Accredited Investor

Someone who has a net worth greater than $1,000,000 and meets certain additional income requirements. Qualifying individuals may file with the SEC to obtain this status. In the United States, only accredited investors may invest in hedge funds, venture capital funds, and other “advanced” forms of investing.

 

ACH

ACH payments are electronic payments made from one bank to another through the Automated Clearing House network. Many people already use ACH payments and may not know it, such as with direct deposit or paying bills online with checking accounts.

 

Adam Back

Adam Back is a world-renowned British cryptographer, cypherpunk and crypto industry figure from the United Kingdom.

 

Address

A cryptocurrency address is used to send and receive transactions into Digital Wallets. Similar to a routing number, wallet owners share this address with anyone they wish to receive funds from.

 

Airdrop

An event in which a blockchain project gives away ​tokens or​ ​coins for free. A simple condition may need to be met, such as having a certain existing balance in your wallet or registering before a deadline. Teams may elect to do this to raise awareness of a project, or ensure that a cryptocurrency is not consolidated among too few people.

Our platform provides free airdrop monitoring of any Ethereum wallet.

 

Air Gapped Device

A device that has never been (and will never be) connected to an unsecure network, such as the internet. This is a strategy to store cryptocurrency as safely as possible.

 

API

API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. APIs specify how software components should interact, such as what data to use and what actions should be taken.

 

ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit)

ASICS are application-specific integrated circuits designed to process only a specific kind of application. An ASIC is programmed to do one thing only, and it does this much faster and more efficiently than multi-purpose processors. Bitcoin mining ASICs are tailored to mining bitcoins quickly and efficiently.

 

ASIC-Resistant

This term usually applies to blockchains and mining algorithms, designed to give no benefit for ASICs over consumer grade hardware.

 

Atomic Swap

The exchange of one cryptocurrency for another without the need for a trusted third party, such as an exchange. Atomic Swaps happens directly on the blockchain.

 

ATH (All Time High)

ATH is an acronym for “all-time high.” In cryptocurrency discussions, ATH refers to the highest valuation reached to date for a particular currency.

 

Algorithmic Trading (Algo Trading)

A strategy of using software to strategically buy and sell assets. This software is commonly referred to as a “trading bot” or an “algorithmic trading bot”.

 

Altcoin

Altcoins are abbreviated from “bitcoin alternatives”. It’s used to describe any single cryptocurrency that is not bitcoin. Most popular altcoins use the same fundamental building blocks as bitcoin.

 

Altcoin Trader

A person who trades cryptocurrencies alternative to Bitcoin.

 

Anarcho-capitalism

A political philosophy originally conceived by American economist Murray Rothbard that has now been embraced by many members of the crypto community.

 

Angel Investor

A person who financially backs a new business venture or startup.

 

Anonymous

Anonymity is when something is not known or named.

 

Anti-Fragile

A quality attached to an asset that means it performs better when exposed to volatility and shocks.

 

AML (Anti Money Laundering)

AML is an acronym for “Anti-Money Laundering.” AML regulations were originally designed around traditional centralized banking systems, and have since needed to adapt to account for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions.

 

AML Bitcoin

AML Bitcoin is a relatively new cryptocurrency aimed at fully complying with US regulatory authorities. Its proponents claim that it is fully compliant with the USA PATRIOT Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, and the US Office of Foreign Assets Control. Since it meets the standards of US regulatory agencies, AML Bitcoin also complies with many other government regulations from around the world.

 

Arbitrage

Arbitrage is a technical term from the world of finance and economics. It is a form of trading that capitalizes on the price difference between two or more markets. For example, a trader practicing arbitrage might buy a currency in one market and sell it in another market at a higher price, earning a profit from a temporary difference in prices. The difference between the prices is called a spread.

 

Augur (REP)

Augur is a decentralized prediction market built on top of Ethereum. A prediction market allows for forecasting the outcomes of arbitrary future events (such as who will win an election, or if an earthquake will hit a given city, etc). Reputation is an important part of Augur’s success. By having a mechanism that incentivizes honest reporting by coin holders, Augur is able to operate with significantly lower fees than a centralized betting platform. Vitalik Buterin is an advisor.

Basic Attention Token (BAT)

The Basic Attention Token (BAT) from Brave Software is a cryptocurrency designed to reinvent online advertising where users can pay content creators and publishers directly.

