GIE Glossary

0x (zero x) Protocol

0x is an open protocol that allows the peer-to-peer exchange of Ethereum-based cryptocurrency assets.

1hr

Indicates coverage of cryptocurrency trading data for the past one hour.

24hr

Indicates coverage of cryptocurrency trading data for the past 24 hours.

30d

Indicates coverage of cryptocurrency trading data for the past 30 days.

51% Attack

A situation where a malicious group or user controls over 50% of the mining hash rate or computer power of a given network.

7d

Indicates coverage of cryptocurrency trading data for the past seven days

80/20 Rule (Pareto Principle)

A principle which states that 80% of the outcomes you get are a consequence of 20% of your actions.

Abenomics

Abenomics refers to a set of economic policies championed and implemented by the then prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe. Abenomics has three arrows: aggressive monetary policy, fiscal consolidation, and growth strategy.

Abnormal Return

An abnormal return is an unusually large profit or loss generated by an asset, investment, or security over a specific period.

Abstract

Abstract refers to anything—concepts or notions—that exist in thoughts with no physical existence.

Accepting Risk

Accepting risk or risk acceptance is an organizational risk management strategy utilized by businesses to acknowledge a potential risk without attempting to expend financial resources to mitigate or avoid it.

Account

Account refers to an arrangement that offers a user personalized access to an asset.

Account Balance

Account balance is the amount of money currently available for utilization (withdrawal, transfers, or payments) in a cryptocurrency or bank account.

Accounting Token

Accounting tokens are tokenized debit or credit entries/checks (IOU/UOM) equivalent to the amount held by a token holder. They are used exclusively for accounting purposes.

Accrual

Accrual refers to accumulated expenses, revenue, income, or interest recorded over a period.

Accrued Income

Accrued income refers to recorded earnings that are yet to be paid out or received.

Accrued Interest

Accrued interest refers to the interests that have been incurred, as of a given date, on a loan, debt, or other financial obligation but are yet to be paid out or received.

Accrued Revenue

Accrued revenue, often recorded as receivables, refers to revenue earned by a business after providing goods or services but for which they are yet to be paid.

Accumulation Phase

Accumulation phase occurs when institutional investors buy up large portions of an asset or a stock after a downtrend. This phase usually indicates an uptrend is around the corner.

Accumulation/Distribution Indicator

Accumulation/distribution indicator is the measurement of the demand and supply level of an asset, stock, or cryptocurrency derived when you multiply the closing price of a given period by volume.

Adam Back

Adam Back is a British cyberpunk and cryptographer who is a key figure in the cryptocurrency industry.

Adaptive State Sharding

Adaptive State Sharding is a strategy used by Elrond to combine all three types of sharding into one to improve throughput.

Address

Address, also known as a crypto address, refers to a string of letters and numbers representing where cryptocurrency can be sent to or from.

Adoption Curve

Adoption curve in a technology life cycle indicates the rate at which people are adopting the new technology.

Aeternity Blockchain

Aeternity blockchain is an Erlang-based smart contract network designed to work on a hybrid consensus mechanism that combines proof of work (PoW) and proof of stake (PoS).

Aggregate Demand

Aggregate demand is a measure of the sum total of the demand for all finished goods and services in a given economy.

Air Gap

An air gap is a concept that proposes that if data is inaccessible, then neither will it be corrupted nor infected.

Airdrop

Airdrop is a marketing campaign strategy used to incentivize an audience by distributing a given cryptocurrency or token to them.

Airnode

Airnode is an API blockchain gateway and serverless oracle node, which allows API providers to deploy and connect directly to the API Web3 (API3) blockchain protocol without third-party interference.

Algo-Trading (Algorithmic Trading)

Algorithmic trading, also known as automated trading, is a trading system that uses a computer program with a defined set of instructions to automate buy and sell orders.

Algorithm

An algorithm is a defined set of rules or instructions coded in a computer to guide a problem-solving or calculation task.

Algorithmic Market Operations (AMOs)

AMOs are market operations that assume the automatic control of algorithmic stablecoins supply while boosting scalability, transparency, and decentralization.

Algorithmic Stablecoin

Algorithmic stablecoins are stablecoins typically founded on two tokens/coins with an algorithm regulating the relationship between the two tokens to maintain a reasonable balance for the algorithm stablecoin during downtrends and uptrends.

All-Time-High (ATH)

ATH is the highest point a cryptocurrency has ever reached in any aspect of its history.

All-Time-Low (ATL)

ATL refers to the lowest point a cryptocurrency has ever reached in any aspect of its history.

Allocation

Allocation is the allotment of tokens or equity assigned to an entity to earn, buy, or reserve.

Alpha Version

Alpha version refers to a pilot version of software made available for testing by a select audience.

Alphanumeric phrases

An alphanumeric phrase is a phrase that contains letters and numbers and sometimes symbols.

Altcoin

Altcoin is a collective term for all cryptocurrencies that are not Bitcoin. They are alternatives to Bitcoin.

Altcoin Trader

An altcoin trade is an individual who trades every other cryptocurrency apart from Bitcoin.

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3)

Amazon S3 is a cloud-based data storage service that operates on a scalable, high-speed infrastructure to allow users to store and retrieve data on the go.

AMLD5

The 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5) is a European Union initiative that updates the existing Anti-Money Laundering (AML) framework.

Anarcho-capitalism

Anarcho-capitalism is a political philosophy conceptualized by Murray Rothbard and upheld by many members of the crypto community as an indication that the market would always tend to self-regulate.

Angel Investor

An angel investor is an individual who provides financial backing for small and new business ventures.

Annual Percentage Rate (APR)

APR is the total amount of interest a borrower must pay annually.

Annual Percentage Yield (APY)

APY refers to the real rate of return generated on a given investment within a year while considering the effects of compounding interest.

Anonymous

An anonymous person or group refers to an unknown or unnamed person or group.

Anti-dump/Anti-Dumping Policy

Anti-dumping policy is an elaborate policy structured to protect/shield investors from pump and dump schemes orchestrated by whale investors who buy a large number of tokens to boost value, then dump the tokens at a significantly higher price, causing losses to investors who bought the tokens later in the cycle.

Anti-Fragile

Anti-fragile is a term that refers to the quality of certain cryptocurrencies performing better when they are exposed to uncertainties, shocks, risks, and volatilities.

Anti-Malware

Anti-Malware is an application software designed to detect, block, and remove malware from electronic devices.

Anti-Money Laundering (AML)

AML is a set of laws, policies, and procedures put in place to curb the activities of individuals and groups using cryptocurrency to launder money.

Antivirus

Antivirus refers to application software designed to shield electronic devices from cyberattacks and malicious software.

Apeing

Apeing refers to situations where a person, without minimal research, purchases a token right after its launch.

API

Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of protocols, routines, tools, and definitions for building and integrating software applications.

Application Layer

Application layer is the seventh layer of the seven-layer Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.

AR Token (Arweave)

AR token is a native token for the Arweave network.

Arbitrage

Arbitrage is a quick trading process that involves buying an asset from a market and selling it in another market to maximize the differences in prices between the two markets.

Aroon Indicator

Aroon indicator is an indicator used in identifying the price trend changes and strengths of an asset.

Ashdraked

If a person is ashdraked, it means they lost all their investment capital because they were shorting Bitcoin.

ASIC

Application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) in cryptocurrency refers to a device designed and developed solely for crypto mining.

ASIC-Resistant

If a cryptocurrency is ASIC-resistant, it means that it has zero to minimal susceptibility to mining attempts by ASIC miners.

Ask Price

Ask price, sometimes known as offer price or asking price, is the lowest price a seller will sell their asset.

Asset-Backed Tokens

Asset-backed tokens are a class of digital tokens founded on and backed by a physical asset.

Assets Under Management (AUM)

AUM is a measure of the total market value of all the funds an entity manages for its client(s).

Astroturfing

Astroturfing is a deceptive marketing campaign strategy where marketers deliberately disguise their campaign messages as genuine contributions from members of a given community.

Asynchronous

Asynchronous simply means that given events or activities are not occurring at the same time.

Atomic Swap

Atomic swap refers to cryptocurrency exchange between two parties without any third-party involvement.

AtomicDEX

AtomicDEX is an application built on Komodo DeFi Engine, offering a DEX and a multi-coin wallet in one application available for multiple platforms.

Attestation Ledger

Attestation ledger is an account book or register developed to provide account/evidence of individual transactions.

Auction

Auctions are public sales events that offer an asset to the highest bidder.

Audit

An audit is a thorough examination of the ecosystem and algorithms of a smart contract by developers to ascertain its strength.

Augmented Reality (AR)

AR is an interactive and immersive experience where objects in the real physical world are enhanced by computer-generated elements using various sensory modalities, including sight, sound, smell, and touch.

Authentication

Authentication is the confirmation of a user’s identity using various types of ownership proofs such as fingerprints, passwords, email codes, and SMS codes before granting the user access to specific information.

Automated Market Maker (AMM)

AMM is a DEX protocol that allows users to trade digital assets automatically and directly without the need for traditional market-making techniques and centralized exchanges.

Autonomous Economic Agent (AEA)

An intelligent software solution by Fetch.ai and IOTA foundation with a set of rules that allows it to operate without input from the owner.

Average Directional Index (ADX)

ADX is a technical indicator that analyzes a market’s price moving average to measure the strength of the market trend. Values range from 1 to 100; the higher the value, the stronger the trend.

Bag

In the crypto sphere, a bag refers to a large number of a given cryptocurrency. It is sometimes a reference to the collection of cryptocurrencies in a person’s portfolio.

Bagholder

A crypto slang for an investor or shareholder who, irrespective of performance, continues to hold large amounts of a given cryptocurrency.

Bakers (Tezos Bakers)

Bakers are the recipients of rewards accorded for each new block that is baked in the Tezos blockchain network.

Baking (Tezos Baking)

Tezos baking is a technique used by the Tezos blockchain network to attach and validate new transactions on the network.

Bandwidth

Bandwidth is the maximum quantity of data capacity available to facilitate transactions on a network.

Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

BIS is an international financial institution owned and controlled by central banks to sustain monetary stability worldwide.

Banking as a Service (BaaS)

BaaS refers to banking service provisions that allow third parties to create new disintermediated services using the bank’s API.

Banking Secrecy Act (BSA)

A US act implemented in 1970 to stop money laundering.

Basket

A basket refers to a curated collection of digital assets rolled into one digital asset to allow for easy management.

Batch Auctions

Batch auction is a trading method that allows the grouping of individual orders into a batch, which are then executed all at once.

Beacon Chain

A PoS blockchain designed to coordinate shard chains, manage a registry of validators, and staking of a PoS coin or token in the new Ethereum 2.0 network.

Bear (Bearish)

A bear or bearish person is an individual who acts or trades with the mindset that prices of a specific market will fall over a given time.

Bear Market (Bearish Market)

A bear market or bearish market occurs when a market loses more than 20% of its value within a given period, leading to low investor confidence and pessimism.

Bear Trap

A bear trap occurs when a group of traders orchestrates an activity that makes it appear like a given cryptocurrency is recovering from a bearish market, thus attracting unsuspecting investors.

Bearwhale

A bearwhale is a crypto trader who owns a significantly large amount of a cryptocurrency and uses their portfolio to influence a bear market by dumping or selling off large amounts.

Benchmark

Benchmarks are metrics used to assess the comparative performance of an asset or portfolio against another asset or portfolio with similar properties.

Benchmark Index

A benchmark index refers to an index security that serves as a benchmark for measuring or tracking the progress of a market.

BEP-2 (Binance Evolution Proposal 2)

A technical standard for creating, issuing, managing, and using tokens on the Binance Chain.

BEP-20

A Binance Smart Chain token standard that serves to extend ERC-20.

BEP-721

A token standard created by Binance for Binance Smart Chain to enable the creation of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It extends Ethereum’s ERC-721.

BEP-95

A Bruno hard fork release that allows for faster, real-time burning of BNB tokens.

Beta (Release)

A software development stage where developers release a beta version of their software to third-party software testers and a group of users to test the performance of the software when in real use.

Bid Price

A bid price refers to the amount of money a person is willing to pay for an asset, security, stock, commodity, or contract in a market.

Bid-Ask Spread

The difference between the asking price and the bid price.

Big Tech

Big tech refers to the largest and most dominant tech companies in various tech sectors. Big techs include Microsoft, Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon.

Binance Labs

A Binance project structured to identify, invest, and empower blockchain entrepreneurs, communities, and startups that have projects that boost the blockchain ecosystem.

Binance Launchpad

A binance project that offers cryptocurrency startups an avenue for raising capital and reaching millions of cryptocurrency investors with their marketing campaigns.

Binary Code

A two-symbol system that represents all forms of data using 0 and 1.

Bit

The basic unit of information in computing expressed as either 1 or 0.

Bitcoin ATM (BTM, Bitcoin Teller Machine)

A BTM refers to any cashpoint or ATM that allows the buying and selling of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Dominance (BTCD)

BTCD is a metric indicator for the total crypto market share owned/dominated by Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP)

A formal document proposing changes to the Bitcoin infrastructure.

Bitcoin Misery Index (BMI)

A measurement of Bitcoin’s price action that uses a range of 0-100 to indicate trading opportunities for investors.

Bitcoin Pizza Day

Bitcoin Pizza Day (May 22) marks the first known record of using Bitcoin to purchase a physical good. On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecz used 10,000 Bitcoins to buy two pizzas at a Papa John’s outlet.

Bitcoiner

An individual who mines or uses Bitcoin.

Bitcointalk

An online Bitcoin forum founded in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. It is now a forum for Bitcoin, blockchain, and cryptocurrency-related information.

BitLicense

A license issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services to businesses wishing to conduct virtual currency activities in New York.

BitPay

A Bitcoin payment service provider.

Bits

A commonly used unit, or subdivision, of a single Bitcoin.

A common unit for describing a sub-unit of a Bitcoin—1,000,000 equals 1 BTC.

Bitstream

Bitstream refers to configuration data loaded on a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)

Black Hat Hacker

A hacker who specializes in using malware to attack computer networks to steal data or compromise the network.

Black Swan Event

Black swan event refers to a situation where an unexpected event with a substantial effect occurs.

Blake-256

Blake-256 is the cryptographic hashing algorithm utilized in Decred.

Block

A block is a sub-unit of a blockchain network containing information about a specific transaction completed within a specific period.

Block Explorer (Blockchain Browser)

A blockchain browser or block explorer is an application that enables users to view the information in a block.

Block Header

A block header is information used to identify individual blocks in the blockchain ecosystem. It is hashed continually to generate proof-of-work for reward mining.

Block Height

A block height is a value that describes the number of blocks before a specific block in a blockchain network.

Block Producer

A block producer is an entity on a proof-of-stake blockchain charged with using its hardware to create, process, and verify a block’s transactions before starting the next block.

