Glossary
51% Attack
A 51% attack is an attack on a blockchain launched by an entity possessing 51% or more of the network’s mining potential.
Address
A location where cryptocurrencies are sent or received
Airdrop
A marketing campaign to share a particular cryptocurrency or token with the public audience.
Algorithm
An algorithm is a set of instructions, typically followed by a computer, in a specific sequential order to solve a problem.
All time High (ATH)
ATH is the maximum value that an asset has ever reached, measured in price or market capitalization.
Alpha
Alpha is a measure reflecting the performance of an investment or investment portfolio.
Altcoin
An altcoin is a term used in the crypto market to portray a coin or token other than bitcoin.
Angel investors
A person who supports a new company or startup financially.
Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
A set of international laws that restrict criminals and people who launder money in real-world cash through cryptocurrencies.
API
API is the set of protocols that allow different computer software or applications to communicate with each other.
Arbitrage
Arbitrage is the trading action that exploits price differences of the same asset in different markets.
ASIC
Application Specific Integrated Circuits are devices with substantial computing capabilities powered by microprocessors, usually used to mine cryptocurrencies.
Ask Price
The ask price is the lowest amount an asset seller is willing to accept to sell it for.
Asset management
Asset management is the handling of an asset portfolio with the objective of maximizing portfolio value with minimal risk.
Auction
An auction is a competitive bid.
Automated Market Maker (AMM)
AMM is an automated means to supply exchanges with liquidity, thanks to liquidity pools.
Bear Market
A bear market is a financial market experiencing prolonged price declines.
Benchmark
Benchmark Protocol ($MARK) provides elastic, stablecoin-alternative supply, linked by the Volatility Index, blending the traditional finance with the cryptocurrency market
BEP-20
BEP-20 was designed with the aim of broadening the ERC-20 - a well-known Binance Smart Chain token standard.
Beta (Coefficient)
Beta is an investment or investment portfolio volatility and riskiness measure.
Beta (Release)
A beta release is the launching of a product version to individuals outside the firm referred to as beta testers.
Bid-Ask spread
Bid-Ask spread is the difference between the bid price and the ask price in a "bid and ask" system.
Bid Price
The bid price is the greatest sum of money a buyer is willing to purchase an asset for in a "bid and ask" system.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a digital cryptocurrency based on blockchain technology.
Bitcoin core
Bitcoin core is an open-source implementation software that allows users to become part of the Bitcoin blockchain network.
Bitcoin Dominance
Bitcoin dominance refers to the ratio of Bitcoin’s market cap to the market cap of all existing cryptocurrencies combined.
Block
Blocks are files that hold transaction data.
Block Header
The block header is the part of a block that provides its synopsis.
Block Reward
A block reward is the reward given to a miner when he/she succeeds in verifying a block.
Blockchain
Blockchain technology is a special type of database that stores data in a decentralized way, on multiple nodes instead of a single central server.
Blockchain explorer
A blockchain explorer is an online tool which enables users to retrieve and view information about blockchain transactions.
BNB
BNB or Binance coin is the cryptocurrency created by Binance.
Bounty
A bounty is a token-based reward given to an individual for performing a certain activity related to a blockchain or cryptocurrency project.
Break-even point
Breakeven point is the point when profits equal costs.
BUIDL
BUIDL is a philosophy related to blockchain that encourages propagating blockchain and crypto technology through actively using it.
Bull Market
A market can be considered bullish if assets show a global upward price trend over a significant period.
Candlestick
Candlesticks are specific charts that investors use to track the changing prices of an asset over an interval of time.
Capitulation
Capitulation is the action of selling your assets whilst their value is going down in disbelief that their price will increase again.
Censorship Resistance
The notion that no party can protect anybody from joining in a given platform or network is a reference to censor resistance.
Centralized
A centralized structure is one where the whole network is assigned to a particular node or a limited amount of them.
CFTC
The CFTC is an independent US regulatory agency that regulates US derivatives market.
Cipher
An algorithm to encrypt and decrypt data is a cipher.
Circulating Supply
A fluctuating value that can rise and/or decrease over a time is the number of cryptocurrency coins or tokens circulating
Cloud
Cloud is a bundle of computer servers accessed via the internet.
Coin
Coins are digital cryptocurrencies that run autonomously on their own blockchain platforms.
