Crypto Glossary
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- 2FA
Two-factor authentication adds an extra step to the login process, helping keep online accounts safer than relying on just a…
- 51% attack
This type of attack happens when a group of miners gains control of over half the network’s mining power, allowing…
A
- Airdrop
A marketing strategy that gives away free cryptocurrency tokens.
- Altcoin
Altcoins are all alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin.
- AML
Anti-Money Laundering
- AMM
Automated Market Maker
- APR
Annual Percentage Rate
- APY
Annual Percentage Yield
- AR
Augmented Reality
- ATH
Аll-time high
- ATL
All-time Low
- AUM
Assets under management
B
- BaaS
Blockchain-as-a-Service
- Bear Market
A market phase marked by declining prices.
- BIP
Bitcoin Improvement Proposal
- Block Time
The average duration needed to mine a new block on the blockchain.
- Blockchain
At its core, blockchain is a digital chain of blocks, but not in the traditional sense. These 'blocks' consist of…
- Blockchain Trilemma
This concept suggests that blockchains struggle to optimize all three key properties—decentralization, security, and scalability—at the same time.
- Bull Market
A market phase characterized by rising prices.
C
- Call option
Financial contracts that grant the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to purchase a cryptocurrency (or other assets) at…
- CBDC
Central bank digital currency
- CEX
Centralized Exchange
- CFTC
Commodity Futures Trading Commission
- Cold Storage
Offline storage of cryptocurrency
- Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is a modern digital asset and method of exchange that relies on blockchain technology and is protected by cryptography,…
- Cryptojacking
A cybercrime in which malicious actors take control of another person's computing resources to mine cryptocurrency without permission.
D
- DAO
Decentralized Autonomous Organization
- dAPI
Decentralized API (application programming interface)
- dApp
Decentralized Application
- DeFi
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) refers to a broad category of finance-related decentralized applications (dApps) built on public blockchains.
- DEX
Decentralized Exchange
- Digital currency
A term for any currency that exists solely in digital form and is transferred electronically over the internet.
- DLT
Distributed Ledger Technology
- DoS Attack
Denial of Service is an attack meant to shut down a machine or network, making it inaccessible to its intended…
- Double Spend Attack
This occurs when a single unit of digital currency is illegally spent multiple times.
E
- EIP
Ethereum Improvement Proposal
- EMA
Exponential Moving Average
- ETF
Exchange-traded Fund
- EVM
The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is software that runs smart contracts and calculates the state of the Ethereum network after…
- Exit Scam
A scam where a previously reputable (often illegal) project stops functioning but continues to collect payments, ultimately disappearing with the…
F
- Fiat
Government-issued currency such as the US dollar, euro, etc.
- Fibonacci retracement
Trend lines are drawn on a chart connecting key points, typically the lowest lows and highest highs. Traders use them…
- Flash Loan Attack
A flash loan attack occurs when an attacker exploits a platform's smart contract vulnerabilities to borrow large amounts of money…
- Flippening
A potential scenario where Ethereum (ETH) surpasses Bitcoin (BTC) to become the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
- FOMO
Fear of missing out
- Fork
A major alteration to a network's protocol that changes the validity of previous blocks and transactions, making them either valid…
- FUD
Fear Uncertainty Doubt
- Futures
A type of derivative contract that outlines an agreement to buy or sell a specific asset at a predetermined price…
G
- Gas
A gas fee is a transaction fee paid in ETH to network validators for processing and validating transactions on the…
- Genesis Block
The term used for the first block ever mined in a cryptocurrency network, such as Bitcoin, is called the genesis…
- Governance Token
A type of cryptocurrency that gives token holders the ability to vote on the future direction of a blockchain project.
- Gwei
H
- Halving
An event on the Bitcoin network where the mining reward is reduced by half every 210,000 blocks, or approximately every…
- Hashrate
A metric of a blockchain network's computational power, based on the number of guesses made per second.
- HODL
‘Hold on to dear life’ (HODL) is a crypto term referring to the strategy of buying and holding an asset…
- Hot storage
Online storage of cryptocurrency
I
K
L
- L2
A term used to refer to a group of Ethereum scaling solutions. A Layer 2 protocol is an independent blockchain…
- Leverage
The practice of using borrowed capital to finance an investment or project, aiming to increase the potential returns.
- Liquidity
The ability to quickly convert a digital currency or token into another asset or cash without affecting its price.