Block Reward

A block reward refers to tokens or coins a miner or a group of miners gets for providing solutions to the cryptographic problem needed for creating new blocks on a blockchain network.

Block Size

Block size is the maximum amount of transaction data a block can handle.

Block Time

The time it takes to produce a new block in a blockchain network.

Block Trade

Block trade is a large-scale purchase or sale of securities that occur outside of an open market. It uses blockhouse as a financial intermediary to aid investors with risk management.

Blockchain

A decentralized, immutable, public ledger system and database containing a sequence of blocks—digital information carriers. It is the basic foundation for facilitating and storing information on cryptocurrency transactions.

Blockchain 1.0

The first generation of blockchain technology aimed at improving public access and transparency in financial systems.

Blockchain 2.0

An extension to blockchain 1.0, aimed at decentralizing market operations via smart contracts.

Blockchain 3.0

An extension to blockchain 2.0, aimed at pushing institutional, enterprise, and global adoption of blockchain technology.

Blockchain 4.0

An extension to blockchain 3.0, aimed at offering Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) to further push fluid mainstream adoption of blockchain technology in business and organizational environments.

Blockchain Explorer

A search engine that allows users to access and view blockchain records.

Blockchain Transmission Protocol (BTP)

BTP is a protocol that allows completely isolated blockchain networks to be fully decentralized and interoperable with the broader blockchain ecosystem.

Blockchain Trilemma

A notion that blockchain networks can only provide two of three benefits at a time. The benefits subject to blockchain trilemma are security, decentralization, and scalability.

Blockchain-Enabled Smart Locks

Blockchain-enabled smart locks use blockchain technology to solve security issues and improve the security measures of a smart contract.

Bollinger Band

A technical tool developed by John Bollinger now used for measuring price trends and market volatility.

Bonding Curve

A mathematical curve that highlights the connection between the supply and price of a given asset.

Bots

Bots (robots) are software automated to execute tasks (such as crypto buying and selling) based on pre-defined instructions.

Bounty

In the crypto space, a bounty refers to the reward a user gets for completing tasks assigned by a crypto project.

Brave Browser

A free, privacy-focused, open-source web browser.

Breakout

A sharp movement of the price of an asset below a support area or above a resistance area.

Bridges

A protocol that allows two different blockchain networks or projects to seamlessly transfer data.

Browser Extension

A browser extension refers to any plugin that appends additional features to a web browser.

Brute Force Attack (BFA)

BFA is a form of automated attack that uses trial-and-error to attempt to crack encryption keys or login information.

Bubble

A bubble refers to notions or situations suggesting that a digital asset is being traded at a value far higher than its intrinsic or real value.

Bug Bounty

A reward a user gets for identifying vulnerabilities in software.

Bug Exploit

An attack that attempts to take advantage of the vulnerabilities in a network, software, or system.

Bull (Bullish Person)

A bull or bullish person is an individual who is confident or optimistic about the potential increase in market prices.

Bull Market

A bull market or bullish market refers to a positive trend that ushers a significant increase in the prices of assets.

Bull Run

A bull run or bull trend refers to a period when the prices of certain digital assets are on a constant rise.

Bull Trap

Bull trap is a seeming reversal of an asset from a downward to upward trend, which then switches back to the downward trend.

Burn/Burned

Burned coins or tokens refer to coins and tokens that have been intentionally removed from circulation.

Buy The (F*******) Dip (BTD/BTFD)

A term used to encourage crypto enthusiasts to buy coins when the prices are low.

Buy Wall

A situation often created by wealthy individuals or groups who place a substantially large buy limit order(s) on a cryptocurrency market.

Byron Phase

The first phase of Cardano released in September 2017.

Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)

BFT is the ability of a computer system to continue operating, irrespective of component failures or effects of malicious factors.

Byzantine Generals’ Problem

A situation that occurs when all members of a group need to reach a consensus on a strategy to avoid system failure, but the inputs of some of the members are unreliable and cannot be trusted.

Byzantium Fork

Byzantium hard fork was a 2017 update to Ethereum’s blockchain consisting of eight Ethereum Improvement Protocols (EIP) aimed at improving the network’s privacy, security, and scalability.

C++

A part of the C family of programming languages with features enabling large systems programming and cross-platform developments and capabilities.

Call Options

Financial contracts that offer option buyers the right, without any obligation, to buy a bond, commodity, stock, or any other asset at a given price.

Candlestick Chart

Candlestick charts show the changes in the price of a security within a given period, using four “candles”—high, low, open, and closing prices.

Capital

Capital refers to the bulk of money a user/investor invests to get profits.

Capital Efficiency

Capital efficiency is a ratio of the amount of money a company or a person spends to grow revenue and the amount of money returning as their profits.

Capital Funds

Capital funds are equity and debt that equity holders and lenders provide to a company for its operations.

Capitulation

Capitulation occurs when a person sells off their cryptocurrency assets at a substantial loss because they do not believe the prices would ever bounce back.

Casascius Coin

A casascius bitcoin is a physical version of bitcoin that is either made of brass, silver, or gold.

Cash

Cash refers to the liquid forms of money, such as physical banknotes and coins.

Casper (Ethereum)

A project that integrates proof-of-stake into the Ethereum network.

CeDeFi (Centralized Decentralization Finance)

CeDeFi is a term referring to a merger of conventional centralized financial services and decentralized applications, blending contemporary financial products and infrastructure with traditional regulatory policies.

Censorship

Censorship is the alteration, suppression, or prohibition of public communication or speech that is considered sensitive or harmful to the general public.

Censorship Resistance

A notion that no person or group has the right to prevent any person’s participation in a specific network or platform.

Central Bank

The national bank responsible for the regulation of banks within a country. Services include issuing currency, formulating monetary policies, and implementing monetary policies.

Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)

CBDCs are the digital currency forms of a country’s fiat currency. They are bound by national government regulations and central bank policies.

Central Ledger

A central ledger is a digital file or a physical book managed and controlled by a single entity (centralized) for recording transactions.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

CPU is the computer component that retrieves, interprets, and executes programs, as well as coordinates the functions of all other computer components.

Centralized

If a network is said to be centralized, that means that the entire network is under the control of a single entity or node.

Centralized Exchange (CEX)

An exchanged managed and controlled in a centralized manner by the company that owns it.

Certificate of Deposit (CD)

A financial product sold by financial institutions allowing customers (bearers/owners) to earn interest rate premiums on their deposits.

Chain Reorganization

A process that allows node operators of a blockchain network to replace old blocks and adopt new blocks to create newer, longer data chains in the blockchain network.

Chain Split

A chain split is a cryptocurrency fork that entails splitting the code of an original coin to create new, independent coins.

Change

Change refers to the number of coins a user (a sender) gets back after using their unspent outputs to initiate a transaction. This scenario is most applicable in cryptocurrency projects that are based on the UTXO model.

Change Address

A change address is a temporary storage for a change before it is sent back to the sender’s wallet.

Chargeback (Reversal)

A chargeback, often applicable to debit or credit cards, is the return of money used to initiate a transaction to the buyer/payer.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME)

One of the largest exchanges in the U.S. that deals in trading options and futures.

Chunk (NEAR)

A chunk refers to a fraction of each block produced during sharding in the NEAR protocol.

Cipher

Any algorithm used in performing decryption or encryption of data.

Ciphertext

A ciphertext is the outcome of using an algorithm to encrypt a plaintext.

Circulating Supply

The approximate number of coins circulating in a market.

Client

In the blockchain space, a client is any software (such as a crypto software wallet) on a local computer that can access and process blockchain transactions.

Close

Close is the closing price of a cryptocurrency coin or stock at the end of a trading day or a given period.

Cloud Server

A cloud server is a virtual, centralized computer server that is hosted and delivered via different data centers across the globe to allow multi-user access to hosted resources.

Cloud Mining

A mechanism that allows users to remotely mine cryptocurrency through cloud computing power rented from a cloud service provider.

Co-Signer

An entity with partial access and control over a crypto wallet.

Code

The process of writing programming statements for a program.

Coin

A coin refers to any cryptocurrency with an independent blockchain. A unit of such cryptocurrency can also be called a coin.

Coin Mixer

A coin mixer is a software company providing services that help users mix their cryptocurrency transactions with other cryptocurrency transactions, with the aim of covering the tracks of their transactions.

Coinbase

Coinbase refers to the number of coins generated from scratch and granted to miners for every new block that is mined.

Coinbase Transaction

Coinbase transaction refers to the first transaction in a new block.

Cold Storage

Cold storage refers to the use of hardware, non-custodial wallets, a paper wallet, offline computers, or USB drives to store cryptocurrency offline.

Cold Wallet

Any cryptocurrency wallet designed to be offline.

Collateral

An asset a borrower pledges as security to ensure that they will repay their loan. A borrower forfeits the asset if they are unable to repay their loan.

Collateral Cap

A security mechanism that protects assets from bearing the risks of protocol-wide lending.

Collateral Factor

Collateral factor refers to the maximum amount accessible to a user for borrowing. The value of the collateral factor, often represented by percentages, is usually dependent on the number of assets in supply.

Collateral Tokens

Collateral tokens are tokens designated as collaterals or insurance when borrowing other types of cryptocurrency tokens.

Collateralization

The process of converting an asset into insurance or collateral when securing a loan in another asset.

Collateralized Debt Obligation

CDO is a pool of various assets and loans offered to large investment firms with substantial capital.

Collateralized Debt Position (CDP)

A CDP is a financial holding that occurs when collateral (mainly ETH) is locked in MakerDAO’s smart contract to create a decentralized stablecoin, DAI.

Collateralized Mortgage Obligation (CMO)

A pool of various mortgages merged into a package and made available for investors to purchase.

Collateralized Stablecoin

A stablecoin that is completely or partially backed by collateral.

Commingling of funds

A financial technique that allows the merging of funds from various investors into one investment, to maximize the benefits.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

CFTC is an independent U.S. government agency charged with regulating the U.S. derivatives market.

COMP Token

Compound protocol’s native asset.

Composable DeFi

Composable DeFi is the interoperability of various DeFi protocols in a network to create more financial products and applications.

Composable Token

Composable tokens are ERC-998 token that works as extensions to NFTs (ERC-721). The tokens enable NFTs to compose or own other fungible (ERC-721) and non-fungible tokens.

Concentrated Liquidity

Concentrated liquidity is a financial technique that allows liquidity providers a significantly improved capital efficiency, creating room for providing liquidity to any price range and handling larger volumes—all with significantly lesser capital.

Confirmation

Confirmation is a check on the number of blocks that have been added and approved following the addition of a transaction to the blockchain. A transaction is said to be confirmed when it is added to a block; the blocks that come after the first are each considered a confirmation for the given transaction.

Consensus

A consensus is reached if all the members of a network unanimously reach an agreement on the content and order of a blockchain network’s blocks.

Consensus Mechanism

A mechanism that enables blockchain systems to process and provide a defined state of a single data value or network. This mechanism is a fundamental operating attribute in all cryptocurrencies.

ConsenSys

An Ethereum software technology company providing a wide range of Ethereum applications and infrastructure for developers and enterprises.

Consortium Blockchain

A semi-decentralized blockchain that is privately owned and managed by a consortium—a group of nodes or entities form the private ownership.

Consumer Price Index (CPI)

CPI is an index that tracks and measures the monthly change in the prices of services and goods to gain insights into the consumer trends in a given market segment.

Contract

A contract is a binding and enforceable agreement between two or more parties.

Contract Account

An account with a crypto balance and its associated code.

Contract for Difference (CFD)

A type of contract with a stipulation that a buyer must pay any price difference between an asset’s current value and the value at contract time to the seller.

Coordinator

A client with ledger validation functionality, allowing nodes to verify and validate a copy of a ledger against given transactions.

Core Wallet

A wallet with the ability to contain an entire blockchain and the associated data instead of holding just a block bearing individual transactions.

Corporate Treasury

A department created to manage all of a company’s financial affairs and resources to meet the company’s long- and short-term goals.

Correction

A technique for adjusting an asset’s over-valuation by implementing at least a 10% reduction in price.

CPU Miner

A cryptocurrency mining method whereby an individual or an entity uses a central processing unit (CPU) to mine cryptocurrencies.

Craig Weight

An Australian computer scientist who made a public claim that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym associated with the creator of bitcoin.

Credit Rating

A metric that lending institutions use to determine if an individual is credit-worthy.

Credit Risk

A metric that lending institutions use to determine the possibility of a loss due to a borrower’s inability to repay their loan. It is basically a measure of creditworthiness.

Cross Margin (Spread Margin)

Cross margin is a process where an excess margin on a trader’s position is transferred to their other position (that is losing), with the purpose of boosting the losing position and maintaining a balance of margin requirements on all positions to avoid liquidation.

Cross-Border Trading

Global (cross-border) trading of goods and services with the use of a local currency.

Cross-Chain

A technology enabling interoperability between blockchains that are relatively independent, allowing the communication and exchange of data between the blockchains.

Cross-Chain Communication

A form of communication between two or more blockchain networks, which enables their protocols with the functionality to verify transactions and data without centralized third-party services.

Crowdfunding

A funding method that enables entities (companies, startups, organizations, etc.) to source and collect funds from many people using various funding platforms.

Crowdloan

A process whereby a new project raises funds or seeks support to allow them to become a parachain on the Polkadot or Kusama network.

Crypto Debit Card

A debit card with features that allow its holder to use cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services.

Crypto Invoicing

An invoicing method that allows the creation of an invoice for goods and services, which a buyer is to pay for using cryptocurrencies.

Crypto Loan

A crypto loan is basically a type of loan accessed by using a crypto asset as the security for securing the loan.

Cryptoasset

Cryptoassets refer to all digital assets that use cryptographic methods and technologies to create and maintain a medium of financial exchanges/transactions.

Cryptocurrency

A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that operates in a decentralized system that uses cryptographic technology to record, verify, and secure its transactions/operations.

Cryptocurrency Money Laundering

A method employed by criminals to cover their money laundering tracks. The criminals convert their fiat currency to cryptocurrency and move the money through many digital routes in an attempt to throw financial authorities off their backs.

Cryptocurrency Pairs

Cryptocurrency pairs, also known as trading pairs, refer to two cryptocurrencies that holders can trade for each other on a crypto exchange.

Cryptographic Hash Function

A cryptographic hash function is a mathematical algorithm that uses a variable-size transaction input to generate a fixed-size output known as the hash value.

Cryptography

The practice of securing information, communication, or transactions allowing only authorized parties—mostly a sender and an intended recipient—access to the secured data.

Cryptojacking

A process where an unauthorized party mines cryptocurrency using an unknowing party’s computer.

Cryptology

A field of study that covers cryptography and cryptoanalysis.

CryptoPunks

CryptoPunks refers to a collection of NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain.

