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

If the name rings a bell, that’s because Core Scientific has been one of the top Bitcoin mining companies, an activity that requires considerable computing infrastructure. —Andrew Nusca, Fortune, 8 July 2025

ETFs Bitcoin ETFs are legal wrappers that allow people to gain exposure to the price of Bitcoin. —Alexander S. Blume, Forbes.com, 8 July 2025

But half a million bucks isn’t the highest in the club’s 11-year history, what with high rollers jetting in for such mega events as Super Bowl LIV, Miami Race Week, the Bitcoin conference, Art Basel and more. —Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 2 July 2025

Homelessness, non-disclosure agreements, state boundary adjustments, building contracts and Bitcoin—these are some of the standard topics the Indiana House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee discusses. —Anna Cecil, IndyStar, 2 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

bit entry 4 + coin entry 1

First Known Use

2008, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Bitcoin

• adjoin
• benzoin
• conjoin
• enjoin
• fibroin
• rejoin
• sirloin
• subjoin
• coin
• coyne
• groin
• join