Bitcoin

noun

Bit·​coin ˈbit-ˌkȯin 

variants or less commonly bitcoin

: a digital currency created for use in peer-to-peer online transactions

Introduced in 2008 by a person or group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin is the most prominent of a group of virtual currencies—money that exists mainly as computer code—that have no central issuing authority.

—Carter Dougherty

… Bitcoin … is backed by no government and has a fluctuating value linked in part to a scarcity that is mathematically predetermined.

—Glenn Zorpette

The venture capital industry is beginning to take a good, hard look at a new financial instrument coming out of the bitcoin community—Initial Coin Offerings, or ICOs.

—Richard Kastelein

also, usually bitcoin : a unit of this currency

Commercial space venture Virgin Galactic—which announced on Nov. 22 that it would start accepting bitcoins to reserve a refundable $250,000 seat on a future trip—is just the latest of many businesses that have recently embraced the decentralized virtual payment system. (At press time, 1 bitcoin was worth roughly $879.)

—Time

Examples of Bitcoin in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Everyone’s watching Bitcoin ETFs hit record highs and meme coins pump to absurd valuations, but the real action in tokenization is happening somewhere most people aren't looking. —Sean Lee, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025

The elusive Satoshi Nakamoto released the Bitcoin white paper in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, after all. —Leo Schwartz, Fortune, 11 Aug. 2025

Cryptocurrency David Bailey, Bitcoin adviser to President Donald Trump, wants to raise $200 million for a political action committee to advance Bitcoin’s interests in the United States. —Medora Lee, USA Today, 5 Aug. 2025

Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, stablecoins are designed to hold their value and act more like cash. —Drew O'Connor, The Tennessean, 2 Aug. 2025

Word History

Etymology

bit entry 4 + coin entry 1

First Known Use

2008, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Bitcoin

• adjoin
• benzoin
• conjoin
• enjoin
• fibroin
• rejoin
• sirloin
• subjoin
• coin
• coyne
• groin
• join