Cypherpunks are activists who advocate for using cryptography to protect privacy and personal freedom. They were members of the now-defunct Cypherpunk mailing list, active in the 1990s. Notably, cypherpunks contributed to the development and distribution of PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), which we rely on today for secure and encrypted communications. Their work laid the foundation for privacy-preserving technologies like Bitcoin, aimed at resisting surveillance and enabling trustless interactions.
Dd
DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)
A Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) is governed by rules encoded in smart contracts, eliminating the need for centralized control. Bitcoin doesn’t rely on DAOs, as it operates independently.
DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging)
Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is a strategy where a fixed amount of money is used to buy bitcoin at regular intervals, smoothing out volatility by ignoring short-term price movements.
DEX (Decentralized Exchange)
A decentralized exchange (DEX) allows users to trade cryptocurrencies without relying on a centralized entity. In Bitcoin, DEXs ensure users maintain control over their private keys during trades.
Difficulty
Difficulty measures how hard it is for miners to find a valid hash for a new block. It adjusts every 2,016 blocks to keep Bitcoin’s block production rate at roughly one block every 10 minutes.
Digital cash refers to currency in a digital format, designed to mimic the characteristics of physical cash, such as privacy and peer-to-peer transactions. Bitcoin is often considered digital cash because it enables direct, trustless transfers between users without intermediaries.
Digital money refers to any form of money stored and transacted electronically. This can include both centralized forms like bank deposits and decentralized currencies like Bitcoin, which operates without a central authority.
Digital Signature
A digital signature is something which can be attached to a message to show that the sender of the message is the owner of a private key corresponding to some public key while keeping the private key secret. It works by taking the hash of the message and then encrypting the hash with the private key. Someone checking the signature will decrypt the encrypted hash with the public key and check that the result matches the hash of the message. If the message is at all changed, or the private key is wrong, the hashes will not match. Outside of the Bitcoin network, signatures are generally used to authenticate the identity of the sender of a message – people publish their public keys, and send messages signed with the corresponding private key which can then be verified against the public key.
Distributed Ledger
Bitcoin’s distributed ledger, the blockchain, is stored across nodes worldwide. It’s permissionless, meaning anyone can participate and verify transactions without needing approval.
Don’t Trust, Verify
Don’t Trust, Verify is a nod to Bitcoin’s trustless nature, where users can verify transactions and ownership themselves, rather than relying on third parties or intermediaries.
Double Spend
A double spend occurs when someone tries to spend the same bitcoin twice. Bitcoin’s proof-of-work system and confirmations prevent double spending, making transactions secure once confirmed.
Dust refers to tiny amounts of bitcoin left in a wallet that are so small, they are often impractical to spend because the transaction fees would exceed the value of the amount itself. Dust can accumulate from multiple small transactions.
DYOR (Do Your Own Research)
DYOR means “Do Your Own Research,” encouraging individuals to do their own due dilligence about Bitcoin or any investible asset before making decisions.
Ee
eCash was an early form of digital currency developed in the 1980s by cryptographer David Chaum. It allowed for anonymous electronic transactions but required a central issuer. While eCash itself did not achieve widespread adoption, its principles influenced the development of later decentralized digital currencies like Bitcoin.
Electronic cash is a general term for money in digital form that can be transferred electronically, aiming to replicate the experience of using physical cash in the digital realm. Bitcoin is often regarded as true electronic cash due to its decentralized and peer-to-peer nature, allowing for direct payments without intermediaries.
Electronic money (e-money) refers to digital representations of fiat currency that can be transferred electronically. Unlike Bitcoin, e-money typically requires a centralized entity, like a bank or payment processor, to manage transactions and balances.
Encryption is the process of converting information into a code to prevent unauthorized access. In Bitcoin, encryption is used to secure private keys and ensure the integrity of transactions.
