What is a Blockchain?
The short answer
A shared, tamper-evident record of transactions, copied across many independent computers instead of one company's private database.
See our full explainer, “What Is a Blockchain, Actually?” — the short version is that it replaces a single trusted authority with a shared, publicly verifiable ledger.
Related terms
Full glossaryFOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
The anxious urge to buy something because its price is rising fast and everyone seems to be talking…
Proof of Work
A consensus method (used by Bitcoin) where network security comes from competing computing power.
Mining
The process, used by Bitcoin and similar networks, of using computing power to validate transactions and earn new…
Pump and Dump
A scheme where a group artificially inflates a coin's price through hype, then sells at the peak, leaving…
Liquidity Pool
A pool of crypto locked in a smart contract that enables trading or lending without a traditional order…
Altcoin
Informal shorthand for any cryptocurrency that isn't Bitcoin.
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