date set of all existing UTXOs on the network. 📍 Each complete Bitcoin node maintains its own copy of the set locally and uses it to verify that: ✅ The inputs of new transactions are still spendable ❌ There is no double spending. 🔒 The unlock conditions are met. 🏗 How does a transaction work? It takes one or more existing UTXOs as input. - Creates new UTXOs as output - Any difference between the input and output is the miner's fee. 💰 If something is left over, a change output is created for the sender. 🔄 🛠 Why is this important? The UTXO model is transparent, secure, and auditable. - Prevents the creation of bitcoins out of thin air - Makes transactions verifiable independently of each node It ensures network immutability and reliability ⚙️ Technical Curiosity: The UTXO set grows over time and can weigh several GB of data. Nodes use optimizations for this reason, but the set is never "pruned" because it must remain intact to guarantee security and validation. Each transaction changes the set, creating a continuous update cycle. 📌 Bottom line: The UTXO set is the living ledger of the Bitcoin system. There is no bank or central server; only mathematical rules, cryptographic verification, and total transparency exist. 🔗 Every spent satoshi leaves a trace, and every unspent satoshi is ready to be put back into circulation. 📶 Stay tuned. #utxo #set #bitcoin #howdoesitwork #technology #curiosity #transaction #btc

🚨 What happens when you send a payment in Bitcoin? 🧾 Spoiler alert: It doesn't go straight into the blockchain. There's an invisible yet crucial place where everything takes shape. It's called the mempool. 🧠💾 📥 What is the Mempool? A memory pool is a kind of decentralized waiting room. Each complete Bitcoin node maintains its own version containing all valid transactions awaiting confirmation. There is not one global queue, but rather many local mempools that, thanks to the distributed network, tend to look very similar. 🔨 Who decides which transactions are confirmed? Miners choose which transactions to include in the next block. How? 📊 Based on the fee per byte. The higher the fee, the more likely your transaction will be confirmed quickly. It's a real fee market! 🤑 🔥 What happens if the network is congested? When there's a surge in transactions (e.g., a bull market or special events), the mempool fills up, and fees skyrocket. At that point, only those who pay the highest fees can make their way through the other transactions. 📈💸 🛠 Tools for the user: Modern wallets estimate the most suitable fees in real time. - Functions such as Replace-By-Fee (RBF) allow you to increase the fee even after sending. - If a transaction remains in the mempool for too long (e.g., if the fee is too low), some nodes will delete it, and it will have to be sent again. 🔍 At a glance: The Mempool is the beating heart of the Bitcoin transaction market. It regulates access to blocks in a decentralized manner and guarantees order, security, and efficiency. 📡 It is a meritocratic and transparent system where every satoshi counts. One satoshi is the smallest unit into which bitcoin can be divided (1 BTC = 100 million sats). 1 BTC = 100 million sats). 🌐 The sooner you pay, the sooner you confirm. ❓️ What is the UTXO set, how does it work, and how does it change with the mempool? 📶 Stay tuned. #mempool #bitcoin #btc #sats #user #payment #rbf

🔍 What are UTXOs in Bitcoin? The UTXO (unspent transaction output) model is at the heart of Bitcoin's accounting system. Unlike traditional bank accounts, Bitcoin does not record "balances," but rather follows a system of inputs and outputs that cancel each other out. 💡 Simple definition: A UTXO is an amount of Bitcoin received from a transaction that has not yet been spent. It is the digital equivalent of a coin in your pocket: until you spend it, it is an unspent output. 🧾 How does a Bitcoin transaction work? Every transaction has inputs (previous UTXOs used) and outputs (new UTXOs created). Bitcoins do not split at the balance level; rather, they are spent in full and reallocated as new UTXOs. 🧩 Main features: - 🔐 Each UTXO is associated with a public address and can only be spent with its private key. They are immutable, meaning they cannot be updated. They are consumed, and new outputs are created. - 🧾 They are single and indivisible; each input must be spent in full. - 🔄 Traceable: Each UTXO is publicly verifiable on the blockchain. 🛠 Where are they stored? In the UTXO set, which is a data structure maintained by each full node. This set contains all valid, expendable UTXOs at a given time. It is essential for: - Verifying that a transaction only spends valid UTXOs - Preventing double spending (spending the same bitcoins twice). 📉 Fees and fragmentation (UTXO management). Each UTXO takes up space. The more small UTXOs you have, the larger your transaction will be and the higher the fee you will have to pay. 🧮 UTXO optimization: - Consolidate UTXOs when fees are low. - Avoid receiving too many fragmented micropayments. - Manage your portfolio for long-term efficiency. ⚠️ Practical implications: ✅ Pros: - A transparent, traceable, and verifiable system - Enables advanced privacy (e.g., with careful input management). - Forms the basis for advanced features, such as Lightning and coinjoin. ❌ Cons: - Can become inefficient if poorly managed - Requires minimal technical understanding for advanced wallets - Transactions with many UTXOs can be expensive. 🔐 UTXOs and privacy: Each UTXO is tied to a specific address. Using UTXOs from different addresses in the same payment can link identities. 💡 Tip: Use wallets that support UTXO handling and input selection, such as Sparrow and Samourai. 📌 In short, a UTXO is a spendable bitcoin. You receive them from a transaction, spend them in full, and receive new ones. Bitcoin works as a system of "digital tokens," not as an account balance. ➡️ Understanding UTXOs is essential to using Bitcoin consciously and safely. ❓ What is the Mempool? What is the UTXO set? How do they work, and what changes do they bring? 📶 Stay tuned. #utxo #bitcoin #mempool #set #tips #fees #management #features

