Glossary
Bitcoin
A scarce digital asset on a public ledger, with rules no single company can rewrite on a whim.
Bitcoin BTCCached $77,503.20 ▲ +6.97% · 24h
Bitcoin is an entry on a public ledger plus the keys that control it. There is no little gold disc moving around. Each new page of that ledger is a block: a batch of transactions plus a link to the page before it.
It is not a company, not a savings account, and not anonymous by default. The ledger is public. Exchanges have names. If you hold keys, you can move coins without asking a bank. If you lose the recovery phrase, the coins are still on the ledger — they are just no longer yours in practice.
See also
- BlockchainA ledger that many computers keep in sync, with a method for agreeing on the next page.
- HalvingA scheduled cut in new bitcoin issued to miners, not a price plan.
- Proof of workAgreement by spending energy on hash puzzles, as Bitcoin does.
- WalletSoftware or a device that holds keys and talks to a ledger. The coins are not inside the app.
