44 terms · plain language

The Bitcoin glossary with live numbers

Name: Bitcoin glossary
Creator: SatsAtlas
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Definitions are cheap; this glossary’s difference is that where a term has a number, the entry links to it live — «satoshi» shows what a dollar buys right now, «halving» shows the countdown.

“Not your keys, not your coins”The maxim: bitcoin on an exchange is a claim on bitcoin, not bitcoin.
21 million capBitcoin’s hard supply limit — there will never be more than 21 million BTC.
AddressThe destination string you share to receive bitcoin — derived from your keys.
Bitcoin (BTC)The first and largest decentralized digital money; BTC is its ticker and unit.
BlockA batch of transactions added to the chain roughly every ten minutes.
Block subsidyThe new bitcoin created in each block and paid to the miner who found it.
CBDCCentral Bank Digital Currency — state digital money, Bitcoin’s mirror image.
Cold storageKeys kept fully offline — the vault tier of bitcoin security.
ConfirmationEach block mined on top of your transaction — settlement depth, counted.
DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging)Buying a fixed amount on a schedule — the anti-timing strategy.
DebasementThe erosion of a currency’s value through expanding its supply.
Difficulty adjustmentThe every-2,016-blocks recalibration that keeps blocks ~10 minutes apart.
Fiat currencyGovernment-issued money backed by decree rather than a scarce asset.
Genesis blockBlock 0, mined by Satoshi on 3 January 2009 — with a newspaper headline inside.
HalvingThe every-210,000-blocks event that cuts new bitcoin issuance in half.
Hardware walletA dedicated device that signs transactions while keys never touch the internet.
HashrateThe total computing power securing Bitcoin, measured in hashes per second.
HODLThe misspelling that became Bitcoin’s word for long-term conviction holding.
HyperbitcoinizationThe hypothetical endgame where bitcoin becomes the world’s dominant money.
KYC“Know Your Customer” — the identity checks exchanges are required to run.
Lightning NetworkBitcoin’s payment layer: instant, near-free transactions settled off-chain.
Market capitalizationPrice × circulating supply — the headline size metric, with caveats.
MempoolThe waiting room of unconfirmed transactions competing for block space.
MiningThe energy-backed competition that orders transactions and issues new bitcoin.
Mining poolMiners combining hashrate to smooth out the lottery of finding blocks.
MultisigRequiring multiple keys to spend — no single point of failure or theft.
Node (full node)A computer running Bitcoin software that independently verifies every rule.
Orange pillThe moment Bitcoin clicks — culture’s term for conviction by understanding.
Privacy (on-chain)Bitcoin is pseudonymous, not anonymous — every transaction is public forever.
Private keyThe secret number that controls bitcoin — whoever holds it, owns the coins.
Proof of workThe mechanism tying Bitcoin’s security to real-world energy expenditure.
Satoshi (sat)The smallest unit of bitcoin: 1/100,000,000 BTC — the unit SatsAtlas measures in.
Sats standardPricing goods in satoshis instead of fiat — the measuring-stick flip.
Seed phraseThe 12–24 words that back up every key in your wallet.
SegWitThe 2017 upgrade that fixed malleability and made transactions smaller.
Self-custodyHolding your own keys, so no company stands between you and your bitcoin.
Stacking satsAccumulating bitcoin in small amounts, counted in satoshis.
TaprootThe 2021 upgrade improving privacy and efficiency of complex transactions.
The Bitcoin whitepaperSatoshi’s nine pages from 2008 that specified peer-to-peer electronic cash.
TimechainSatoshi’s original name for the blockchain — a chain of provable time.
TransactionA signed instruction spending UTXOs to new owners, recorded forever on-chain.
Transaction feesWhat you bid for block space — the auction that prices Bitcoin settlement.
UTXOUnspent Transaction Output — the actual form bitcoin takes on the blockchain.
VolatilityHow much the price swings — Bitcoin’s cost of being freely traded and young.

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