Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency whose transactions are recorded on a public blockchain and verified by a peer-to-peer network. Its supply follows rules enforced by software rather than a central issuer.

Bitcoin transaction: A digitally signed transfer that assigns control of bitcoin to new owners through the Bitcoin network. Transactions are the records nodes validate and miners gather into blocks.
Public-key cryptography: A cryptographic system using related public and private keys for encryption, authentication, or digital signatures. Bitcoin uses private keys to authorize spending and public keys to verify signatures.
Satoshi Nakamoto: The pseudonym used by Bitcoin’s author or authors, who published the system’s design and launched its network. Nakamoto introduced Bitcoin and withdrew from public communication in 2010.
Bitcoin wallet: Software or hardware that manages keys and creates Bitcoin transactions; it does not literally contain coins. Wallets let holders control keys and initiate transfers.
Fiat money: Money issued by a government and accepted largely through legal, institutional, and social arrangements. Unlike fiat currencies, Bitcoin has no central issuer or discretionary monetary authority.
Bitcoin script: Bitcoin’s stack-based scripting language defines conditions that must be met to spend transaction outputs. Script encodes the spending conditions nodes check when validating transactions.
Digital signature: A cryptographic value that lets others verify a message was authorized by the holder of a private key. Signatures prove that transaction inputs were authorized without revealing private keys.
Bitcoin white paper: The 2008 paper describing Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system using proof of work. It sets out the design that the software implemented the following year.
Lightning Network: A Bitcoin payment network that uses off-chain payment channels to support faster, lower-cost transfers. It aims to handle frequent small payments without recording each one on-chain.
Central bank digital currency: A digital form of central bank money issued as a liability of a central bank. A CBDC is centrally issued, unlike Bitcoin’s open peer-to-peer system.

Linked from 12 pages