Encryption Algorithm
An encryption algorithm is a piece of software that transforms readable data into an unreadable format using an encryption key. Only someone with the matching decryption key can reverse the process. In Bitcoin, encryption algorithms are used to secure transactions and protect sensitive information, ensuring that only authorized parties can access it.
An exchange is where fiat currency is exchanged for bitcoin and vice versa. It serves as an onramp for buying bitcoin with fiat and an offramp for converting bitcoin back to fiat. Centralized exchanges often require KYC, while decentralized exchanges (DEXs) enable peer-to-peer trading without intermediaries.
Exchange Volume
Exchange volume refers to the total amount of bitcoin traded on an exchange within a specific timeframe, indicating market activity and liquidity.
Ff
Fiat currency is government-issued money, which holds value because governments mandate its use for taxes and as legal tender. Stronger fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar or euro hold value relative to other fiat currencies but even they are rapidly losing value against hard assets like Bitcoin, due to its supply being inflated, thereby eroding its purchasing power.
Flippening
The “Flippening” refers to a hypothetical argument created overly enthusiastic crypto degens, claiming that Ethereum or another alt-coin could surpass Bitcoin in market cap. This fantasy never materialized and likely never will, given Bitcoin’s unmatched security, decentralization, and long-term adoption.
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) drives people to buy bitcoin based on the fear that they’re missing a massive opportunity, often without fully understanding the long-term value or fundamentals of Bitcoin.
A fork is a change to Bitcoin’s protocol that creates two versions of the blockchain. Hard forks create new, incompatible chains, while soft forks are backward-compatible updates to Bitcoin’s rules.
Fractional reserve banking is a banking system where banks only hold a fraction of their customers’ deposits in reserve, lending out the majority to generate profit. This system creates more money in the economy through credit, but it also carries the risk of bank runs, as banks don’t have enough reserves to cover all withdrawals if many depositors demand their money at once.
FUD (Fear, Uncertainly And Doubt)
Traditionally a disinformation strategy used to sow doubt about a rival project group or project and lower its value, FUD is a term used in the Bitcoin space to describe negative media or other.
Gg
Genesis Block
The Genesis Block is the first block of the Bitcoin blockchain, mined by Satoshi Nakamoto on January 3, 2009. It marks the beginning of Bitcoin’s timechain.
GPU
GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) are specialized hardware originally used for video rendering. Early Bitcoin miners used GPUs to mine blocks, but they’ve since been rep
Gresham’s Law is an economic principle that states “bad money drives out good.” When two forms of money are in circulation, the one perceived as having less intrinsic value (bad money) is used in transactions, while the more valuable (good money) is hoarded. In a fiat currency world, people tend to spend the depreciating currency and hold assets like gold or Bitcoin as stores of value.
Hh
The Halving is a preprogrammed and ingenious feature of Bitcoin’s protocol, created by Satoshi Nakamoto. It occurs every 210,000 blocks (roughly every four years), cutting the block subsidy in half and limiting the supply of new bitcoin. This mechanism is in stark contrast to other assets, where supply typically increases as demand rises.
Hard Fork
A hard fork is a type of protocol upgrade that loosens or removes rules. If all users upgrade, a hard fork doesn’t cause a blockchain fork. Especially in the context of Bitcoin, some argue that unless all users upgrade, the “upgraded” protocol shouldn’t be called a hard fork at all, but a new cryptocurrency or “forkcoin.”
Hard money refers to a form of currency with a fixed or limited supply that cannot be easily inflated or manipulated. Historically, gold was considered hard money due to its scarcity. In the modern era, Bitcoin is often viewed as hard money because of its fixed supply of 21 million coins, making it resistant to inflation, unlike fiat currencies.
A hardware wallet is a physical device used to store private keys securely offline, providing protection from online hacks or malware. Hardware wallets are a form of cold storage and are widely used by Bitcoin holders for long-term storage, ensuring that their private keys remain safe from unauthorized access.
