Bitcoin : Java Glossary

A protocol for peer-to-peer money transfers with zero or low fees. It uses an artificial currency called Bitcoins. Even though all transactions are tracked in public logs, a major use is illegal international drug sales and ransomware. For anonymity, you can create a new receiving address for each payment. There is no public record of who owns each address. For the most part, you must convert Bitcoins to dollars or Euros before you can buy anything. Think of this as like an international Western Union wire transfer. You must protect your electronic currency with wallet backup. If you lose it, it is lost.

BitCoin is extremely CPU (Central Processing Unit) intensive. Even a small BitCoin network capable of handling 9 transactions a second consumes the electric power of a small country.