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Glossary

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A

Altcoin

All cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin

Airdrop

Distribution of a cryptocurrency token or coin, usually for free, to numerous wallet addresses

Arbitrage

The practice of taking advantage of a price difference between two or more markets

API (Application Programming Interface)

A set of tools and protocols for building software applications

Angel Investor

An individual who provides financial backing for small startups or entrepreneurs

AML (Anti-Money Laundering)

Laws and regulations aimed at preventing the concealment of illicit funds

ATL (All-Time Low)

The lowest price ever reached by a cryptocurrency

ATH (All-Time High)

The highest price ever reached by a cryptocurrency

ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit)

Specialized hardware used for mining certain cryptocurrencies

Atomic Swap

A smart contract technology that enables the exchange of one cryptocurrency for another without using centralized intermediaries

ApeCoin (APE)

A crypto asset that represents a project and community aimed at harnessing blockchain technology for cultural advancement

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Type of technological advancement that aims to work like the human brain, autonomously completing functions

Authentication

The process of verifying the identity of a user typically through a username and password. On blockchains, authentication is done using a private key in order to prove ownership of a blockchain address

Address

A unique string of characters used to receive cryptocurrency

Algorithm

A process or set of rules followed in problem-solving operations, usually by a computer

B

Bear market

A period when prices are steadily going down

Bull market

A period when prices are steadily going up

BTC (Bitcoin)

A digital currency created by Satoshi Nakamoto that allows people to send money directly to each other without needing a bank account

Blockchain

A decentralized ledger that records all transactions across a network of computers

Block

A group of transactions recorded on a blockchain

Block Explorer

A web-based application for tracking activity on a digital ledger

Block Height

The total number of blocks in a digital chain of records

Burn

Permanently removing coins from circulation

Block Reward

The reward given to a miner for successfully mining a block

Bot

Automated software that can carry out tasks such as trading

Binance

One of the largest crypto asset exchanges in the market, providing a variety of software products and services for buying and selling cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin ATMs

Popular means of bypassing the traditional banking system of buying or cashing out Bitcoin

Bitcoin Cash

Is a proof-of-work blockchain network and cryptocurrency that’s faster and cheaper to use than Bitcoin

Bitcoin Futures

Type of BTC trading that speculates on the upcoming price of the asset

Bitcoin NFTs (Ordinals)

A way to inscribe digital content on the bitcoin blockchain

Bitcoin Runes

Aim to simplify fungible token creation on the Bitcoin blockchain and mitigate

BitTorrent (BTTC)

An internet transfer protocol. Much like http and ftp, it is a way to download files from the internet. However, BTTC is a distributed transfer protocol

Bagholder

Someone who holds onto a cryptocurrency that has dropped significantly in value, hoping it will recover. The term refers to holding worthless assets

C

Candlestick Chart

A style of financial chart used to describe price movements of a currency, derivative, or security

Centralized

Controlled by a single entity

CEX (Centralized Exchange)

A cryptocurrency exchange operated by a central authority

Cold Wallet/Cold Storage

Keeping cryptocurrency offline to protect it from hacking

Collateral

An asset pledged as security for a loan

Confirmation

The successful verification of a transaction on the blockchain

Consensus Mechanism

The method used to achieve agreement on a single data value among distributed processes or systems

Cryptocurrency

A digital currency that relies on a decentralized system and cryptography to verify transactions and maintain records, eliminating the need for a central authority

Cryptography

The method of encoding information to ensure that only the intended recipient can access and understand it

Coin

A digital asset native to its own blockchain

Censorship

Hiding information from the public, being considered harmful or inappropriate by governmental or private authorities

Crypto Exchanges

A crypto exchange is a platform that allows users to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies using various currencies or other digital assets

Chain

Chain is a bitcoin and blockchain technology startup aimed to work with leading financial establishments to create and develop blockchain networks

Cloud Mining

Allows the use of computing power for data processing centers and mining cryptocurrency without the need of buying special equipment, software, or spending on electricity

Crypto

Is a digital or virtual currency secured by cryptography

Cryptographic keys

A cryptographic key is a string of data that is used to encrypt data to the data secret, decrypt data reversely and sign data to ensure its authentic, or verify a signature

Crypto Tokens

A representation of an asset or interest that has been tokenized on an existing cryptocurrency’s blockchain

Crypto trading

The act of speculating on cryptocurrency price movements via a contract for difference (CFD) trading account, or buying and selling the underlying coins via an exchange

Cryptojacking

Type of cybercrime that involves the unauthorised use of people’s devices to mine for cryptocurrency

D

dApp (Decentralized Application)

An application that runs on a decentralized network

Double spend

Attempting to use the same digital currency more than once

DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization):

An organization represented by rules encoded as a computer program that is transparent and controlled by organization members

Dead Cat Bounce

A temporary recovery in the price of a declining asset

Decentralized

Controlled by multiple entities or nodes; not controlled by government or authorities

