Crypto Glossary

51% Attack An attack where a single party controls most of a network's mining or staking power, potentially…

Address A unique string of characters that identifies a wallet on a blockchain, used to send and… Airdrop A distribution of free tokens to wallet addresses, often to bootstrap a community or reward early… Altcoin Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. The term spans thousands of coins and tokens, from large Layer-1… AML Anti-Money Laundering — rules and processes that prevent crypto from being used to launder illicit funds. AMM An Automated Market Maker is a type of decentralized exchange that prices assets with a mathematical… APY Annual Percentage Yield — the real rate of return on a deposit or stake over a… Arbitrage Profiting from price differences for the same asset across markets. Traders buy where it is cheaper… ATH All-Time High — the highest price an asset has ever reached. The opposite is the All-Time…

Bear Market A prolonged period of falling prices and negative sentiment. The opposite of a bull market. Bitcoin The first and largest cryptocurrency, launched in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. It runs on… Block A batch of validated transactions added to a blockchain. Each block references the previous one, forming… Block Reward The new coins paid to a miner or validator for adding a block. For Bitcoin, this… Blockchain A distributed, append-only ledger shared across many computers. It records transactions in linked blocks that are… Bull Market A prolonged period of rising prices and optimistic sentiment. Burn Permanently removing tokens from circulation by sending them to an unspendable address. Burning reduces supply and…

Cap Short for market capitalization, or a maximum supply limit such as Bitcoin's 21 million cap. Cold Wallet A wallet kept offline, such as a hardware device, for maximum security. The opposite is a… Confirmation Each new block added after a transaction, increasing the certainty that it is final. Consensus The mechanism a blockchain uses to agree on the valid state of the ledger. Common models… Custodial Describes a service that holds your private keys for you, such as most exchanges. Non-custodial means… Custody The safekeeping of crypto assets and their private keys, whether by the owner or a third…

DAO A Decentralized Autonomous Organization is an internet-native group governed by token-holder votes and smart contracts rather… DApp A decentralized application that runs on a blockchain via smart contracts, rather than on a single… Decentralization Distributing control across many participants instead of a single authority — a core goal of blockchains. DeFi Decentralized Finance — financial services like lending, trading and borrowing rebuilt on public blockchains without banks… DEX A Decentralized Exchange that lets users trade directly from their wallets using smart contracts, without a… Diamond Hands Slang for an investor who holds through volatility without selling. The opposite is paper hands. Difficulty A measure of how hard it is to mine a new block on a proof-of-work network.… Dominance The share of total crypto market capitalization held by a single asset, most often quoted as… Double Spend The risk of spending the same crypto twice. Blockchains prevent it through consensus and confirmations.

ERC-20 The most common token standard on Ethereum, defining how fungible tokens behave so wallets and apps… ETF An Exchange-Traded Fund — a regulated investment vehicle; a spot crypto ETF holds the underlying asset… Ethereum A programmable blockchain that introduced smart contracts, powering DeFi, NFTs and most of Web3. Its native… Exchange A platform for buying, selling and trading crypto. Exchanges can be centralized (CEX) or decentralized (DEX).

FDV Fully Diluted Valuation — an asset's market cap if its entire maximum supply were in circulation… Fiat Government-issued currency such as the US dollar or euro, not backed by a commodity. FOMO Fear Of Missing Out — the emotional urge to buy an asset that is rising quickly,… Fork A change to a blockchain's rules. A soft fork is backward-compatible; a hard fork creates a… FUD Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt — negative information, sometimes spread deliberately, that pressures prices lower.

Gas The fee paid to process a transaction or smart contract on a network like Ethereum, usually… Genesis Block The very first block of a blockchain. Governance Token A token that grants voting rights over a protocol's decisions and upgrades. Gwei A small denomination of ETH used to price gas. One Gwei equals 0.000000001 ETH.

Halving A scheduled event, roughly every four years for Bitcoin, that cuts the block reward in half… Hash The fixed-length output of a cryptographic function. Blockchains use hashes to link blocks and secure data. Hash Rate The total computing power securing a proof-of-work network. A higher hash rate generally means greater security. HODL Slang for holding crypto long-term regardless of price swings, originally a misspelling of "hold". Hot Wallet A wallet connected to the internet, convenient for spending but more exposed than a cold wallet.

