# bitcoin.org > Source: https://timechain.wiki/wiki/bitcoin-org · TimechainWiki, the Bitcoin encyclopedia. (source · education · introductory) > **bitcoin.org** is the original community-maintained reference and getting-started site for Bitcoin — a free, open-source, non-commercial front door that explains what Bitcoin is, how it works, how to choose a wallet, and how to run a full node, and that hosts a canonical copy of the [whitepaper](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/the-bitcoin-whitepaper-history.md). Its domain was registered on 18 August 2008 — before the whitepaper was published — and originally owned by Bitcoin's first two developers, [Satoshi Nakamoto](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/satoshi-nakamoto.md) and Martti Malmi; Nakamoto later handed stewardship to additional people to spread responsibility and keep any one party from controlling the project. Register: **Introductory → Foundational** — plain-language onboarding for a newcomer, plus reference material (vocabulary, node guidance, wallet selection) that rewards a returning reader. It is the neutral, vendor-agnostic first stop that most other resources assume as background. --- ## Level **Introductory → Foundational.** The getting-started, how-it-works, and choose-your-wallet material is written for a first-time reader with no prior grounding. The vocabulary reference, full-node guidance, and developer hand-off sit a step deeper, serving a reader who has the basics and wants a reliable, non-commercial reference to check specifics against. --- ## Why this source matters bitcoin.org is the closest thing Bitcoin has to an *official-feeling* front door that is nonetheless owned by no company and sells nothing. Because Bitcoin has no corporate issuer, there is no vendor site that can serve as the neutral introduction; bitcoin.org fills that gap by convention and history rather than by authority. For a newcomer, it answers the first four questions — what is this, how does it work, how do I hold it, how do I verify it myself — without an upsell, and it does so in dozens of languages. Its second contribution is historical and symbolic. The domain predates the whitepaper's publication and was co-registered by Bitcoin's earliest developers, which makes the site itself a small artifact of the founding period. The deliberate decision to disperse ownership after Nakamoto's departure — so that no single steward could capture the canonical reference — is an early, concrete instance of the same credible-neutrality instinct that runs through Bitcoin's governance. The site thereby teaches, by its own custody structure, a lesson the [History and origins](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/history-and-origins.md) section argues in prose: Bitcoin's durability comes from removing single points of control. --- ## Bibliographic details - **Title:** Bitcoin.org — "Open source P2P money" - **URL:** [bitcoin.org](https://bitcoin.org/) - **Format:** Reference and getting-started website (multilingual) - **Source / license:** Open-source, community-maintained — [github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org](https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org) - **Funding model:** Community-funded (donations); non-commercial, no advertising - **Domain registered:** 18 August 2008 (before the whitepaper's 31 October 2008 release) - **Original registrants:** [Satoshi Nakamoto](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/satoshi-nakamoto.md) and Martti Malmi (Sirius); ownership later dispersed to independent stewards - **Level:** Introductory → Foundational - **Bitcoin scope:** Bitcoin only --- ## What the site provides - **Getting started and "How it works"** — plain-language onboarding: what Bitcoin is, how transactions and confirmation work, and how to begin using it safely. - **Choose your wallet** — a filterable, vendor-neutral wallet directory scored against transparency, security, and self-custody criteria rather than sponsorship. One of the site's most-used features. - **The whitepaper** — a hosted canonical copy of [*Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System*](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/the-bitcoin-whitepaper-history.md), with translations. - **Vocabulary** — a reference glossary of core terms for readers cross-checking language they encounter elsewhere. - **Running a full node** — guidance on why and how to run [your own node](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/running-a-full-node.md), the verify-don't-trust backbone of self-sovereignty. - **Individuals / Businesses / Developers tracks** — audience-specific entry points; the developer track hands off to [developer.bitcoin.org](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/developer-bitcoin-org.md). - **Resources and community** — pointers to exchanges, events, [Bitcoin Core](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/bitcoin-core.md), and community venues. --- ## How to engage this resource **As a newcomer's first stop.** Send a Bitcoin-curious person here before any exchange or influencer. The getting-started and how-it-works pages give a clean, sales-free mental model, and the wallet directory steers toward self-custody options on neutral criteria. **As a neutral reference to check against.** When a claim about wallets, terminology, or node operation needs a non-commercial cross-check, bitcoin.org is a stable, community-audited reference — useful precisely because no vendor controls it. **As a hand-off point.