A fork occurs when enacting a new set of rules. A hard fork is a permanent change that would not allow for communication with prior bitcoins to occur. A hard fork is a permanent divergence in the blockchain protocol, not…

A Bitcoin wallet is a software program where Bitcoins are stored. To be technically accurate, Bitcoins are not stored anywhere; there is a private key (secret number) for every Bitcoin address that is saved in the Bitcoin wallet of the…

Blocks hold batches of valid transactions that are hashed and encoded into a Merkle tree. Each block includes the cryptographic hash of the prior block in the blockchain, linking the two. The linked blocks form a chain. This iterative process…

Block height represents the number of blocks that were confirmed in the entire history of a particular blockchain network - from the genesis block (or block zero) until the most recent one. Unlike the genesis block, all other blocks contain…

What is a Block Reward? A block reward is the reward a miner gets for solving the cryptographic hashing problem that verifies transactions and adds a new block to the blockchain. This creates incentive for miners to add hash power…

A blockchain—the technology underlying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies—is a shared digital ledger, or a continually updated list of all transactions. This decentralized ledger keeps a record of each transaction that occurs across a fully distributed or peer-to- peer network, either…

The Bitcoin blockchain relies heavily on cryptography: Hash functions (i.e. SHA256 and RIPEMD-160) and Public Key Cryptography (ECDSA-Elliptic Curve Digital Curve Algorithm).  Block is the data, Chain is the database (public), and cryptography is a protocol or method of protecting private…

A blockchain ledger is where details of transactions are recorded after validation. Examples of open and public blockchains are the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks.

An identicon is a visual representation of a hash value, usually of an IP address,  that serves to identify a user of a computer system as a form of avatar while protecting the user's privacy.  

Similar to an email address used to send an email, a Bitcoin address is an 26-35 alphanumeric string or unique identifier, that can be used to send cryptocurrencies. Cryptography is used in order to generate a Bitcoin address. Digital wallets…