Bitcoin related words in simple terms

[Mia Chloe]

Below is my compilation of a series of words frequently used in Bitcoin discussions and a breakdown of Their meanings for persons who are new in the crypto space and are eager to venture the crypto space.It will also be useful for newbies who often mis- interpret  some synonymous words relating to Bitcoin and crypto.


1. Bitcoin (BTC) -This is one of the first virtual currency which was developed by an anonymous entity  referred to as SATOSHI NAKAMOTO. It is not controlled by any government or private organization. It aims anonymity. It's often also referred to as digital gold.
2. Cryptocurrency - This is a digital based currency (like a form of virtual money).It uses crypto graphy( a form of computer based algorithm encryption) for it's security. it's sometimes referred to as digital currency.
3. Blockchain - Blockchains are decentralized. It is a leger where transactions or blocks which have been validated by miners are recorded. These recorded transactions cannot be altered retroactively once recorded except by altering the subsequent blocks of the block chain.
4. Wallet - These can be in the form of either hard ware or soft ware. they are used to hodl and transact crypto currencies eg Bitcoin. Hardware wallet are less prone to hacks than soft ware wallets.( avoid storing Bitcoins in exchanges!!).
5. Satoshi - This has a value of 0.00000001 Bitcoins it is the smallest unit of bitcoin. it was named after the entity who founded Bitcoin.
6. Mining - This is done by Bitcoin miners. it is a two way job generate new Bitcoins by solving complex algorithms and validating blocks.these blocks are created by the transactions carried out on the Bitcoin network. ( Block chain charges deducted when transacting with Bitcoins are used as rewards for the miners when they validate transactions).
7. Halving - This occurs usually during a space of four years. It is a period when the amount of Bitcoin available in circulation is halved  therefore causing scarcity which leads to increase in price.
8. HODL - This is a term unique to Bitcoin it is used to describe storing Bitcoins or allowing Bitcoin to remain in your wallet without spending.
9. Altcoin - Other types of crypto currencies are classified as altcoins.bitcoin is a crypto currency but is not an altcoin
10. Exchange - This is a platform where Bitcoin transactions can be carried out.consider it as a market place for crypto currencies.
11. FOMO - this simply means fear of missing out.it is used to describe the phobia of being left out while others profit from Bitcoin.
12. FUD - this means Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, in full.it describes fear of loss in the crypto space it usually occurs when the crypto market seems uncertain.
13. ATH - means All-Time High.It is the highest price ever reached by Bitcoin.the current ATH is about $63k
14. Bear Market -this is market during fall in the price of Bitcoin. Consider it partially as a period of losses.
15. Bull Market - During this period the market is characterized by rising prices.which promotes profit for hodlers. :
16. Wallet Address - this is a  unique alphanumeric code used to send and receive Bitcoin. Consider it as an account number or routing number just like you have with your bank account.
17. Private Key - A secret key that allows access to a particular Bitcoin address.this is  like a series of characters used to access Bitcoin holdings.
18. Public Key - This is a cryptographic key used to receive Bitcoin.
19. Hash -This is a fixed alphanumeric string which is generated from transactions carried out on the Bitcoin network. It is stored as data for a transaction.
20. Confirmation - This is a process carried out by miners in verifying a Bitcoin transaction . Confirmation is done through multiple blocks on the blockchain.
21. Decentralization - This term is used to  describe the fact that Bitcoin is not controlled by a central entity .therefore a Bitcoin hodler has full control over his Bitcoin assets
22. Fiat Currency - this is a term used to describe our regular money or traditional currency which is issued by the government.
23. Peer-to-Peer (P2P) - This can also be considered as person to person transaction.it simply means transactions between two parties without an intermediary
24. Wallet Backup - This is a copy of your wallet's private keys or seed phrase for recovery and Access to Bitcoin hodlings of a particular address.
25. ICO - this is known as initial coin offering .it is a method of fund generation for new crypto currencies.
26. Pump and Dump - This is usually a profit scheme to inflate the price of a cryptocurrency and then sell off quickly.it is most common with altcoins.
27. Whale -this is used to describe an individual or entity that hodls a large amount of Bitcoin.
28. Hard Fork - This is an important change in the Bitcoin protocol which is incompatible.
29. Soft Fork - in simple  words , soft fork is a change in the Bitcoin protocol .It is however a backward compatible change in the Bitcoin protocol
30. Lightning Network - this uses a layer 2 scaling protocol to increase efficiency of Bitcoin transactions.The lightning network serves as a form of faster  and cheaper Bitcoin transactions.
31. Fungibility - This is the term used to describe interchangeability of Bitcoin.this holds due to the fact that all Bitcoins are of equal value.
32. Token - this is a digital based asset which created on a particular blockchain. It represents asset ownership or utility.
33. Wallet Encryption - This is carried out to further secure ones Bitcoin wallet especially for entities with large amounts of Bitcoin hodlings.
34. Multisignature - this is sometimes referred to as multisig .it is a wallet that requires the use of different private keys to authorize a transaction.
35. Paper Wallet -this is a physical thing e.g paper which carry you wallet details such as wallet address and private keys.this can be regarded as a form of offline backup.
36. Smart Contract - these are self executing contracts .they contain a series of agreement and terms in their code.
37. Address QR Code - this is a scannable digital code  like a series of dot in regular pattern.They represent a Bitcoin wallet address.when decoded by a scanner it produces the characters of the Bitcoin address.
38. Node - this is  computer that is capable of validating and relaying Bitcoin transactions.
39. Hash Rate -this is  the  power of computation of the Bitcoin network.
40. Cryptography - this the collection of secure communication used in the design of Bitcoin.
41. 2FA - this means Two-Factor Authentication in full.It is an additional layer of security for your wallet.
42. Market Cap - This is the total amount of Bitcoins available in circulation.
43.WIF - this means Wallet Import Format in full. It is standard method of encoding private keys.
44. Public Ledger - this is the easily accessible Leger of all transactions on the Bitcoin network.
45. Ticker Symbol - This is a form of shorthand code used to represent Bitcoin on exchanges.
46. KYC -this in full means Know Your Customer .It is a form verification process on some exchanges and rarely in custodial wallets . Bitcoin investors are advised to avoid KYC as much as possible because it prevents anonymity of a Bitcoin investor.
47.P2PKH - this means Pay-to-Public-Key-Hash in full .it is  a common Bitcoin transaction script.
48. P2SH -  This means Pay-to-Script-Hash it is also another form of Bitcoin transaction script.
49. Ransomware - these are  software that are likely to cause harm. They demand Bitcoin as payment to unlock certain files.
50. Regulation - this include the series of rules , regulations and policies put in place by the government over the use of Bitcoin in a particular region of country.