🎯 What is a Lightning Network node? ⚡️ The Lightning Network is a layer 2 system built on top of bitcoin to make it faster, cheaper and more scalable. Lightning nodes are the key players in this parallel network: software that processes instant payments off-chain, without writing everything to the blockchain. 🔧 How an LN node works. - Opens two-way payment channels with other nodes. - Signs and updates off-chain transactions. - Requires a full bitcoin node to interact with the blockchain (e.g. open/close channels). - Must always be online to function properly. 🔄 How does a lightning payment take place? 1. Alice and Bob open a channel with an on-chain transaction. 2. Future transactions take place off-chain, updating the balance in real time. 3. Payments can be routed through multiple nodes (e.g., Alice → Bob → Carol → Dave). 4. At closing, the last signed balance is published on the blockchain. 📡 Types of Lightning Nodes. 1. 🔀 Routing node: routes third-party payments, earns fees. 2.🧍‍♂️Private node: personal use. 3.📱 Mobile node: integrated into simplified wallets (such as Phoenix or Breez). 💻 Main software. - LND (Go): widely used, easy to integrate. - Core Lightning (C): highly modular. - Eclair (Scala): suitable for servers and mobile applications. - Rust-Lightning: for custom solutions. ⚙️ Bitcoin Nodes vs. Lightning Nodes. - Verification: full node on-chain; Lightning node off-chain. - Memory: Full node hundreds of GB; Lightning node a few GB. - Privacy: full node all public; lightning node more privacy. - Scalability: full node limited by blocks; lightning node millions of transactions per second. - Connectivity: full node not always online; lightning node always online. - Fees: full node variable/high; lightning node few sats. ⚠️ Pros and Cons. ✅️ Pro: - Instant and almost free payments - High privacy and scalability ❌️ Cons: - Channels must be balanced (need liquidity on both sides) - Not suitable for very large amounts - Risk of losing funds if backup is not updated 📲 Examples of real-world use cases. - Mobile Wallets: Phoenix, Muun, Breez - Merchants accepting BTC via Lightning - Routing nodes that earn fees by routing payments ➡️ Lightning is the backbone of bitcoin's scalability: fast, cheap, distributed. But as always: Don't trust, verify! ❓️ What are UTXOs? 📶 Stay tuned. #utxo #bitcoin #lighting #network #blockchain #timechain #node

Hello, Bitcoiners! I would like to share with you my interview with Atlas21 regarding my dissertation on sustainable Bitcoin mining.🔥🚀

Atlas21

Bitcoin reduces emissions and consumption: the thesis published at the University of Salento

Jacopo Graziuso's econometric study explains how the presence of Bitcoin is connected to the reduction of emissions and consumption in

#bitcoin #btc #energy #nuclear #sustainability #efficiency #enviroinmental #economy #news #research #study #thesis #mining #atlas21 #interview

