Live on BSV mainnet · since block 957,447
The Bitcoin light client
nobody can switch off.
BTC Beacon is a live Bitcoin light client that exists as a single self-sustaining artifact on the BSV blockchain. It verifies real Bitcoin block headers — proof-of-work, difficulty retargets, timestamp rules — and anyone on Earth can advance it by submitting the next headers for a fraction of a cent. Nobody can stop, pause, or own it.
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the leading zeros are the work — the beacon checked every one
Proof it’s alive
Every advance is a public transaction on the BSV chain. This is the beacon’s lineage — newest first, each entry a permanent record anyone can look up.
- Loading lineage…
The weight of the chain
Every Bitcoin header carries proof-of-work. The beacon checks it, adds it up, and carries the total forward. Rewriting what the beacon has verified would mean redoing all of it.
Anyone can advance it
Advancing the beacon means handing it the next Bitcoin headers and a few hundred satoshis for its trouble. The beacon checks the work itself — if the headers are real, it moves; if they’re not, it refuses.
- No accountThere is nothing to sign up for. The beacon doesn’t know who you are.
- No permissionNo operator to ask, no key-holder to wait on. Valid headers are the only credential.
- A fraction of a centA few hundred satoshis covers an advance — the beacon pays its own way forward.
Public cranking opens soon. On this demonstration instance the beacon advances on a schedule.
Checkpoints
A checkpoint is a fixed, citable record: the beacon’s verified Bitcoin tip — height, hash, and accumulated work — frozen at a moment in time, under a transaction id anyone can look up forever. A contract, an auditor, or another service can point at a checkpoint instead of trusting someone’s word for what Bitcoin said.
- Loading checkpoints…