Is this app really free?

Yes — 18 lessons across the first two chapters are free, forever. You only pay the one-time $9.99 unlock if you want the remaining lessons. No subscription, ever.

Do I need to know anything about Bitcoin to start?

Nothing at all. Lesson 1 starts at "what is money, actually?" and works up from there. If you've sent a text message, you can do this.

Is Bitcoin too expensive to buy?

Bitcoin is divisible into 100 million satoshis. A dollar buys you thousands of sats — a fully owned slice of the network. There is no minimum purchase.

The Bitcoin network has run continuously since 2009 without being hacked. The risk is operator error — using bad custodians, losing keys, falling for scams. The course covers all of it.

What makes this different from other Bitcoin resources?

Most resources are written by traders, for traders. This is written by one person trying to teach her parents — calm, clear, no shilling, no charts.

Is this financial advice?

No. It's education. Nothing here tells you to buy, sell, or hold anything. The lessons explain how Bitcoin works so you can decide for yourself.

Is the app available on Android?

Not yet — iOS only at launch. Android is on the roadmap.

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Privacy Best Practices

Bitcoin is not anonymous by default. Here is how to use it in a way that protects your financial privacy.

Understanding Bitcoin Privacy

Bitcoin transactions are recorded on a public ledger that anyone can view. Every transaction shows the amount, the sending address, and the receiving address. While these addresses are not directly labeled with names, once an address is linked to your identity (through a KYC exchange, for example), your entire transaction history from that address becomes traceable.

Privacy in Bitcoin is not about hiding wrongdoing. It is about maintaining the same financial privacy you expect when using cash. You would not want every purchase you make broadcast publicly with your name attached. The same principle applies to Bitcoin.

1. How You Acquire Bitcoin Matters Most

The single biggest privacy decision you make is how you get your Bitcoin. If you buy through a KYC exchange, your identity is linked to those coins from the start. Every subsequent transaction can potentially be traced back to you.

Action: Whenever possible, acquire Bitcoin through nonKYC methods: peer-to-peer exchanges, Bitcoin ATMs, or by earning it. See our guide to buying without KYC for detailed steps.

2. Use a New Address for Every Transaction

Most modern Bitcoin wallets generate a new receiving address each time you receive Bitcoin. This is a critical privacy feature. If you reuse the same address, anyone who knows that address can see your complete balance and every transaction you have received.

Action: Always use a fresh address when receiving Bitcoin. Never post a single address publicly for ongoing donations or payments. Use a payment server or new address each time instead.

3. Guard Your Public Key, Not Just Your Private One

A wallet can generate a single piece of data called an extended public key, or xpub, that derives every receiving address the wallet will ever use. Sharing it is how watch-only apps, portfolio trackers, and some hardware wallet companion apps let you view a balance without holding the ability to spend it.

That convenience has a cost. Anyone holding your xpub can see your entire transaction history and every future address, forever, even though they can never move your funds. Unlike a leaked password, an xpub cannot be revoked once it is out. The only real fix is moving your funds to a new wallet with a new xpub.

Action:Only share an xpub with software you trust and keep locally. Do not paste it into random online "portfolio tracker" tools. Treat an old xpub you no longer use as retired: do not share it further, and do not expect deleting it from an app to undo what it already revealed.

4. Be Careful With Change Outputs

When you send Bitcoin, the transaction often creates a "change output" — leftover Bitcoin sent back to your own wallet. This is similar to paying for a $3 item with a $20 bill and receiving $17 in change. On the blockchain, this change output can reveal information about your total balance if it is not handled carefully.

Action: Use a wallet with proper change management, one that sends change to a fresh internal address rather than reusing an old one. This is standard in most modern wallets, but worth confirming when you set one up.

5. Use Coin Control to Keep Your Coins' History Separate

Every bitcoin you hold carries the history of where it came from. If you have some from a KYC exchange and some from nonKYC sources, combining them in the same transaction lets chain analysis infer that all of it belongs to the person identified by the KYC purchase. The KYC coins effectively taint the rest.

Wallets like Sparrow let you see and choose exactly which coins (called UTXOs) go into a transaction, instead of letting the wallet pick automatically. This is called coin control, and it is how you keep separate sources of Bitcoin from ever touching each other.

Action: Use a wallet with coin control and label your coins by source (exchange, private buy, savings) as you receive them. Never send KYC and nonKYC coins in the same transaction. For a cleaner separation, use entirely different wallets for each.

6. Run Your Own Node

When you use someone else's node to check your balance or broadcast a transaction, that node operator can see which addresses belong to you and when you are active. Running your own node means your wallet communicates directly with the Bitcoin network without going through a third party.

Action: Running a full Bitcoin node can be done on inexpensive hardware like a Raspberry Pi. Connect your wallet to your own node for maximum privacy. This is an intermediate step, so do not feel pressured to do it immediately.

7. Use the Lightning Network for Small Payments

The Lightning Network is a second layer built on top of Bitcoin that allows fast, cheap transactions. Lightning payments do not appear individually on the main blockchain, which provides significantly better privacy for everyday spending.

Action: For day-to-day purchases and small transfers, use a Lightning wallet. Only the channel open and close transactions appear on the main chain. Your individual payments remain between you and the recipient.

8. CoinJoin, If You Want to Go Further

CoinJoin combines multiple people's transactions into one, making it much harder for an outside observer to tell who paid whom. Done properly, it is one of the strongest privacy tools available for Bitcoin.

It is also an area that has seen real legal turbulence. In 2024, U.S. authorities seized the servers behind Samourai Wallet's Whirlpool coordinator and arrested its founders, and Wasabi Wallet discontinued its own coordinator under similar pressure. Community-run alternatives have since kept both technologies alive, but who operates these coordinators, and under what legal footing, keeps shifting.

This is not a reason to dismiss CoinJoin. It is a reason to treat it as an advanced, research-first step rather than something to try because a guide told you to, including this one. If it interests you, read independent, current sources before you touch it.

9. Be Mindful of Metadata

Privacy is not just about the blockchain. How you connect to the internet, what apps you use, and what you share publicly all contribute to your privacy profile.

Prefer Tor over a VPN when you can. A VPN just moves the trust from your internet provider to the VPN company. Tor is built so no single party can see both who you are and what you are doing.
Do not post your Bitcoin addresses or transaction IDs on social media
Do not discuss your Bitcoin holdings publicly
Be cautious with Bitcoin-related browser extensions that may leak data

Start Where You Are

You do not need to implement every practice at once. Start with the simplest steps: use a new address each time, keep your holdings private, and consider buying your next Bitcoin through a nonKYC method. As you grow more comfortable, layer in coin control, guard your xpubs carefully, and consider running your own node or using Lightning for daily spending. CoinJoin and other advanced techniques can wait until you have a real reason to need them. Every step you take improves your financial privacy.

Learning the fundamentals? Download Bitcoin Basics for Everyone. The app covers wallets, transactions, and Bitcoin basics in simple, bite-sized lessons.