Bitcoin classics: the most-read bitcointalk threads, explained

What the famous puzzle addresses are, why small puzzles fall and big ones stay unsolved, and what it tells you about key security.

• Bitcoin puzzle transaction ~32 BTC prize to who solves it 13,976 / 413,976

How the 21 million cap and the halving schedule set Bitcoin's yearly issuance, computed straight from the protocol rules.

• Inflation and Deflation of Price and Money Supply 1,397 / 1,500,523
• [CHART] Bitcoin Inflation vs. Time 1,012 / 1,250,884

Why transactions wait unconfirmed, and the two safe ways to speed them up: replace-by-fee and child-pays-for-parent.

• All about "stuck" transactions and what you can do to fix them 119 / 151,375
• FAQ: Why is my transaction not confirming? 0-conf fee 149 / 158,845

What is realistically recoverable when you forget a wallet password or lose a seed phrase, and how to avoid recovery scams.

• Encrypted wallet.dat, lost password, any solutions? 607 / 214,055

How Bitcoin and gold differ on supply, portability, verification, custody and risk, without predictions.

• Bitcoin or gold? 11,575 / 984,570

Who Hal Finney was, how he received the first Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi, and why runners honour him every year.

• Who is Satoshi Nakamoto? 2,337 / 144,974
• Bitcoin and me (Hal Finney) 837 / 281,779

The story of the first known Bitcoin purchase in May 2010 and what 10,000 BTC is worth at today's price.

• Pizza for bitcoins? stats not shown

Lessons from the best-known thefts and exchange collapses, from 2011 to FTX, and how self-custody changes the risk.

• List of Major Bitcoin Heists, Thefts, Hacks, Scams, and Losses 318 / 295,224
• I just got hacked - any help is welcome! (25,000 BTC stolen) 620 / 382,300
• Bitcoinica / MtGox 809 / 156,112

What the 2026 implant and entropy incidents mean for hardware wallets, and the habits that keep them safe.

• Hardware wallets — should they still be recommended as safe? 30 / 271
• Don't buy wallets from third parties 70 / 699
• Human error vs hackers 69 / 588

How addresses come from keys, how vanity generators find addresses with chosen letters, and the scams around them.

• Vanitygen: Vanity bitcoin address generator/miner 3,803 / 1,155,240

Why Bitcoin is pseudonymous rather than anonymous, and the basic habits that protect your privacy.

• CoinJoin: Bitcoin privacy for the real world 746 / 295,053
• Anonymity (2010) 113 / 68,914
• Pros and Cons of Anonymous Digital Cash 44 / 199,844

Why many small coins make future payments expensive, and how to merge them when the mempool is quiet.

• Mempool empty! Use this opportunity to consolidate your small inputs (Oct 2026) 1,545 / 95,699

The big-picture debates: what Bitcoin can and can't replace, and the real barriers to everyday use.

• Can Bitcoin make Banks disappear? 6,766 / 427,681
• What's stopping people from using bitcoin? 3,264 / 202,205

Why laptop mining no longer works, what decides ASIC profitability, and how to check the numbers before you buy.

• new miner - is it worth it? 21 / 223,507
• Can I mine on a laptop? 12 / 83,943
• Mining profitability calculator 21 / 44,883

The 2015–2017 fight over bigger blocks, Bitcoin XT, SegWit and the fork, and what it taught about governance.

• Bitcoin XT #REKT 4,528 / 379,026
• 20MB Fork 2,499 / 154,828
• SegWit questions 629 / 84,899

What KYC/AML means, how peer-to-peer buying works, and the risks of each, with no service recommendations.

• AML/KYC Explained 513 / 518,893
• Tips for local transactions 668 / 869,375

Why 'grow your BTC' offers are the most common trap, and how yield, leverage and lending actually work. Not investment advice.

• A recurring beginner question on the forum

What El Salvador's 2021 law did, how it changed in 2025, and what the experiment shows.

• El Salvador to make Bitcoin legal tender 3,920 / 59,237