 

BEP-2 (Binance Chain Tokenization Standard)

A technical standard for tokens on Binance Chain.

 

BEP-20

BEP-20 is a Binance Smart Chain token standard created with the intention of extending ERC-20.

 

Bag

Crypto slang for a large quantity of a specific cryptocurrency. Alternatively (but less frequently) used to refer to the contents of an individual’s crypto portfolio.

 

Bagholder

An investor who continues to hold large amounts of a specific coin or token, regardless of its performance.

 

Bakers

Baking is the process that Tezos uses in order to append new blocks of transactions to its blockchain.

 

Baking

Baking is the process that Tezos uses to append new blocks of transactions to its blockchain. It is a kind of delegated proof of stake. Bakers receive rewards for each block baked, similar to how Bitcoin miners receive rewards for discovering new blocks. A baker is more likely to bake a block if they have a larger number of rolls (groups of 10,000 XTZ). Accounts must be registered as a delegate in order to partake in the baking process, and can bake on behalf of other accounts who do not meet the 10,000 XTZ requirement.

 

Backtest

Using historical data to test a predictive model or trading strategy in order to determine its effectiveness.

 

Beacon Chain

A blockchain that coordinates shard chains, manages staking and the registry of validators in a PoS cryptocurrency, such as Ethereum 2.0.

 

Bear

Someone who believes that prices in a given market will decline over an extended period. Such a person might be referred to as “bearish.”

 

Bear Trap

The attempted manipulation of a specific cryptocurrency’s price, based on the coordinated activity of a group of traders.

 

Bearwhale

A bearwhale is a person who has a high number of cryptocurrencies and uses their massive account to drive the price down and profit out of it.

 

Bear Market

Bear Market refers to a market where the prevailing trend is falling prices, encouraging selling. Bearish is used to describe speculators and analysts who have an outlook that assumes falling prices are likely to occur in the near future. The opposite of bearish is bullish.

 

Binance

Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2017 by Changpeng “CZ” Zhao. Despite being a relatively new exchange, it has quickly become the worlds largest (when measured by trading volume). It has over 200 listed cryptocurrencies available for trading.

 

Bid Ask Spread

The difference between the price that a buyer will pay for an asset and a seller will sell that asset. A highly liquid market will have a very small spread.

 

BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal)

A design document for introducing features or information to the Bitcoin protocol.

 

Basis Point

A basis point is one hundredth of a percentage point (0.01%).

 

Bit

A bit is a basic unit of information in computing.

 

Bits

In the context of crypto, a bit represents an amount of Bitcoin equal to 100 satoshis, or 1 millionth of a Bitcoin.

 

Bitcoin

The first successful and widely used implementation of a blockchain, originally proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto. It’s a peer-to-peer payment system and store of value. Bitcoin can refer to both the tradable asset as well as the underlying protocol and technology.

Our platform supports free BTC price alerts, percentage price alerts, BTC wallet monitoring and mempool size alerts.

 

BitLicense

A business license permitting regulated virtual currency activities, issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services.

 

BitPay

BitPay is a Bitcoin payment service provider.

 

Bitcoin ATM (BTM)

An automated teller machine (ATM or cashpoint) that allows the user to buy and sell Bitcoin.

 

Bitcoin Maximalist

Someone who believes that Bitcoin is the only cryptocurrency that holds any real value or potential.

 

Bitcointalk

Bitcointalk is the most popular online forum dedicated to Bitcoin, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology.

 

Bitcoin Pizza Transaction

This refers to the first known purchase of a physical good with Bitcoin. On May 22nd, 2010 Laszlo Hanyec spent 10,000 BTC to purchase “a couple of pizzas”

 

Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Bitcoin cash is a hard fork of the Bitcoin network, meaning a new cryptocurrency with altered rules was spun off from the original bitcoin. Bitcoin cash is designed to be faster and more efficient in the processing of transactions and payments.

 

Bitcoin Gold (BTG)

Bitcoin gold is another hard-fork off of Bitcoin. Bitcoin gold is designed to be more decentralized than bitcoin for miners. One of the major critiques of Bitcoin is the centralization of its mining power, which some analysts believe undermines the democratic foundation of the currency. Bitcoin Gold, on the other hand, is ASIC-resistant.

 

Bitstamp

Bitstamp is a Luxembourg-based cryptocurrency exchange. One of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges, Bitstamp facilitates trading in bitcoin, litecoin, ether, ripple, bitcoin cash, US dollars, and Euro.