Collateral
Collateral is a form of assurance that protects a lender in case a borrower is unable to repay his debt
Collateralization
Collateralization is the process of putting down a valuable asset in exchange for receiving a loan.
Confirmation time
Confirmation time is the time interval between the issuance and addition of a transaction within a blockchain.
Confluence
Confluence is the simultaneous use of different investment strategies in a single consistent strategic plan.
CPI: Consumer price index
The CPI is an economic index calculated as the weighted average of consumer goods and services in a basket.
Credentials
Credentials are a person's private data that permit identification or provide access to a certain service or resource.
Cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that can be exchanged securely thanks to cryptography.
Cryptography
Cryptography is the process of encoding data to make it unreadable for unauthorized parties.
Custody
Custody is the retention of assets on someone else's behalf.
DAC
DAC stands for decentralized autonomous corporation and is sometimes used synonomously with DAO.
DAO
A decentralized autonomous organization is a democratized community-based organization governed by smart contracts.
DApp
Decentralized applications are applications that run on a network of peer-to-peer computers.
Decryption
Decryption is the decoding of cryptographic data into a mode that can be read by individuals or machines.
Deep Web
Deep web refers to parts of the internet not available through a standard search engine like Google or Bing.
DeFi
“DeFi” is an umbrella term for all financial projects and protocols in various blockchains, that are compatible with Ethereum Virtual Machine.
Delisting
Delisting is the withdrawal of an asset from the exchange listing.
DeX
DEX is short for decentralized exchange and refers to exchanges performed without an intermediary.
Difficulty
Difficulty is how complex it is to solve a cryptographic problem.
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)
DLT is a means of storing transaction data in several nodes simultaneously rather than in a single place.
Divergence
Divergence is when an asset’s price is increasing or decreasing in a way contrary to the change in direction of some technical indicator or relevant data.
Diversification
Diversification is a risk hedging technique employed by investing in various independent projects and assets within a portfolio.
Double Spending
Double spending occurs when a digital currency is replicated and spent twice.
Efficient Market Hypohthesis
The efficient market hypothesis is a theory that claims all the information about assets is echoed entirely by their prices.
Encryption
Encryption is a way to cypher information so that it could be safely transmitted over networks such as the internet.
Enterprise Ethereum Alliance
The EEA is a collaborative community that promotes Ethereum implementation and fosters its progress.
ERC-20
ERC-20 acts as the technical standard other Ethereum-based fungible tokens must comply with.
ERC-721
ERC-721 is the protocol or technical standard for Ethereum-based non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Exchange
Cryptocurrency exchanges are digital marketplaces where digital currencies are traded.
Fiat
Fiat currency is currency issued by governments that derives its value from government support.
Fiscal policy
Fiscal policies are the tax policies and spending budgets set by governments that have an effect on the economy.
Forced Liquidation
When forced liquidation occurs, an investor’s assets are sold for cash or cash equivalents by a brokerage to cover losses on borrowed funds.
Forex
Forex is the largest global currencies exchange platform in the world.
Formal Verification
Formal verification compares an existing system against a specific standard relying on mathematical evidence and models.
Full node
A full node is a computer device that downloads all the data of the blockchain and fully verifies all the transactions.
Fundamental analysis
Fundamental analysis is the study of the real value of an asset considering criteria other than its market price.
Fungibility
An asset is said to be fungible if it can be used interchangeably with another asset of the same type.
Futures contracts
A future contract is a financial instrument that legally binds the agreeing parties to purchase or sell an asset at an established price at a stipulated instance in the future.
Gas
Gas is the unit used to measure the level of computing power consumed to execute an ETH transaction or conduct a smart contract.
Gas Limit
The gas limit is the maximum amount of gas an Ethereum user would spend to conduct a transaction or contract on the Ethereum blockchain.
General Public License
A GPL is a type of license that allows others to freely utilize, replicate, change and give out software under some conditions.
Github
Github is an open source community platform where developers from all over the world can collaborate on projects together.
Golden Cross
A golden cross is used to refer to a graphical intersection of the short-term and long-term moving averages, following a specific trend.
Gwei
Gwei is a small fraction of Ether, equivalent to 0.000000001 Ether.
Halving
Halving is the event when mining rewards are decreased to half
Hard cap
A hard cap is the upper bound of the supply of a certain cryptocurrency or digital asset.
Hash
A hash is an encrypted alphanumeric value of specific size.
Hash rate
A hash rate is a measure of the computational power consumed by a mining rig or a cryptocurrency network.