** The site is a directory as much as a destination: it routes newcomers to wallets, node software, [Bitcoin Core](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/bitcoin-core.md), and — for the technical reader — to [developer.bitcoin.org](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/developer-bitcoin-org.md). Treat it as the hub that orients, then points onward. --- ## Counter-arguments and tensions **"Community-maintained" is not "authoritative."** bitcoin.org has no official standing — Bitcoin has no governing body that could confer it. Its neutrality rests on dispersed, pseudonymous stewardship and open-source review, not on a mandate. This is a feature for credible neutrality but means the site is a strong convention, not a canonical authority; readers should understand it as such. **The stewardship has been contested.** The site's governance has drawn periodic disputes over editorial control and listing decisions (which wallets and implementations appear). Dispersed ownership prevents capture but also means no single accountable editor — a tradeoff inherent to the credible-neutrality design. **The whitepaper-hosting lawsuit.** In 2021 Craig Wright obtained a UK default judgment against the site's pseudonymous operator ("Cøbra"), who did not defend the claim in order to preserve anonymity, resulting in removal of the hosted whitepaper from the UK-served site. The episode illustrated both the legal exposure of pseudonymous stewardship and the futility of the underlying claim — later comprehensively rejected when the High Court ruled in *COPA v Wright* (2024) that Wright is not Satoshi. For the full treatment see [Craig Wright and the Faketoshi controversy](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/craig-wright-and-the-faketoshi-controversy.md). --- ## Where to find this source - **Site:** [bitcoin.org](https://bitcoin.org/) - **Source / contribute:** [github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org](https://github.com/bitcoin-dot-org/bitcoin.org) - **Developer hand-off:** [developer.bitcoin.org](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/developer-bitcoin-org.md) ### Place in the broader Bitcoin canon - [History and origins](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/history-and-origins.md) — the founding-period context the domain is an artifact of - [The Bitcoin whitepaper - History](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/the-bitcoin-whitepaper-history.md) — the canonical document the site hosts - [Educational websites and online resources](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/educational-websites-and-online-resources.md) — this source's sub-MOC (Reference and protocol explainers) --- ## Open questions - As newcomers increasingly arrive through exchanges, wallets, and social platforms rather than a canonical reference site, does bitcoin.org's role as the neutral front door persist, or does it fade into a historical artifact used mainly by the already-initiated? - Can dispersed pseudonymous stewardship keep the wallet directory and reference material current at the pace the ecosystem now moves, or does credible neutrality come at the cost of freshness? --- ## Related notes **The founding context** - [Satoshi Nakamoto](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/satoshi-nakamoto.md) — original co-registrant of the domain - [History and origins](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/history-and-origins.md) — the era the site belongs to - [The Bitcoin whitepaper - History](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/the-bitcoin-whitepaper-history.md) · [The Bitcoin whitepaper - Explainer](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/the-bitcoin-whitepaper-explainer.md) — the document it hosts **What the site routes to** - [Running a full node](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/running-a-full-node.md) · [Full nodes vs pruned vs SPV](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/full-nodes-vs-pruned-vs-spv.md) — the node guidance it provides - [Hardware wallets overview](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/hardware-wallets-overview.md) · [Self-custody configuration ladder](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/self-custody-configuration-ladder.md) — the self-custody choices its wallet directory feeds into - [Bitcoin Core](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/bitcoin-core.md) — the reference implementation it points to - [developer.bitcoin.org](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/developer-bitcoin-org.md) — the developer documentation it hands off to **Tensions** - [Craig Wright and the Faketoshi controversy](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/craig-wright-and-the-faketoshi-controversy.md) — the whitepaper-hosting lawsuit and its resolution **Other reference resources in §16** - [developer.bitcoin.org](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/developer-bitcoin-org.md) · [Nakamoto Institute](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/nakamoto-institute.md) · [mempool.space](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/mempool-space.md) — reference and archive resources - [Educational websites and online resources](https://timechain.wiki/wiki/educational-websites-and-online-resources.md) — the broader sub-MOC