Bitcoin & Treasury Glossary

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal: a formal proposal to change the Bitcoin protocol.

Storing Bitcoin in wallets with no internet connection.

Safeguarding the private keys to Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies — yourself (self-custody) or by delegating it to a professional provider that is accountable for their security.

The first block in the Bitcoin chain, mined by Satoshi Nakamoto on January 3, 2009.

The halving of the mining reward every 210,000 blocks (~4 years).

A scaling layer built on top of Bitcoin that inherits its security to process more transactions.

Layer 2 for instant payments on top of Bitcoin, designed for low-cost transactions.

The queue of transactions awaiting confirmation on the Bitcoin network.

A cryptographic technique that splits a private key into several shares that are never fully reconstructed in a single place.

Custody scheme requiring multiple private keys to authorize a transaction.

Bitcoin's consensus mechanism: miners compete to solve complex mathematical problems.

The smallest unit of Bitcoin: 0.00000001 BTC (one hundred-millionth).

Soft fork activated in August 2017 that separates signatures from the transaction body and increases the effective block capacity.

Direct control of Bitcoin private keys without relying on a third party.

Bitcoin upgrade (2021) that improves privacy, efficiency and smart contracts.

Unspent Transaction Output: the basic accounting unit of the Bitcoin blockchain.