Understanding UTXOs: A Beginner's Guide to #Bitcoin Transactions
Are you new to Bitcoin and wondering what #UTXO means? Let's dive into this fundamental concept to better understand how Bitcoin transactions work.
UTXO, or Unspent Transaction Output, lies at the heart of Bitcoin's transaction model. Here's a simple breakdown:
1. What is UTXO?
UTXO refers to the output of a Bitcoin transaction that hasn't been spent yet. Think of it as digital coins or tokens waiting to be used.
2. How does it work?
When someone sends you Bitcoin, they are essentially creating a new UTXO in your wallet. This UTXO represents the amount of Bitcoin you received.
When you want to spend Bitcoin, you use one or more UTXOs as inputs in a new transaction. For example, if you received 1 #BTC in two separate transactions (0.5 BTC each), you could combine these UTXOs to send 1 BTC to someone else.
3. Why is UTXO important?
UTXO ensures the integrity and security of Bitcoin transactions. Each UTXO is uniquely identifiable, making it easy to verify ownership and prevent double-spending.
By tracking UTXOs, the Bitcoin network maintains a transparent ledger of all transactions, allowing anyone to verify the entire transaction history (the blockchain).
4. Example:
Let's say you received 0.5 BTC from Alice and 0.3 BTC from Bob. These transactions create two UTXOs in your wallet: one representing 0.5 BTC and the other 0.3 BTC.
If you want to send 0.6 BTC to Carol, you can combine these two UTXOs as inputs in your transaction. The leftover amount (0.2 BTC) will be sent back to your own wallet as change.
Understanding UTXOs is crucial for anyone getting started with Bitcoin. It forms the foundation of how transactions are created, verified, and recorded on the blockchain. So, the next time you hear someone mention UTXO, you'll know exactly what they're talking about!
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Morning chreubs.
I'm new to this privacy stuff, so here it is.
As I understand it #nostr is the decentralised platform and we access it via #primal and #damus and such?