Block Height
A block height is the number that shows a block’s position in a blockchain, counted from the first block.
Block height is a way to identify where a block sits in a blockchain. The first block, often called the genesis block, has height 0, and each new block added after it increases the height by one. In Bitcoin, a block with height 800,000 means it is the 800,001st block if counting the genesis block. Block height is not the same as a timestamp; it shows order, not exact time.
Block height matters because many blockchain rules and tools use it as a reference point. Bitcoin halvings, transaction confirmations, wallet history, and block explorers often rely on block height to describe when something happened or how deeply a transaction is buried in the chain. For example, if your transaction is included in block 850,000 and the latest block is 850,006, it has six confirmations. A useful comparison is a page number in a ledger: it tells you where an entry appears and helps everyone refer to the same place in the shared record.
Other terms in Bitcoin
ASIC
A specialized computer chip built to do one task very efficiently, commonly used in Bitcoin mining to perform hashing calculations.
BTC
The ticker symbol for bitcoin, the native currency of the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin
A decentralized digital currency and payment network that lets people send value without relying on a bank or central authority.
Block Reward
New cryptocurrency paid to a miner or validator for successfully adding a block to a blockchain.