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A Beginner’s Glossary of Bitcoin Mining Terms | Coin Miner Blog
Introduction
If you’re just getting started with Bitcoin mining, you’ve probably come across a lot of unfamiliar words. Terms like hashrate, ASIC, and halving are essential to understanding how mining works—but they can feel overwhelming at first.
That’s why we’ve put together this beginner-friendly glossary of Bitcoin mining terms to help you navigate the mining world with confidence.
A–C: Key Mining Terms
ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit)
A type of hardware built specifically for mining Bitcoin. ASIC miners are far more efficient than CPUs or GPUs.
Block
A collection of Bitcoin transactions bundled together and verified by miners. Each block is added to the blockchain.
Block Reward
The Bitcoin miners earn for successfully adding a block to the blockchain. In 2025, it’s 6.25 BTC per block.
Consensus
The mechanism Bitcoin uses to agree on the state of the blockchain. Mining supports this through proof-of-work.
D–H: Difficulty to Hashrate
Difficulty
A measure of how hard it is to find a new Bitcoin block. It adjusts every ~2 weeks to keep block times around 10 minutes.
Fork
A split in the blockchain, often due to upgrades or disagreements in rules. Can be soft (minor changes) or hard (major split).
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)
Hardware originally used for gaming, later adopted for mining altcoins. Rarely used for Bitcoin mining now.
Hashrate
The processing speed of a mining machine, measured in terahashes per second (TH/s). Higher hashrate = more chances of finding a block.
I–M: Mining Essentials
Immersion Cooling
A cooling method where miners are submerged in liquid coolant to improve efficiency and reduce noise.
Mining Pool
A group of miners who combine computing power and share block rewards proportionally. Pools provide steady income compared to solo mining.
Merkle Tree
A cryptographic structure used to verify Bitcoin transactions efficiently within a block.
N–S: Network to Satoshi
Network Difficulty
Represents how competitive mining is at a given time, based on global hashrate.
Node
Any computer that participates in validating and relaying Bitcoin transactions across the network.
Nonce
A number miners guess repeatedly until they find a valid block hash that meets difficulty requirements.
Satoshi (SAT)
The smallest unit of Bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC). Named after Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.
T–Z: Transactions to Zero-Emission Mining
Transaction Fee
Paid by users to get their transactions included in a block. Miners earn these fees alongside block rewards.
Terahash (TH/s)
Unit of hashrate: 1 trillion hashes per second. Modern ASICs reach hundreds of TH/s.
Wallet
A digital tool for storing and managing Bitcoin, needed to receive mining payouts.
Zero-Emission Mining
A growing trend where miners use renewable energy sources (hydro, solar, geothermal) to reduce environmental impact.
Conclusion
Bitcoin mining may seem complex at first, but once you learn the key terms and concepts, the process becomes much clearer. This glossary is your starting point—whether you’re setting up your first ASIC miner or just exploring how the network works.
👉 Want to put these terms into practice? Check out our Bitcoin Mining Calculator to see how hashrate, power, and difficulty affect your earnings.