HODL
HODL is an investment strategy where investors buy cryptocurrency and keep it focusing on the long term.
ICO
Initial coin offering is the process of gathering funds for a cryptocurrency or blockchain project.
IDO
An Initial DEX Offering (IDO) occurs when a crypto project makes its token or coin available for purchase on a decentralized exchange.
IEO
IEO refers to the fundraising event hosted by a crypto exchange on behalf of a startup publicly releasing its tokens.
Index
An index is a single value that reflects the behavior of several assets in a market or industry.
Interoperability
Interoperability is the capacity of different systems to interact with each other seamlessly.
IPO
An initial public offering is the event when a company first lists its stock on a public stock exchange.
Issuance
Issuance in cryptocurrency is the creation of new tokens.
Latency
Latency is the time delay between the launch of a transaction and its confirmation.
Law of Demand
The law of demand is a basic concept in economics that describes the relationship between the price of an asset and the demand for it.
Layer 2
Layer 2 is the set of technology solutions developed to overcome the scaling issue without compromising the safety of the network.
Ledger
A ledger is a log or registry that stores the history of the transactions that have occurred and the balances of its users.
Library
A library is a registry of existing code directly available for use.
Lightning network
Lightening network is a layer 2 solution to address the scalability issue Bitcoin suffers from.
Liquidity
Liquidity refers to the level of ease an asset can be transformed into cash.
Liquidity Pool
A liquidity pool is a reserve of coins locked up using smart contracts.
Listing
Listing an asset means making it publicly available for trading on a marketplace or exchange platform.
Mainnet
A mainnet is a totally developed independent up-and-running blockchain network.
Mainnet swap
A mainnet swap occurs when a company moves its tokens to its own independent blockchain or changes protocol.
Maker
Market makers are usually traders who place orders that are not fulfilled straightaway on an order book.
Margin trading
Margin trading is when you invest in an asset using someone else’s funds, typically a broker.
Market capitalization
Market cap is the product of a cryptocurrency’s price and its circulating supply.
Market momentum
Market momentum describes the consistency in the direction of evolution of a market price.
Market order
Market orders are orders implemented instantaneously at the best immediately accessible price.
Masternode
Masternodes emerged as a solution to the diminishing number of full nodes.
Maximum supply
Maximum supply of a token is the ceiling of all tokens that can ever be generated.
Mempool
The mempool is the space on a blockchain network node where transactions awaiting confirmation are temporarily stored.
Merkle tree
A Merkle tree or hash tree is a data structure that allows storing blockchain transactions in an efficient way.
Metadata
Metadata is data that labels other data.
Mining
Mining is the phenomenon of verifying blockchain transactions, adding new blocks to the chain network.
Monetary policy
Monetary policy is the policy embraced by a government authority, typically the central bank, in pursuit of certain economic objectives.
Moon
Moon is a crypto slang term referencing a continuous increase in a certain cryptocurrency’s price, or a perceived imminent increase.
Multisignature
Multi-signature is essentially a signature that requires the simultaneous presence of more than one unique key to confirm a transaction or access the resources.
NFT
Non-fungible tokens are unique non-identical tokens that represent ownership rights over a physical or digital asset.
Node
Nodes are the computer devices that together make up the blockchain network on which transactions run.
Off-chain
Off-chain cryptocurrency transactions occur externally and are not recorded on the main public chain of the blockchain.
Offshore account
An offshore account is an account established outside the possessor's country of citizenship.
Open-source
Open source code is code made accessible for anyone to view, modify, utilize, and circulate.
Oracle
Oracles act as linkages between blockchain smart contracts and the external world.
Order book
An order book is a log of the buy and sell orders of an asset.
Orphan block
Orphan blocks are valid mined blocks that are not accepted by the network due to a time lag.
Paper wallet
A paper wallet is a piece of paper on which the private and public keys to the digital assets are printed or written down.
Passive management
Passive management investing is based on the efficient market hypothesis (EMH) and attempts to reproduce a market index.
Peer-to-peer (p2p)
Peer to peer is a decentralized system that allows actors to directly interact with each other without the need for an intermediary.
Pegged currency
Pegging a currency means linking its value to the value of another asset at a fixed exchange rate.
Phishing
A phishing attack is a cyberattack by a malicious actor who attempts to extract sensitive information from users by pretending to be a familiar actor.
