Blockchain Definitions – 101 Blockchains

C

Certificate Authority (CA)

Certificate Authority or CA refers to a centralized authority that helps in correlating identities with a public-private key pair in private key infrastructures. 

Closed Source

The closed source software points out proprietary software featuring source code that is not accessible to the public. Users can access the compiled binaries in the form of an executable program. However, the binaries are not human-readable, and users other than the original software developer cannot access them for modifications.  

Coinbase (Company)

Coinbase is a US-based cryptocurrency brokerage platform, which is the largest exchange in terms of transaction volume and customer base. In comparison to other exchanges, Coinbase features a small count of cryptocurrency offerings. It provides only a specific few dozen tradable cryptocurrencies out of all the available options in the ecosystem. 

Coinbase (Mining)

Coinbase, in the context of mining, is associated directly with a block. The coinbase of a block points out to the address where block rewards are delivered.

Command-Line Interface (CLI)

CLI or Command-Line Interface is a text-based user interface that can offer the core functionalities alongside access to system resources in a better way than GUIs. However, CLI generally lacks the benefits of usability. Therefore, CLI is more suitable for developers in comparison to the average users.

Confirmation

Confirmation in the world of blockchain refers to the process of determining the extent of the immutability of the information in a blockchain. In some cases, confirmations refer to the number of nodes accepted in a transaction, the number of transactions referencing the confirmation, or the number of blocks prior to it. A general transaction in Bitcoin features five confirmations upon producing five blocks after the block containing a specific transaction.

Consensus

Consensus is an important process in the blockchain industry that is essential for helping different sections of a network in determining a single source of truth. Blockchain networks depend on consensus algorithms for reaching an agreement in terms of the blogs eligible for addition to the chain and the validity of nodes. 
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