What is Sidechain?
A separate chain with its own rules, pegged to Bitcoin so coins can move between them under a trust or security assumption.
Sidechains let features be tried without changing Bitcoin's consensus rules. The peg is the hard part: moving coins across generally relies on a federation or another mechanism weaker than base-layer security.
A sidechain is not the base layer, and coins on one carry the sidechain's assumptions rather than Bitcoin's.
Related terms
Lightning Network
A network of payment channels built on Bitcoin that settles small payments off-chain, using the base layer…
Lightning & scalingOn-chain
A transaction recorded in a Bitcoin block, as opposed to one settled off-chain in a channel or inside a…
NetworkConsensus rules
The validity conditions every node enforces: issuance schedule, signature validity, block weight, and…
This definition is part of the Bitcoin Logical glossary. For the fuller explanation, start with Aprender, or see the live numbers on O Sinal Bitcoin.