 

BitMEX

BitMEX is a cryptocurrency exchange and derivative trading platform founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes. It is notable for offering up to 100x leverage on Bitcoin perpetual contracts, and up to 50x leverage on other large altcoin contracts like Ethereum.

Our platform offers free BitMEX price alerts and percentage-based price alerts.

 

Bittrex

Bittrex is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2013, headquartered in Seattle, WA. It has a strong emphasis on security and has listed over one hundred cryptocurrencies.

 

Bollinger Band

A technical analysis indicator developed by John Bollinger which helps measure the volatility of a given market.

 

Botnet

A collection of computers infected with malicious software and controlled remotely without the owners’ knowledge.

 

Bubble

A period of unsustainable growth in a market due to irrational exuberance, which eventually “pops” causing the market to crash.

 

Bug Bounty

A reward offered to those who help find and fix vulnerabilities in computer software. This often applies specifically to security-related bugs.

 

Bull

A person that is optimistic and confident that market prices will increase, this person is also known to be “bullish” about the market or price.

 

Bull Market

A term used to refer to a market where the prevailing trend is rising prices, encouraging buying. Bullish is used to describe speculators and analysts who have an outlook that assumes raising prices are likely to occur in the near future. The opposite of bullish is bearish.

 

Bull Trap

A bull trap occurs when a steadily declining asset appears to reverse and go upward, but soon resumes its downward trend.

 

Burned

Cryptocurrency tokens or coins are considered “burned” when they have been purposely and permanently removed from circulation.

 

Buy Wall

A large buy order set at a specific price, likely to prevent lower buy orders from executing. This may be the result of Whales attempting to manipulate the price of an asset.

 

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

A common expression and piece of advice. It is the suggestion that someone should buy an asset whenever it drops in price, since its inevitably going to go back up in price.

 

Black Swan Event

A catastrophic event that is very unlikely to occur (but given enough time, will almost certainly occur).

 

Block

The thing being mined by miners. It’s where transactions are stored. Once written, it cannot be altered or removed. It can be thought of like a page in a public ledger.

 

Block Lattice

A specific type of DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph) first introduced by the Nano cryptocurrency. Each account has one blockchain which is controlled by the account’s private key, and each blockchain is replicated to all peers in the network. This arrangement is called a block lattice.

 

Block Size

The maximum amount of data that a single block can hold.

 

Blockchain

Blockchain refers to the public ledger that records cryptocurrency transactions. A blockchain is a linear, chronological list of transaction records called blocks. The blocks are linked together and secured against tampering using cryptography. A blockchain is not stored in a single set of central servers controlled by one entity. Instead, a blockchain is spread around the globe using a vast network of private computers that simultaneously store data and execute computations.

 

Blockchain 1.0

Blockchain 1.0 is the first generation of blockchain technology, which focuses on cryptocurrency and decentralization.

 

Blockchain 3.0

Blockchain 3.0 is the final developmental stage of blockchain technology, which predicts global, institutional and enterprise adoption.

 

Blockchain Explorer

A blockchain explorer is simply a search engine allowing users to browse through blockchain records.

 

Block Height

The number of blocks that have been mined thus far.

 

Block Reward

The block reward is the prize miners receive for successfully validating a new block and adding it to the chain.

 

Blocknet (BLOCK)

Blocknet aims to be the “Internet of Blockchains”. It claims to allow the features of one blockchain to function as a service accessible to users of every other cryptocurrency. Blocknet is a general-purpose infrastructure for inter-blockchain functionality, similar to Ark.

 

Blockstack (STX)

Blockstack is building a decentralized internet where you can own your data and maintain your privacy. They are a platform to help enable developers to build decentralized applications (dapps) through the Blockstack Browser.

 

Brain Wallet

The act of storing cryptocurrency by simply memorizing your recovery phrase. If not written down anywhere, the key to these funds is only stored in your brain. See: Wallet

 

Breakout

When the price of an asset exits a level of support or resistance, usually followed with increased volume. Our platform can help detect price breakouts by using our free percentage price alerts tool.

 

Bridges

A blockchain bridge allows the seamless transfer of data or tokens between two different blockchain projects.

 

Burned Coin

Verifiably destroying a coin or token. This may be done for several reasons, such as rewarding existing stakeholders (reducing the supply tends to make the price go up), destroying unsold tokens from an ICO, or replacing them on an upgraded chain.