Currency

A currency is basically a medium of financial exchange acceptable in a given country, virtual community, or space.

Currency Crisis

A currency crisis occurs when the fiat currency of a country loses value, inducing a state of panic or caution among users and investors. A currency crisis is often marked by investors losing confidence in the country’s assets.

Curve AMO

Curve AMO is a software program that utilizes numerous cryptocurrencies to manage automated market maker (AMM) services that focus on stablecoins.

Custodial Cryptocurrency business

A business that looks after a customer’s crypto funds for as long as the customer employs their services. Such businesses are said to provide custodial services.

Custodian

In crypto, a custodian is an entity that an individual or institution contracts to keep and preserve their crypto assets for a given period for any reason.

Custody

Custody refers to the legal capacity of a financial institution to hold and secure its clients’ financial assets against loss or theft.

Cypherpunk

A group or individual promoting the utilization of cryptography and similar privacy-focused technologies to drive the progress of political and social systems.

Daedalus Wallet

A full-node, open-source, multi-platform wallet for ADA, with a feature that allows users to use a single seed to generate an infinite number of keys.

DAO Summoning

The process of creating a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).

Dark Web

The portion of the world wide web that search engines do not index. They are only accessible via specialized software and configurations.

Darknodes

A decentralized network of computers, which in exchange for rewards, provides their storage space and computing power to help run the Ren virtual machine.

Data Privacy

The aspect of data security and protection responsible for the management of sensitive data.

Data Scraping (Web Scraping)

A technique involving the use of software to extract data from websites, programs, or databases.

Date of Launch

A date set aside by a project for the public release and sales of its tokens.

Day Trading

A person who is involved in day trading buys and sells an asset or assets within a trading day, making their profits from the price changes that occur within the day.

Dead Cat Bounce

A term that describes a situation whereby an asset that has had a low price for a long time makes a momentary recovery in its price.

Dead Coin

A cryptocurrency that has ceased to exist.

Death Cross

A market chart pattern that indicates when the short-term (50-day) moving average drops below the long-term (200-day) moving average.

Decentralization Maximalism

The staunch belief that decentralization is the superior approach to systems management, and there is no need for the existence of other contrary approaches.

Decentralization Ratio (DR)

The ratio of a decentralized collateral value over the entire stablecoin that was backed for the assets.

Decentralized

A decentralized system is a system based on the interconnection of various nodes, each working independently but in harmony with other nodes to achieve the system’s goals. There is no sole authority in such systems.

Decentralized API (dAPI)

A decentralized application programming interface (dAPI) is an API3 protocol providing API services that are compatible with blockchain technology and can fluidly operate with and within the blockchain system.

Decentralized Applications (DApps)

DApps are digital applications that run on decentralized blockchain networks. They are not bound by a single authority; therefore, they are less prone to a single point of failure.

Decentralized Autonomous Initial Coin Offerings (DAICO)

A governance upgrade on ICO fundraising methods which gives the token holders the power to request or vote for refunds if they are not satisfied with the progress of the project.

Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)

DAO is a virtual organization running on a blockchain protocol that is governed by smart contracts and computer programs that allow the automation of decisions and management of cryptocurrency transactions.

Decentralized Currency (Digital Currency)

A decentralized currency refers to means and medium of exchange that are not bound by banks, third parties, or any single authority/entity.

Decentralized Database

A database or storage solution that maximizes the functionalities of decentralized technologies to store information across a network of computers or nodes.

Decentralized Exchange (DEX)

An exchange that allows peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions without third-party interference.

Decentralized Governance

An implementation of the set of procedures and rules governing decentralized blockchain networks and dApps.

Decentralized Identifier (DID)

DID allows the members of a decentralized platform to use its features to create unique, verifiable, digital identity, without going through a centralized registration. A user can create and have as many identifiers as necessary.

Decentralized Marketplace

A blockchain-based marketplace that allows traders the freedom to trade freely without interference from intermediaries.

Decentralized Network

A decentralized network is made up of interconnected but dissimilar elements that interact without needing a centralized power or server.

Decentralized Payment Network

A network where members/users can conduct financial transactions without reliance on third party inputs.

Decentralized Social Media

A social media platform built on blockchain technology

Decentralized Stablecoin

Decentralized stablecoins are non-custodial, fully transparent stablecoins that are not under the control of any entity. They include, DAI token, EOSDT, and DUSD.

Decryption

Decryption refers to the process of using a computer or human intellect to make a crypted or shrouded data readable.

Deep Web

A term that refers to the parts of the world wide web that are not indexed by standard search engines.

DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

A financial systems’ approach that advocates for the democratization of financial services, eliminating the influence of third parties such as banks, brokers, or exchanges.

DeFi Aggregator

A tool or platform that identifies various successful trading strategies from different decentralized exchanges and makes them available for users in one spot.

DeFi Degens (DeFi Degenerates)

A trader or group with a peculiar interest in the pump and dump schemes of joke projects and meme tokens. A DeFi degen prefers to invest in or champion a pump and dump scheme, make a profit, and move on to the next.

Deflation

When the general level of prices of goods and services in a given economy is reduced, then that economy is said to be experiencing deflation.

Delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPOS)

An extension to the preceding concept of PoS, whereby network members have the power to vote and elect specific delegates (also known as block producers or witnesses) to validate the next block.

Delisting

The process whereby a cryptocurrency or asset is removed from a given exchange.

Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attack

Typically, a DoS attack is a malicious attack intended to partially or fully render a network inaccessible to its users within a given period.

Depth Chart

A graph that shows an asset’s buy and sell orders at different prices. It is an indicator of the demand and supply of a given asset at a given point and shows where a market deems a transaction to be more acceptable.

Derivative

A secondary financial instrument such as an asset or security, which derives its value solely from the value of an underlying security or asset.

Derivatives Market

A public market designated for trading derivatives—mostly futures and options.

Desktop Wallet

Software wallets that are typically installed on a laptop computer or desktop for managing some features of a user’s crypto account.

Deterministic Wallet

A crypto wallet in which keys are created or derived from a single seed regarded as the master key.

DEX Aggregator

A service provision or platform that pools beneficial financial strategies from numerous financial platforms and tools into a single platform where members can enjoy the trading benefits in one place.

Dharma Protocol

An open-source, DeFi application used for creating debt markets and trading debts or lending products on the Ethereum blockchain.

Diamond Hands

A social media term for people with a high-risk tolerance. People with diamond hands would hold on to the content of their portfolio even if the value is experiencing more than a 20% drop.

Difficulty

A measure indicating how hard it could be for a new block to be validated.

Digital Technology

Electronic tools with the capability to create, store, retrieve, or process data.

Digital Art

A term for art works made with the use of digital technology.

Digital Asset

Anything with value that is generated, stored, and used digitally. To be regarded as a digital asset, the asset must be discoverable and have established ownership.

Digital Asset Custodian

A custodian responsible for securing digital assets against loss or theft for a client.

Digital Asset Ecosystem

An umbrella term for platforms or spaces that integrate all that exists within the cryptocurrency universe, including stablecoins, tokens, NFTs, futures, and other crypto-based goods and services.

Digital Barter Economy

A virtual economy that facilitates effortless global trading of physical and digital assets.

Digital Commodity

A commodity with digital existence or representation.

Digital Currency

A currency that exclusively exists in digital form.

Digital Dollar

A digital variation of the U.S. dollars provided by the U.S. central bank.

Digital Identity

An online identity claimed by an organization, a person, or a digital device as their identity in a network or cyberspace.

Digital Signature

A cryptographic method used in verifying the integrity and genuineness of digital data.

Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA)

A signature algorithm that generates digital signatures using public-key cryptography.

Dildo

The candle-like, vertical green or red lines seen on cryptocurrency market graphs indicating the range of price points for an asset within a given period.

Dip

A situation whereby a cryptocurrency market experiences a momentary or prolonged decline in price.

Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)

A tool gradually in use in cryptocurrencies for structuring or modeling data. DAG is being considered as a data structure alternative to blockchain.

Discord

An internet platform with multiple communication channels and associated subchannels, including a crypto channel, where enthusiasts can network and discuss their topics of interest.

Distributed Consensus

A consensus reached among nodes in a distributed system or network.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack

An attack whereby a malicious individual or entity floods a network with traffic in an attempt to interrupt the network’s operations.

Distributed Ledger

A database, which unlike a traditional database, has no centralized data store, nor is it under the control of a single authority. In a distributed ledger, a network of decentralized nodes across the globe process data, store data, and reach consensus on the approach to database management.

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)

The technology facilitating the decentralized distribution and storage of data in distributed ledgers, such as blockchain.

Distributed Network

A network with its data and applications being run by numerous participants from numerous locations.

Diversification

An investment strategy that attempts to minimize risks by merging multiple investments within a portfolio.

Documentation

A record of all of an asset’s details on the blockchain.

Dolphin

A term for investors with a significant holding of crypto assets. A dolphin is a step above a fish/octopus but not high enough to be a whale.

Dominance (Bitcoin Dominance)

A metric indicator for the total crypto market share owned/dominated by Bitcoin.

Dorian Nakamoto

A Japanese-American physicist believed to be the individual behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto.

DotSama

An umbrella term for the Polkadot and Kusama ecosystems.

Double Spend Attack

A modification on the blockchain which could allow the modifier to reclaim spent crypto coins and spend them again.

Double Spending

The risk of being able to spend a cryptocurrency twice.

Drawdown

A maximum decline in a fund or investment from its peak value over a period.

Dual-Token Economy/Model (Two-Token Economy)

A two-token economy refers to cryptocurrency projects with two tokens; one token for enabling transactions within the network and the other as security for raising funds for the project.

Dump

A dump occurs when the price of a coin experiences a swift drop due to numerous large sell-offs.

Dumping

Dumping occurs when there is a mass sell-off of a cryptocurrency by the holders in a short period due to the influence of a disturbing factor.

Dust Transactions

A transaction whereby the transaction fee is more than the value of the Bitcoin amount in a given wallet.

Dusting Attack

A dusting attack is a type of attack that aims to reveal a wallet owner’s identity for phishing scams or other malicious activity.

DYCO (Dynamic Coin Offering)

A crowdfunding model created by DAO Maker, which uses USD-backed utility tokens to ensure the accountability of project developers.

DYOR (Do Your Own Research)

A prompt for investors to do their own research before investing in a project.

E-Signature (Electronic Signature)

An e-signature is the digital form of a traditional, physical signature used in authorizing or signing contracts or documents in cyberspaces.

Economic Utility

The total satisfaction an individual derives from the utilization or consumption of a specific good or service.

Edge Node

A computer serving as an end-user portal for interconnecting with other nodes in a network.

Effective Proof-of-Stake (Harmony’s EPoS)

A PoS mechanism developed by Harmony for the purpose of decentralization and security.

Electrum Wallet

An anti-third-party, open-source Bitcoin wallet built for use on Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. It offers users a simplified validation capability, as well as complete control over fees.

ELI5 (Explain Like I’m Five)

An acronym used in requesting a simplified approach when explaining cryptocurrency concepts.

Elliott Wave Theory

A financial analysis tool applicable in crypto and stock markets for surfacing recurring long-term price trends.

EMA (Exponential Moving Average)

A financial analysis indicator that highlights recent changes in data points and the price of a crypto asset without losing the preceding marketing observations.

Email Spoofing

A spam and phishing technique used in tricking intended email recipients into thinking that an email came from an individual or entity they know or can trust.

Emission

The rate at which new cryptocurrencies are created and released.

Encryption

The process of transforming data or information into a code to shield it from unauthorized access.

Enterprise Blockchain

An enterprise blockchain is a distributed ledger tailored to suit the needs and goals of a given enterprise.

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA)

A global community of blockchain actors (businesses, developers, leaders, and innovators) collaborating to develop Ethereum-based solutions for global benefits.

Epoch

In machine learning, epoch refers to a single entry of a training dataset through an algorithm.

Equity

The amount of funds refundable to a company’s shareholders if the company liquidates and pays off all its debts.

Erasure Coding

A data protection strategy whereby data is fragmented, expanded, and encoded with pieces of redundant data and then stored across multiple locations.

ERC-1155

A token standard designed for the Ethereum network, to ensure efficiency and security in the creation and transfer of fungible and non-fungible tokens.

ERC-20

A mechanism designed to facilitate and implement smart contracts on the Ethereum network exclusively. ERC-20 tokens are tokens that can only be used on Ethereum platforms.

ERC-223

An Ethereum token standard that is a superset of ERC-20. It is powered by smart contracts to enable the secure transfer of tokens in one step.

ERC-721

An Ethereum-based token standard designed for non-fungible Ethereum tokens.

ERC-777

An Ethereum-based token standard designed for tradable, fungible tokens that are backward compatible with existing DEX.

ERC-827

An Ethereum-based token standard designed as an extension to ERC-20, aimed at improving the efficiency of approvals and calls in transfers.

ERC-884

An Ethereum-based token standard that allows the production of tradable ERC-20 tokens that are symbolic of a numberless share (also known as vanilla), which a Delaware corporation issues.

ERC-948

An Ethereum-based token protocol designed to facilitate a connection between subscription businesses and customers. The protocol enables a free flow of subscription-based transactions.

Escrow

A financial arrangement in which a third party holds the assets or funds until a seller and buyer complete their deal.

Esports (Electronic Sports)

An umbrella term for digital gaming competitions where a player or a team of players engage in competitive gaming events for a reward.

Ethash

A PoW mining algorithm facilitated and implemented by Ethereum-based cryptocurrencies and the Ethereum blockchain.

Ether

Ether is the primary cryptocurrency that runs on top of the Ethereum blockchain. It facilitates payments and other transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.

Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)

Any of the various documents used in defining standards—such as contract standards, core protocol specifications, and APIs—for the Ethereum community.

Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC)

Technical standards for networks that developers use for the introduction of innovative improvements to the Ethereum blockchain.

Ethereum Transaction

Any action initiated by an individual on the Ethereum network for the transfer of an Ethereum-based asset from one address to another.

Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)

A virtual software machine with computation abilities that allows users the capabilities to execute codes flawlessly and create DApps on Ethereum.

Event Triggers

An event trigger is an output of smart contracts during mining transactions, whereby a smart contract creates an instruction for the blockchain frontend to process and execute after a given transaction. Basically, it is a set of instructions to initiate a planned event.

Exchange

An exchange or crypto exchange is a business that provides a platform for users to trade cryptocurrencies.

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)

Exchange traded fund refers to a basket of securities containing and tracking various investments such as bonds, stocks, and cryptocurrencies. All contents can also be traded as one asset.

Exit Scam

In an exit scam, a cryptocurrency project pulls out all funds from the market and shuts down, after amassing funds from unsuspecting investors.

Falling Knife

A sharp drop in the price of an asset, often an indication of a downtrend in the market.

