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Satoshi Gazette
The recordDefinitions

Glossary

The terms the Gazette uses, each defined in one sentence and then explained, with how it is measured, the primary record it comes from and the piece it was first used in. Where a piece first uses a term, the word carries this definition.

Terms on file

47

Last updated ·

C3

  1. Claims flooralso bitcoin held through disclosed claims · custody floorThe Gazette's sum of bitcoin held through disclosed claims on a company, fund or state that holds the keys, each holder at its latest disclosure, against issued supply at one block.
  2. Control boundaryThe line between what a holder's own keys control and what a company, federation or bank controls; the first thing to draw before judging any custody arrangement.
  3. Custodianalso custodial · custodyA company that holds the private keys to bitcoin on someone else's behalf and owes them a balance, under whatever terms and supervision apply to it.

F1

  1. Federationalso Liquid federation · functionaries · multisig federationA fixed group of parties who jointly sign transactions for a sidechain or custody scheme; the holders' exit depends on their cooperation.

L1

  1. Lower boundalso floor figureA figure the evidence guarantees the truth is not below: the desk prints it cut, never rounded up, and labels it a floor. The real value may be well above it.

P2

  1. Peg-outalso peg out · redemptionRedeeming a sidechain or wrapped bitcoin, such as Liquid's L-BTC, for bitcoin on the main chain; the moment a holder finds out who controls the exit.
  2. Private keyalso signing key · seed phraseThe secret number that authorises spending from a bitcoin address; whoever holds it controls the coins, whatever any account statement says.

S1

  1. Self-custodyalso self-custodial · non-custodialHolding bitcoin under keys that only you control, so no company, bank or exchange can move, freeze or lend it.

How the glossary works

A term is added when a published piece or a Data Desk instrument needs it, and filed under one field: protocol and network, mining, custody and holdings, or policy and money. Each entry carries a one-sentence definition that can be quoted whole, a longer explanation, the primary record the definition rests on, and a link to the piece where the Gazette first used it. Terms the desk measures also say how they are measured, where on the desk, and what people commonly get wrong about them. In that piece the term’s first mention links here, so the definition reaches the reader where they meet the word. Definitions are dated and revised in the open; a change that alters a meaning is logged in Corrections.