 

Byzantine Fault Tolerance

The characteristic of a system that is able to tolerate the issues brought up by the Byzantine Generals’ Problem.

 

Byzantine Generals’ Problem

A thought experiment that is intended to illustrate the difficulty of reaching consensus in a distributed system. In the problem, a group of generals who each command a portion of the army, surround a city. These generals must develop a plan to either attack or to retreat. Every general must reach a collective decision (if a unified decision is not reached, and some generals decide to attack, while others retreat, then the uncoordinated attack or retreat, the army will fail). Generals must coordinate via messengers (whom may lie) and generals themselves may be traitorous.

Candlestick Chart

A common way to graph the price of a financial asset over time. It differs from a basic line chart in that it contains more information. Each period, or “candle”, contains the open, high, low, and closing price. A green candle typically means the price has gone up, and a red one means down.

 

Capital

Capital is most commonly defined as the large sum of money you would use to invest.

 

Cash

Cash is the most liquid form of money: physical coins and banknotes in the most narrow sense of the term.

 

Capital Gain

Profit that results from the sale of an asset.

 

Capitulation

A large, final wave of panic selling where a market experiences a “bottom” for a given cycle.

 

Cardano (ADA)

Cardano aims to solve a number of issues that Ethereum reportedly suffers from. It has a multi-tiered architecture, where one layer is focused on transactions and accounts and the other layer is for smart contracts. This allows for easier upgrades and enhanced flexibility. It plans to feature on-chain governance, including a treasury where the community can then vote on how to fund the competition. It uses a Proof of Stake system called Ouroboros.

 

Central Bank Digital Currency

CBDCs are digital currencies issued by a central bank whose status as legal tender depends on government regulation or law.

 

Central Ledger

A central ledger is a physical book or a computer file used to record transactions in a centralized manner.

 

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

A central processing unit (CPU) is the part of a computer that is in charge of interpreting and executing programs and coordinating the work of all other components.

 

Centralized

A centralized organizational structure is one in which a single node or a small number of them are in control of an entire network.

 

Centralized Exchange (CEX)

Centralized exchanges (CEXs) are a type of cryptocurrency exchange that is operated by a company that owns it in a centralized manner.

 

Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink is offering a solution to the Oracle problem: It allows smart contracts to be connected to real world data & APIs. It essentially bridges the gap between on-chain information and off-chain information. It was founded by Sergey Nazarov, and has already garnered support from Google, IBM and other high profile institutions.

 

Chain Split

Chain splits are another term used to describe cryptocurrency forks — the separation of a single original coin into several independently managed projects.

 

Chart Patterns

Chart patterns are distinctive, recurring movements in the price of a financial asset. Technical analysis frequently involves the study of chart patterns (along with several other indicators) to help predict and model future price movements.

 

Cipher

A cipher is any algorithm that can be used to encrypt and decrypt information.

 

Ciphertext

Ciphertext is a result of encryption that has been performed on plaintext through the usage of an algorithm

 

Client

A client is software that can access and process blockchain transactions on a local computer. A common application of this is a cryptocurrency software wallet.

 

Close

Refers to the closing price; similar to the same term used in stock trading.

 

Cloud

Cloud servers are typically located throughout different data centers all over the world.

 

Cloud Mining

Cryptocurrency mining with remote processing power rented from companies.

 

Circulating Supply

The number of coins or tokens that are circulating in the market and in the hands of the general public.

 

Coin

Traditionally, the term “coin” has referred to small, flat, round piece of metal or plastic that serves as a medium of exchange and/or legal tender. With the rise of cryptocurrencies, the term “coin” has come to refer to individual units of account within a particular cryptocurrency.

 

Coinbase

Coinbase is a digital currency exchange and wallet based in San Francisco, California. They broker transactions of bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin, and other cryptocurrencies with traditional currencies in 32 countries. They also manage cryptocurrency transactions on behalf of merchants, particularly online retailers.

 

Coinbase Pro

Coinbase Pro (originally named GDAX) is professional-grade cryptocurrency exchange.

Our platform offers free Coinbase Pro price alerts in addition to Coinbase Pro exchange listing alerts.

 

Coinbase Prime

Coinbase Prime is a cryptocurrency exchange intended specifically for institutional investors, with support for Over The Counter (OTC) trading.

Our platform offers free Coinbase price alerts in addition to Coinbase exchange listing alerts.