Decentralized Exchange (DEX)

A peer-to-peer marketplace where transactions occur directly between crypto traders

Difficulty

A measure of how hard it is to mine a block

Digital asset

Any online file or media that holds value and can be owned, transferred, or used

Digital Signature

A cryptographic signature that proves the authenticity of a message or document

Distributed Ledger

A database that is consensually shared and synchronized across multiple sites, institutions, or geographies

DYOR (Do Your Own Research)

A reminder to research and verify information independently

DePIN

Decentralized physical infrastructure networks refer to the application of blockchain technology and decentralization principles to physical infrastructure and systems

Data tokenisation

The process of turning sensitive data into a token or distinctive identifier while maintaining its value and link to the original data

Digital Currency

Currencies that are only accessible with computers or mobile phones

Digital wallet

An online place to store your crypto and bitcoin

Dolar-Cost Averaging (DCA)

An approach to purchasing an investment in which the buyer spreads out their purchases so that the total price paid is less affected by market timing

Dogecoin

A cryptocurrency created in 2013 by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus based on Litecoin and uses the same proof-of-work technology. It is a peer-to-peer open-source cryptocurrency named after the popular Doge meme and widely credited as the first memecoin

Do Kwon

Co-founder and CEO of Terraform Labs, a Singapore-based blockchain development company

E

Ethereum (ETH)

A decentralized platform that runs smart contracts

Equity Token Offering

Serves as an equity certificate on the blockchain and is a collection of various blocks (encrypted data)

ERC-20

A standard used for creating and issuing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain

Ethscription

An innovation that helps create on-chain digital artifacts using a unique reference identifier for data encoded within

European Central Bank

The central bank of the eurozone that is the emitter of euro currency and an administrator of EU monetary practices, one of the most influential financial authorities in the world

Exchange coins

A type of cryptocurrency issued by a cryptocurrency exchange to serve various utility functions within the exchange’s ecosystem

ERC-721

A standard for creating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum blockchain

Escrow

A third party that holds funds or assets on behalf of the primary transacting parties

F

Fungible Tokens

Interchangeable representations of assets on a blockchain; divisible and non-unique; identical and similar in nature and functionality

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

The fear that others are having profitable experiences that you're missing out on

Fiat

Government-issued currency, such as the US dollar or euro

FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)

Negative information spread to influence the perception of a cryptocurrency

Futures Contract

A legal agreement to buy or sell a particular asset at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future

Fork

A split in the blockchain where a new version is created, sometimes leading to a new cryptocurrency

G

Gas (Gas fee)

A fee paid to process transactions on the Ethereum blockchain

Genesis Block

The first set of transactions ever added to a blockchain

Gwei

A denomination of the cryptocurrency ether (ETH), used on the Ethereum network. 1 Gwei = 0.000000001 ETH

H

Hard fork

A significant update to a network’s rules that alters how transactions or blocks are accepted

Halving

When the payout for creating new blocks is reduced by 50%

Hardware Wallet

A physical device used to store private keys offline

Hash

A function that converts an input (or 'message') into a fixed-length string of characters

Hot Wallet

A cryptocurrency wallet connected to the internet

Hash Rate

The speed at which a cryptocurrency mining device operates

HODL

A term derived from "hold," meaning to keep your cryptocurrency rather than sell it, despite market fluctuations

I

ICO (Initial Coin Offering)

A fundraising method where new cryptocurrencies are sold to early backers in exchange for legal tender or other cryptocurrencies

Immutable

Something that cannot be changed after it has been created

Inflation

When the supply of money increases relative to the level of productive output in the economy

Interoperability

The ability of different blockchain networks to communicate and interact with each other

L

Liquidity

The ease with which an asset can be quickly converted into cash without affecting its market price

Leverage

The use of borrowed funds to increase one's trading position beyond what would be available from their cash balance alone

Ledger

A record of financial transactions

M

Mining

The process of verifying and adding transactions to the blockchain, often rewarded with new coins

Memecoins

A genre of cryptocurrency that is loosely defined by an exuberant online community supporting the currency’s growth. They have been produced as a light-hearted joke

Moon

Slang for a significant increase in a cryptocurrency's price

Mining Pool

A group of miners who combine their computational resources to mine cryptocurrencies more efficiently

Market Cap (Market Capitalization)

The total value of a cryptocurrency, calculated by multiplying its price by the total supply of coins

Mainnet

The main network for a blockchain where real transactions take place

Market Order

A buy or sell order to be executed immediately at the current market prices

Masternode

A server on a decentralized network. It performs specific functions that regular nodes cannot

Merkle Tree

A data structure used in blockchain to efficiently and securely verify the integrity of data

Multisig (Multisignature)

A type of digital signature scheme that requires multiple parties to sign a transaction before it can be executed

Mooning

A term used when a cryptocurrency's price is rising quickly, as if heading to the moon. It expresses excitement about rapid value growth

Multi-party computation (MPC)

