Bitcoin is arguably the most talked-about Cryptocurrency now. It has risen to great heights over the past decades. It has its own set of usable terms, its dictionary. Following are some that one must know.
BLOCKCHAIN
Entire groups of transactions made using bitcoin are all stored in an archive. It is online. And also transparent to anyone who wants to monitor the list of transactions. Of course, all of which were, in fact, different from after being authorized by a specific user. The vigilance is limited to the approved profile. This archive is BLOCKCHAIN—more information on this on .
BLOCK
If BLOCKCHAIN is a notebook, its pages are Blocks. As the meaning of the former suggests clearly, a series of Blocks form a blockchain. A block is nothing but the individual record of transactions. These are refreshed periodically. This refreshing process is what we call mining. Data entered here can’t be altered.
CRYPTOGRAPHY
Dictionary meaning states the skill of creating and solving codes. This technology is the latest security measure for transferring data on individual user levels.
This technology is also the underlying technology of blockchain. Whoever initiates a transaction also creates a process by which the I’d of that transaction gets hidden under a code. Only the one receiving the amount has the authority to get the deciphered data.
DECENTRALISATION
Arguably the most thought about the feature of bitcoin. Like banks are for conventional money, bitcoin doesn’t have any such organizations for maintenance. Bitcoin is still under the authority of those who created it. And it’s regulated by the way it’s used on personal levels.
SATOSHI
In 2008, a research paper was released. It had details about an electronic cash system. The best thing was that it was protected, reasonable, and cut out the risk of double-spending. This proved to be the most decisive step in the market of Cryptocurrencies. The most exciting thing about this paper is that the holder of the article, may it be a person or organization, was named “Satoshi Nakamoto.” It is still a mystery about the real identity behind this name.
PS: A “satoshi” is the base unit in bitcoin — 0.00000001 BTC.
MINING
The BLOCKCHAIN series contains multiple transactions. So, it is checked and refreshed after every 10 minutes. Mining comprises complicated mathematical calculations that increase in difficulty with each solved question. These puzzles must be solved to verify the originality of transactions. Miners are those that are educated in the knowledge of programming and experts in solving such puzzles. Miners earn bitcoin with every block they successfully solve.
CHANGE
This is like offline money transfers. When you give an amount that happens to be more than the required one, you are returned the extra amount. Suppose, while shopping, someone pays more than what was needed. The amount returned after that is called “Change.”
The same is the case with bitcoin. Let’s say you have 6.12 BTC left in your wallet, you get another transaction to initiate. Also, you need to pay just 6 BTC. For some reason, you send the entire 6.12 BTC. As a result, you get 0.12 BTC returned as change.
COINBASE
A famous cryptocurrency platform, but under an authority.
COLD WALLET/COLD STORAGE
It is secure and enables users to store their bitcoin in hardware form offline. The majority city of cold wallets resembles USB drives. This class of wallets helps save the crypto from any hacking or theft. But it had its drawbacks. Users can lose the drive, too – it takes the crypto with it.
DOUBLE SPENDING
Double spending refers to spending the same money twice, copying the I’d of the first time. In the case of Bitcoin, this is cut off efficiently. This is because of the presence of mining. If anyone double spends, they can get caught during the next mining. Both the transactions get saved in the archive. When the vigilance occurs, it will deem the latter one invalid.
Conclusion
These are some of the terms used in the bitcoin ecosystem that all of us should know for the ease of transactions.