 

Cold Storage

Cold storage refers to a method of storing a reserve of cryptocurrency offline. Cold storage eliminates the risk of theft from hackers, but creates new problems and risks of its own. Some of most popular cold storage methods include:

• USB drive or other digital data storage medium kept in a secure physical location
• A piece of paper
• On a bearer item such as a physical coin
• A specially designed offline cryptocurrency hardware wallet, such as Ledger Nano

 

Cold Wallet

A cryptocurrency wallet that is in cold storage, i.e. not connected to the internet.

 

Confirmation

Confirmation refers to the process of verifying a bitcoin transaction on the blockchain. When a new block is created and added to the blockchain by miners, it records new transactions that have occurred since the last block was created. A transaction that is verified and recorded in a block has been confirmed.

 

Collateralized Stablecoin

A “collateralized stablecoin” is a stablecoin that is entirely or almost entirely backed by collateral held in a reserve.

 

Consensus Mechanism

A consensus mechanism is the method that a blockchain uses to decide on the individual contributions of all its participants. Common examples are Proof of Work and Proof of Stake.

 

Consolidation

A price consolidation occurs when the price of an asset remains within a tight range for a period of time. This is usually considered to be a “pause” between the next larger price move.

 

Consortium Blockchain

A privately owned and operated blockchain where a consortium shares information not readily available to the public, while relying on the immutable and transparent properties of the blockchain.

 

Contract Account

A contract account is an account that has a crypto balance and associated code.

 

Core Wallet

A core crypto wallet is able to contain the entire blockchain, rather than just a piece of a blockchain.

 

Correction

A correction in a market is a drop in price after a significant gain, suggesting that the market is “correcting” back toward the mean.

 

Cost Basis

The value of an asset when you purchased it, for tax purposes. Used to determine capital gain (difference between cost basis and the value it was sold at).

 

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding enables fundraisers to collect money from a large number of people through a variety of different platforms.

 

Cryptoasset

A cryptoasset is any digital asset that uses cryptographic technologies to maintain its operation as a currency or decentralized application.

 

Crowdsale

A time-limited event where people can purchase tokens of a cryptocurrency.

 

CryptoKitties

A blockchain-based virtual game that allows players to purchase, collect, breed and sell various types of virtual cats. It famously clogged the Ethereum network at the height of its popularity. A single a CryptoKitty has been sold for over $100,000.

 

Cryptography

Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure transmission and storage of data. It includes a wide variety of methods for storing and transmitting data in a form readable only by those who are intended to read and process it. Cryptography is the basis for all cryptocurrencies.

 

Cryptocurrency

A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses cryptography and encryption techniques to regulate the generation of units of currency and to verify the transfer of funds. Like traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies are designed to function as a unit of account, store of value, and medium of exchange. Unlike traditional currencies, cryptocurrencies are decentralized from a governing authority.

 

Cryptocurrency Pairs

Exchanges utilize cryptocurrency pairs in order to facilitate the trade between different tokens.

 

Cryptographic Hash Function

Cryptographic hash functions produce a fixed-size hash value from a variable-size transaction input.

 

Cryptojacking

The use of another party’s computer to mine cryptocurrency without their consent.

 

Cryptology

Cryptology is the scientific study of cryptography as well as cryptanalysis.

 

Currency

Currency is a medium of exchange that defines value.

 

Custody

Custody refers to the holding of an asset on behalf of a client.

 

Cypherpunk

Someone advocating the widespread use of cryptography and other privacy-enhancing technologies as a route to social and political change.

DASH

Dash is a cryptocurrency that emphasizes transaction speed. Dash maintains a two-tier architecture with miners and “masternodes” that allow the Dash network to perform near-instant transactions (known as InstantSend). Dash network functions are handled in two different ways. Creating new blocks is handled by Dash miners in a manner that is similar to other altcoins. The second tier of the Dash network is a set of “masternodes” which perform PrivateSend, InstantSend, as well as some governance functions.

 

Date of Launch

A term used for when ICOs will put up their tokens for sale.

 

DAG (Directed Acyclic Graph)

A graph (a kind of data structure) that is directed and without cycles connecting the other edges.

 

Dai (DAI)

Dai is an asset-backed decentralized stablecoin that lives on the Ethereum blockchain.

