Node
Computer systems that contain a copy of a blockchains primary protocol and its entire transaction history.
Address
A unique identifier used to send, receive and store digital assets on a blockchain network.
Distributed Ledger
A ledger of any transactions or contracts maintained in decentralized form across different locations and people.
Peer to Peer (P2P)
A decentralized ledger for one or more digital assets that are conducted without the need for a third party.
Block
Data structures within the blockchain database, where transaction data in bitcoin blockchain are permanently recorded.
Genesis Block
The very first block upon which additional blocks in a blockchain are added.
Block Height
A specific location in a blockchain, measured by how many confirmed blocks precede it.
Blockchain
A decentralized, distributed and public digital ledger that is used to record transactions across many computers so that the record cannot be altered retroactively l without the alternation of all subsequent blocks and the consensus of the network.
Hash
A deterministic hexadecimal number. This means that no matter how many characters the input has, the has will always be the same number of characters.
Hash Rate
A measure of the number of computations a network can perform per second.
Cryptographic Hash Function
Used for security purposes and constitutes the backbone of crypto security.
Mining
A metaphor for the computational work that the network nodes undertake to validate the information contained in the blocks.
Difficulty
A measure of how difficult it is to mine a block, to find a hash below a given target.
Block Reward
The number of coins you get if you successfully mine a block of the currency.
Cryptocurrency
The digital currency in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralized system using cryptography, rather than by a centralized authority.
Satoshi
The smallest unit of bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC).
Altcoin
Any alternative cryptocurrency to bitcoin.
Wallet
Allows users to manage different kinds of cryptocurrency.
Consensus
A system that validates a transaction and marks it as authentic.
Smart Contract
Programs stored on a blockchain that run when predetermined conditions are met.
Transaction
A data transmission across the network of computers in a blockchain system.
Transaction Fee
A small amount of cryptocurrency that users pay to complete a transaction on the blockchain network.
Blockchain Fork
Copying the code and modifying it to create a new software or product.
51% Attack
An attack on a cryptocurrency blockchain by a group of miners who control more than 50% of the networks mining hash rate.
