Bitcoin Core
Bitcoin Core is the primary software client for running a Bitcoin full node, validating transactions, and contributing to the network’s proof-of-work consensus.
What is Bitcoin Core?
Bitcoin Core is the reference implementation of the Bitcoin protocol, a free and open-source software developed by a global community of contributors, initially released by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009 as Bitcoin-Qt. It serves as the backbone for running a full Bitcoin node, enabling users to validate transactions, enforce consensus rules, and maintain a complete copy of the bitcoin blockchain.
Bitcoin Core supports the network’s decentralization, with ~15,000 reachable nodes worldwide verifying the ~860,000 blocks and ~19.75 million BTC in circulation.
The software handles critical functions like transaction verification, block propagation, and mining coordination for Proof of Work, ensuring Bitcoin’s security within its ~1000 EH/s hash rate network. It also includes a wallet for managing Bitcoin transactions, supporting features like SegWit and Taproot.
Bitcoin Core evolves slowly to prioritize stability, with version 27.0 released in 2024 introducing improved privacy and performance feature.
Related Terms
Short Position
A trade betting on the price decrease of a digital asset.
Solana Compute Units
The smallest unit of measurement for tracking the consumption of computational resources required to process transactions or execute programs on the Solana blockchain.
Slippage (DEX)
Slippage on a decentralized exchange (DEX) is the difference between the expected price of a token trade and the actual executed price, caused by market volatility or insufficient liquidity in a pool.
Swap Gas Fee
The swap gas fee is the cost paid in a blockchain’s native token (e.g., ETH on Ethereum) to process a token swap transaction on a decentralized exchange (DEX), covering computational resources used by network validators.
Solana Account Owner
The Solana program (smart contract) that has exclusive authority to modify a specific account’s data or state on the Solana blockchain.
Supply Rate (Lending)
The interest rate earned by suppliers depositing digital assets into a lending pool.