A framework that splits critical security codes, known as private keys, across several locations rather than storing them in one place

N

NFT (Non-Fungible Token)

A unique digital asset that represents ownership of a specific item or piece of content

Node

A computer connected to the cryptocurrency network, helping to validate and relay transactions

Nonce

A random or semi-random number that is used once in cryptographic communication

No-coiner

A playful term for someone who does not own any cryptocurrency, often used by crypto enthusiasts to tease those who haven't invested yet

O

Oracles

Third-party services that provide smart contracts with external information

OTC (Over The Counter)

Trading that occurs directly between two parties, outside of exchanges

P

Proof of Burn (PoB)

A consensus algorithm that requires participants to burn their cryptocurrency to gain the right to mine new blocks

Proof of Stake (PoS)

A consensus algorithm that requires validators to stake cryptocurrency to validate transactions and create new blocks

P2P (Peer-to-Peer)

Direct transactions between two parties without an intermediary

Paper Wallet

A physical piece of paper containing a private key or seed phrase

PoA (Proof of Authority)

A consensus mechanism in which identity is used as the form of stake rather than computational power or assets

Private Key

A secret key that gives you access to your wallet and must be kept safe

Public Key

An address you can share with others to receive cryptocurrency

Proof of Work (PoW)

A consensus algorithm that requires miners to solve complex mathematical problems to validate transactions and create new blocks

Pump and Dump

A scheme that attempts to boost the price of a stock or security through recommendations based on false, misleading, or greatly exaggerated statements

Ponzi Scheme

A form of fraud in which returns are paid to earlier investors using the capital of new investors

Q

QR Code

A machine-readable code used to store URLs or other information for reading by the camera on a smartphone. Often used to share cryptocurrency addresses

R

Ring Signature

A type of digital signature that can be performed by any member of a group of users that each have keys

Rekt

Slang for "wrecked," meaning severe financial loss

S

Satoshi Nakamoto

The pseudonymous creator(s) of Bitcoin

Smart Contract

A self-executing contract with the terms directly written into code

Stablecoin

A cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset, like a fiat currency

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)

A U.S. government agency responsible for regulating the securities industry

Solana

An open source blockchain available for building solutions on, such as decentralised applications

Satoshi

The smallest unit of Bitcoin, equal to 0.00000001 BTC

Scalability

The capacity of a cryptocurrency network to handle a growing amount of transactions

Staking

The process of holding funds in a cryptocurrency wallet to support the operations of a blockchain network

Seed Phrase

A series of words used to recover a cryptocurrency wallet

SegWit (Segregated Witness)

A Bitcoin protocol upgrade intended to increase the block size limit and improve scalability

Sharding

A method of splitting a blockchain into smaller, more manageable pieces

Soft Fork

A backward-compatible update to a blockchain

Sybil Attack

A type of cybersecurity breach in which an individual or group creates multiple fraudulent identities within a blockchain system to carry out harmful activities

Sats

Short for satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC). Often used to refer to small amounts of Bitcoin in discussions or microtransactions

T

Transaction Fee

Amount charged for any financial transaction a user conducts according to time and the activity on the blockchain

Token

A digital asset issued on a blockchain

Testnet

A version of the blockchain used for testing and experimentation

TPS (Transactions Per Second)

A measure of how many transactions a blockchain can process in a second

Trustless

A system that does not require trust between parties

Two-factor authentication

A security process requiring users to prove two distinct authentication factors to access an account

Tokenization

Is the process of creating a digital version of a real thing

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

A security system that requires two distinct forms of identification to log in

Tokenomics

The evaluation of a cryptocurrency's core features, helping you compare different assets and make more informed decisions

U

Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO)

The output of a cryptocurrency transaction that can be used as input for new transactions

V

Virtual Currency

Digital representations of value whose transactions occur in online networks or the internet

Volatility

The degree of variation of a cryptocurrency's price over time

Validator

A participant in a PoS network responsible for validating transactions and blocks

W

Wallet

A digital tool used to store and manage cryptocurrency

Whitepaper

An authoritative document that outlines issues and proposes solutions, often used to describe the technical details of a cryptocurrency project

Whale

An individual or entity that holds a large amount of cryptocurrency

Web 1.0

Represents an era of static pages used for content delivery, such as websites like Britannica Online

Web 2.0

Next iteration of the internet after 1.0, describing the 21st century internet applications after the dot-com bubble

Web 3.0

Possible future version of the internet based on public blockchains, a record-keeping system best known for facilitating cryptocurrency transactions

Wen Lambo

Slang for "When Lamborghini?" used by crypto fans to joke about buying luxury items like a Lamborghini after profiting from their investments

X

XRP

The cryptocurrency used by the Ripple payment network

Y

Yield Farming

The process of earning interest by lending out cryptocurrency

YTD (Year to Date)

A period beginning January 1 of the current year and ending on the current date

Z

Zero-Knowledge Proof

A cryptographic method by which one party can prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any additional information

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