🔒 Who's really in charge of Bitcoin? Full nodes. 🌍 It is not the miners, nor the developers, nor the companies. In Bitcoin, the real power is distributed among thousands of complete nodes, software that verifies every block and transaction according to shared rules. That's why they're critical to the network's resilience and governance. 🧠 Nodes dictate the rules. - Miners propose blocks, but nodes decide whether to accept them. - Any node can reject non-compliant transactions or updates. Consensus occurs when the majority of nodes follow the same rules. ⚔️ Fork: when the rules change - Soft fork = compliant update (e.g. SegWit). - Hard fork = net split (e.g. Bitcoin Cash). 📌 Real case: in 2017, nodes forced the activation of SegWit (UASF), giving miners a choice: adapt or stay out. 🛡 Defense against attacks: - ✂️ Censorship? Nodes can reject blocks that exclude valid transactions. - 💸 Inflation? No block can create more BTC than expected: nodes will reject it. - 🕸 Network attacks? Nodes filter suspicious connections and protect traffic, even when using Tor or mesh networks. 💰 Nodes guarantee the 21 million limit. It's not enough to "write it in the code": only nodes enforce the limit by checking every single block. 🏛 Political and economic impact Thanks to the nodes: - No one can arbitrarily change bitcoin. - No one can control it from the top. - No one can violate its monetary policy. ➡️ Bitcoin is resilient because the nodes are sovereign. "Don't trust, verify" is not just a slogan, but an active defense mechanism. ❓️ What is a Lightning Network node? 📶 Stay tuned. #bitcoin #node #fork #attacks #political #economic

🎯 How does a full node work? 💻 A full node is the beating heart of the Bitcoin network. It is software that downloads, verifies, and propagates every block and transaction without trusting anyone. Here's how it works: - 📦 Blockchain database: stores all blocks and the set of spendable bitcoins (UTXO set). - 🧠 Mempool: stores transactions waiting to be included in a block. - 🌐 Networking: communicates with other nodes to exchange data, blocks and transactions. 🔍 Each node verifies everything itself: - Transactions must be valid, correctly signed, and not duplicated. - Blocks must have the correct proof-of-work, be consistent, and comply with all rules. - At startup, the node downloads the entire blockchain from 2009 (Initial Block Download). - It then stays up to date with blocks and transactions in real time. 🔁 Connecting to the network Each node is connected to dozens of others, constantly exchanging information to keep the network consistent and secure. 🛡 User sovereignty A full node is not dependent on third parties: it verifies everything itself, protects against errors and attacks, and is the tool to truly participate in the Bitcoin network: Don't trust, verify! ❓️ Who is really in charge of Bitcoin? 📶 Stay tuned. #fullnode #bitcoin #user #network #blockchain #database #mempool

🍕 Today is Pizza Day! 🗓 On May 22, 2010, exactly 15 years ago, Laszlo Hanyecz, a programmer and Bitcoin pioneer living in Florida, exchanged 2 pizzas (original photo at the time) for 10,000 BTC! 💰 At the time, the exchange rate was about $40. It was the first bitcoin "payment" in history. To date, the dollar value of that transaction would be more than $1 billion! #bitcoin #pizza #day #laszlo

📝 What exactly are Bitcoin nodes? 🗂 1. Full node: A full node downloads the entire blockchain (over 500 GB by 2025) and verifies each transaction and block according to the rules of the protocol. It: - Ensures that consensus rules (e.g., double spending, issue limits, valid signature) are met; - propagates transactions and blocks to other nodes; - Can be used to validate SPV or Light wallets. 📦 2. Light node or SPV node: A SPV node (Simplified Payment Verification Node) does not download the entire blockchain, only the block headers. It verifies transactions by relying on full nodes and is often used in mobile and light wallets. Its limitations are that it relies on full nodes for security and does not actively participate in network verification. ⛏️ 3. Mining Node: This is a node that, in addition to being complete, also performs mining, i.e: - builds new blocks; - tries to solve cryptographic problems (proof of work); - Suggests new blocks to the network. Large miners use 'mining pools' and sometimes separate the mining function from the validation function, communicating via specific protocols (e.g. Stratum). 📚 4. Archival Node: Stores the entire history of the blockchain, including UTXO states not required for protocol operation, such as spent transactions and the full history of all issues. It is useful for analytical purposes, blockchain explorers or historical research. ⚡️ 5. Lightning node: Part of the Lightning Network, a layer 2 protocol built on top of Bitcoin. It: - Manages two-way, off-chain payment channels; - operates in parallel with the main blockchain; - communicates with other Lightning Nodes to route fast, low-cost payments. ❓️How does a node work? What are UTXOs? 📶 Stay tuned. #bitcoin #spv #node #lighting #network #archivial #mining #full

