Bitcoin mining glossary

Network

The 21 million cap is the most bitcoin that can ever exist, enforced by the halving schedule in the consensus rules.

The last fraction of a coin is expected to be mined around 2140.

Also called: supply cap, max supply, 21 million

Mining

A 51% attack is when someone controls more than half the network’s hashrate and uses it to rewrite recent blocks.

It would let them double-spend their own coins, but not take anyone else’s or change the rules.

Also called: majority attack

Network

Bitcoin is a digital currency that runs on a public ledger kept by thousands of computers, with no bank or company in charge.

Capital B usually means the network; lowercase bitcoin means the coins.

Also called: BTC

Mining

Bitcoin mining is computers competing to add the next block of transactions to Bitcoin’s blockchain by solving a proof-of-work puzzle, with the winner earning new bitcoin plus the block’s fees.

It’s how payments get confirmed and how every new bitcoin is issued.

Also called: mining

Network

A block is a batch of transactions plus a header, added to the blockchain about every 10 minutes.

Mining

The block header is the 80-byte summary of a block that miners hash: version, previous block hash, Merkle root, time, target and nonce.

Network

Block height is a block’s position in the chain, counting from the genesis block at height 0.

Halvings are set by height: every 210,000 blocks.

Mining

The block subsidy is the newly created bitcoin in each block reward, currently 3.125 BTC per block.

It halves every 210,000 blocks and reaches zero around 2140.

Also called: subsidy

Network

Block time is the average gap between blocks, which Bitcoin keeps at about 10 minutes, or six blocks an hour.

Single gaps vary a lot; a block can come in seconds or take an hour.

Network

The blockchain is Bitcoin’s shared ledger: a chain of blocks where each one commits to the one before it.

Changing an old block would mean redoing all the work built on top of it.

Wallets and Lightning

BNB Smart Chain is a separate blockchain where BTC exists as a BEP-20 token, and some exchanges and wallets accept BTC deposits on it.

Its addresses start with 0x, and it only works if your destination supports BTC on BSC.

Also called: BSC, BEP20, BTCB

In the app

A boost is a multiplier that can raise what your plans earn in the app.

Boosts are optional, can be time-limited, and may be changed or discontinued.

Also called: boosts, multiplier

Mining

A miner’s break-even price is the electricity price at which a machine’s daily revenue exactly covers its daily power cost.

It depends on the machine’s efficiency and on hashprice.

Also called: breakeven, break even

In the app

Your BTC balance is the bitcoin your plans have built up in the app, ready to withdraw once it passes the minimum for your network.

Also called: balance, in-app balance

Mining

Cloud mining means getting mining rewards from hashrate someone else runs, instead of owning and running the hardware yourself.

Quality varies a lot, and guaranteed daily returns are a classic scam sign.

Mining

The coinbase transaction is the first transaction in every block, and it pays the block reward to the miner.

Its coins can’t be spent until 100 more blocks are built on top. It has nothing to do with the exchange of the same name.

Also called: generation transaction

Network

A confirmation is each block added on top of the block containing a transaction, starting at one when it’s first mined.

More confirmations make a payment harder to reverse, which is why big payments wait for several.

Also called: confirmations

Network

Consensus rules are the checks every node applies to decide whether a block or transaction is valid.

They include the 21 million supply cap and the halving schedule.

Also called: consensus

In the app

The continuity boost applies to paid plans and grows the longer one keeps running.

Hardware

CPU and GPU mining means hashing with a computer’s main processor or graphics card, which was how Bitcoin started but is hopeless against ASICs today.

Also called: GPU mining, CPU mining, laptop mining

Wallets and Lightning

A custodial wallet is one where a company, such as an exchange, holds the keys and keeps your balance for you.

It’s convenient, but you rely on that company to let you withdraw.

Also called: exchange wallet, exchange

In the app

The daily check-in adds a 24-hour rewarded plan each day you check in; its multiplier grows with your streak.

Also called: check-in, streak

Mining

Difficulty is how hard it is to find a valid block hash, set so that blocks arrive about every 10 minutes whatever the total hashrate.

On average a block takes about difficulty × 2³² hashes.

Also called: mining difficulty

Mining

The difficulty adjustment is the automatic recalculation of difficulty every 2,016 blocks, about every two weeks.

If the last 2,016 blocks came faster than 10 minutes each, difficulty rises; if slower, it falls.

Also called: retarget, difficulty retarget

Network

A double spend is an attempt to spend the same coins twice, which mining and confirmations exist to prevent.

Also called: double spending

In the app

The Earn more screen is where you find Play for Rewards and Complete Offers, where each reward point adds one 24-hour plan.

Both are mobile only, and availability varies.

