Bitcoin

noun

Bit·​coin ˈbit-ˌkȯin 

variants or less commonly bitcoin

: a digital currency created for use in peer-to-peer online transactions

Introduced in 2008 by a person or group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin is the most prominent of a group of virtual currencies—money that exists mainly as computer code—that have no central issuing authority.

—Carter Dougherty

… Bitcoin … is backed by no government and has a fluctuating value linked in part to a scarcity that is mathematically predetermined.

—Glenn Zorpette

The venture capital industry is beginning to take a good, hard look at a new financial instrument coming out of the bitcoin community—Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs.

—Richard Kastelein

also, usually bitcoin : a unit of this currency

Commercial space venture Virgin Galactic—which announced on Nov. 22 that it would start accepting bitcoins to reserve a refundable $250,000 seat on a future trip—is just the latest of many businesses that have recently embraced the decentralized virtual payment system. (At press time, 1 bitcoin was worth roughly $879.)

—Time

Examples of Bitcoin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In 2022, Decentralized Masters solidified its reputation with a critical market prediction, cautioning its members to reconsider positions in leading assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. —Chris Gallagher, USA TODAY, 10 Dec. 2024

The central bank is moving to bring down interest rates, rather than raising them, and last week its chair, Jerome Powell, compared Bitcoin to gold as an investment asset—an argument that many promoters of cryptocurrencies have made. —John Cassidy, The New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2024

The think tank argued that Bitcoin outperforms bonds as an investment. —Vinamrata Chaturvedi, Quartz, 9 Dec. 2024

Meanwhile, Fed Chair Jerome Powell likened Bitcoin to gold, describing it as virtual and digital. —Benzinga, Detroit Free Press, 7 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

bit entry 4 + coin entry 1

First Known Use

2008, in the meaning defined above