Confused by some of the terms used on CoinDesk? Here you will find a complete bitcoin 101 that will help you to understand digital currency by explaining commonly used terms and their meanings.
# A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
51% attack
A condition in which more than half the computing power on a cryptocurrency network is controlled by a single miner or group of miners. That amount of power theoretically makes them the authority on the network. This means that every client on the network believes the attacker’s hashed transaction block. This gives them control over the network, including the power to:
Issue a transaction that conflicts with someone else's.
Stop someone else's transaction from being confirmed.
Spend the same coins multiple times.
Prevent other miners from mining valid blocks.
Address
A bitcoin address is used to receive and send transactions on the bitcoin network. It contains a string of alphanumeric characters, but can also be represented as a scannable QR code. A bitcoin address is also the public key in the pair of keys used by bitcoin holders to digitally sign transactions (see Public key).
Altcoin
The collective name for cryptocurrencies offered as alternatives to bitcoin. Litecoin, Feathercoin and PPcoin are all altcoins.
AML
Anti-Money Laundering techniques are used to stop people converting illegally obtained funds, to appear as though they have been earned legally. AML mechanisms can be legal or technical in nature. Regulators frequently apply AML techniques to bitcoin exchanges.
ASIC
An Application Specific Integrated Circuit is a silicon chip specifically designed to do a single task. In the case of bitcoin, they are designed to process SHA-256 hashing problems to mine new bitcoins.
ASIC miner
A piece of equipment containing an ASIC chip, configured to mine for bitcoins. They can come in the form of boards that plug into a backplane, devices with a USB connector, or standalone devices including all of the necessary software, that connect to a network via a wireless link or ethernet cable.
Bitcoin ATM
A bitcoin ATM is a physical machine that allows a customer to buy bitcoin with cash. There are many manufacturers, some of which enable users to sell bitcoin for cash. They are also sometimes called 'BTMs' or 'Bitcoin AVMS'. CoinDesk maintains a worldwide map of operational bitcoin atm machines and a list of manufacturers.
Bitcoin Investment Trust
This private, open-ended trust invests exclusively in bitcoins and uses a state-of-the-art protocol to store them safely on behalf of its shareholders.
It provides a way for people to invest in bitcoin without having to purchase and safely store the digital currency themselves.
Bitcoin Sentiment Index (BSI)
The Bitcoin Sentiment Index is a measure of whether individuals feel the digital currency's prospects are increasing or decreasing on any given day, and is powered by data collected by Qriously.
Bitcoin Market Potential Index (BMPI)
The Bitcoin Market Potential Index (BMPI) uses a data set to rank the potential utility of bitcoin across 177 countries. It attempts to show which markets have the greatest potential for bitcoin adoption.
Bitcoin Price Index (BPI)
The CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index represents an average of bitcoin prices across leading global exchanges that meet criteria specified by the BPI. There is also an API for developers to use.
Bitcoin Whitepaper
The bitcoin whitepaper was written by 'Satoshi Nakamoto’ and posted to a Cryptography Mailing list in 2008. The paper describes the bitcoin protocol in detail, and is well worth a read. Satoshi Nakamoto followed this by releasing the bitcoin code in 2009.
BitPay
A payment processor for bitcoins, which works with merchants, enabling them to take bitcoins as payment.
Bitcoin white paper
In November 2008, a paper, authored (probably pseudonymously) by Satoshi Nakamoto, was posted on the newly created Bitcoin.org website with the title 'Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’. The eight-page document described methods of using a peer-to-peer network to generate "a system for electronic transactions without relying on trust" and laid down the working principles of the cryptocurrency.
BitStamp
An exchange for bitcoins that has been gaining in popularity. Read the latest Bitstamp news.
