How Bitcointalk is Organized
When you first see Bitcointalk, it looks like a wall of text. But there's a clear structure once you know it.
The hierarchy
Bitcointalk → Categories → Boards → Threads → Posts
A category is the top-level grouping. There are five:
- Bitcoin — technical, philosophical, and general Bitcoin discussion
- Economy — marketplace, services, trading, scam accusations
- Other — Beginners & Help, Meta (about the forum itself), Off-topic
- Alternate cryptocurrencies — everything that isn't Bitcoin
- Local — boards in dozens of languages
Everything on Bitcointalk lives under five top-level categories; find the right category first, then the right board inside it.
source · accessed 2026-09-05 · Every member username is replaced with a solid bar, flattened into the image before capture; board rows are deliberately too small to read.
A board is a subforum within a category. Examples:
- Bitcoin Discussion — general Bitcoin chat
- Development & Technical Discussion — for developers
- Beginners & Help — newcomer questions (you'll spend time here)
- Meta — bugs, suggestions, feedback about the forum itself
- Services — offer or hire freelancers
- Marketplace — buy and sell goods
A thread (or "topic") is a single conversation in a board.
A post is a single message in a thread.
A thread is one conversation: a title, an opening post (OP), and replies in time order — every numbered message inside it is a post.
source · accessed 2026-09-07 · Usernames, the merited-by list, avatars and the opening poster's signature are solid bars flattened into the image.
Special boards you should know
Beginners & Help
This is where new users ask questions. It's heavily moderated by the user named Mitchell. The stickied threads at the top contain almost every answer you'll ever need about getting started.
Stickied threads sit at the top of a board, marked with a pin icon, and hold the board's essential reading — check them before you post.
source · accessed 2026-09-07 · 'Started by' and last-post usernames are solid bars flattened into the image; the list is cropped above a promotional topic.
Before posting here, check the Mega Resources thread by notocactus. It collects the threads newcomers ask about most, so your question may already have an answer waiting.
BT[Mega resources for newbies] Check here, find most of your need, before asking.bitcointalk.orgThe forum's rules are spread across several official pages. mprep, a Global Moderator, maintains an unofficial index that gathers the official rules, guidelines, and FAQ in one place. Bookmark it: when you are unsure whether something is allowed, start there.
BTUnofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQbitcointalk.orgMeta
This is about the forum itself. Suggestions, bug reports, rule discussions, admin announcements. Most users never post here. You don't need to either, but it's worth browsing to understand the forum's evolution.
Reputation
Where trust disputes get aired publicly. Scam accusations, warnings about untrustworthy users, defenses against unfair ratings. Read this board even if you never post in it — it's where you learn who to avoid.
Local boards
If your first language isn't English, you can post in your local board. There are local boards in Russian, Spanish, Indonesian, Vietnamese, Filipino, Hindi, Portuguese, Italian, German, French, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Turkish, Arabic, and more.
Many active users post in both English and their local board. This is a great way to build presence without competing in English-only threads.
Do
- Browse boards before posting to learn the culture
- Read stickied threads at the top of each board
- Use your local board if you're not fluent in English
- Search before asking — your question has likely been answered
Don't
- Cross-post the same thread in multiple boards
- Post off-topic in specialty boards (e.g., trading advice in Dev board)
- Bump old threads from years ago
- Make a new thread before checking for an existing one