Falling Wedge

A falling or descending wedge pattern is a bullish chart pattern that forms a discernable downward slope and bullish bias. It is an indicator that a falling price is beginning to lose momentum.

Fan Token

A token a sports team issues to shareholders, which allows the holders to earn rewards and participate in some team governance process.

FATF Travel Rule (Financial Action Task Force Travel Rule)

A rule requiring that virtual asset service providers (VASPs) share personally identifiable information for transactions exceeding a certain threshold.

Faucet

A web- or app-based cryptocurrency reward system that rewards participants for completing a given task.

Fee Tiers

A structure that categorizes investors and fixes the amount an investor pays for conducting various transactions in an exchange.

Fiat (Fiat Currency)

A currency that is issued and backed by a central government.

Fiat On-Ramp

A service that allows and facilitates the exchange of a fiat currency for a cryptocurrency.

Fiat-Pegged Cryptocurrency

A cryptocurrency coin/asset/token with links (pegged) to a government-issued currency.

Fibonacci Retracement Level

A Fibonacci retracement level is a technical indicator comprising horizontal lines that use a set of key numbers known as Fibonacci ratios to denote a cryptocurrency’s level of support and resistance.

Field Programmable Gate Array

An integrated circuit that users can reconfigure or reprogram to a required application or function after manufacturing.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF)

FATF is an intergovernmental organization that develops policies for combatting terrorist financing and money laundering.

Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

FinCen is a regulatory bureau in the United States Department of the Treasury responsible for preventing and punishing financial crimes and the perpetrators.

Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC)

FINTRAC is Canada’s national financial intelligence agency.

First In, First Out (FIFO)

FIFO is a valuation and inventory method that suggests that assets that were acquired or produced first should be used, disposed of, or sold first.

First-Mover Advantage (FMA)

The first-mover advantage is the “advantage” created by a company’s innovative product or service as it penetrates the market and builds brand loyalty for the company. Therefore, creating a substantial competitive advantage for the company against its future competitors.

Fish

An individual with a small crypto investment.

Flash Crash

A flash crash refers to a situation where the price or value of an asset falls sharply within a very short period.

Flash Loan

A flash loan refers to a lending transaction in which a debt is obtained and repaid within the same block or transaction in the blockchain.

Flash Loan Attack

A flash loan attack occurs when a malicious individual or entity manipulates a smart contract via a rapid pump-and-dump scheme.

Flash Loans

These are a form of uncollateralized lending that is used in decentralized finance (DeFi).

Flippening

A flippening refers to the possibility of Ethereum’s market cap overtaking that of Bitcoin.

Flipping

Flipping is a buy-and-sell strategy whereby an individual purchases an asset with the aim of reselling it for profit within a short interval.

FOMO

FOMO is an acronym for “Fear of Missing Out,” often used in reference to the fear of missing out on a profitable cryptocurrency investment opportunity.

Fork (Chain Splits)

In blockchain, a fork refers to the branching or divergence of a blockchain to yield two blockchains that continue to run simultaneously.

Fork (Software)

In software development, a fork refers to the development of an entirely new program using a source code gotten from open-source software.

Fractional Stablecoins

A fractional stablecoin is a stablecoin that is backed by cryptographic algorithms and collateral assets.

Fraud Proof

Fraud proof is a security mechanism that improves the capabilities of full nodes in determining invalid chains, irrespective of how many proof-of-work the chains bear. This mechanism is most essential for clients providing Simplified Payment Verification (SPV).

Front Running

Front running is a scenario whereby an investor or trader initiates a transaction based on advance information they had received.

FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt)

FUD is a strategy malicious actors use to spread false or misleading information about the crypto market or specific cryptocurrencies, intending to cause fear, uncertainty, and doubt about the cryptocurrency or the crypto market.

FUDster

An individual or group behind a FUD strategy.

Full Node

A full node is a node with the capability to download the complete history of a blockchain to aid in-depth analysis and policy implementations.

Fully Diluted Value (FDV)

FDV refers to what would be the market capitalization of a cryptocurrency if all its token supplies were in circulation.

Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE)

FHE refers to an encryption scheme whereby a person runs analytical functions on encrypted data and is able to generate results that would have been generated if the analytical functions were run on plaintext.

Fundamental Analysis (FA)

A fundamental analysis is a value investing strategy whereby an investor researches the team, prospects, and technology behind an asset in order to understand the asset’s underlying value.

Funding Payments

Funding payments is a strategy used in reducing discrepancies and gaps between spot market prices and perpetual market prices. These periodic payments occurring between traders help drive the value of a contract towards its underlying asset’s index price.

Fungible

If a coin is said to be fungible, it means that any identical coin can replace it.

Futures

Futures refer to a type of derivative contract agreement to trade a given commodity, security, or asset for a set price on a set date in the future.

Gains

A gain is an increase in the profit, value, or price of an asset.

Game Channels

Game channels are advanced technological extensions to blockchain gaming, allowing DApps and games to operate independently and securely off-chain. Game channels also provide near real-time capabilities.

Game Theory

A game theory is an applied mathematics method that allows researchers to study and model human behavior using simplified interactive environments (referred to as a game).

GameFi (Play-To-Earn or P2E games)

GameFi is a term that collectively refers to “gaming and decentralized finance,” an integration of cryptocurrency applications in gaming to provide financial features that allow gamers to maintain complete authority over their in-game assets and generate revenue.

Gas

Gas is a unit of measurement on the Ethereum blockchain. It defines the sum of the computational effort required to execute transactions or operations on the network.

Gas Limit

The maximum amount of gas a crypto user is willing to spend on a specific transaction on the Ethereum platform.

Gas Price

The maximum price a crypto user is willing to pay for a given transaction on the Ethereum platform.

Gas Station Networks (GSN)

GSN is a decentralized network that allows users to build DApps they could use to pay for their transactions on the Ethereum platform—eliminating the need to hold and use Ether (ETH) to pay for gas.

Gavin Wood

One of the founders of Ethereum and Parity Technologies.

Gems

In cryptocurrency, a gem is a relatively new or unknown coin with a low market capitalization that is undervalued but has a great potential to yield substantial profits in the future.

Genesis Block

Genesis block, also known as block 1 or block 0, is the first block of data a block producer processes and validates to form a new blockchain.

Geotagged NFT

Geotagged NFTs are NFTs that feature a 3D version of the physical art alongside geographic metadata that pinpoints the art’s location. Thus, allowing the buyer to own both the real-world and virtual art.

Geth (‘Go Ethereum’)

Geth refers to a command-line interface that offers developers the capabilities to process full Ethereum nodes, run smart contracts, and mine cryptocurrency. Geth can be installed on any operating system.

GitHub

A very popular platform for code hosting and project collaborations among developers.

Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency

A gold-backed cryptocurrency is a token or coin that is backed by gold. One of such coins could have the same value as a gram of gold.

Golden Cross

A technical indicator that surfaces when the 50-day moving average of a cryptocurrency or asset surpasses its 200-day moving average, indicating a likely bull run or an imminent increase in the price of the cryptocurrency or asset.

Google Authenticator

A Google security software that helps users protect their sensitive data and accounts via two-factor authentication (2FA) service that generates time-based, one-time codes.

Governance

In the cryptocurrency space, governance is the collective term for individuals or entities that are involved in the decision-making processes of a crypto project.

Governance Token

A token that allows network members to vote on a decision that affects the network.

Graphical Processing Unit (GPU)

A computer chip designed for the purpose of creating 3D images but which is equally good for mining cryptocurrencies. It is commonly called a graphics card.

Greater Fool Theory

A theory that suggests that there will always be a “greater fool” that will buy an overvalued asset from a trader or investor.

Green Candle

A technical indicator that shows that an asset’s closing or current price is higher than the opening price. It is also an indicator that the market trend was bullish at the time of record, as opposed to a red candle that shows that the market trend was bearish at the time of record.

Group Mining

A situation where multiple people form a group and mine together.

Gwei

The domination that describes the cost of gas during transactions that involve Ether.

Hacking

The process of using one computer in an unauthorized manner to exploit or manipulate another computer or computer network.

Hal Finney

One of the pioneer programmers and cryptographers involved in Bitcoin’s development with Satoshi Nakamoto.

Halving

The process of halving the total rewards for mining Bitcoin after each batch of 210,000 blocks has been mined. This process helps with the price control of Bitcoin.

Hard Cap

A hard cap is the limit that the developers of a project place on it to indicate the maximum supply of tokens the project can sell.

Hard Fork (Blockchain)

A radical change in a blockchain protocol, which invalidates previously validated transactions and validates previously invalidated transactions.

Hard Fork Combinator

A tool that combines protocols—typically on the Cardano blockchain—after a hard fork to enable the Byron-to-Shelley migration on the network without interruption.

Hard Peg

An exchange rate policy implementation, whereby a fixed exchange rate is established between two currencies.

Hardware Security Module

A type of computing device used for encrypting data and securing digital keys.

Hardware Wallet

A hardware wallet is a plug-in device that serves as a high-security key for users to store their funds offline. You plug it into your computer to access your cryptocurrency portfolio whenever you want.

Hash

A hash is a term that refers to the output of a hash function or hashing algorithm.

Hash Function

A hash function is a mathematical algorithm that maps or transforms a set of data into data with a fixed size.

Hash Power / Hash Rate

A unit of measurement that describes the rate at which a network consumes computing power for its continued operation.

Hashed Timelock Contract (HTLC)

HTLC refers to a type of contract that provides time-based risk reduction features to reduce counterparty risk in agreements between two parties.

Hedge Contract

A hedge contract refers to insurance that investors can use to hedge financial loss risks.

Hidden Cap

A hidden cap occurs when a project team doesn’t provide the limit amount of money they are willing to accept from investors during the initial coin offering. This process prevents large investors from attempting to dominate or manipulate the market, thus providing a fair chance for smaller investors to put in their money.

Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet (HD Wallet)

HD wallets are wallets that use the hierarchical deterministic protocol to implement the creation of cryptocurrency wallets from a master seed with the use of 12 mnemonic phrases.

HODL

An aberration of the word “hold”. HODL is a crypto investment concept that suggests one holds on to their investment for a prolonged period, irrespective of market price and trend changes.

Hostage Byte Attack

A hostage byte attack, also known as a ransomware attack, is a form of distributed DDoS attack against a user who unknowingly stored their data on a malicious network and is told they can only retrieve their data after paying a ransom.

Hosted Wallet

A hosted wallet is a wallet under the management of a third-party service.

Hot Storage

Hot storage is the storage of private keys online—as opposed to cold storage.

Hot Wallet

An online crypto wallet that is used for hot storage.

Howey Test

A test that the U.S. Supreme Court created for determining whether or not certain transactions or assets could be considered as security.

Huobi BTC (HBTC)

An ERC-20 token that was launched by Huobi. It is pegged on a 1:1 ratio to Bitcoin.

Hybrid PoW/PoS

A hybrid PoW/PoS combines the primary features of proof-of-work and proof-of-stake to create a consensus distribution algorithm on a given network.

Hyperinflation

Hyperinflation occurs when the rate of inflation exceeds 50%, marking an excessive, unrestricted increase in the general prices of goods and services as demand surpasses supply in a given economy.

Hyperledger (Hyperledger Foundation)

A project launched in 2015 by the Linux Foundation, comprising a set of open-source blockchains and blockchain tools, to improve collaborations on the development of distributed ledgers.

Immutable

If blockchain technology is immutable, it means that it cannot be modified or changed over a given time.

Impermanent Loss

Impermanent loss occurs when you experience a momentary loss of funds in a liquidity pool due to volatility in a trading pair.

In-the-Money / Out-of-the-Money (ITM/OTM)

Mechanisms in options trading which indicate the position of the strike price against the market value of an underlying stock.

Infinite Approval

The practice of granting a platform unlimited access to the tokens in your wallet by pre-approving smart contracts.

Infinite Mint Attack

An attack that occurs when a hacker or an unauthorized entity breaches a protocol to mint an infinite number of tokens.

Inflation

An overall increase in price or cost of living in an economy marked by a decrease in purchasing power of money.

Initial Bounty Offering (IBO)

Initial bounty offering is a form of project launch that allows people to earn the project’s token by investing their time and skills on a given platform. IBO is unlike an ICO (initial coin offering), where people pay to earn a project’s token.

Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

ICO is a crypto crowdfunding solution where new projects seeking to raise capital offer tokens in exchange for funds from investors.

Initial DEX Offering (IDO)

In the initial DEX offering, the project team lists their token on the exchange during launch. This practice is unlike ICO, whereby the project team sells their tokens prior to exchange listing.

Initial Exchange Offering (IEO)

IEO is a crypto crowdfunding solution whereby a project sources funds by listing on an exchange. The difference with ICO is that ICOs are first launched on the project’s website.

Initial Farm Offering (IFO)

IFO is a crypto crowdfunding solution where DeFi projects are able to raise funds on decentralized exchanges using the provided farming features.

Initial Game Offering (IGO)

IGO is a crypto crowdfunding solution that allows individuals to invest in promising gaming projects at an early stage.

Initial NFT Offering (INO)

INO is a crypto crowdfunding solution that offers projects an opportunity to use a launchpad to raise funds by offering a set of NFTs to the public.

Initial Public Offering (IPO)

IPO is a process whereby a company makes its shares available to the public for the first time via the stock market.

Initial Stake Pool Offering (ISPO)

ISPO is a Cardano-exclusive crowdfunding solution that promises a better provision of decentralized, equitable, inclusive, and secure features for the participants.

Initial Token Offering (ITO)

ITOs are also referred to as ICOs. However, ITOs tend to offer tokens that have intrinsic applications in a given network.

Input-Output Hong Kong (IOHK)

A blockchain technology designed to provide blockchain and cryptocurrency infrastructure for engineering and research institutions, companies, and government agencies.

Insider Trading

A largely illegal practice that involves trading the stocks of a public company based on nonpublic, material information the trader learned about the stock.

Instamine

Instamine is a term that describes the distribution of a large portion of a crypto coin within a short period after launch, as opposed to the traditional mining and distribution of coins over time.

Instant Settlement Network Layer

A network solution that provides users with the capability to exchange or trade digital assets from any part of the world with real-time settlements.

Institutional Investor

A nonbank organization or person trading large securities on behalf of their clients, who are typically other organizations or companies.

Insurance Fund

An insurance fund is an insurance solution that protects traders from unexpected losses that may arise from leveraged trading.

Integrated Development Environment (IDE)

IDE is an app development software that equips users with the capability to merge multiple development tools into one single graphical user interface to streamline app development.

Intellectual Property (IP)

Intellectual property is a collective term for any property that an individual or organization can legally protect from being sold, copied, or replicated. Examples of intellectual property include but are not limited to songs, software, design patents, utility patents, and books.

Interest Rates

An interest rate is an amount a lender charges a borrower, over time, in proportion to the amount of money borrowed—the capital.

