Stacy Boit,
Bitcoin’s price sinking to a recent low, nearing $60,000 (£44,500) in value,has thrust the buzzy world of cryptocurrencies back into the spotlight.
The world’s most valuable digital currency makes headlines when it soars to all time highs or plummets in value – seen several times in 2026 with dips in price to levels not witnessedsince before US President Donald Trump took office.
But crypto market booms and crashes are often accompanied by confusing terms like ETFs, blockchains and stablecoins, making it all somewhat tricky to navigate.
Worry not.
If you’re hearing these for the first time, or could do with a refresher, here are somekey terms and what they mean.
While many may struggle with the finer points of crypto, pretty much everyone has heard of its most famous product: Bitcoin. But what actually is it?
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency, which is to say a type of digital currency. Unlike traditional currencies, Bitcoin is not controlled by centralised financial institutions.
This makes it popular for people who think decentralisation can bring financial freedom, but it also makes it extremely volatile with it rising and falling in value at the whim of Bitcoin buyers and sellers.
Donald Trump has pledged to make the US the “crypto capital of the world” – backtracking on his previous claim that Bitcoin was a “scam”.
Its price topped a much-awaited threshold of $100,000 in December 2024, then rose to$120,000 in July 2025 as US politicians prepared to debate bills to regulate digital assets.
In October 2025, Bitcoin hit an all-time high of around $126,000, buoyed by a continued wave of institutional investment and positive market sentiment.But it has been known to plummet in value just as quickly as it spikes.
In early February 2026, its price dipped below $65,000 to effectively wipe out gains achieved under President Trump.
A similar dip has been seen again more recently, with Bitcoin sinking to less than $62,000 on 5 June – sparking fears for some it could shed even more than 50% of its highest value.
Against the backdrop of these frequent price fluctuations, speculation continues about the true identity of Bitcoin’s mysterious inventor known only as Satoshi Nakamoto.
Blockchain is the technology underpinning all cryptocurrencies, and many related products like non-fungible tokens (NFTs). In essence, it is a virtual spreadsheet on which all the buying and selling of crypto is recorded. They are arranged in blocks linked together in a giant chain – hence the name.
Every cryptocurrency transaction is individually recorded onto the blockchain by a huge network of volunteers verifying its authenticity by using computer programmes.
The incentive to do this for Bitcoin’s network is that the first person to validate transactions is rewarded in Bitcoin. This potentially lucrative process, known as mining, is also controversial because of the incredible amount of energy used as people the world over race to be the first to successfully update the blockchain.
The blockchain is sustained by rewarding so-called “miners” – whose job it is to validate transactions – by paying them with the cryptocurrency.
However, unlike some other digital currencies, there is not an infinite supply of Bitcoins. The amount that can be mined is capped at 21 million, and most are already in circulation.
So roughly every four years – or when the Bitcoin blockchain reaches a certain size – the number of bitcoins rewarded to those who successfully validate transactions is cut in half. The most recent Bitcoin “halving” (or “halvening”) event took place on 20 April 2024, reducing the reward for miners from 6.25 bitcoins to 3.125.
This ensures Bitcoin’s supply is drawn out for longer while demand, in theory, goes up over time. But with fewer rewards for miners, it can also lead some to consider whether it is financially worthwhile for them to continue the costly operation of running their powerful computers.
