In this blog post we highlight how a user never really ever owns bitcoin.

UTXOs⌗

Bitcoin UTXOs (Unspent Transaction Outputs) are the basic building blocks of the Bitcoin blockchain. Every time someone sends bitcoin to another person, the transaction is recorded on the blockchain as a UTXO, which represents the specific amount of bitcoin that was transferred.

When you receive bitcoin, you receive a UTXO that is associated with a specific Bitcoin address. You can spend that UTXO by creating a new transaction that uses the UTXO as an input and specifies a new bitcoin address as the output. Once the transaction is confirmed by the network, the UTXO is no longer available for spending.

However, it’s important to note that you never really “own” bitcoin in the traditional sense. Instead, you have control over the private key that is associated with your bitcoin address. This private key is used to sign transactions that spend the UTXOs associated with your address. As long as you have access to the private key, you can spend the bitcoin associated with your address.

If you lose your private key or someone else gains access to it, they can spend the bitcoin associated with your address. This is why it’s so important to keep your private key secure and to use best practices for storing and backing up your wallet. Additionally, since the bitcoin blockchain is public, it’s possible for others to view your transaction history and see the UTXOs associated with your address.

For visuals, check out this explainer: https://learnmeabitcoin.com/technical/utxo