Intermediary/Middleman

An intermediary is a person or entity who acts as a link between two or more parties to facilitate and implement the terms of their agreement.

Internal Transaction

Internal transactions are simply transactions conveyed from an externally owned account (EOA) to a smart contract, resulting in the transfer of Ether.

Internet Layer

The layer of the TCP/IP model, which facilitates network packets’ transportation.

Internet Memes

A meme is a usually humorous video, image, or text, which internet users rapidly copy and spread across the internet.

Internet of Things (IoT)

A network of interconnected devices equipped with internet capabilities via sensors and software, allowing the real-time exchange of data among the devices in the network via the internet.

Internet Service Provider (ISP)

An ISP is a company that provides internet access to end-users, whether organizations or individuals.

Interoperability

In blockchain systems, interoperability refers to networks’ ability to share and access data across multiple blockchains.

InterPlanetary File System (IPFS)

InterPlanetary File System is a P2P network and protocol for sharing and storing data in distributed file systems. Each file is identified using content-addressing.

Intrinsic Value

The real worth of an asset determined by an assessment of its properties as a utility instead of its current price.

Invest

To invest means to put money into a property or financial scheme with the hopes of gaining profit.

Investment Vehicles

Investment vehicle is a collective term for products investors invest in with hopes of gaining positive returns. Investment vehicles include but are not limited to stocks, futures, options, and bonds.

IOU

An IOU (I Owe You) is a document indicating that an individual or entity owes a debt to the other.

IP Address (Internet Protocol Address)

A numeric address that provides a unique identifier for devices on a network.

Isolated Margin

The isolated margin mode is a trading mode that allocates margin balance to individual positions, allowing traders to manage risks by adjusting margin balance allocation on each individual position.

Jager

A Jager is the smallest unit of Binance Coin (BNB).

Java

A class-based, general purpose, object-oriented computer programming language with the ability to create programs that can operate on any computer system.

JavaScript (JS)

A lightweight scripting language, mainly used for web applications.

JOMO

JOMO is an acronym for “Joy of Missing Out,” the opposite of FOMO.

Keylogger

Keylogger, also known as keystroke logging or keyboard capturing, is the use of a spying tool to record the key strokers a user makes on a computer. It is a method often used by hackers to collect sensitive information.

Kimchi Premium

Kimchi premium refers to the difference between the value of cryptocurrencies in South Korean exchanges and the exchanges outside the country. Cryptocurrency values are usually higher in South Korean exchanges.

Klinger Oscillator

A financial indicator and tool that merges the movement of prices with volume to predict long-term price trends and trend reversals.

Know Your Customer (KYC)

An anti-money laundering (AML) policy necessitating the verification of users on trading platforms by the platform owners.

Lachesis

The Fantom blockchain’s consensus algorithm.

Large Cap

A crypto project or organization is said to have a large cap if it has over $10 billion market capitalization.

Laser Eyes

A viral meme trend used by crypto holders to indicate that they are bullish on Bitcoin, with hopes that the value reaches $100,000 per Bitcoin. Basically, an individual uses a laser eyes meme as their profile picture on social media, especially on Twitter, with the hashtag #LaserRayUntil100.

Law of Accelerating Returns

A theoretical hypothesis by Kurzweil, which suggests that technologies have the tendencies to improve on their existing state to advance far beyond the advancement rate that could be predicted by examining their current state.

Layer 0

A part of blockchain’s underlying framework bearing the foundational components such as hardware, miners, protocols, and other basics needed to run the blockchain ecosystem.

Layer 2

Layer 2 is the term for the secondary solution or framework built atop an existing blockchain ecosystem to boost the scalability, security, and speed of cryptocurrency networks.

Layer-1 Blockchain

A group of solutions designed to enhance the structure of the base protocol.

Ledger

A series of blocks that stores the details of transactions on a network. The addition of newer transaction details is the only form of modification a ledger allows.

Leverage

Leverage is a form of capital a brokerage lends a trader to enable the trader to access investments their capital would not have ordinarily secured.

Leveraged Tokens

Any form of token that gives an investor or trader a leveraged position in crypto trading.

libp2p

A type of network framework used in creating decentralized peer-to-peer networks and applications.

Light Node (Light Client)

A light node, also known as a light client, is a node—usually a wallet—that partially bears parts of blockchain information and connects with the full nodes to complete blockchain operations.

Lightning Network

The lightning network is a second layer framework attached to Bitcoin’s blockchain to allow faster off-chain Bitcoin transactions through multiple payment channels.

Limit Order

An order preset to trade an asset at a given price (often at a value better than the current price). A limit order could be in the form of limit buy (a preset price limit to buy at a lower price) or limit sell (a preset price limit to sell at a higher price).

LINK (Chainlink)

An Ethereum-based token used in paying the operators of the Chainlink node.

Liquid Market

A platform comprising numerous sellers and buyers, allowing cheaper and effortless trading.

Liquid Staking (Fantom)

A Fantom blockhain’s staking tool that allows users to stake their tokens for a longer time.

Liquidation

In cryptocurrency, liquidation occurs when a user converts all or some of their cryptocurrencies for fiat currency.

Liquidity

Liquidity refers to the ease of trading or converting cryptocurrencies without any significance to their price.

Liquidity Bootstrapping Pool (LBP)

LBP is a type of contract designed to enable projects with low capital investment launch by securing and managing the core pool containing the tokens that would be used on the exchange.

Liquidity Mining

A mining process in decentralized finance (DeFi) networks and applications whereby the participants supply liquidity to a DeFi application in exchange for rewards.

Liquidity Pool

A liquidity pool is a crowdsourced pool of cryptocurrencies that have been locked in a smart contract to help facilitate transactions between trading pairs on a decentralized exchange.

Liquidity Provider

A liquidity provider is a member of a decentralized exchange who uses their tokens to fund a liquidity pool.

Liquidity Provider Tokens (LP Tokens)

A type of token that decentralized exchanges running on the automated market maker (AMM) protocol issue liquidity providers.

Liveness

The “liveness” of a blockchain network or system refers to a guarantee that the network or system is not bound to the influence or pressure of a centralized authority and that it would always provide data.

Location Swap

Location swap is a mechanism that allows traders to change the claims on a token without affecting its other attributes.

Long (Long Position)

Long, or long position, occurs when a person buys a cryptocurrency or any other financial instrument with hopes that the value would increase later and then sell it at a higher price.

Lovelace

The term for ADA’s smallest denomination.

Mainnet

A mainnet is a blockchain network that is fully developed and deployed with its own protocol and technology.

Mainnet Swap

A mainnet swap occurs when a cryptocurrency project is switched from a blockchain network (usually a third party) to another blockchain network (usually its own native blockchain).

Maker Protocol (MakerDAO)

The Maker Protocol or Multi-Collateral DAI (MCD) offers features that allow its users to earn DAI when they leverage collateral assets that have been approved by the Maker Governance.

Malware

Malware is a malicious program used by hackers or unauthorized users to compromise and illegally access a computer, server, or network.

Man-in-the-Middle Attack (MITM)

MITM is a form of cyberattack involving a perpetrator who secretly positions themself between two interacting parties to pick up information they could use to initiate an action.

Margin Call

A margin call occurs when the value of an investor’s account drops below the required margin maintenance amount.

Margin Trading

Margin trading occurs when a trader trades cryptocurrency using funds they borrowed from a broker.

Market

Any platform used for trading.

Market Balances

The outstanding number of coins or tokens remaining after a trade has been completed on a decentralized exchange.

Market Capitalization/Market Cap/MCAP

The total value of a given cryptocurrency.

Market Maker, Market Taker

A market maker is a trader who creates a buy or sell order, while a market taker is a trader who accepts a buy or sell order.

Market Order/Market Buy/Market Sell

A market order refers to the instant trading (buy or sell) of a cryptocurrency at the best price available at the given time.

Market Signal

A market signal is a pointer or suggestion to trade a given cryptocurrency at a specified time and price to earn profit.

Marlowe

A simple, domain-specific programming language developed by Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK) for developing and deploying smart contracts for financial products on the blockchain.

Masternode

A masternode is a full node with additional functionalities such as governance capabilities and anonymization. They do not add new blocks to the blockchain, but they verify new blocks.

Max Supply

An estimation of the maximum number of coins a cryptocurrency will ever have in its lifetime.

Medium of Exchange

An intermediary instrument used in facilitating transactions between parties.

Megahashes Per Second (MH/s)

A unit of measurement that is equivalent to one million hashes per second.

Meme Economy

The meme economy is an internet subculture that adopts a satirical approach to discuss memes using proper financial language or jargon.

Memecoin

Cryptocurrency coins created as and/or backed by a meme or joke. Meme coins often have claims of offering enormous profits to the holders.

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

A legally non-binding document describing the terms of an agreement between two or more parties.

Mempool

A node’s mechanism for collecting and storing all transactions that are waiting to be confirmed by the network.

Mercenary Capital

An opportunistic capital provided by an investor or a group of investors in an attempt to maximize profits for themselves through a platform’s short-term incentive program.

Merkle Tree (Hash Tree)

A hash-based tree structure with every leaf node labeled with a data block’s cryptographic hash, while non-leaf nodes are labeled with the child nodes’ cryptographic hash. These tree structures aid in improved verification of a blockchain’s content.

MetaMask

A software cryptocurrency wallet, available as a browser or app extension, which users can utilize for managing, transacting, and interacting with Ethereum.

Metatransaction

A type of transaction whereby a party signs and implements a transaction on behalf of an original signer.

Metaverse

A virtual reality environment that replicates various aspects of the real world that users can interact with or use as a medium to interact with other users.

Metaverse-as-a-Service (MaaS)

MaaS is an innovative solution service providers offer users who wish to develop and implement their own metaverses or other virtual features such as NFTs and in-game tokenomics.

Metcalfe’s Law

A law that aligns the value of a network to its number of connected users, indicating that the bigger a network’s user base is, the more valuable it is to each user.

Micro Cap

A term designated for cryptocurrency projects with very small market capitalization.

MicroBitcoin (uBTC)

uBTC refers to 0.000001 or one-millionth of a Bitcoin which is equal to 100 satoshi.

Micropayment

A very small transaction carried out online.

Microtransaction

A microtransaction is a business model that enables micropayments in exchange for digital goods and services.

Mid Cap

A term designated for cryptocurrency projects that have a market capitalization that ranges between $1 billion and $10 billion.

MilliBitcoin (mBTC)

A sub-unit of Bitcoin equivalent to 0.001 BTC.

Mimetic Theory

The mimetic theory of desire is a theory that explains human behavior and culture in the context of people’s approach to their personal desires.

Mineable

An attribute of a cryptocurrency to be generated through mining.

Minecraft

An interactive, sandbox video game that allows players to construct, explore, craft, and use resources created from blocks in a 3D environment.

Miner Extractable Value (MEV)

Miner extractable value, also sometimes referred to as maximal extractable value, is a measure of how much profit miners can extract, often at the expense of users, by controlling the transactions in a block they produced.

Miners

Individuals, groups, or systems that contribute to a blockchain via mining.

Minimum Collateralization Ratio (MCR)

MCR is a measure that describes the least collateral amount needed as a pledge against a loan.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

MVP is a term for an early version of a product with features reasonable enough for early customers to use it and provide feedback that could be used to develop the product further.

Mining

Mining is a process in cryptocurrencies using the PoW methodology, whereby new blocks/transactions are found, verified, and added to the blockchain. Additionally, new units of bitcoins and some altcoins can be created through this process.

Mining Algorithm

A set of functions, instructions, algorithms, or rules that make it possible for a computer to generate valid blocks or mine cryptocurrencies.

Mining-as-a-Service (MaaS; Mining Contract)

Mining-as-a-service, also known as cloud mining or mining contract, is a service provision where a miner can rent the online mining capacities of hardware from a cloud service provider.

Mining Difficulty

A measure of the difficulties involved in solving a cryptographic puzzle or finding the right hash needed to find the next block and mine a cryptocurrency or an altcoin. The higher the mining difficulty, the more the network is believed to be secure.

Mining Farm

A location dedicated as a mining pool where a group of miners works together to mine more effectively and efficiently.

Mining Pool

A mining pool is an arrangement between a group of miners to pool their resources and mine together to increase their mining success rate.

Mining Reward

The reward or incentive a miner gets for validating and adding new blocks on the blockchain.

Mining Rig

A heavy-duty computer that miners can use to mine cryptocurrencies.

Minnow

A term for a person with a small investment in crypto. Also known as fish.

Minting

The process of using the proof-of-stake protocol in generating and circulating new coins.

Mnemonic Phrase

A collection of words, usually 12 words, that could be used to restore and access a crypto wallet in the case of a lost or forgotten password.

Mnemonics

A word, list of words, sentence, or even a short poem aimed at helping a person remember a process or thing.

Mobile Wallet

Term for a downloadable crypto wallet that is installed on a mobile device.

Moloch DAO

A type of Ethereum DAO framework used in funding public goods projects designed to add improvements to the Ethereum ecosystem.

Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)

MAS is the central bank of Singapore with the financial regulatory authority over the country’s currency.

Monetary Policy

Any policy designed by a central bank to control the money supply in a given country.

Money

A term used to refer to the most used medium of exchange, usually in the form of a banknote or coins. Money can also be used as a collective term for all the properties, assets, and resource an individual or an entity owns.

Money Flow Index (MFI)

A technical oscillator that uses price and volume data to measure and provide indications on the trading of an asset—showing if the asset is oversold or overbought.

Money Laundering

A process used to hide the origin of money that was obtained illegally, usually transferring the money through legitimate businesses or international banks.

Money Market

Money market basically refers to the trading of short-term loans or funds.

Money Transfer License

Any license a money transmitter must obtain as described via a Money Transmitter Requirement or a similar governmental authority in order to conduct their business.

Money Transmitter

Any entity in the business of facilitating payment or money transfer services.

Moon

A term used to describe a cryptocurrency on a steady upward market trend. Such a cryptocurrency could be said to be heading “to the moon.”

Moore’s Law

A law suggests that computers’ capability and speed will increase biennially as the capacity of microchips to contain more transistors increases.

Motoko Programming Language (DFINITY)

A programming language designed for developing smart contracts that can run on the Internet Computer.

Move-to-Earn

Move-to-earn games/crypto/NFTs are gaming crypto finance (GameFi) projects that reward users for working out or being physically active.

Moving Average (MA) Indicator

A technical indicator used by market analysts to predict or determine the direction of a financial security’s trend.

Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD)

A technical analysis indicator used in determining the association between two moving averages of a financial asset’s price trend.

Mt. Gox

A bitcoin exchange platform handling about 70% of all global BTC transactions until it was hacked and then went defunct in 2014.

Multi-Coin Wallet (Multi-Chain Wallet)

A crypto wallet that allows users to simultaneously hold different crypto assets from different blockchain networks.

