Blockchain Glossary

Double-Spending

Double-Spending

August 30th, 2021   |   Updated on March 5th, 2022

One of the primary concerns of any cryptocurrency developer is the issue of double-spending. This refers to the incidence of an individual spending a balance of that cryptocurrency more than once, effectively creating a disparity between the spending record and the amount of that cryptocurrency available, as well as the way that it is distributed.

The issue of double-spending is a problem that cash does not have; if you pay for a sandwich with a $10 bill, turning that bill over to the maker of the sandwich, you cannot turn around and spend that same $10 elsewhere. A transaction using a digital currency like bitcoin, however, occurs entirely digitally.