A digital monetary network.
Bitcoin is a decentralized system for transferring and storing value without a central issuer.
Glossary
Bitcoin and crypto terms in plain English.
Use this starter glossary to decode news, guides, wallet safety, ETFs, stablecoins, RWA, mining, and market structure without hype.
25 Core Terms
Definitions readers should know first.
The unit of the Bitcoin network.
BTC is the asset used on Bitcoin. One bitcoin can be divided into 100 million satoshis.
The secret that controls coins.
A private key proves ownership. If someone else gets it, they can move the funds.
The backup for a wallet.
A seed phrase can restore wallet access. Never type it into websites, messages, or unknown apps.
Holding your own keys.
Self-custody means the user controls the wallet keys instead of relying on an exchange or broker.
A wallet kept offline.
Cold storage reduces online attack risk, but backup mistakes can still cause permanent loss.
Brokerage exposure to Bitcoin.
A spot ETF holds bitcoin through custodians and trades like a stock-market fund.
Money entering or leaving ETFs.
ETF inflows and outflows help show institutional demand, but they are only one market signal.
A scheduled supply change.
The Bitcoin block subsidy is cut roughly every four years, reducing new BTC issuance.
Mining compute power.
Hash rate estimates the computing power securing Bitcoin through proof-of-work mining.
The network's mining adjustment.
Difficulty changes so blocks continue arriving roughly every ten minutes.
Waiting room for transactions.
The mempool contains valid transactions waiting to be included in a block.
A token designed to track a currency.
Stablecoins aim to hold a value such as one U.S. dollar, but reserve, issuer, and redemption risks still matter.
Real-world assets on rails.
RWA refers to tokenized claims or representations of assets such as treasuries, credit, equity, or real estate.
A stock-like wrapper.
Tokenized stocks can differ from real shares in legal title, voting rights, dividends, custody, and redemption.
How easily something trades.
High liquidity usually means larger trades can happen with less price movement.
Price movement during execution.
Slippage is the gap between expected price and actual trade price.
Derivative contracts without expiry.
Perps let traders take leveraged long or short exposure and usually use funding payments.
A perp market balancing payment.
Funding payments help keep perpetual futures close to the underlying market price.
Forced closure of leverage.
A liquidation happens when collateral is no longer enough to support a leveraged position.
Who controls the asset.
Custody decides whether the user, an exchange, a bank, or a specialist custodian controls keys or claims.
Turning a claim back into value.
Redemption is the process for converting a token, fund share, or stablecoin into the underlying asset or currency.
A data bridge for contracts.
Oracles bring external information, such as prices, into smart-contract systems.
A cross-chain transfer system.
Bridges can move assets or messages between blockchains, but they have been major security targets.
How settled a transaction is.
Finality describes when a transaction is considered practically irreversible.
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NAKAMOTO content is educational only and is not financial, investment, tax, legal, trading, wallet-security, or accounting advice. Bitcoin, crypto, trading, investing, and personal finance decisions involve risk. Verify primary sources and consider qualified professional advice before acting.
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