Multi-level Marketing (MLM)

Multilevel marketing, also known as network marketing, is a marketing strategy whereby individuals sell goods or services on behalf of a company or invite more participants to the network in exchange for commissions on each recruitment and successful sales they or their recruit make.

Multi-Party Computation (MPC)

A cryptographic protocol used in distributing a computation process across numerous parties to reach a common result while thoroughly maintaining the data privacy of each party.

Multi-Party Computation as-a-Service

A business model whereby MPC service providers provide MPC nodes for rent to clients who need MPC capabilities for their business operations.

Multi-Signature (Multi-Sig)

A tool or mechanism that provides an extra layer of security by requesting more than one signature before authorizing a process or a transaction.

Multisignature Wallet

Any crypto wallet that requires more than one signature to authorize a transaction.

My Story (VeChain)

A blockchain system developed by VeChain and DNV to help businesses share their authentic product story and boost digital assurance.

Negative Volume Index (NVI)

A cumulative technical indicator that shows the impact of low-volume days on price trends.

Network

A collection of nodes actively working on a blockchain at a given time.

Network Latency

Network latency refers to the delays in interactions between computers across a network or networks.

Network-Enhanced Virtual Machine (NEVM)

A computation protocol developed by Syscoin, featuring the security capabilities of the Bitcoin network and the programmability of the Ethereum Virtual Machine.

Newb

Newb, short for newbie, is an informal term for people who are new and inexperienced in a given industry or activity.

Nick Szabo

The person who invented BitGold in 1998.

Nifty Gateway

An NFT platform founded by the Winklevoss twins.

No-Coiner

An individual who does not invest in cryptocurrencies but strongly believes in the certain fall of cryptocurrency.

Node

The most basic unit in the blockchain infrastructure with the capability to store data.

Node.js

A cross-platform, open-source JavaScript runtime environment built on Chrome’s V8 engine and can execute JavaScript code on desktop apps and servers—not just web browsers.

Nominators

There are two main actors in a nominated proof-of-stake (NPoS) blockchain network: the nominator and the validator. The nominator contributes to a given network’s security by nominating (economically backing) validators.

Non-Custodial

An arrangement that involves a user holding their private keys instead of storing them with a third party.

Non-fungible Assets

A term used to indicate that assets provided by a single party, although similar, are not fungible.

Non-Fungible Token (NFT)

Financial assets created similarly to cryptocurrencies. They consist of digital data stored on the blockchain, making each asset unique, immutable, and irreplaceable by similar tokens or items.

Nonce

Nonce (number used once or number once) is a random/semi-random number generated during a mining process, which can only be used once.

Notarization on Blockchain

A fraud-proof procedure that allows a user to create a timestamped artifact that evidences the genuineness of the artifact, which is always verifiable and cannot be altered.

Odysee

A server-less video website created by LBRY for hosting and distributing videos. The platform uses LBRY credits (LBC).

Off-Chain

Off-chain means that a cryptocurrency process is executed outside or partially within the blockchain and is publicly inaccessible.

Off-Chain Governance

An informal blockchain governance system that implements and manages changes to blockchain networks without using blockchain’s primary code.

Off-Chain Transaction

Off-chain transactions are transactions that occur on a cryptocurrency network, but the values are moved outside the blockchain.

Off-Ledger Currency

A currency that is not minted or based on a blockchain or any other distributed ledger but which is acceptable within a given blockchain due to its utility.

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC)

OCC is an independent branch of the United States Department of the Treasury tasked with regulating and supervising all federal savings associations, national banks, and the agencies and branches of foreign banks.

Offline Storage

Storing crypto assets on crypto storage units or systems that do not have an online connection.

Offshore Account

A bank account held with an offshore bank—a bank that operates with an international banking license but is not established in your country of origin or residence.

OHM Fork

OHM fork refers to a process of applying upgrades to the OlympusDAO database.

On-Balance Volume (OBV)

A technical indicator that uses volume flow to predict an asset’s price trend.

On-Chain

On-chain means that a cryptocurrency process is fully executed and recorded on the blockchain and is accessible by members of the blockchain.

On-Chain Governance

A formal blockchain governance protocol with rules encoded to guide the implementation and management of changes on blockchain networks.

On-Ledger Currency

Any currency that is both minted and used for transactions on the blockchain ledger.

One-Cancels-the-Other-Order (OCO)

One-Cancels-the-Other-Order, also One-Cancels-the-Other, describes a situation whereby a pair of crypto orders are placed with the condition that if one order goes through, then the other order will be automatically canceled.

Online Storage

The process of storing crypto on crypto storage units or systems with an online connection.

Ontorand Consensus Engine (Ontology)

The consensus algorithm of the Verifiable Byzantine Fault Tolerance (VBFT) used on the Ontology blockchain.

Open Source

A term that describes the attribute of software to be freely available and open to redistribution and modifications, usually as a public good.

Open/Close

Open or close price indicates the price at which a cryptocurrency opens or closes on a trading day or a given period. Open/Close can also be used to indicate that a part of a software application is extendable

OpenSea

A decentralized peer-to-peer marketplace for trading NFTs.

Opera Mainnet (Fantom)

Opera Mainnet (Fantom) is an open-source framework that gives users the capability to engage in governance and staking processes as a means of participating in the network.

Operating System (OS)

An operating system is a system software loaded into a computer to manage all computer hardware and software resources, as well as to establish an active link between the user and the hardware.

Optimistic Oracle

An optimistic oracle is an oracle developed by UMA, which ensures data accuracy by comparing real-world data with the provided data and declaring the given data as true if it has not been disputed within a given period. It allows users to get answers quickly.

Optimistic Rollup

A layer 2, off-chain scaling solution with parallel alignment to the main Ethereum chain. They are designed to allow smart contracts to scale effortlessly while maximizing the security properties of the Ethereum chain.

Option

An option is a contract that gives buyers the right, without any obligation, to trade an underlying asset at a given strike price.

Options Market

A market designated for the buying and selling of options.

Oracle Manipulation

A technique employed by hackers to manipulate an oracle.

Oracles (Blockchain Oracles)

Blockchain oracles are entities that establish a connection between blockchains and the real world, providing real-world data for the execution of smart contracts.

Order Book

A crypto order book is a document containing information on the trading activities of an asset.

Orphan

A term for a block that is not on the main chain but still within the blockchain.

Orphaned Block

A block with no known or existing parent block.

Ouroboros Praos

An update to the Ouroboros Classic.

Over-Collateralization

Over-collateralization occurs when an entity provides collateral that is considered excessive for the coverage of potential losses that may arise due to a default.

Over-the-Counter (OTC)

Over-the-counter is a term for private, peer-to-peer transactions that are conducted outside of an exchange.

Over-the-Counter (OTC) Trading

Over-the-counter trading refers to financial securities’ trades conducted outside a centralized exchange between two or more parties.

Overbought

A cryptocurrency is said to be overbought when investors continue to buy a given cryptocurrency until it is trading at a price above its true or fair value. This occurrence is usually short-term as the market often corrects the price.

Oversold

A cryptocurrency is said to be oversold when investors continue to dump or sell off a given cryptocurrency until it is trading at a price below its true or fair value.

Pair

Pair, also known as trading pair, refer to a merge of two assets or cryptocurrencies that can be traded for each other. An example of a trading pair is BNB/BTC.

Paper Trading

A paper trade is a simulated trade, which an investor can use to practice how to trade without risking any real capital.

Paper Wallet

A paper wallet is a physical document that an individual can use to store their seed phrase or private key.

Parachain

Parachains are customized, project-specific data structures within the Kusama (KSM) and Polkadot (DOT) networks that run parallel to each other.

Participation Node

Participation nodes are the nodes that run the Algorand consensus protocol. The participation nodes communicate with each other using relay nodes.

Passive Income

Any income earned from an investment that does not require the active involvement of the investor.

Password Manager

Any software used in storing passwords for easy use across various applications and services.

Paul Le Roux

A former programmer-turned-drug lord who was suspected to be the person behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, the founder of Bitcoin.

Payee

In a trade deal, a payee is the party meant to receive payment for the good or service being exchanged.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P)

A communication model in decentralized exchanges that allows equal capabilities and direct interaction/exchange between participants.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Lending

A borrowing-lending exchange between two parties in decentralized platform without the use of a middleman.

Peg

If an asset is pegged to another, it means that there is a specified exchange rate between the assets.

Pegged Currency

A cryptocurrency with its value pegged to a fiat currency or any other real-world asset.

Permissioned Ledger

A restricted ledger that only allows access to individuals or entities that requested and were granted permission.

Permissionless Blockchains

A permissionless blockchain, also known as a public or trustless blockchain, is a blockchain system or network that is open to everyone without any central regulation.

Perpetual Contract

A derivative contract that can be traded or held indefinitely as it does not have an expiry date.

Phishing

A scamming technique that usually involves a scammer using a malicious link masked as a legitimate link to trick unsuspecting individuals into revealing sensitive information, usually information that could be used to access their financial accounts.

Phone Phishing

Phone phishing, also known as voice phishing or vishing, is a scamming technique where a scammer initiates a fraudulent phone call posing as a legitimate business or individual to extract sensitive information from the call recipient.

Physical Bitcoins

A physical Bitcoin is a physical version of Bitcoin with a real value. It has a unique bitcoin address and a private key embedded in it.

Platform

With cryptocurrencies, platform refers to spaces or exchanges where cryptocurrencies can be traded or where cryptocurrency issues can be addressed.

Play-to-Earn (Play2Earn)

A business model applied by various crypto-based projects to reward users for contributing or participating in various capacities to the project.

Player Payout

A payment model that automatically releases earnings to online gamers as soon as the given tournament ends.

Plutus (Cardano)

Plutus is simply Cardano blockchain’s smart contract platform.

Politeia (Decred)

A governance proposal platfom by Decred, which allows the token holders to participate in the decision-making process of all aspects of the project.

Ponzi Scheme

A fraud technique that is based on supposedly paying quick returns to early investors using the investments of the later investors.

Portfolio

A set of crypto assets owned by an individual, a financial institution, an organization, or an investment company.

Portfolio Tracking

Portfolio tracking refers to processes used in monitoring the performance and trend of assets in a portfolio.

Position Size

Position size simply refers to the size of a position a trader or an investor holds. Position sizing helps investors and traders know when to execute trades or trim or increase their position size to minimize risks and earn more.

Post-Mine

Post-mining occurs when the developers of a cryptocurrency project produce new coins after the launch of a cryptocurrency but before the commencement of public mining.

Pre-IDO

Pre-IDO refers to a situation where project owners offer tokens to users before the initial DEX offering (IDO).

Pre-Mine

Pre-mining is the process of mining all or a given quantity of a coin’s initial supply when or before launching the cryptocurrency to the public.

Pre-Sale

Pre-sale occurs when a cryptocurrency is sold to some investors before public launch.

Prediction Market

A prediction market is a platform that offers participants a chance to stake or make trades based on informed predictions.

Price Impact

Price impact is a measure of the correlation between a buy or sell order and the subsequent price change that occurs because of the order.

Private Blockchain

A private blockchain, also known as a managed blockchain, is a permissioned blockchain managed and controlled by an organization.

Private Key/Secret Key

A private key is a cryptographic code used alongside a public key to decrypt or encrypt a given data.

Procedural Programming

A series of instructions that provide a step-by-step guide a computer can use to complete a task.

Profit and Loss (P&L) Statement

A P&L statement, also known as an income statement, is a financial report that summarizes expenses, revenues, and costs incurred by a business within a given period.

Programmability

An attribute that indicates that something is programmable, that is, it can follow instructions.

Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP)

POAP is a solution that creates and assigns users unique, non-fungible identifiers using blockchain.

Proof-of-Authority (PoA)

An identity-based consensus algorithm used to make blockchain networks faster and more efficient.

Proof-of-Burn

An attempt to create a system capable of preventing fraudulent transactions on a blockchain and improving its overall efficiency and functionality.

Proof-of-Burn (PoB)

A consensus algorithm developed to address the high energy consumption common with proof-of-work.

Proof-of-Developer (PoD)

A process used in identifying the real developer(s) behind a blockchain, in order to limit the proliferation of anonymous developers who may disappear with the investments made on a project.

Proof-of-Donation

A solution that aids the integration and implementation of charitable donations in a blockchain project.

Proof-of-History (PoH)

A solution created by Solana to integrate time into the blockchain, assisting nodes in validating events and time. With PoH, you can confirm the exact time a block was created.

Proof-of-Immutability (PoIM)

Proof-of-immutability is a blockchain solution that makes data tamper-proof in distributed networks without distributing the data among the nodes.

Proof-of-Replication

Proof-of-replication is a process used by storage miners to prove that they dedicated unique resources to storing a data file.

Proof-of-Spacetime

A solution that indicates that a user is providing an amount of storage space to a given network.

Proof-of-Stake (PoS)

A consensus mechanism that randomly selects validators to validate crypto transactions.

Proof-of-Time (PoT)

Proof-of-time is a DPoS-based (delegated proof-of-stake) consensus algorithm achieved by considering time as value. With this algorithm, time takes the form of tokens, validators are chosen based on fixed stake and ranking scores, and investors can participate in the project by investing their time in exchange for tokens.

Proof-of-Validation

A proof-of-stake consensus algorithm that aims for consensus through participants with staked coins—referred to as staked validators.

Proof-of-Work (PoW)

Proof-of-work, the first cryptocurrency consensus mechanism, is a process whereby a party (the prover/miner) completes an intensive computational puzzle and proves to the other party (the validator) that the computations have been completed. Consequently, the validator validates the process and allows for a new block to be created.

Protocol

A protocol is a foundational set of rules that guide how interactions flow in a system or a network. In crypto, protocols define the flow of transactions and network participation to ensure secure exchange.

Protocol Layer

The blockchain’s protocol layer is the layer bearing the algorithms and rules that govern a given network’s operations.

Pseudonymous

Something is pseudonymous if it is published under a fake name.

Public Address

A cryptographic code that acts as an address a user can use to request cryptocurrency payments.

Public Blockchain

A blockchain that is open to everyone.

Public Key

A public key is a cryptographic code that allows the secure exchanges of cryptocurrencies between involved parties.

Public Sale

Public sale refers to the last phase of an initial coin offering involving the public provision of a given token at a substantial discount before listing it on crypto exchanges.

Public-Key Cryptography

Public-key cryptography, also known as asymmetric cryptography, is a cryptographic process that utilizes a pair of unidentical but similar keys—a private key and a public key—to decrypt and encrypt data.

Public-Key Infrastructure (PKI)

The public-key infrastructure (PKI) is the set of software, hardware, procedures, roles, and policies for the development, management, distribution, usage, storage, and revocation of public keys and digital certificates.