Also called: Play for Rewards, Complete Offers, offerwall

Network

A fork is a change or split in the blockchain’s history or rules.

A soft fork tightens the rules so old nodes still accept new blocks; a hard fork loosens them, so old nodes don’t.

Also called: soft fork, hard fork, chain split

Pools

FPPS (full pay per share) works like PPS but also pays out a share of average transaction fees.

Also called: full pay per share

In the app

The free plan is the CloudMineCrypto plan anyone can claim at no cost: it mines for 8 hours, and you claim the next one when it ends.

No card, no hardware and no power bill.

Also called: free mining

Network

The genesis block is the first block of the Bitcoin blockchain, mined by Satoshi Nakamoto on 3 January 2009.

Wallets and Lightning

A hardware wallet is a small device that keeps your private keys offline and signs transactions without exposing them.

Also called: cold wallet, cold storage

Mining

A hash is the fixed-length fingerprint a hash function produces from some data.

You can’t work backwards from a hash to the input, which is why miners have to guess.

Hardware

Hashrate is how many hashes a miner, or the whole network, computes per second, and it’s the standard measure of mining power.

Also called: hash rate, hashing power, mining power

In the app

In the app, hashrate is the rate shown on each active plan, sometimes labelled speed, and it’s that plan’s input when rewards are calculated.

Several active plans combine into your total hashrate.

Also called: speed, plan speed

Hardware

Hosted mining means you own the machine but pay a facility to power, cool and run it for you.

Also called: hosting, colocation

Hardware

Immersion cooling sinks mining machines in a non-conductive liquid that carries heat away better than air.

It’s quieter and lets machines run harder, at a higher setup cost.

Hardware

J/TH (joules per terahash) measures a mining machine’s energy efficiency, and lower is better.

A machine at E J/TH uses E × 24 ÷ 1000 kWh per TH/s per day.

Also called: joules per terahash, efficiency, W/TH

Hardware

A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is the unit your electricity is billed in: one kilowatt of power used for one hour.

For miners the price per kWh is usually the biggest cost.

Also called: kilowatt-hour, electricity price

In the app

KYC (know your customer) is identity verification, which may be required before a withdrawal depending on your country, the amount or security checks.

A verified email and a Google or Apple login are always needed.

Also called: identity verification, know your customer

Wallets and Lightning

A Lightning address looks like an email address (name@domain) and lets you receive Lightning payments again and again without making a new invoice.

Also called: LN address

Wallets and Lightning

A Lightning invoice is a one-time payment request, usually starting with lnbc, that tells the sender where to pay and how much.

Most invoices expire after a while, so create a fresh one for each payment.

Also called: lnbc, BOLT 11, invoice

Wallets and Lightning

The Lightning Network is a payment layer on top of Bitcoin that sends bitcoin through payment channels in seconds, usually for very low fees.

It suits small amounts, which is why it has the lowest withdrawal minimum in the app.

Also called: Lightning, LN

In the app

The loyalty boost grows with every plan you claim, free ones included, with paid plans counting for more.

Network

The mempool is the set of valid transactions waiting to get into a block.

When it’s crowded, transactions paying higher fees usually get picked first.

Also called: memory pool

Network

The Merkle root is one hash that summarises every transaction in a block, stored in the block header.

Change any transaction and the Merkle root changes.

In the app

The minimum withdrawal is the smallest amount you can request on a given network, and Lightning’s is the lowest.

Each network has its own, shown in the app before you confirm.

Also called: withdrawal minimum, min withdraw

Hardware

A mining farm is a facility running many mining machines together, usually where electricity is cheap.

Also called: mining facility, data center

In the app

A mining plan in CloudMineCrypto is a time-limited hashrate that grows your BTC balance while it runs, and you can get plans for free.

Start with the free plan, ads, games, offers and the daily check-in, and add a paid plan if you want more speed.

Also called: plan, contract, mining contract

Pools

A mining pool is a group of miners who combine their hashrate and split the rewards of every block any of them finds, in proportion to the work each put in.

Pools turn rare big wins into steady small payments.

Also called: pool

Hardware

A mining rig is a complete mining setup: the machine plus the power, cooling and network gear it needs to run.

Also called: rig

In the app

The network fee is the cost of sending your withdrawal on the chosen network, taken from the amount you send and shown before you confirm.

Also called: withdrawal fee

Network

A node is a computer running Bitcoin software that keeps a copy of the blockchain and checks every block and transaction against the rules.

Nodes reject invalid blocks, whoever mined them.

Also called: full node

Mining

The nonce is a 32-bit number in the block header that miners change to get a new hash on every try.

It only has about 4.3 billion values, so miners also change an extra nonce in the coinbase transaction and start over.

