Encyclopedia

This Archive aims to provide the glossary terms and docs you need to understand Bitcoin and start building Bitcoin-based applications.

C

Certificate chain

A chain of certificates connecting a individual’s leaf certificate to the certificate authority’s root certificate.

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Chain code

In HD wallets, 256 bits of entropy added to the public and private keys to...

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Change address

An output in a transaction which returns satoshis to the spender, thus preventing too much...

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Change output

An output in a transaction which returns satoshis to the spender, thus preventing too much...

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Child key

In HD wallets, a key derived from a parent key. The key can be...

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Child pays for parent

Selecting transactions for mining not just based on their fees but also based on the...

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Child private key

In HD wallets, a key derived from a parent key. The key can be...

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Child public key

In HD wallets, a key derived from a parent key. The key can be...

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Coinbase

A special field used as the sole input for coinbase transactions. The coinbase allows claiming...

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Coinbase block height

The current block’s height encoded into the first bytes of the coinbase field.

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Coinbase transaction

The first transaction in a block. Always created by a miner, it includes a...

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CompactSize

A type of variable-length integer commonly used in the Bitcoin P2P protocol and Bitcoin serialized...

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Compressed public key

An ECDSA public key that is 33 bytes long rather than the 65 bytes of...

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Confirmation score

A score indicating the number of blocks on the best block chain that would need...

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Confirmations

A score indicating the number of blocks on the best block chain that would need...

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Confirmed transaction

A score indicating the number of blocks on the best block chain that would need...

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Consensus

When several nodes (usually most nodes on the network) all have the same blocks in...

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Consensus rules

The block validation rules that full nodes follow to stay in consensus with other nodes.Not...

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CPFP

Selecting transactions for mining not just based on their fees but also based on the...

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Documentation