Bitcoin for the Arts Research

Research glossary

Definitions for the arts funding, nonprofit finance, public policy, monetary economics, and Bitcoin terms used across BFTA Research.

Arts funding and cultural policy

Arts and Cultural Production Satellite Account (ACPSA): A BEA/NEA statistical account measuring the economic value of arts and cultural production in the United States and states.
Local arts agency: A local public or nonprofit entity that supports artists, arts organizations, cultural planning, grants, public art, or community arts activity.
Operating support: Funding that supports general operations, staffing, rent, utilities, administration, or organizational capacity rather than a single restricted project.
Regranting: A funding structure in which one agency or organization receives funds and redistributes them to eligible artists, organizations, or local partners.
State arts agency: A state-level public agency that supports arts participation, grants, cultural policy, and statewide arts infrastructure.
Unrestricted grant: A grant that gives the recipient flexibility to use funds for broad mission or operating needs, subject to the grant agreement.

Appropriation: A formal authorization of public funds by a legislature or governing body for a specific agency, program, purpose, or fiscal year.
Balance sheet: A financial statement showing assets, liabilities, and net assets or equity at a point in time.
Endowment: A pool of assets intended to support an institution or purpose over a long horizon, usually through investment returns and a spending policy.
Line-item appropriation: A specific appropriation for a named project, recipient, or program, often separate from a base agency budget.
Operating expense: A recurring cost required to run an organization, such as staff, rent, insurance, software, utilities, or administration.
Spending rule: A policy that determines how much an endowment or reserve may distribute each year, commonly based on a percentage of trailing market value.

Consumer Price Index (CPI): A price index measuring changes in the cost of a basket of goods and services purchased by consumers. BFTA uses CPI cautiously as a broad purchasing-power proxy.
Fiat money: Government-issued money not redeemable for a fixed quantity of a commodity and whose supply is governed by policy and financial institutions.
M2: A broad money-stock measure that includes currency, checking deposits, savings deposits, small time deposits, and retail money market funds, with methodology changes over time.
Monetary debasement: A decline in the purchasing power or scarcity of a monetary unit. In BFTA reports, the term is used analytically and should be tied to data such as CPI, money supply, or real purchasing power.
Purchasing power: The amount of goods or services a unit of money can buy. A dollar can retain its nominal face value while losing purchasing power over time.

Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer monetary network and digital asset governed by protocol rules, proof-of-work consensus, and a supply schedule approaching 21 million bitcoin.
Lightning Network: A payment network built on Bitcoin that enables fast, low-cost payments using payment channels.
Multisignature custody: A custody structure requiring multiple private keys to authorize movement of funds, reducing single-key failure risk when governed properly.
Satoshi: The smallest commonly referenced unit of bitcoin, equal to one hundred-millionth of one bitcoin.
Self-custody: Holding and controlling private keys directly rather than relying entirely on a third-party custodian.
Sound money: Money with rules or properties designed to resist arbitrary dilution. BFTA uses the term in relation to long-horizon cultural patronage and reserve design.

If a report uses a term that should be defined here, send the term, report link, and proposed source context to info@bitcoinforthearts.org.