Cryptocurrency Terms

Cryptocurrency: A digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and operates independently of a central bank.

Blockchain: A decentralized, distributed ledger technology that records transactions on a network of computers.

Wallet: A digital wallet is a software application that allows you to store, send, and receive cryptocurrencies.

Mining: The process of validating transactions and adding new blocks to the blockchain network by solving complex mathematical problems.

Satoshi: The smallest unit of bitcoin, equivalent to 0.00000001 BTC.

Altcoin: Any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin.

ICO (Initial Coin Offering): A fundraising method in which new projects sell their underlying cryptocurrency tokens in exchange for Bitcoin or Ether.

Fiat Currency: Any government-issued currency that is not backed by a physical commodity, such as gold or silver.

Exchange: A marketplace where cryptocurrencies can be bought, sold, and traded for other cryptocurrencies or fiat currencies.

Public Key/Private Key: The public key is a string of letters and numbers that serves as an address for receiving cryptocurrency, while the private key is a secret code that allows access to the funds.

Smart Contract: A self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code.

Hard Fork: A major change to a blockchain network's protocol that results in a new, incompatible version of the blockchain.

Soft Fork: A minor change to a blockchain network's protocol that results in a backwards-compatible version of the blockchain.

Hash Rate: The speed at which a cryptocurrency mining machine can complete a block of transactions and add it to the blockchain network.

Block Height: The number of blocks in the blockchain from the genesis block to the current block.

Bitcoin terms

Bitcoin: A digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and operates independently of a central bank.

Satoshi: The smallest unit of bitcoin, equivalent to 0.00000001 BTC.

Blockchain: A decentralized, distributed ledger technology that records transactions on a network of computers.

Mining: The process of validating transactions and adding new blocks to the blockchain network by solving complex mathematical problems.

Wallet: A digital wallet is a software application that allows you to store, send, and receive bitcoins.

Private Key: A secret code that allows access to the funds stored in a bitcoin wallet.

Public Key: A string of letters and numbers that serves as an address for receiving bitcoins.

Address: A unique identifier used to receive and send bitcoins.

Halving: A process where the reward for mining new bitcoins is cut in half approximately every four years.

Confirmation: The process of validating a transaction on the bitcoin network by adding it to a block on the blockchain.

Transaction Fee: A small amount of bitcoin paid to miners to incentivize them to include a transaction in a block.

Hash Rate: The speed at which a bitcoin mining machine can complete a block of transactions and add it to the blockchain network.

Cold Storage: A method of storing bitcoins offline in a hardware wallet to protect them from potential cyber attacks.

Lightning Network: A second-layer solution built on top of the bitcoin network to enable faster and cheaper transactions.

Fork: A change to the bitcoin network's protocol that results in a new, incompatible version of the blockchain.