The first block ever mined in a blockchain, hardcoded into the software and serving as the foundation for all subsequent blocks.

A blockchain fork occurs when a cryptocurrency’s protocol splits into two separate chains, either temporarily or permanently.

The mempool is the waiting room for unconfirmed transactions before miners include them in a block and add them to the blockchain.

Extra payment users attach to crypto transactions to incentivize miners to include them in blocks—a bonus on top of the block reward.

A full node is a computer that stores the complete blockchain and independently verifies all transactions and blocks without trusting anyone else.

UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) represents spendable cryptocurrency — like digital coins you can use. Essential for understanding Bitcoin transactions.

A peer-to-peer network lets computers connect directly without a central server, which is how cryptocurrency blockchains operate.

SHA-256 is the cryptographic hash algorithm used by Bitcoin and some other cryptocurrencies for mining and securing their blockchains.

Scrypt is a memory-hard mining algorithm designed to resist ASICs, originally used by Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies.

RandomX is a CPU-optimized mining algorithm designed to resist ASICs and FPGAs by using random code execution and memory-intensive operations.