📝 What are nodes? What are they for? 🧠 A Bitcoin node is a device that runs the open source protocol software and participates in the network. Nodes are key components in the functioning of the system, as they - verify and propagate transactions and blocks - Maintain an up-to-date copy of the time chain, the public and distributed record of all Bitcoin transactions; - enforce the rules of the protocol, ensuring that only valid transactions and blocks are accepted into the network. 🧩 There are several types of Bitcoin nodes: 1. Full nodes 2. Light node or SPV node 3. Mining Node 4. Archive Node 5. Lightning Node 🛡 Nodes are the backbone of the Bitcoin network. They not only enable the technical functioning of the protocol, but also: 1. guarantee decentralization, as each node is independent and sovereign; 2. they prevent unilateral changes to the protocol (resistance to non-shared changes); 3. they validate consensus rules, such as - 21 million BTC maximum; - Validity of cryptographic signatures; - Adherence to maximum block sizes; - validity of bitcoin scripts. 🌍 By 2025, an estimated 20,000 full nodes will be publicly reachable, although the total number could be higher if nodes behind firewalls (non-public) and temporary nodes (connecting only occasionally) are taken into account. ❓️What exactly do the various Bitcoin nodes do? 📶 Stay tuned. #node #full #lighting #mining #spv #bitcoin #world

If you don't have Bitcoin, you're already in the minority.

Good morning Bitcoiners! How are you doing? I would like to share with you some reflections on the program I just watched on "Canale Italia", with guests Gigi Turla and Federico Rivi. During the hour-long program, a brief summary of the Brescia 2025 Bitcare Forum was given, and then some reflections from the audience were broadcast live (live call-in from home). What emerged strongly from the telephone interventions was the vast amount of misinformation that still surrounds bitcoin. We listened to calls ranging from those who call it a scam, to those who have lost money due to uninformed decisions, to those who do not understand its economic-financial nature, considering it volatile and without intrinsic value, to those who said that their bank has blatantly forbidden them to invest in Bitcoin. This situation reflects a well-known phenomenon: in an era of free and widespread access to information, false beliefs and confusion paradoxically proliferate, ergo: disinformation. It is crucial, as the guests have pointed out, to rely on competent sources and people to really understand this field. I invite everyone to reflect on the importance of proper education and dissemination of accurate information to help create a more aware and prepared community, this applies to any discourse.

💰 For their work, miners receive two types of rewards: 1. Block reward → new bitcoins created for each block solved 2. Transaction fees → small amounts paid by users to include their transactions in the block 📉 The block reward is halved every 200,000 blocks (roughly every 4 years) in an event known as halving. This reduces future supply, making Bitcoin a predictably scarce and structurally anti-inflationary asset. ⏱️ Bitcoin also has a difficulty adjustment mechanism: every 2,016 blocks (about every two weeks), the difficulty of mining is recalibrated to ensure that a new block is discovered about every 10 minutes. This keeps the output rate constant and predictable. ❗️Attention: Miners are not financial intermediaries. Anyone can participate in mining without authorization from central banks or central institutions. In contrast, traditional intermediaries require regulatory approval to operate. ⚖️ The Bitcoin protocol is an open, distributed and autonomous system where all participants (miners, nodes, users) have an equal say. No central authority. Just shared incentives and distributed consensus. ❓️Who are nodes, what are they for? 📶 Stay tuned. #bitcoin #protocoll #halving #mining #rewards #fees #difficulty #adjustement #scarcity #permissionless

🔐 ₿itcoin is an immutable, transparent, secure and distributed network thanks to the concatenated structure of the blocks that make up its timechain. Each block contains the cryptographic hash of the previous block, making it virtually impossible to alter the data retroactively without compromising the entire blockchain. This mechanism ensures the integrity and resilience of the network. 🔗 The hash is a unique identifier generated using the SHA-256 algorithm, a fixed-length alphanumeric string that securely synthesizes all the data contained in the block. It is the heart of the blockchain's immutability. ⚙️ Within this system are the miners, who use specialized hardware, specifically ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits), to perform the hashing algorithms. These purpose-built devices are much more efficient than CPUs and GPUs, as Satoshi Nakamoto's white paper points out. ⛏️ Their job? To validate transactions, protect the network and add new blocks to the timechain. In doing so, miners prevent double spending, an inherent risk in digital systems. Without proof of work (PoW), a central authority would be needed to ensure the validity of transactions. ❓️How do miners make money? Why are they doing it? What are halving and difficulty adjustment? 📶 Stay tuned. #bitcoin #mining #timechain #blockchain #technology #proofofwork #sha256 #asic #miner

