Important Bitcoin Vocab

Bitcoin is difficult to understand. A lot of this difficulty can be attributed to the newness of the terminology being used to describe Bitcoin. Once one starts to understand the vocabulary being used, one can use Bitcoin with greater ease and follow its progression without being totally confused and overwhelmed.

Satoshi

The first name of the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. A “Satoshi” is the name of the smallest unit in Bitcoin: 0.00000001.

Sats

A slang shortening of the unit “Satoshi”.

Mnemonic

A set of random words that act as a backup for your Bitcoin wallet. In the event that you lose the device your bitcoin is secured by, if you have saved your mnemonic, you will be able to use it to recreate your bitcoin wallet by importing your mnemonic into your new device.

Private Key

Is a random number that creates a digital signature that is needed to move specific utxos or coins from one address to another.

Address

A bitcoin address is an alphanumeric address that acts similar to an account number or email address. If you give someone your Bitcoin address they can send Bitcoin to that address.