Good luck mate don't  forget to keep your keys safe😁

[Cantsay]

I believe some other threads already exist but it’s never a bad idea to drop this type of threads since it will help newbies to learn some terms that might help them in their learning journey here in their forum, I’d also suggest you look for similar threads that lacks what you wrote here and add the link at the button of your thread so that newbies can still visit there after going through your own.

One last important thing, I hope you did not copy anything from the internet and display here as your own. I believe you have stayed here long enough to know that plagiarism of any type is not tolerated here in the forum so if you did copy do well to reference it to avoid any issue.

[JeromeTash]

If you had searched around the forum using the search button. You would have realized that there are so many similar topics posted about the same thing in the past. You wouldn't have even wasted your effort.

A few threads

1. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=126798.0
2. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3321001.0
3. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2905959.0
4. https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=3296370.0

[348Judah]

Below is my compilation of a series of words frequently used in Bitcoin discussions and a breakdown of Their meanings for persons who are new in the crypto space and are eager to venture the crypto space.It will also be useful for newbies who often mis- interpret  some synonymous words relating to Bitcoin and crypto.

Good job OP and i believe you would have engage more of your time in making this compilation up for the beginners to learn even though this aspect had been discussed severally, I've come across a thread that gives the whole alphabetical order meaning with bitcoin terminologies, i know you made a good research to have compiled this up and am sure that not all the bitcoin grammatical words are expressed within this content, but maybe the only few you could remember or conversant with, you can make use of the search button in case of some other time to avoid repetition.

[Stepstowealth]

I have learnt the meaning of some abbreviations I see on the forum, thank you. I agree with most but I think you made a mistake adding token as a word directly related to bitcoins.

32. Token - this is a digital based asset which created on a particular blockchain. It represents asset ownership or utility.