📚 Today I had the honor to speak about ₿itcoin (again) at my high school. 2 hours of education for the kids and a wonderful experience for me. Topics such as inflation, fiat currencies, pollution, consumption, supply and demand, cost, price, value and much more were touched upon. It was a very productive and educational day. It is always nice to come back to class and share in a simple way something that has been with you for years and is a passion of yours, great! 🌍 The conclusion you come to is always the same and it's nice when the kids get it, a sign that they got the message: Bitcoin is social. #bitcoin #pollution #consumption #sustainability #efficiency #enviroinmental #economics #social #finance #inflation #school #fiat #currency #supply #demand #price #cost #value

(2/2) Let us continue. 💼 However, these expectations were quickly dashed by the President's emphasis on reducing the trade deficit through protectionist measures, in particular the announcement of "reciprocal" tariffs. This created considerable uncertainty, culminating in a 10% drop in the S&P 500 in just two sessions in April, which led the index to temporarily enter a bear market. Although the administration subsequently issued a 90-day moratorium to review the trade agreements, the market turmoil has not fully dissipated. 🗳️ On the political front, public opinion polls confirm a period of institutional weakness. The president's approval rating stands at 41%, the lowest for the first 100 days of a newly elected president since at least World War II. Only 22% of respondents say they strongly approve of the president's performance, while 45% strongly disapprove, signaling a significant polarization of the electorate. 📜 Another notable element is the extensive use of executive orders: 137 in the first 100 days. This massive recourse to the executive instrument seems unprecedented in contemporary history, clearly surpassing the figures of Joe Biden (45 orders) and Bill Clinton (14). To find a comparable precedent, one must go back to 1933, when Franklin D. Roosevelt signed 99 in the context of the economic emergency following the Great Depression. ⚖️ In summary, the first 100 days of Trump's second term appear to have been marked by high market volatility, political uncertainty and shaky investor confidence. While it is too early to make definitive judgments about the entire term, the economic and political indicators analyzed suggest an overall negative initial impact, both in terms of finance and governance. 📶 Stay tuned. #Trump #economy #market #analysis #USPolitics2025 #SP500b #presidential #impact

(1/2) Let's talk about the first 100 days of the Trump presidency. 📉 An analysis of the first 100 days of President Donald J. Trump's second term in office reveals a significantly negative picture for the U.S. stock market. Between January 20 and April 25, the S&P 500 Index fell 7.9%, making this period the second-worst in modern presidential history in terms of stock market performance. Only in 1973, during Richard Nixon's term, was the loss greater (-9.9%). This historical context is particularly relevant because it is associated with anti-inflationary policies that anticipated the 1973-1975 recession. 🇺🇸 From a historical perspective, average data from 1944 to 2020 show that the S&P 500 tends to rise by 2.1% during the first 100 days of a new presidency. The largest negative outliers, aside from the Trump case, are George W. Bush in 2001 (-6.9%), Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953 (-5.8%) and Harry S. Truman in 1949 (-4.9%). At the other end of the spectrum are John F. Kennedy (+8.9% in 1961), Joe Biden (+8.5% in 2021) and Barack Obama (+8.4% in 2009), periods in which expectations of an economic recovery were broadly welcomed by the markets. ❌️ The negative performance of the markets under the second Trump presidency is even more significant when compared to the period between his re-election and Inauguration Day, during which the S&P 500 Index rose 3.7%. This period was interpreted by investors as confirmation of the so-called Trump trade, i.e. the expectation that an administration favorable to deregulation, tax cuts and support for the technology sector could provide a boost to the economy and financial markets. 📶 Stay tuned. #Trump #economy #market #analysis #USPolitics2025 #SP500b #presidential #impact

Bitcoin is: immutable transparent secure distributed

🔍 Before analyzing issues related to bitcoin's pollution, energy consumption, and related environmental and socio-economic impacts, it is necessary to understand how mining works, the figure of the miner, and the architecture of the Bitcoin ecosystem. ⛓️ Mining is the process by which new blocks of transactions are validated and added to the time chain, the public and distributed ledger that forms the basis of the Bitcoin monetary system. ⚙️ This process also enables the creation of new Bitcoins and provides an economic incentive for miners, those who invest their computing resources to contribute to the security and stability of the network. 🧠 The timechain (mistakenly called the blockchain) is a chain of blocks containing verified transactions. To add a new block, miners compete by solving a complex cryptographic problem according to a protocol called Proof of Work (PoW). 🔐 PoW ensures the security of the network by making it extremely costly to change data: changing a block would require redoing all the computation for the previous blocks. ♻️ The problem to be solved, generated by the system, requires huge computational resources, and it is precisely this high energy consumption that fuels the debate about the environmental impact of Bitcoin mining. 📶 Stay tuned. #bitcoin #mining #education #sustainability #proofofwork #energy #digital #enviroinmental