Immutable Unable to be changed. Once data is confirmed on a blockchain, it is effectively permanent.

KYC Know Your Customer — identity checks that regulated exchanges require before allowing trading or withdrawals.

Layer 1 A base blockchain such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Solana that settles transactions on its own network. Layer 2 A network built on top of a Layer 1 to increase speed and lower fees, settling… Ledger A record of transactions. A blockchain is a distributed ledger shared across many nodes. Lightning Network A Layer-2 payment network on Bitcoin enabling fast, low-cost transactions off the main chain. Liquidity How easily an asset can be bought or sold without moving its price. Higher liquidity means… Liquidity Pool A smart-contract reserve of tokens that powers trading on automated market makers. Providers earn fees for… Long A position that profits if the price rises. The opposite is a short.

Mainnet A blockchain's live, production network where real transactions occur, as opposed to a testnet. Market Cap The total value of an asset, calculated as price multiplied by circulating supply. Market Order An instruction to buy or sell immediately at the best available price. A limit order sets… Maximalist Someone who believes one cryptocurrency, usually Bitcoin, is superior to all others. Mempool The waiting area for transactions that have been broadcast but not yet included in a block. Metaverse Shared, persistent virtual worlds, often using blockchain for digital ownership of assets and identity. Mining Using computing power to validate transactions and add blocks on a proof-of-work chain, earning block rewards. Mint To create a new token or NFT on a blockchain.

NFT A Non-Fungible Token — a unique, blockchain-verified token representing ownership of a specific digital or physical… Node A computer that runs a blockchain's software, helping store and validate the ledger. Nonce A number used once in mining to produce a valid block hash, or to order an…

On-Chain Data or activity recorded directly on the blockchain, as opposed to off-chain. Oracle A service that feeds real-world data, such as prices, into smart contracts that cannot access it…

Paper Hands Slang for an investor who sells quickly at the first sign of trouble. Peg A fixed value an asset aims to track, such as a stablecoin pegged to one US… Permissionless Open for anyone to use without approval — a core property of public blockchains. Private Key The secret that controls a wallet and authorizes transactions. Anyone with it controls the funds, so… Proof of Stake A consensus model where validators lock up (stake) coins to secure the network and earn rewards,… Proof of Work A consensus model where miners compete to solve cryptographic puzzles to add blocks, securing the network… Public Key The cryptographic counterpart to a private key, from which a wallet address is derived and which… Pump and Dump A manipulative scheme that inflates an asset's price with hype before insiders sell into the buying.

Rug Pull A scam where a project's creators abandon it and drain investors' funds, common with anonymous token…

Satoshi The smallest unit of Bitcoin, equal to one hundred-millionth of a BTC. Named after Bitcoin's creator. Seed Phrase A list of 12 or 24 words that backs up a wallet. Anyone with it can… Sharding Splitting a blockchain into smaller pieces (shards) that process transactions in parallel to improve scalability. Short A position that profits if the price falls. Slippage The difference between the expected price of a trade and the price actually executed, often larger… Smart Contract Self-executing code on a blockchain that runs automatically when conditions are met, powering DeFi, NFTs and… Stablecoin A cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to a fiat currency like the… Staking Locking up coins to help secure a proof-of-stake network in exchange for rewards. Supply The number of coins in existence. Circulating supply is what is publicly available; max supply is…

Testnet A trial network that mirrors a blockchain for testing, using valueless tokens. Token A digital asset issued on an existing blockchain, as opposed to a coin that has its… Tokenomics The economic design of a token, including its supply, distribution, incentives and utility. TPS Transactions Per Second — a measure of a blockchain's throughput. TVL Total Value Locked — the total assets deposited in a DeFi protocol, used to gauge its…

Volatility How sharply an asset's price moves over time. Crypto is known for high volatility.

Wallet Software or hardware that stores the keys needed to access and manage your crypto. Web3 A vision of an internet built on blockchains, where users own their data, assets and identity… Wei The smallest denomination of ETH, equal to 0.000000000000000001 ETH. Whale An individual or entity that holds a very large amount of a cryptocurrency, big enough to… Whitepaper A document outlining a crypto project's purpose, technology and tokenomics.

Yield Farming Moving crypto between DeFi protocols to maximize returns from interest, fees and incentive rewards.