Token is a word linked more and used generally to refer to some kind of digital asset that needs to exist on an existing blockchain. Bitcoins are not tokens because it has its own blockchain, so token should not be among the listed words related to bitcoins.

[ImThour]

Good post mate, might help people here who needs to know more about these words in general. Glad you being a Newbie still helping out users on the forum.
I like the posts with the formatting like you used bold and kept using a same structure for all the words in the list. +1 Merit for you.

Market Cap - This is the total amount of Bitcoins available in circulation.

This is not what Market Cap is. Total amount of Bitcoins in circulation is called Circulating Supply. Market cap is the total amount of money which is invested in Bitcoin.

[Faisal2202]

Below is my compilation of a series of words frequently used in Bitcoin discussions and a breakdown of Their meanings for persons who are new in the crypto space and are eager to venture the crypto space.It will also be useful for newbies who often mis- interpret  some synonymous words relating to Bitcoin and crypto.

You have compiled a good set of words that commonly used in BTC sphere. But the point 47, 48, are not used that much, even I was not aware of them before and I came to know them here by your post. I think they are some technical terms used in the architecture of BTC blockchain. If yes, then I hope there must be other lot of terms used in that section that could be wrote here. Besides it, Your post was very informative and despite the fact that there are numerous threads already been made on this thing but all the time I came to know about new terms. But unfortunately, I can not remember all these words. But sometimes, few words came to my mind during a discussion then I don't hesitate to name them.

Another confession I wanted to make here, That I have used these terms and other terms which I have learnt from topics like these, to show myself as the most knowledgeable person of BTC among my friends. But sometimes, I got caught but I don't mind that because in friends we used to do that. But this fun must not be go beyond limits that it could hurt someone's reputation or money.

[ZAINmalik75]

I believe some other threads already exist but it’s never a bad idea to drop this type of threads since it will help newbies to learn some terms that might help them in their learning journey here in their forum, I’d also suggest you look for similar threads that lacks what you wrote here and add the link at the button of your thread so that newbies can still visit there after going through your own.

A great advice from a good adviser. I really like the way you treat newbies and I hope you will do that forever. Op do make a good effort if he really did and searched all these by himself like not ok help from some AI content writer. Because that will not be tolerated. Some terms are new to me and I really like to learn new terms you op have done a good thing by adding a little explanation with these words. Because recently, there was a newbie in the trading discussion, you did not insert a description with the words or terms he wrote there then after some time I think on-demand he inserted some of the explanation with the terms.

One last important thing, I hope you did not copy anything from the internet and display here as your own. I believe you have stayed here long enough to know that plagiarism of any type is not tolerated here in the forum so if you did copy do well to reference it to avoid any issue.

Yeah, you are right, but I think there is no way to declare that either OP has copied the data from somewhere or not, because what if he has learned it from the time of him since he is in crypto? Or who knows if he just read some articles comprised of these types of terms and took ideas from there and also wrote from there. But in his own words. Then he should have inserted the source link.

[Hyphen(-)]

Good luck mate don't  forget to keep your keys safe😁

Great effort OP, even though people have created so many topics related to this before, this will serve as a reminder because most of our newbies are finding it difficult to use the forum search button, and as a result of that, they may find it difficult to locate such threads quickly because these acronyms are confusing sometimes, even if you are not new to them, and for beginners that are just coming into bitcoin and cryptocurrency, it is very important for them to know the meaning of them so that they can learn fast.

[odolvlobo]

I appreciate your contribution, but I must point out your errors.

7. Halving - This occurs usually during a space of four years. It is a period when the amount of Bitcoin available in circulation is halved  therefore causing scarcity which leads to increase in price.

The amount available in circulation is not halved. Instead, the production is halved. The amount of bitcoins in circulation increases every block until it reaches approximately 21 million.

10. Exchange - This is a platform where Bitcoin transactions can be carried out.consider it as a market place for crypto currencies.

An exchange is a place to buy and sell bitcoins. Trades on an exchange are not recorded in the block chain. Bitcoin transactions occur over the Bitcoin network and are recorded in the block chain.

16. Wallet Address - this is a  unique alphanumeric code used to send and receive Bitcoin. Consider it as an account number or routing number just like you have with your bank account.

