bitcoin — English Dictionary

Proper noun

1. A decentralized cryptocurrency using blockchain technology.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Broader terms

   cryptocurrency

   Examples

   We do not accept bitcoin at this store.

   More examples (6)

   Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System [title] […] What is needed is an electronic payment system based on cryptographic proof instead of trust, allowing any two willing parties to transact directly with each other without the need for a trusted third party. […] In this paper, we propose a solution to the double-spending problem using a peer-to-peer distributed timestamp server to generate computational proof of the chronological order of transactions.

   [A] man named Satoshi Nakamoto posted a research paper to an obscure cryptography listserv describing his design for a new digital currency that he called bitcoin.

   [Bitcoins] do not depend on the state banks, but are created through mining. Mining is also called as hashing. It is a process of solving complex math problems using those computers which run bitcoin software.

   Other e-commerce sites that accept bitcoin are: Bitcoinshop.us which offers products like watches and air conditioners and ships to people within the United States; […] Travel booking websites also start to accept bitcoin sales on flights, hotel bookings to at least 200,000 hotels and railway Amtrak through their platforms.

   Individual bitcoin users are not the only driving force in terms of securing the bitcoin network. Over the past few years, dedicated bitcoin nodes have been added to the network with the sole purpose of receiving and broadcasting new bitcoin transactions to other users and nodes on the network.

   Find a friend who has bitcoin and buy some from him or her directly. Many bitcoin users start this way. This method is the least complicated. One way to meet people with bitcoin is to attend a local bitcoin meetup listed at Meetup.com (

Noun

1. A unit of the bitcoin (proper noun proper noun sense 1) cryptocurrency.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Synonyms

   BTCXBT

   Related words

   Subdivisions of bitcoin0.1 BTC0.01 BTC0.001 BTC0.000001 BTC0.00000001 BTCOther termsaltcoincoinerdogecoinmemecoin

   Examples

   This item costs one bitcoin.

   More examples (3)

   The value of fiat money is determined by legal means (legal tender laws). In other words, fiat money is anything the government says in money. For instance, if the government says an IOU or a bitcoin is money, then it is money. The major currencies of the contemporary world are fiat money.

   Users willing to devote CPU power to running a special piece of software would be called miners and would form a network to maintain the block chain collectively. […] The first miner to solve each puzzle would be awarded 50 new bitcoins, and the associated block of transactions would be added to the chain. […] [Satoshi] Nakamoto himself mined the first 50 bitcoins—which came to be called the genesis block—on January 3, 2009.

   Each time you succeed in creating a hash, you are rewarded with 25 bitcoins, the block chain is updated and all the users on the network are notified. This serves as an incentive to keep mining the bitcoins and keep the bitcoin transactions working.

   They buy bitcoins at a lower price then sell them at a higher value.

   More examples (2)

   But consider that a significant amount of bitcoin is also being held by investors. Those investors do not plan to sell their bitcoin for some time because they are speculating that due to its utility as MoIP, demand will continue to rise and so too will its value. Currently, roughly 5.5 million bitcoin, or US$5.5 billion worth at the price of US$1,000 per coin, is held by the top 1,000 addresses recorded in Bitcoin's blockchain.

   Bitcoin is the oldest and best known of all crypto coins. Its creator — the ever-anonymous Satoshi Nakamoto — set things up so that there can never be more than 21 million bitcoins in existence. Unlike other assets that are valued based on tangible components — for example, a company’s goods and services or a natural resource — bitcoin is considered a store of value, the price of which depends strictly on what others are willing to pay for it.