is the public key of a cryptocurrency wallet and consists of a string of alphanumeric characters used to receive or send transactions. It is the only information that must be provided to receive units of a digital currency.

is a peer-to-peer payment system and digital currency, decentralized, open source, powered by its users and without any central authority or intermediaries. By convention, the word “Bitcoin”, written in capital letters, is used to refer to the technology of payment and cryptographic recording of information, while the word “bitcoin”, written in lower case, refers to the digital currency.

is the unit that makes up the Blockchain and contains all the transactions confirmed during the block generation period. On average every 10 minutes a new block, which includes transactions, is generated and added to the Blockchain through the mining process.

is a public register or “ledger” of all transactions in a digital currency. In computer terms, it can be defined as a database distributed on each node that is part of the network and that exploits peer-to-peer technology.

It is therefore a distributed communication channel (a chain of information blocks) that allows the transfer of a digital value or property with the guarantee that no third party can damage or modify the transactions to take advantage of them.

The blockchain is made up of blocks that store groups of valid transactions, correlated by a time marker (timestamp). Each block includes the hash of the previous block, linking the blocks together. The linked blocks form a chain, with each additional block reinforcing the previous ones. The original definition was written by Satoshi Nakamoto and found in bitcoin’s source code.

is a common unit used to designate a bitcoin.

is a piece of secret data (an alphanumeric code) that proves that you are the one using bitcoin or other cryptocurrency from a particular wallet through an encrypted signature. The private key(s) is stored on your computer if you use a software wallet; it is stored on a remote server if you use a web wallet. The private key must be guarded with the utmost care, it must not be revealed to others as it allows you to access the funds from your wallet.

is a cryptographic key used in an asymmetric cryptographic system, which in cryptocurrency is represented by the address. The public key can be exchanged to perform transactions.

A transaction in Bitcoin (or other cryptocurrency) is only valid when it is confirmed by the network through mining activity. Confirmation indicates that a transaction has been processed by the network, and is highly unlikely to be rejected. Transactions receive a confirmation when they are included in a block, and for each subsequent block. Each confirmation, exponentially, decreases the risk of a rejected transaction.

is the branch of mathematics that allows us to create mathematical proofs that provide high levels of security, thus making it possible to transmit a message while keeping it secret from everyone except the people who have the keys to decipher it. Symmetric cryptography is defined as using the same key to encrypt and decrypt a message, and asymmetric cryptography is defined as using different keys (as in the case of the Bitcoin system).

is a currency or medium of exchange, which uses cryptography to protect transactions and control the creation of new units.

decentralized application, based on distributed networks, with open source software, whose operation is enabled by cryptographic tokens that serve as a measure of value and eventual access filter.

Decentralized autonomous organizations that finance themselves by issuing their own cryptocurrency. Investors and lenders contribute fiat currency to the enterprise and receive cryptocurrency in return, which serves as a share in the enterprise’s dividend distribution and at the same time as an expendable medium of exchange in the market.

another term for blockchain.

platform for building decentralized, cryptographically protected applications.

cryptocurrency that is used to request computational resources from the Ethereum system.

is the traditional currency that derives its value essentially from an authority and from people’s trust. It can be considered a fiduciary value, i.e. not determined by the intrinsic value of a material, such as for example gold and silver. All current official currencies are in fact fiat currencies.

It is divided into hard fork and soft fork. A soft fork is when a new version of the protocol is introduced, but the old clients still manage to process the transactions generated by the updated clients. A hard fork is when this does not happen, and the old clients can no longer process blocks from the new ones.

is a function that transforms a message of arbitrary length into an alphanumeric code of fixed length, which is called Hash, Digest or digital fingerprint. The Hash function used in the Bitcoin system is the SHA-256 algorithm.

Is the “reimbursement” for work done and paid to miners. It consists of new bitcoins and transaction fees included in each block. They are awarded 50 bitcoins for each solved block, but this value halves every 210,000 blocks.

is the public key of a cryptocurrency wallet and consists of a string of alphanumeric characters used to receive or send transactions. It is the only information that must be provided to receive units of a digital currency.

is that part of a bitcoin transaction that identifies the origin of the transaction. Typically this is an address, except in the case of next-generation bitcoin.

is the process by which all bitcoin transactions are verified and recorded, but it is also the activity that allows new bitcoins to be minted. This process makes the computer hardware perform mathematical calculations in order to confirm transactions and increase the security of the Bitcoin network. As a reward for their service, Bitcoin miners (miners) can collect commissions on the transactions they confirm along with the newly created bitcoins. The maximum number available is 21 million and this offering will be completed by 2140.

the Blockchain system is organised into nodes according to a distributed, decentralized and peer-to-peer network. This type of network is called P2P (peer-to-peer).

is the part of a bitcoin transaction that identifies the destination address of the transaction.

generally understood as a system of transmitting transactions directly between two individuals without intermediaries.

In IT terms, it is an expression that indicates a model of logical architecture of a computer network in which the nodes are not hierarchised only in the form of fixed clients or servers (clients and servants), but in the form of equivalent or peer nodes that can act both as client and servant towards the other terminal nodes (host) of the network. It is therefore a particular case of the logical architecture of client-server network.

is an electronic wallet that stores all the digital credentials to access, spend and transfer bitcoins or other altcoins. There are three types of wallets: desktop, smartphone and web wallet. The wallet manages the private keys that allow you to sign transactions. Each Bitcoin wallet can show you the total balance of all the bitcoins it controls and allows you to pay precise amounts to a specific person, like a real wallet.

is an inexpensive measure to deter denial of service attacks and other service abuses, such as spam on the network, by imposing some work from the service requestor, usually meaning computer processing time. A key feature of these schemes is their asymmetry: the work must be moderately complex (but feasible) on the requesting side, but easy for the service provider to control.

system whereby a number of bitcoins are sent to an address that permanently removes them from circulation.

is the name of a method for securing a cryptocurrency network and achieving distributed consensus. It is based on the principle that each user is required to prove possession of a certain amount of cryptocurrency. It differs from proof-of-work systems that are based on hash algorithms that validate electronic transactions. Peercoin was the first cryptocurrency to use Proof-of-Stake system since its launch.

is a pseudonym behind which the creator of the Bitcoin system and the bitcoin currency has hidden himself. To date, there is still no certainty about his identity.

contracts between parties that have the possibility of self-verification and self-enforcing in the absence of third parties. They are agreements between parties, fixed at an algorithmic level and with characteristics of self-enforceability and control, independent of the intervention of third parties and adherence to an existing legal and regulatory system.

in IT terms, open source indicates software whose writers (more precisely, the rights holders) make the source code public, favouring free study and allowing independent programmers to make modifications and extensions. This possibility is regulated through the application of special licences for use. The phenomenon has benefited greatly from the Internet, because it allows distant programmers to coordinate and work on the same project.

another acronym that can indicate bitcoin

is an electronic wallet that stores all the digital credentials to access, spend and transfer bitcoins or other altcoins. There are three types of wallets: desktop, smartphone and web wallet. The wallet manages the private keys that allow you to sign transactions. Each bitcoin wallet can show you the total balance of all the bitcoins it controls and allows you to pay precise amounts to a specific person, like a real wallet.