About BitRef
2013 – BitRef Launched
The BitRef website was launched in April 2013 as a simple tool for checking the balance of Bitcoin addresses. At the time, it was the only tool that could show users the income and expenses of a given Bitcoin address in a clear and comprehensible way. This excludes traditional block explorers, where such information is presented in a highly technical format (inputs and outputs) that is difficult for ordinary users to understand. For many years, BitRef remained the only tool of its kind.
2018 – BitAccelerate Launched
In August 2018, we launched BitAccelerate, our Bitcoin transaction accelerator. At that time, the Bitcoin network was less developed, and transactions were not always efficiently distributed. BitAccelerate broadcasts raw transactions to many significant and well-connected Bitcoin nodes, making it much more likely for them to reach miners and be included in a block.
Today, BitAccelerate is significantly more advanced and also offers a premium service, in which client transactions are prioritized by our partner mining pools. The project has also produced several free tools, including a CPFP calculator and a tool for anonymous broadcasting of raw Bitcoin transactions.
2019 – BitcoinFees Launched
In November 2019, we launched BitcoinFees.net, a Bitcoin fee estimator and calculator. The tool was later integrated into BitRef and is now available at bitref.com/fees/. Over time, it has evolved into a full-featured mempool explorer, allowing users to sort pending transactions by fee rate and size, and to view the block currently being mined.
We also offer a chart showing the Min (Tip) Fee Rate history for the last 6 hours. This is arguably the most useful feature of the tool, as it allows users to monitor network load trends and easily predict fees for upcoming transactions. Overall, BitcoinFees remains one of our most successful tools and one of the best Bitcoin fee estimators available.
2020 – 1BitcoinPrice Launched
In 2020, we launched a dedicated website for tracking the Bitcoin price. It has since been integrated into BitRef and is now available at bitref.com/price/. We maintain Bitcoin price history dating back to July 17, 2010.
This data is collected for our API and is also used to calculate historical transaction values when users check addresses on BitRef.
2023 – TxCheckup Launched
On December 7, 2023, we launched TxCheckup, a powerful Bitcoin transaction analysis tool. It has since been integrated into BitRef and is available at bitref.com/tx/. For unconfirmed transactions, we track all mempool ancestors and descendants. Based on this data, we calculate the effective fee rate—the actual rate considered by miners.
Our transaction analyzer is one of the most powerful and advanced tools available for Bitcoin transaction analysis. Much of the information it provides is not available elsewhere. We also present explanations in clear, simple language to help users understand what is most likely happening in each transaction. This process often highlights common privacy weaknesses.
2024 – BlockSurf Launched
In 2024, we launched BlockSurf, a Bitcoin block explorer. The project has since been integrated into BitRef and is available at bitref.com/block/. It displays comprehensive information for every Bitcoin block.
We also provide a realistic block visualization that shows all transactions and the space they occupy. At the time, no other tool allowed users to easily explore all transactions within a block in such a visual and intuitive way. Transactions can be viewed both through interactive visualization and as a simple text list.
2025 – All Projects Consolidated into BitRef
In 2025, we decided to consolidate all of our projects into a single platform: BitRef. Managing more than seven separate websites had become increasingly challenging. To support this transition, we completely rebuilt the platform and backend to ensure scalability and long-term reliability.
Today, everything is in one place. Over the years, BitRef has evolved into a full-featured Bitcoin explorer that includes a wide range of additional tools. This unified structure also makes it easier for us to develop and launch new features as integrated subpages.
In 2025, we also launched a public Bitcoin API, enabling developers to access our Bitcoin data in a structured and reliable format.