Thread by @anilsaidso

Getting a lot of questions about the nomenclature in #Bitcoin . Here's an attempt to break down some common words you might hear.

Starting with differentiating between these 3 things.
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bitcoin (lowercase) is the digitally-scarce unit of account used by the Bitcoin (uppercase) network.

the Bitcoin network is made up of connected nodes all over the world following the same protocol.

These nodes run compatible versions of software enabling them to connect and communicate.

The Bitcoin blockchain is how transaction data is ordered, stored and added to over time.

Structuring data in this way makes it infeasible to tamper with a transaction once added to the linked chain.

This is Bitcoin's recorded history.

Blocks themselves contain transactions settled on the Bitcoin network.

They are sequentially numbered and produced by the network on average every 10 mins.

Blocks can act a global clock in this sense. As of writing this we're at block #715153.

Not all nodes on the network are the same.

'Full nodes' play a crucial role in ensuring the rules of the network are abided by. They also maintain a copy of the entire blockchain.

More full nodes = greater network resiliency

Light nodes or light clients simply connect to a full node.

This fills a gap for devices that lack sufficient disk space but forgoes the ability to independently verify transactions.

If you want to do deeper, here's a thread that @petermiyoung and I put together:

https://twitter.com/petermiyoung/status/1353804415791149057?s=20

And if this learning style suits you, I write about the non-technical concepts that help explain Bitcoin here:

getrevue.co/profile/anilsa…