Pump and Dump (P&D) Scheme

A type of crypto fraud that aims to boost the price of a cryptocurrency by providing and distributing false or misleading statements, creating room for the perpetrators to sell their cheaply acquired crypto assets to unsuspecting investors at a higher price.

Pure Proof of Stake (PPoS)

A permissionless, Algorand-based consensus mechanism that enables a randomized selection of validators based on their stakes’ consistency.

Put Option

A type of contract that provides the owner with the opportunity, without obligation, to buy an underlying security within a given timeframe at a specific price.

Pyramid Scheme

A fraudulent scheme that assumes a hierarchical set up to pay the participants at the top with funds obtained from new participants down the ladder.

QR Code

A machine-readable label made up of a graphical black and white pattern that encodes specific information.

Quantum Bit (Qubit)

A quantum bit, also known as a qubit, refers to a basic unit of quantum information.

Quantum Computing

A type of computing that maximizes the principles of quantum theories to solve computations at levels far more advanced than conventional computing.

Quasar Smart Contract (OMG Foundation)

A smart contract developed by OMG Network for solving layer 2 blockchain problems.

Quorum

A quorum is the least number of members needed at a group’s meeting to validate the proceedings of the meeting.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)

RFID is a technology that utilizes radio waves to identify tagged items or objects passively.

Rage-quit

Rage-quit occurs when an investor removes all or part of their stakes from a decentralized autonomous organization’s (DAO) treasury and stops participating in the project.

Raiden Network

An off-chain, independent protocol layer on the Ethereum blockchain that uses hash time-lock contracts to enable fast, low-fee, trustless payments.

Rank

A cryptocurrency’s rank is its relative position in the market, determined by its market capitalization.

Ransomware

A type of malware used to restrict access to a computer file or system until the victim pays a requested amount of money.

Rebalancing

A process used to redistribute asset allocation in a portfolio in order to maintain a level of risk or asset allocation.

Rebase Token

A rebase token, also known as an elastic token, is a cryptocurrency token with an algorithmically adjusted supply intended to keep its price under control.

Recovery Seed

A recovery seed is a cryptographic code containing a list of 12 to 14 random words that can be used to access a crypto portfolio.

Redundancy

Something is said to be redundant if it is in excess of what is required to facilitate a regular operation.

Regenerative Finance (ReFi)

Regenerative Finance (ReFi) is a process that employs various forms of capital to fund open-source developments.

Regional/Local/Community Currencies

A regional currency is a type of local currency used in a large geographical area; a local currency refers to any currency used in a given geographical location; a community currency is any currency strictly used in a specific community.

Regulation

Regulation refers to a set of rules or directives guiding the operations of a system or network.

Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory compliance is a set of directives that businesses within an industry are expected to embrace as a measure of accountability. An example of regulatory compliance in the crypto space is the know-your-customer (KYC).

Rehypothecation

A practice common in the banking system, where banks or brokers use assets posted as collateral for their own benefits.

REKT

A term used to imply that someone is wrecked because they suffered a bad loss.

Relative Strength Index (RSI)

Technical analysis as well as an indicator that measures the momentum and speed rate at which a cryptocurrency’s price is moving.

Relay Chain

The central chain of the Polkadot network.

Relay Nodes

Relay nodes, although they do not have operational certificates, are able to help maintain and preserve a blockchain ecosystem by enhancing communication and ensuring the authenticity of block-producing nodes and other participating nodes.

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is energy derived from a natural source and can be replenished or renewed at a higher rate than it is consumed.

Repair Miners

A repair miner is a type of mining node proposed for use within the Filecoin network.

Replay Attack

A replay attack, also known as a playback attack, is a type of attack that usually occurs during a hard fork. It involves the interception of communication between two parties.

Replicated Ledger

A replicated ledger refers to a copy of a distributed ledger that has been circulated to all members of a crypto network.

Resistance (Line/Level)

An asset’s peak price level during a given period.

Retargeting

A retargeting algorithm or difficulty adjustment algorithm is an algorithm that aims to ease the mining processes on proof-of-work blockchains.

Revenue Participation Tokens

A dual-token, revenue participation system that is based on the principles of usufruct rights, using one payout token and one participation token.

Reverse Indicator

A reverse indicator is a term for an investor or trader who is not good at predicting the price trends of cryptocurrencies and therefore are indicators of how not to place a trade order.

RingCT (Ring Confidential Transactions)

RingCT is the process the Monero protocol uses to hide transaction amounts.

Ring Miners

Ring miners refer to network participants that the Loopring protocol uses to improve on the lags of traditional liquidity pools to ensure the smooth completion of transactions for all parties.

Ring Signature

A digital signature used in cryptographic environments to hide the identities of parties involved in a transaction.

Roadmap

A plan detailing a cryptocurrency project’s long- and short-term goals and the path to follow in ensuring the achievement of the goals within a given time.

ROI

The abbreviation for “return on investment,” which is the ratio between investment and net income.

Rug Pull

A fraudulent scheme whereby the developers of a crypto project take their investors’ funds and abandon the project.

Rust

A general-purpose, multi-paradigm, statically-typed programming language similar to C++. It is designed for safety and performance.

Ryuk Ransomware

A type of sophisticated ransomware attack attributed to a group called Wizard Spider, aimed at large corporations, agencies, and governments.

S&P 500 (Standard and Poor’s 500)

A stock market index representing and monitoring the market performance of a set of 500 U.S.-based public companies.

Satoshi (SATS)

SATs represents the smallest unit of Bitcoin – equal to 0.00000001 BTC.

Satoshi Nakamoto

Pseudonym for the unknown group or individual that created Bitcoin.

Scaling Problem

A blockchain network has a scaling problem if it has limited capability to manage large amounts of transaction data within a short period.

Scaling Solution

Scaling solutions are approaches that improve the expansion of a system or network.

Scam

A dishonest scheme created to defraud people.

Scamcoin

Cryptocurrency coins used in get-rich-quick schemes to defraud people.

Scammer

A person who orchestrates a scam.

Scholarship/Scholar

A practice common in the Axie Infinity Universe, which involves new players (the scholars) receiving free Axies from managers, who then earn passively from the new players’ battle rewards.

Script

A list of instructions a computer program or language follows and executes to initiate an event or action.

Scrypt

Scrypt is a proof-of-work algorithm similar to the SHA-256 applied in Bitcoin mining. It is mostly used by altcoins such as Novacoin and Litecoin to improve energy efficiency and network interactions.

Second-Layer Solutions

Solutions built atop a public blockchain to improve its output and efficiency in handling network actions.

Secondary Market

A secondary market is a platform where investors can trade their own crypto assets with other investors. Secondary markets often exist alongside over-the-counter (OTC) trading.

Secure Element

A type of hardware chip designed to run a given number of applications.

Secure Multi-Party Computation (sMPC)

A field in cryptography structure to give users the capability to privately compute and execute a function in a distributed network.

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

An independent agency in the U.S. tasked with regulating securities markets and enforcing federal securities laws.

Security

A collective term for financial instruments with monetary value, which are fungible and can be traded.

Security Token

A digital version of traditional security.

Security Token Offering

A public offering for the sales of security tokens.

Seed Phrase

A set of random words generated by a wallet as the master password for a crypto holding.

Segregated Witness (SegWit)

The term for a soft fork change in bitcoin’s transaction format, which aims to increase block capacity and address transaction malleability.

Selfish Mining

Selfish mining occurs when a miner refuses to broadcast a new block they have mined to other miners.

Sell Wall

A large limit sell order with the potential to cause a drop in the price of a given cryptocurrency.

Semantic Web

A proposal of an extension to the World Wide Web, with the aim of giving computers direct access to read data and independently execute actions.

Settlement

A term for the execution of market or limit orders on a DEX that uses order books.

Settlement Layer

The layer that serves as the ‘anchor’ for a blockchain ecosystem, with the aim of instituting unwavering security.

SHA-256

The hash function utilized in bitcoin proof-of-work. It provides texts with 256-bit signatures.

Shard

A distinct unit of a blockchain network with its own data.

Shard Chain

A collection of small units of a blockchain (shards), with each unit operating independently with its unique smart contracts.

Sharding

The process of splitting and partitioning a blockchain network into multiple shards to improve network scalability and efficiency.

Shelley Phase

A term for the second phase of Cardano marked with the development and growth of the network.

Shiba Inu Token (SHIB)

The token offered by the Ethereum-based memecoin project Shiba Inu.

Shielded Address

A type of address that encrypts transaction data to keep it private without limiting the network nodes from verifying the transaction.

Shielded Transaction

Shielded transactions refer to transactions between two shielded accounts. Basically, the details of such transactions are shielded from the public unless it is between Sapling and Sprout shielded accounts.

Shilling

A term for the implicit advertising of a cryptocurrency.

Shitcoin

A coin with no discernible purpose or value.

SHO (Strong Holder Offering)

A fundraising procedure in crypto networks, whereby investors are chosen on the basis of their activities or inputs to the network.

Short

A short is a trading technique traders use to earn profits by borrowing an asset, then selling it with the expectation that the asset’s price will decline further to the point where they could buy it back at a lower amount. Profit is made when the asset is bought at a lower price and returned to the lender.

Short Squeeze

A short squeeze occurs when a coin’s price, which is expected to decline, experiences a sharp increase, pushing traders who bet on its price decline to buy it right away and avoid further losses.

Side Chain

A blockchain network that runs parallel to a mainnet or parent blockchain. A two-way link connects the side chain to the parent blockchain.

Side Channel Attack

A side channel attack occurs when a malicious actor obtains sensitive information from a computer due to how the fundamental algorithms or protocol of the computer is set up.

Signal

Signals are informed suggestions to trade a specific cryptocurrency at a given time and price.

Silk Road

A defunct internet black market that existed on the dark web.

SIM-Swap

A SIM swap, also known as SIM splitting or port-out scam, is a type of fraud that exploits the loopholes in some two-fact authentication procedures.

Simple Agreement for Future Token (SAFT)

Saft is a type of contract agreement that is given to token investors at a token’s launch to indicate their ownership of a given amount of token at a future date.

Simplified Payment Verification (SPV)

A lightweight client used in verifying transactions on the blockchain.

Skynet

Skynet is a decentralized storage platform that is built on Sia blockchain.

Slippage

Slippage is the difference in the price of a requested order and the executed order,

Slot (Cardano)

Slot is blockchain’s basic unit of time.

Smart Contract

A smart contract is a self-executing transaction protocol that automatically executes, verifies, enforces, and documents a contract between a buyer and a seller.

Smart Contract Audit

An extensive security analysis of the underlying code of a smart contract.

Smart Home

A term for a home equipped with IoT technology to manage and control lighting, heating, security systems, and other electronic devices.

Smart Token

A smart token, like all other tokens, holds and transmits value. However, they are different from other tokens by nature of their additional functionalities and the enhanced information they bear, such as invoicing data, counterpart identity, and the ability to execute transactions.

Snapshot

A digital record showing the state of a blockchain at an exact block height.

Social Engineering

Social engineering is psychologically manipulating people into performing certain actions or revealing information deemed confidential.

Soft Cap

Soft cap refers to the minimum amount a project wants to raise through its initial coin offering (ICO).

Soft Fork (Blockchain)

A soft fork is a protocol change on a blockchain whereby only the previously validated blocks are invalidated. Soft fork is used to add new rules to a blockchain without altering the preexisting rules.

Soft Peg

Soft peg is a type of exchange rate policy that allows a currency’s value to be maintained at a stable range against a basket of currencies or a reserve currency.

Software Library

A collection of software packages and programs that are generally available for developers to use when developing new programs.

Software Stack

A collection of software packages that work in harmony to enable the execution or implementation of an application.

Software Wallet

A software wallet is an installable program or application that provides users with the capability to use, trade, and keep cryptocurrencies.

Solidity

A programming language used in developing smart contracts on various blockchain platforms, including Ethereum and Monax.

Source Code

A set of command texts that could be compiled to develop a specific computer program.

SPAC

In the cryptocurrency space, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is created by investors to ease the process of publicly listing a project instead of going through the conventional initial public offering (IPO) process.

Spear Phishing

Spear phishing is an email scam that is often targeted toward a specific person, business, or organization with the aim of manipulating them into clicking a malicious link.

Speculative Investment

A speculative investment is a high-risk investment made with expectations of high returns.

Spoon (Blockchain)

A meta-protocol existing on top of a blockchain, which allows a new project to merge with a previously existing project without losing the users.

Spot

A type of transaction allowing the purchase or sale of a cryptocurrency for instant delivery or settlement.

Spot Market

A spot market is a market where cryptocurrencies can be purchased or sold for instant delivery or settlement.

Spot Trading

Spot trading or spot transaction refers to the instant trading of a cryptocurrency at its current price.

Spyware

A type of malware designed to discreetly record all the activities on an electronic device.

Stablecoin

Stablecoins are fiat- or commodity-backed cryptocurrencies with extremely low volatility. For example, Tether (USDT) and Dai (DAI).

Staking

In crypto, staking is the process of locking up your tokens in a blockchain project to earn rewards. The locked tokens help you earn rewards by serving as a validator, validating blocks on the blockchain.

Staking Pool

A staking pool allows multiple users to combine their staking power (resources) with the aim of increasing their likelihood of being rewarded.

Stale Block

A block that has been mined but rejected by the blockchain network for another block with similar attributes.

State Channel

A solution that allows users to directly transact with one another off-chain, to minimize the utilization of on-chain resources significantly. The solution also allows the users to access the main chain after they have completed multiple off-chain transactions.

Stochastic Oscillator

A stochastic oscillator is a momentum indicator that uses support and resistance levels to show oversold and overbought financial instruments through an analysis of their price history.

Stop-Loss Order

An order that instructs that an asset be automatically sold when the asset’s price reaches the lowest price at which the investor is willing to sell the given asset.

Storage (Decentralized)

In decentralized storage, a file is split, encrypted, and stored across multiple nodes or locations on a distributed network. Access to the file is restricted to only the file owner—it cannot be accessed by the storage provider.

Storage Miners

Storage miners are cryptocurrency miners who offer substantial storage space to assist in validating transactions and reaching consensus.

Store of Value

A store of value is basically an asset, commodity, or currency that can be stored, retrieved, and traded in the future without recording any loss in its value.

Subgraph Manifest

A subgraph manifest is a file containing a given subgraph’s information that could be used to index it.

Substrate

A blockchain development framework created by Parity Technologies to serve as an upgrade to major blockchain protocols.

Supercomputer

A very powerful mainframe computer.

Supply and Demand

In the crypto space, supply and demand highlights the willingness of market participants to buy or sell crypto assets.

Supply Chain

A supply chain is a network of all entities and processes involved in the development or creation and final sale of a product. It trails the movement of a product from the manufacturer to the final buyer.