Plasma
Plasma is a scaling solution that increases transaction speed and decrease costs by taking off the load from the main chain.
Ponzi scheme
Ponzi schemes are scams where the fraud usually pays off old investors with money he receives from newer investors.
Price action
Price action a chart of an asset’s prices over time.
Private key
The private key is the combination of characters that is generated by cryptography and acts as a digital signature of its owner.
Private sale
A private sale is an investment round ahead of an ICO for institutional and big investors.
Progressive web app
Progressive web apps achieve the pros of both native and web apps.
Proof of stake (PoS)
PoS is a consensus mechanism alternative to PoW that requires locking tokens as collateral.
Ransomware
Ransomware is a malware that attackers use to steal and encrypt victims’ files which would then be taken “hostage” by them, “liberated” only if a ransom is paid.
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
RSI considers an asset's price fluctuations and the speed at which they occur, returning a value between 0 and 100.
Resistance
Resistance levels represent historical price maximums.
Return on Investment (ROI)
ROI is a profitability indicator, calculated as the profits made thanks to an investment over the costs incurred.
Roadmap
A roadmap is a visual representation of the company's planned milestones.
Satoshi Nakamoto
The original creator(s) of Bitcoin.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a US government authority that regulates the securities market.
Security Audit
Security audits are regular checkups on the safety of a company’s information technology system.
Sell Wall
A sell wall occurs when a large limit sell order is placed in an order book.
Sentiment
Market sentiment refers to the highly subjective feeling about the state of a market
Slippage
Slippage occurs when there is a discrepancy between the order price a trader requests and the de facto price he settles for when the transaction is executed.
Smart Contract
A smart contract is a computer algorithm that is executed automatically when the specified coded terms are met.
Snapshot
A snapshot captures the records on a blockchain at a point in time, including all the confirmed blocks up to that point.
Source code
A source code is a set of statements written in a programming language.
Speculation
Speculative trading refers to the purchase and sale of a highly volatile asset driven by the potential colossal returns despite the high risks.
Stablecoin
Stablecoins are cryptocurrency pegged to real world value – all the pros of blockchain without the cons of volatility.
Staking pool
A staking pool is a wallet jointly owned by different investors who group their resources to increase the likelihood of being rewarded.
Store of value
Store of value assets are assets whose value is conserved over time.
Supply chain
Supply chain refers to the several stages a product undergoes before it is delivered to the end customer.
Support
A support level is a price barrier, for which it is difficult to force a price trend below.
Taker
A taker is usually a trader who places market orders, fulfilling others’ orders straightaway.
Tank
"Tank" is a term used to describe an asset’s sharp price decrease.
Ticker
A ticker is the short form of a traded asset or cryptocurrency’s name.
Token
Tokens are digital assets, which could be used as currencies or as a representation of an external valuable asset.
Token lockup
Token lockups are the intervals of time where tokens cannot be sold off.
Token sale
A token sale occurs when a company’s tokens are sold to investors privately during the preliminary phases of a project’s life.
Total supply
Total supply refers to the total number of tokens that have been generated so far.
Transaction ID (TXID)
A transaction ID is the tag that inimitably identifies each transaction on the blockchain.
Transactions per second (TPS)
TPS is the rate at which transactions are processed.
Trustless
A "trustless" network is a network where transactions can occur without the need for users to trust one another.
Unit of account
Unit of Account is an expression to denote the capability of money to assign and compare the value of things.
User interface (UI)
User interface is the point of contact through which users interact and engage with a platform, application, or a hardware device.
Verification code
A verification code is a code sent to verify a user's identity.
Virtual machine
A virtual machine is a virtual computer system, independent from hardware.
Volatility
Volatility describes the frequent and rapid drastic change in prices of an asset.
Volume
Volume is the amount sold of a certain asset.
Wallet
A wallet is the medium that stores a user’s private keys that grant him/her access to their digital tokens.
Weak Hands
“Weak hands” is an expression referring to an investor that is quickly swayed to sell his assets with any price decline.
Wei
Wei is equivalent to 10^-18 Ether.
Whiskers
Whiskers are the vertical lines of a candlestick chart.
Whitelist
A whitelist is a directory of email addresses of individual investors or companies interested in a crypto project's ICO.
Wick
Wicks are the vertical lines that represents the maximum and minimum price an asset has within a period.
Wrapped Ether (WETH)
WETH is an ERC-20 compatible token, equivalent to 1 ETH.