Topics by category

Short definitions for technical terms that show up in our blog posts.

A-ZBy category

Bitcoin

  • AssumeUTXO

    A Bitcoin Core feature that lets a new node start from a hashed UTXO snapshot instead of rebuilding the set from genesis.

  • BIP 157

    The peer-to-peer protocol light clients use to fetch compact block filters from full nodes, so they can scan the chain without leaking addresses to the server.

  • BIP 158

    The compact block filter format for Bitcoin. A small Golomb-coded set built per block that light clients can test locally to find relevant transactions.

  • BIP 324

    An encrypted, authenticated transport for the Bitcoin peer-to-peer protocol, replacing the older plaintext format.

  • BIP 329

    A portable JSON Lines format for wallet labels on Bitcoin: the private notes attached to transactions, addresses, public keys, and UTXOs.

  • DLC

    A Bitcoin smart contract whose settlement depends on a signed statement from an oracle, without the oracle seeing the contract or holding any funds.

  • Erlay

    A bandwidth-efficient transaction relay protocol for Bitcoin that replaces flooding with set reconciliation between peers.

  • Miniscript

    A structured language for Bitcoin scripts that is easy to analyze, compose, and sign with a generic wallet.

  • OP_CTV

    A proposed Bitcoin opcode that lets a transaction commit in advance to how its coins will be spent.

  • PSBT

    A standard file format for a Bitcoin transaction that is still being constructed or signed, used by nearly every modern wallet and coordinator.

  • Silent Payments

    A way to receive Bitcoin to a reusable static address without reusing on-chain addresses.

  • Taproot

    The 2021 Bitcoin soft fork that introduced Schnorr signatures, a new output type, and a new script system, all under a single on-chain footprint.

  • UTXO

    Bitcoin's accounting model: a wallet's balance is the sum of every output addressed to it that has not yet been spent.

Lightning

  • Blinded paths

    A Lightning feature where the receiver supplies a partial route with hop identities encrypted, so the sender never learns who the destination is.

  • BOLT 12

    A Lightning specification for reusable payment offers that replace one-shot invoices.

  • Gossip

    The Lightning Network's peer-to-peer protocol for announcing channels and routing policies, so every node can build a view of the public graph.

  • LDK

    A Rust library for embedding a Lightning node inside a wallet or other application.

  • Splicing

    Resizing a Lightning channel without closing it by adding or removing funds in a single on-chain transaction.

Privacy

  • CoinJoin

    A collaborative Bitcoin transaction that combines inputs from multiple participants to break the common input ownership heuristic used by chain analysis.

  • GrapheneOS

    A hardened, privacy-focused Android distribution for Pixel phones.

  • Payjoin

    A cooperative Bitcoin transaction where the receiver also contributes an input, breaking the common-input heuristic, for increased on-chain privacy.

  • Tor

    An anonymity network that routes traffic through three-hop circuits to hide the link between sender and destination.

Ecash

  • Cashu

    A Chaumian ecash protocol for Bitcoin, where a mint issues blinded tokens backed by sats on Lightning.

  • Ecash

    Digital bearer tokens issued by a mint using blind signatures, so that spending and redeeming cannot be linked to the original withdrawal.

  • Fedimint

    A federated Chaumian ecash system where a group of guardians jointly custody the underlying Bitcoin.

Mining

  • Stratum V2

    A next-generation Bitcoin mining protocol that lets individual miners build their own block templates.

Nostr

  • NIP-05

    A Nostr spec that maps human-readable identifiers like `name@domain.com` to public keys via a JSON file hosted on the domain.

  • NIP-29

    A Nostr spec for relay-based groups. The hosting relay owns the membership list, the moderation log, and the stream of group messages.

  • NIP-32

    A Nostr spec for labels: signed events that attach a tag to another event, a pubkey, a relay, or a topic, for client-side moderation and filtering.

  • NIP-44

    Nostr's current versioned encryption scheme for direct messages and other private payloads, using ChaCha20 with HMAC-SHA256 and padded ciphertext.

  • NIPs

    Nostr Implementation Possibilities: the numbered specifications that define how clients and relays behave.

  • Nostr

    An open protocol for decentralized social networks based on signed events and a set of interchangeable relays.

  • Nostr Wallet Connect

    A Nostr protocol that lets a client pay and receive Lightning payments through a user-controlled wallet, using relays as the transport.

  • Private DMs

    The current standard for private direct messages on Nostr, using gift wrap to hide sender, receiver, and metadata from relays.

  • Relays

    The small servers that store and forward signed events on Nostr.

  • Remote signing

    A Nostr protocol for signing events with a key that lives on a different device or service than the client composing the event.

  • Zaps

    Public Lightning payments attached to a Nostr event, recorded on relays as signed receipts that clients render under the original note.

Scaling

  • Ark

    A second-layer Bitcoin protocol that uses a shared UTXO and a coordinator to let users transact off-chain without opening channels.