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Cryptocurrency: A digital asset, in the form of untraceable electronic coins. They’re used as a reward in a verification process that authenticates financial transactions and validates when assets get transferred. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Blockchain: Much like a paper ledger, this distributed ledger tracks transactions, each of which is visible to every computer that’s part of the distributed system. As a “page” of the ledger fills, its contents generate a unique number called a “hash,” which gets written at the bottom of the page. The next page begins with the hash and continues, to prevent pages from being inserted after the fact. Each page is referred to as a “block” and together, the blocks form the blockchain.
Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC): A machine specially built to “mine” cryptocurrency. In the exhibit, “Alchemical Infrastructures: Making Blockchain in Iceland,” a type of ASIC called an Antminer S7 will run continuously through May 2020.
Bitcoin: The first cryptocurrency, and one of thousands that exist. Its value fluctuates based on the market. Today, finding a Bitcoin is nearly impossible for individual machines. “Mining” this cryptocurrency profitably now requires large data-center infrastructures with access to massive amounts of energy.
Auroracoin: The unofficial national cryptocurrency of Iceland.
Source: Exhibit, “Alchemical Infrastructures: Making Blockchain in Iceland,” with input from Zane Griffin Talley Cooper, Kyle Cassidy, and Katie Gressitt-Diaz.