Bitcoin In Peace

Glossary

A

Term:

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  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

B

Block: A batch of validated transactions plus metadata appended to the blockchain.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Blockchain: Ordered, cryptographically linked sequence of blocks forming audit trail.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

C

Censorship Resistance: Difficulty of blocking valid transactions network-wide.

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  • Pillar: Debates, Politics, & Policy
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

D

Decentralization: Distribution of control and validation across many independent participants.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Deflation:Broad decline in price levels; often conflated with Bitcoin’s programmed supply disinflation.

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  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Difficulty Adjustment: Biennial (every 2016 blocks) retargeting mechanism maintaining ~10-minute block intervals.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

E

F

Fiat Currency: Government-issued money without intrinsic redemption backing.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

FUD: Fear, uncertainty, and doubt messaging intended to dissuade adoption.

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  • Pillar: Debates, Politics, & Policy
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

G

H

Hard Cap: Maximum bitcoin supply fixed at 21 million units via protocol schedule.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Halving: Ordered, cryptographically linked sequence of blocks forming audit trail.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

I

Immutability (Probabilistic): Practical resistance to altering confirmed historical data.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Inflation: Standard used to price goods and services; Bitcoin aspires to this role long term.

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  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Issuance Schedule: Predictable declining coin subsidy timeline ending near 21 million total.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

J

K

L

Lightning Network: Second-layer protocol enabling fast, low-cost Bitcoin payments via channels.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

M

Medium Of Exchange: Asset used to facilitate transactions between parties.

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  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Miner: Entity expending computation to assemble and submit candidate blocks.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

N

O

P

Permissionless: No central authority required to join, validate, or transact.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Private Key: Secret number enabling creation of valid signatures.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Proof-Of-Work: Mechanism requiring computational work to propose valid blocks.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Public Key: Derived value used to verify signatures and create addresses.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Q

R

S

Scarcity: Limited supply relative to demand; in Bitcoin enforced by consensus rules.

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  • Pillar: Economics
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Sound Money: Money resistant to arbitrary supply expansion or debasement.

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  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

Store Of Value: Asset held to preserve purchasing power over time.

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  • Pillar: Economics
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

T

Transaction: Signed instruction transferring spendable outputs to new owners.

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  • Pillar: How Bitcoin Works
  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

U

Unit Of Account: Standard used to price goods and services; Bitcoin aspires to this role long term.

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  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

V

W

Wallet: Software or device managing keys and constructing transactions.

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  • Last Reviewed Date: 10/02/2025

X

Y

Z