A wallet typically has a nearly unlimited supply of addresses, so the term "wallet address" is a misnomer. Furthermore, it is a mistake to consider an address as like a bank account number or a routing number because it is typically only used once. It is more like an invoice number.

19. Hash -This is a fixed alphanumeric string which is generated from transactions carried out on the Bitcoin network. It is stored as data for a transaction.

A hash is the result of a specific mathematical process applied to data. It has many uses in Bitcoin and in cryptography in general.

20. Confirmation - This is a process carried out by miners in verifying a Bitcoin transaction . Confirmation is done through multiple blocks on the blockchain.

A transaction is confirmed when it is included in a block. Multiple confirmations occur when additional blocks are added to the block chain because each block confirms the blocks that precede it.

26. Pump and Dump - This is usually a profit scheme to inflate the price of a cryptocurrency and then sell off quickly.it is most common with altcoins.

More precisely, in a pump-and-dump, the scammer buys a worthless asset and then promotes the asset by making fraudulent claims (the "pump"). Then, the scammer sells the asset as the price rises (the "dump"). The victims of the fraud are left holding the asset as it returns to being worthless again.

31. Fungibility - This is the term used to describe interchangeability of Bitcoin.this holds due to the fact that all Bitcoins are of equal value.

More importantly, fungibility is a property that describes how one bitcoin is indistinguishable from any other.

40. Cryptography - this the collection of secure communication used in the design of Bitcoin.

Cryptography is a technology that provides capabilities such as security, privacy, and authentication.

42. Market Cap - This is the total amount of Bitcoins available in circulation.

Market cap is the total value of the bitcoins in circulation.

[Charles-Tim]

You can include BIP39 passphrase.

4. Wallet - These can be in the form of either hard ware or soft ware. they are used to hodl and transact crypto currencies eg Bitcoin. Hardware wallet are less prone to hacks than soft ware wallets.( avoid storing Bitcoins in exchanges!!).

If you do not want it to be confusing, there are two types of wallets: online/hot and offline/cold wallet. It is online wallets that are less safe and secure while cold wallets are safer and more secure.

Types of online wallets: web, mobile and desktop wallets
Types of offline wallets: paper wallet, hardware wallet and wallet on airgapped device.

7. Halving - This occurs usually during a space of four years. It is a period when the amount of Bitcoin available in circulation is halved  therefore causing scarcity which leads to increase in price.

To be more accurate, halving occur in every 210000 blocks which is approximately every 4 years.

[CryptSafe]

I think OP did well to have come up with this. This shows that OP is really focused on learning more about Bitcoin and having the right knowledge of what he in or she is going into.  These are the signs that shows how beginners are eagerly ready to learn new things when ever they encounter such. Although there are threads that possibly have this content which OP did not really do search for here but I believe OP was doing as a newbie and for other newbies to see as well because the time and commitment OP must have devoted in doing this is not what to he waits when there are similar posts of this nature on this platform. Well what OP did is one of the attributes of newbies so I would commend OP for giving it a try putting the this thread up.

[Zaguru12]

You have compiled a good set of words that commonly used in BTC sphere. But the point 47, 48, are not used that much, even I was not aware of them before and I came to know them here by your post. I think they are some technical terms used in the architecture of BTC blockchain.

The number 47 and 48 you aren’t aware of is certainly not new to bitcoin and I know you might have seen it somewhere but you just can’t recall. They are bitcoin address formats which were first used before the new formats we have now and are still been used now

The number 47 which is the P2PKH is popular known as legacy address of the bitcoin, it was the first address type and it is started with 1. Base58 is used to encode them and are created by hashing a single public key.

number 48 is the P2SH which is also another version of bitcoin address format they are soft fork from the legacy address format but it’s hashing is a redeem script and not just single public key like the former. It starts its address format with 3 as prefix.

The new address formats which are used mostly now is the P2WPKH which is mostly known as the native segwit address (Bech32), from its name it uses the Bech32 encoding. It starts it address with bc1q and are longer than the other two formats explained above. They came as result of a soft fork on the bitcoin blockchain to help create space on the block for more transactions by separating the witness data from it and as such also reduces the transaction fee to pay for transaction compared to the other above formats.

