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
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
Glenn ZorpetteThe 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
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
Time Examples of Bitcoin in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And McKay executive produced HBO’s Painting with John and the HBO documentaries Q: Into the Storm, 537 Votes, Wild Wild Space, and Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery.
—Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 21 Aug. 2025
Whereas the Bitcoin boosters lecture passionately on the benefits of a decentralized financial system, taking up the mantle of an important grassroots movement, the memecoin speculators subscribe to a zero-sum logic of winners and suckers, mostly looking to outwit one another.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2025
Everyone’s watching Bitcoin ETFs hit record highs and meme coins pump to absurd valuations, but the real action in tokenization is happening somewhere most people aren't looking.
—Sean Lee, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
The elusive Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, after all.
—Leo Schwartz, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2025
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Etan Vlessing, HollywoodReporter, 21 Aug. 2025
Whereas the Bitcoin boosters lecture passionately on the benefits of a decentralized financial system, taking up the mantle of an important grassroots movement, the memecoin speculators subscribe to a zero-sum logic of winners and suckers, mostly looking to outwit one another.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2025
Everyone’s watching Bitcoin ETFs hit record highs and meme coins pump to absurd valuations, but the real action in tokenization is happening somewhere most people aren't looking.
—Sean Lee, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025
The elusive Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, after all.
—Leo Schwartz, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for Bitcoin
Cite this Entry
“Bitcoin.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Bitcoin. Accessed 3 Sep. 2025.
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