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

The intention is to ensure students worldwide interested in Bitcoin get the relevant resources and opportunities to contribute to the Bitcoin space. —Abubakar Nur Khalil, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025

The big new corporate bet: Bitcoin Corporate treasury departments are usually bastions of caution, preferring to invest their companies’ money in stable assets like Treasury bonds. —Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times, 8 Jan. 2025

And the methods of sending money included Coinbase, Bitcoin ATMs, Zelle, PayPal, and gift cards, among others. —Lauren Huff, EW.com, 7 Jan. 2025

Its segments include Bitcoin Mining and Engineering. —Kenneth Squire, CNBC, 21 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

bit entry 4 + coin entry 1

First Known Use

2008, in the meaning defined above