Also called: extra nonce, extranonce

Wallets and Lightning

On-chain means recorded directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, as opposed to on a layer built on top of it like Lightning.

On-chain payments need block confirmations and pay a network fee.

Also called: bitcoin on-chain, mainnet

Mining

An orphan (or stale) block is a valid block that lost a near-tie race, because the network built on a rival block found at almost the same moment.

Its miner earns nothing for it.

Also called: stale block

In the app

A paid plan is an optional add-on that gives you more hashrate for longer, with the price shown before you confirm.

Good to know: rewards are estimates, so only add one if you’re happy with that.

Also called: premium plan

Wallets and Lightning

A payment channel is a two-party Lightning connection, opened with an on-chain transaction, that lets the pair send payments back and forth off-chain.

Payments hop across several channels to reach anyone on the network.

Also called: channel

Pools

The pool fee is the cut a mining pool keeps from members’ rewards, usually a few percent.

Pools

PPLNS (pay per last N shares) splits each block the pool finds among the most recent shares, so miners carry the luck.

Payouts vary more, and fees are often lower.

Also called: pay per last N shares

Pools

PPS (pay per share) is a pool payout scheme that pays a fixed amount for every share, whether or not the pool finds a block.

The pool carries the luck.

Also called: pay per share

Wallets and Lightning

A private key is the secret number that proves you own the bitcoin at an address and lets you spend it.

Anyone with it can take the coins, so never share it.

Mining

Proof of work is a system where producing a valid result takes a lot of measurable computation, while checking it takes almost none.

In Bitcoin the work is finding a block header whose double SHA-256 hash is below the network target.

Also called: PoW

In the app

The referral bonus is what you may get when a friend joins with your invite code, currently 10% of their eligible in-app rewards.

It’s paid on top, so your friend keeps all they earn, and it’s single-tier, variable, may be limited and isn’t guaranteed.

Also called: invite code, referral, invite bonus

In the app

A rewarded plan is a free 24-hour plan you get by watching an ad, playing a game, completing an offer or checking in daily.

Rewarded plans run side by side, so their hashrate adds up.

Also called: ad plan, reward plan

Network

Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, who published the Bitcoin whitepaper in 2008 and launched the network in January 2009.

Nobody has proved who Satoshi is.

Wallets and Lightning

A seed phrase is the list of 12 or 24 words that backs up every key in a wallet and can restore it on another device.

Support staff, including ours, will never ask for it.

Also called: recovery phrase, mnemonic, 12 words, 24 words

Wallets and Lightning

Self-custody means you hold your own keys, so nobody else can freeze or move your bitcoin.

Also called: non-custodial

Mining

SHA-256 is the hash function Bitcoin mining uses, turning any input into a random-looking 256-bit output.

Bitcoin runs it twice on each block header, and changing one bit of input changes the whole output.

Also called: double SHA-256, hash function

Pools

A share is a hash that meets a pool’s easier target, used to count how much work each miner did.

Mining

Solo mining is mining on your own, without a pool, so you keep the whole block reward but only when you find a block yourself.

For a single machine that can mean waiting years or forever.

Mining

Stranded energy is power that can’t easily reach a buyer, such as excess hydro or flared gas, which miners can use because they can run anywhere.

Also called: curtailment, flared gas

Pools

Stratum is the protocol mining machines use to get work from a pool and send shares back.

Also called: stratum v2

Mining

The target is the 256-bit number a block’s hash must be below for the block to be valid.

A lower target means higher difficulty.

Network

A transaction is a signed message that moves bitcoin from one or more inputs to one or more outputs.

It waits in the mempool until a miner puts it in a block.

Also called: tx

Network

A transaction fee is the amount a sender leaves for the miner who includes the transaction, usually priced as a fee rate in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB).

Fees are the part of the block reward that will remain after the subsidy runs out.

Also called: fee rate, sat/vB, miner fee

Network

A UTXO (unspent transaction output) is a piece of bitcoin sitting at an address that hasn’t been spent yet.

Your wallet balance is the sum of the UTXOs it can spend.

Also called: unspent transaction output

Pools

Variance is the random swing in how often a miner or pool finds blocks compared with what its hashrate predicts.

It evens out over time, which is why small miners join pools.

Also called: luck, mining luck

Wallets and Lightning

A Bitcoin wallet is an app or device that holds the keys to your bitcoin and lets you receive and send it.

The coins live on the blockchain; the wallet holds the keys that can move them.

Also called: bitcoin wallet

In the app

The withdrawal network is the route you pick when you request a withdrawal to your own wallet: Lightning, Bitcoin on-chain or BNB Smart Chain (BEP-20).

Validated requests are processed automatically; some are reviewed first.

Also called: withdraw network, withdrawal