The other one is the Pay -2- taproot addresses which is the newest type of bitcoin address formats it also uses Bech32 encoding but the transaction witness stores the signature not the script sig like in P2WPKH. It starts with a prefix of bc1p and provides more privacy than the later. It is still very new and not all wallets supports it


They are still wallets that support even the older bitcoins but the most widely use is the segwit address (bc1q)

[Mr.suevie]

I think OP did well to have come up with this. This shows that OP is really focused on learning more about Bitcoin and having the right knowledge of what he in or she is going into.  These are the signs that shows how beginners are eagerly ready to learn new things when ever they encounter such. Although there are threads that possibly have this content which OP did not really do search for here but I believe OP was doing as a newbie and for other newbies to see as well because the time and commitment OP must have devoted in doing this is not what to he waits when there are similar posts of this nature on this platform. Well what OP did is one of the attributes of newbies so I would commend OP for giving it a try putting the this thread up.

I think if there is will power to learn then results will definitely come out but if you are reluctant and always feeling like there is a short cut to everything you do in life then you would probably not excel even when it comes to the forum. For OP to what compiled such then he must be really aspiring learn.

This thread is actually very useful because most person here and not only newbie don't actually know the full details of some of the words given .

[Antotena]

OP could you include this to your vocabulary.

People mistake lightning with lightening. The bolder is the right word to use for Bitcoin in Bitcoin lightning network, as in lightning network but reading through some post, it's annoying when people use the first one from the image which is wrong.

[alastantiger]

I love the list, despite that there have been some other threads like this, it doesn't matter as long as yours is unique.

One of the advantages of working on things like this is that you get to learn more about bitcoin while you are sharing your knowledge with others. I know that the list is more encompassing because there are more bitcoin related words than what you have compiled. I encourage you to add to it if you can.

I noticed that you didn't put any references to the compilation. You should consider doing so because that is what is expected and the right thing to do.

[CryptSafe]

I think OP did well to have come up with this. This shows that OP is really focused on learning more about Bitcoin and having the right knowledge of what he in or she is going into.  These are the signs that shows how beginners are eagerly ready to learn new things when ever they encounter such. Although there are threads that possibly have this content which OP did not really do search for here but I believe OP was doing as a newbie and for other newbies to see as well because the time and commitment OP must have devoted in doing this is not what to he waits when there are similar posts of this nature on this platform. Well what OP did is one of the attributes of newbies so I would commend OP for giving it a try putting the this thread up.

I think if there is will power to learn then results will definitely come out but if you are reluctant and always feeling like there is a short cut to everything you do in life then you would probably not excel even when it comes to the forum. For OP to what compiled such then he must be really aspiring learn.

This thread is actually very useful because most person here and not only newbie don't actually know the full details of some of the words given .

Making out time alone to do research and making this thread alone is enough to tell us the truth that OP is really trying his or her best to present something meaningful to the community to see because not every newbie would have  that time to want to engage themselves with such a task as this nature. OP has done well and should be applauded for this gesture of putting up with this task.

[EL MOHA]

People mistake lightning with lightening. The bolder is the right word to use for Bitcoin in Bitcoin lightning network, as in lightning network but reading through some post, it's annoying when people use the first one from the image which is wrong.

I don’t get the reason why you would get annoyed for such a thing as spelling mistake. This is a large forum that comprises of people from different languages and as such the non English speakers would definitely make mistakes like this. The two words might be different but clear when it used in this forum or related to bitcoin then you certainly should know what the writer means. So if it see any big thing about this

[boyptc]

There are some references where you can check about these terms, like this Bitcoin glossary.

--> https://bitcoinmagazine.com/bitcoin-glossary

[Hamza2424]

OP, I have seen a lot of topics based on the terminologies from the aspects of Bitcoin, Altcoin, General, and Crypto, and in Trading stock-based trading terminologies, most of them covered the terminologies Only but I had encountered only a few topics covering s descriptive content of that particular terminology to explain its position in a few words. But in beginners & help, there are already many topics just based on the terminologies still you've created a topic for that put effort into it, appreciated.

But for the rest, I think you should level up now learn something unique, and bring it here with your unique view to attract others' attention. Rest is OK. Enjoy for now. Read the feedback and adjust your content accordingly to improve the presentation your thoughts and ideas, a couple of other terminologies are mentioned by senior members and some raw facts are also there so don't forget to learn and ask if you want about them.