Supply Chain Attack

A supply chain attack, also known as value-chain or third-party attack, occurs when hackers exploit and compromise third-party suppliers of an organization, government, or major corporation to extract valuable and confidential information.

Swarm

A swarm refers to a group of peers sharing a specific torrent.

Swing Failure Pattern (SFP)

A type of reversal indicator that can highlight weaknesses in price trends, which could be used to inform a buy or sell signal.

Swing Trading

Swing trading is a trading technique that involves the analysis of short- to medium-term price movements (swings) to make trades that could yield profit.

Sybil Attack

A sybil attack occurs when attackers create numerous counterfeit identities on a network to gain some control over how the network operates.

Symbol (Ticker or Ticker Symbol)

In crypto, a symbol or ticker refers to the abbreviation of the name of a cryptocurrency on various exchanges or crypto-based platforms. For example, Ethereum’s symbol is ETH.

Synthetic Asset

Synthetic assets, also known as synths, are basically tokenized derivatives generated from a combination of traditional derivative assets and cryptocurrencies.

Taint

Taint is a concept that suggests a cryptocurrency holding could be risky due to possible links with past criminal activity. Such holding is said to be tainted.

Tamper-Proof Ledger

A tamper-proof ledger refers to a system that can hold and maintain a record of all transactions within it. For example, a blockchain distributed ledger.

Tangle

A distributed ledger technology created by IOTA as an alternative to blockchain. Tangle is used for facilitating and implementing operations in an IoT environment.

Taproot

A major Bitcoin upgrade aimed at improving and making various aspects of the Bitcoin network more efficient.

Technical Analysis/Trend Analysis (TA)

Trend analysis is a technical technique that involves the analyses of existing and previous market trends in an attempt to predict the future price of an asset or cryptocurrency.

Technical Indicator

Technical indicators are statistical algorithms or pattern-based signals based on the volume, open interest information, or historical price of a contract or security utilized by investors to forecast a market.

Terahashes Per Second

A unit indicator of a mining machine equal to 1,000,000,000,000 (one trillion) hashes per second.

Testnet

A separate blockchain used by developers to test new features.

The Cantillon Effect

An economic term introduced by Richard Cantillon to indicate changes in prices due to changes in money supply.

The DAO

The DAO refers to the first decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) ever created.

The Merge (Ethereum 2.0)

An upgrade proposal to the Ethereum network which aims to merge the Beacon Chain and the Ethereum mainnet to enable the Ethereum network to transition from the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism to the more effectual proof-of-stake (PoS) system.

Think Long Term (TLT)

A concept among investors which encourages longer-term investments.

This Is Gentlemen

A phrase used when introducing good news in the crypto space. It was originally a mistake made while trying to write, “This is it, gentlemen.”

Throughput

Throughput refers to the amount of data or actions a system can process within a given period.

Ticker Symbol

A ticker symbol or symbol refers to the abbreviation of the name of a cryptocurrency on various exchanges or crypto-based platforms. For example, Ethereum’s symbol is ETH.

Time-Weighted Automated Market Maker (TWAMM)

TWAMM is a trading mechanism that enables traders to execute larger orders with low gas fees and minimal slippage without influencing any negative effects on the price of the given asset.

Time-weighted Average Price (TWAP)

A trading indicator that shows an asset’s average price as it fluctuates within a given period.

Timelock/Locktime

A locking mechanism that could be implemented to lock a transaction or an account until a condition is met or a certain time is reached.

Timestamp

A digital identifier showing when a specific transaction was executed.

Tipset

Tipset is a term commonly used in Filecoin, a decentralized data storage system, to refer to a set of blocks in a blockchain.

Token

A digital unit of a cryptocurrency, which enables the cryptocurrency’s utility.

Token Economy

Token economy refers to a blockchain-based marketplace where goods and services have been tokenized, and participants can execute transactions without third parties or intermediaries.

Token Generation Event (TGE)

Token Generation Event (TGE) refers to the processes involved in the generation of a token in a blockchain network and the subsequent launch of the token in the market.

Token Issuance

The process of creating and adding new tokens to the total token supply of a given cryptocurrency.

Token Lockup

A specific period when a cryptocurrency’s tokens cannot be traded or exchanged.

Token Migration

Token migration occurs when a project switches from one blockchain to another, and consequently, its associated tokens are also moved from the old blockchain to the new one.

Token Sale

A token sale refers to generating a new cryptocurrency and selling the associated tokens to a private pool of investors before going public.

Token Standard

A token standard is a set of rules a smart contract must follow to remain composable. An example of a token standard is Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC).

Token Swap

Token swap refers to the exchange of different token types between two parties on an exchange platform. It can also refer to the transfer of cryptocurrency tokens from one blockchain to a different blockchain.

Tokenize

A real-world commodity or asset is said to be tokenized when its digital version with value and assignable ownership rights have been created. This digital version is referred to as a token.

Tokenized Carbon Credits

Tokenized carbon credits are issuable credits that represent carbon removed from the environment or carbon emissions avoided during a process. One carbon credit equals one metric tonne of carbon verifiably removed or avoided.

Tokenized Securities

Tokenized securities are securities with ownership rights that can be obtained via the issuance of a token.

Tokenized Stocks

A tokenized stock is a token that mimics the attributes of a publicly traded stock and which can be traded on blockchain platforms.

Tokenomics

A blend of the words “token” and “economics” referring to all the attributes and rules that influence the distribution and supply of a cryptocurrency.

TokenSets (Set Protocol)

A decentralized smart contract platform from Set Protocol, which allows baskets to be developed or traded as tokenized assets.

Toll Bridge

A toll bridge is a form of a digital bridge that allows users access to more functionalities on a platform after they have paid a toll fee.

Tor

Tor is a decentralized network that provides anonymity for users by encrypting and routing their internet activities or transactions through a series of servers.

Total Exchange Volume

Total exchange volume is the total value of cryptocurrencies or assets that has been exchanged or traded on an exchange platform.

Total Supply

Total supply refers to the total number of tokens currently existing on a blockchain, including the tokens that are yet to be in public circulation.

Total Value Locked (TVL)

TVL is a value denoting the amount of funds currently being staked in a given DeFi protocol.

Trade Volume

Trade volume refers to the amount of a cryptocurrency traded on a trading day or in the last 24 hours.

Trading Bot

A trading bot is an automated program that executes trades on behalf of the trader.

Trading Tournament

An event organized by exchanges to encourage users to trade and earn rewards.

Trading Volume

Trading volume is the total number of tokens of a specific asset traded within a trading day.

TradingView

TradingView is a web-based screener and charting platform that provides users with tools to analyze financial markets.

Transaction (TX)

Transaction is essentially the act of exchanging or trading cryptocurrencies on a blockchain platform.

Transaction Fee

A payment made when using a blockchain platform to exchange cryptocurrencies from one wallet to another.

Transaction Triggers

Transaction triggers are mechanisms designed to group transactions and execute them when certain conditions are met.

Transactions Per Second (TPS)

Transactions per second (TPS) is a measure of the number of transactions a network can process in a second.

TRC-10 (TRON)

TRC-10 is a technical token standard in the TRON ecosystem, which is built on a chain instead of the TRON Virtual Machine (TVM).

TRC-20

TRC-20 Token Standard is a token standard for the TRON blockchain network, which allows the creation of tokens.

Treasury Bills (T-Bills)

A treasury bill is the U.K. or U.S. government (short-term) debt security that yields no interest but is issued at a discount.

Treasury Bond (T-Bond)

A treasury bond is a U.S. government debt security with a maturity greater than 20 years.

Trojan

A Trojan virus or Trojan horse is malware masked as legitimate software to get users to download it.

Truffle

A testing framework and development environment for blockchains based on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

Trust

Trust is a fiduciary arrangement involving three parties: a trustor who gives a trustee the rights to hold the title to a property or asset on behalf of a beneficiary.

Trustless

A network or platform is said to be trustless if it has no centralized authority.

Tumbler

A mixing service used to mix the trails of a cryptocurrency fund with others to anonymize it.

Turing-Complete

A system that is Turing-complete is a system that can simulate a Turing machine and be used to complete any computational task—as long as time, the underlying code, and the processing power allows it.

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

A security mechanism that requires two varying forms of authentication to allow access to a program, an account, or a wallet.

Type Checking

Type checking is the process of cross checking and enforcing the governing type declaration rules in a programming language.

TypeScript Programming Language

A programming language developed strictly as an advanced version of JavaScript.

Typosquatting

A type of attack that targets and tricks internet users who misspell a web address into entering a fake version of a legitimate website.

Unbanked

People who refuse to or are unable to access banking services are said to be unbanked.

Uncle Block (Ommer Block)

Uncle blocks are blocks that were created but not allowed entry into the blockchain ledger, while the miners still get rewards for their mining efforts. This situation occurs when two or more miners create and submit blocks at nearly the same time, but only one can be allowed into the ledger.

Unconfirmed

A transaction is said to be unconfirmed if it is yet to be added to the blockchain.

Unpermissioned Ledger

A type of public ledger with no centralized authority and which any person can access.

Unrealized Profit & Loss

Unrealized P&L refers to the current loss or profit on an open position.

Unregulated

A market or platform is said to be unregulated if it has no governance protocol or centralized authority.

Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO)

UTXO refers to a transaction output that is not utilized in a new transaction.

Unstoppable Domains

A company in San Francisco that specializes in the provision of blockchain-based domain names.

US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

A U.S. agency tasked with administering and enforcing economic and trade sanctions on the terms of U.S. national security goals.

Use Case

A use case is a method used in system analysis to define the possible usage scenarios of the system.

User Interface

User interface refers to the means enabling a user and a computer system/network to interact using digital devices.

Utility Token

A utility token is usually issued to help fund or provide capitalization for a development project.

Validator

A validator is a person or entity who validates blocks on a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain to earn rewards.

Vanity Address

A vanity address is a fully or partly personalized cryptocurrency public address, often formulated by the owner.

Vaporware

A vaporware refers to a crypto project that may have been advertised but is yet to be developed.

Venture Capital

A capital provided by a venture capitalist to a startup assumed to have great growth potential.

Verification Code

A security mechanism implemented by a form owner to prevent online robots from accessing, spamming, or abusing their forms.

Vesting Period

A timeframe at which the sale of a token is restricted.

Virgin Bitcoin

A virgin bitcoin is a bitcoin with no transaction history, that is, it is yet to be spent.

Virtual Automated Market Makers (vAMMs)

An AMM-based system designed to provide virtual liquidity, thereby allowing investors to trade derivatives on the blockchain.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

VPNs are technological solutions that allow a user to create a secure, private network over a public internet network.

Virtual Reality (VR)

Virtual reality (VR) is an immersive artificial environment that mimics the real world.

Virus

A malicious software capable of replicating itself and spreading across computers.

Vitalik Buterin

Vitalik Buterin is a co-creator of Ethereum.

Volatility

A statistical measure of dispersion determined by sampling how much an asset’s price has moved down or up over time.

Volume

In crypto, volume refers to the number of cryptocurrencies traded within a given period.

Wallet

A software program that a user can use to store and trade their crypto assets.

WannaCry Ransomware

A type of crypto ransomware with the ability to infect and spread swiftly from PC to PC across computer networks.

Wasabi Wallet

An open-source, privacy-focused, non-custodial wallet for Bitcoin.

Wash Trade

Wash trade, also known as round-trip, is a market manipulation technique whereby investors continuously trade the same cryptocurrencies. This is done to increase the asset’s trade volume and make it appear as if it is worth more.

Watchdog Organization

A collective term for non-profit organizations that, on behalf of the public, monitor the activities of various entities or agencies to improve accountability.

Watchlist

In the crypto space, a watchlist refers to a privately curated list informing the cryptocurrencies to monitor.

Weak Hands

A term for an investor who sells off their assets at the onset of a decline in the asset’s price.

Web 1.0

A term for the earliest version of the internet.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0, also known as the participative web, is an extension of Web 1.0 with more user-generated content, efficiency, stability, and interoperability. Web 2.0 is the current generation of the internet.

Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is the upcoming version of the internet, aimed at being more open and decentralized.

Web3 Foundation

A foundation created to enable and enhance the facilitation of applications and technologies for delivering Web 3.0.

WebSocket

A WebSocket is a communications protocol that allows two-way communication from a web browser or application to a server.

Wei

The smallest unit of Ether. One Ether equals 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 Wei.

Whale

A crypto whale is an investor or a group of investors holding amounts of cryptocurrency large enough to manipulate the valuation of the cryptocurrency.

When Lambo

A phrase used by members of crypto communities to indicate when they will be wealthy enough to afford a Lamborghini.

When Moon

A phrase used to enquire when a cryptocurrency’s price will skyrocket.

White Hat Hacker

A white hat hacker, also known as an ethical hacker, is a hacker who, as authorized by a system owner or manager, tests an online system to detect its vulnerabilities and suggests ways to improve its security.

White Label

White Labeling is a process adopted by companies to customize, rebrand, and resell an existing product framework as if they are the original developers.

Whitelist

A whitelist is a list used during an initial coin offering (ICO) to indicate participants who have signified interest in buying a given coin.

Whitepaper

A document released by crypto developers detailing the concepts, technology, and roadmap of the crypto project in development.

Winding Down

A term for the activities involved in unwrapping and reversing tokens to their original state in DeFi.

Winding Up

A term for the activities involved in wrapping a cryptocurrency token with various projects to improve its utility and yield.

x86 Virtual Machine (Qtum)

Qtum’s x86lib VM is a virtual machine that gives Qtum developers the capability to execute smart contracts in any programming language of their choice.

Yield Curve

A chat that plots the relationship between yields and maturity dates of bonds with equal credit quality.

Yield Farming

The process of investing cryptocurrencies in DeFi platforms to earn profits.

Yield Sensitivity

Yield sensitivity, also known as interest rate sensitivity, is a measure that determines how much a bond’s price would change for every change in the interest rate.

YTD

The abbreviation for Year to date – the period between the first day of a fiscal year and the current date.

Zero Confirmation (Unconfirmed Transaction)

A zero confirmation, also known as unconfirmed transaction, refers to a transaction that is yet to be confirmed or documented on the blockchain.

Zero Knowledge Proof

Proving certain information or data is true without revealing it.

Zero Knowledge Rollup

A type of layer 2 scaling solution that relies on zero-knowledge cryptography

Zero Knowledge Rollups

Zero-knowledge rollup or ZK-rollup is a solution that bundles and executes numerous off-chain transactions and generates a zero-knowledge cryptographic proof for the transactions while the associated funds remain in a smart contract.

Zero-Knowledge Proof

A zero-knowledge proof allows a party to prove the occurrence of an event or transaction without revealing the confidential details of the event or transaction.

Zk-SNARKs

Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge, shortened as zk-SNARK, is a cryptographic proof a party can use to prove it holds a piece of information without revealing the details of the information.