- Long Position
A long position is when an investor expects the price of an asset to rise.
M
- MA
Moving Average
- MACD
Moving average convergence/divergence
- Market Cap
The overall value of a project, company, or entity. In cryptocurrency, market cap is determined by multiplying the current price…
- Market Maker
Entities that create markets by offering both buy and sell prices.
- Market Taker
Takers are traders who accept the prices set by market makers.
- Mining rig
A computer specifically built for mining cryptocurrencies.
N
O
- Off-chain
Transactions on a cryptocurrency network that transfer value off the blockchain.
- On-chain
Transactions that are recorded and verified on the blockchain.
- On-ramp
An on-ramp is a platform that enables users to purchase crypto assets or access cryptocurrency markets.
- Optimistim Rollup
An optimistic rollup is an approach to scaling Ethereum that involves moving computation and state storage off-chain.
- OTC
Over-the-counter refers to trading assets via a broker rather than through a centralized exchange.
P
- P2E
Play to Earn
- P2P
Peer-to-Peer
- Phishing
A scam designed to trick you into revealing your username, password, or other sensitive details by pretending to be someone…
- Private Key
A code that verifies ownership of a crypto wallet and grants access to the funds within.
- Proof-of-Stake (PoS)
The Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm was developed as an alternative to Proof-of-Work (PoW) to solve its inherent issues. The goal…
- Proof-of-Work (PoW)
Proof-of-Work (PoW) is a system designed to prevent misuse of computing power, such as spam attacks. It works by creating…
- Public Key
A code that generates an address, allowing a crypto wallet to receive transactions.
- Public Ledger
A transparent, distributed digital record of transactions that can be downloaded by anyone around the world.
- Pump and dump
A tactic where scammers spread false or misleading information to trigger a buying frenzy, inflating the price of an asset,…
R
- Ransomware
A form of malware that locks you out of your device and its data, typically by encrypting your files, with…
- ROI
Return on Investment
- RSI
Relative Strenght Index
S
- Sats
Satoshis are the smallest unit of Bitcoin, with 1 satoshi equaling 0.00000001 BTC.
- Security token
A token that signifies ownership rights, the transfer of value, or a promise of returns, all tokenized on a blockchain.
- Self Custody
It means you are the sole owner of your digital assets because you control the private key.
- Sharding
Dividing and distributing a single logical dataset across several independent databases, which can be deployed across multiple servers.
- Shilling
Persuading others to make a purchase.
- Short Position
A short position is when an investor wagers that the price of an asset will decrease.
- Short squeeze
This occurs when the price of a cryptocurrency (or other asset) increases, prompting short sellers to either cover their positions…
- Sidechain
A standalone blockchain that operates independently from Ethereum but is linked to the Ethereum Mainnet via a two-way bridge.
- Sideways trading
This happens when the price of a security stays within a relatively consistent range, without developing clear trends, for a…
- SMA
Simple Moving Average
- Smart contracts
A smart contract is a digital protocol that securely, verifies, and enforces the terms of a contract without the need…
- SPAC
Special Purpose Acquisition Company
- Staking
Staking involves actively participating in transaction validation (similar to mining) on a PoS-based blockchain. Users who hold the minimum required…
- STO
Security Token Offering
T
- TVL
Total Value Locked
U
- Utility token
A cryptocurrency built on a smart contract blockchain that plays a particular role within a project's ecosystem.
- UTXO
An unspent transaction output refers to the leftover digital currency someone has after completing a transaction.
V
- Volatility
This term refers to the extent a cryptocurrency’s price moves away from its average value over a specific time frame.
W
- Wallet
A device or application that securely holds a user's public and private keys while allowing interaction with a blockchain network.
- Wash trade
This refers to an illegal practice where a trader simultaneously buys and sells the same asset to create a false…
- Web3
A vision for the next phase of the internet, built around decentralization, blockchain tech, and economies powered by digital tokens.
- wei
The smallest denomination of ETH (1 ETH = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 wei)
- Whale
These are individuals or entities that own significant quantities of a particular cryptocurrency, often influencing market trends through their holdings.
Y
- Yield farming
This involves depositing your crypto into a DeFi liquidity pool—either by lending or staking it—in exchange for rewards like interest…
- YTD
Year-to-Date
Z
- ZK-Rollup
It’s a secondary protocol built on Ethereum that runs off-chain but is governed by smart contracts deployed directly on the…