 

Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA)

To systematically invest a fixed amount of money into an asset over a long period of time. This averages the cost of your investment, avoiding any sense of needing to “time the market”. This is generally considered to be the safest, most level-headed way to invest.

 

Dapp (Decentralized Application)

An application that exists on a blockchain.

 

DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)

An organization that executes rules through computer programs called smart contracts, where record keeping is done on the blockchain.

 

Daniel Larimer

Creator of the cryptocurrency platform BitShares, co-founder of the blockchain social platform Steemit, and is CTO of EOS.

 

Dark Web

The portion of the internet only accessible through specialized networks such as Tor.

 

Day Trader

Day trading refers to a financial activity in which individuals or organizations buy and sell financial instruments within the same trading day or very frequently. Because day traders only hold on to the securities they purchase over the short term, day trading is considered highly speculative.

 

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service)

A common way to attack a network or website in order to render it unusable for a period of time. The attacker, often in control of a botnet, will overload the target by sending it more data than it can handle.

 

DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake)

Invented by Daniel Larimer, it is an alternative consensus mechanism to Proof of Work. A cryptocurrency that uses DPoS votes for a “witnesses” to secure their computer network. Coin holders vote for “delegates”, who are then responsible for validating transactions and maintaining the blockchain. It’s used as a consensus mechanism in various cryptocurrencies such as BitShares, Lisk, EOS, Tezos, Ark, Nano and Cardano.

 

Denial-of-Service (DoS) Attack

A denial-of-service attack aims to temporarily make a computer or network service unavailable to its intended users.

 

Dead Coin

A cryptocurrency that is no longer in existence.

 

Dead Cat Bounce

A small price recovery after a large crash, giving an indication of false hope for an ultimately dead asset. Comes from the phrase, “Even a dead cat bounces once.”

 

Death Cross

A technical analysis indicator, where a short-term moving average crosses below a long-term moving average. This is considered to be a bearish signal.

 

Decentraland (MANA)

Decentraland is a virtual reality platform powered by the Ethereum blockchain. Users can create, experience, and monetize content and applications within a virtual world that they themselves own.

 

Decred (DCR)

Short for “Decentralized Credit”, Decred is a digital currency that uses a community-based governance model to determine the future of its blockchain protocol. The people who own Decred have a say in how it evolves. It uses a hybrid Proof of Work and Proof of Stake mining system to decentralize the decision-making process. Includes decisions such as whether or not the development team should work on a specific feature, turn on/off existing features, and how to best spend development funds.

 

DFINITY (ICP)

Dfinity aims to reduce the costs of cloud services by creating a decentralized “internet computer”.

 

DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

Typically thought of in association with Ethereum, decentralized finance involves conventional financial tools built on a blockchain. This includes things like stablecoins, lending protocols, prediction markets, security tokens, derivatives and decentralized exchanges.

 

DeFi Degens

DeFi degenerates. A subculture associated with a disreputable corner of decentralized finance known for pump and dump schemes.

 

Delisting

A delisting is when an exchange removes an asset from an exchange. This could be due to a variety of reasons, such as a change in legal regulations, or a team abandoning a project.

 

Derivative

A contract that derives its value from the performance of an underlying entity (such as a digital asset or a stock).

 

Derivatives Market

A public market for derivatives, instruments such as futures contracts or options, which are derived from other forms of cryptocurrency assets.

 

Deterministic Wallet

A type of cryptocurrency wallet in which keys and addresses are created from a single seed.

 

Dex Aggregator

DEX aggregators are a relatively new type of blockchain-based service that allow cryptocurrency traders to benefit from a large variety of financial tools in a single interface, often providing better liquidity and prices on different crypto pairs.

 

Decentralized

Decentralization refers to the property of a system in which nodes or actors work in concert in a distributed fashion to achieve a common goal.

 

Decentralized Autonomous Initial Coin Offerings (DAICO)

A method for decentralized funding of projects that introduces a form of governance in the ICO process, allowing backers to vote for the return of their funds if certain conditions are met.

 

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO)

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is founded upon and governed by a set of computer-defined rules and blockchain-based smart contracts.

 

Decentralized Identifier (DID)

A decentralized identifier, or DID, refers to an ID that can be issued by an autonomous, independent, and decentralized platform that acts as a proof of ownership of digital identity.

 

Decentralized Social Media

Decentralized social media is a social media platform that is based on blockchain.

 

DEX (Decentralized Exchange)

An exchange that does not rely on a third party to hold the customer’s funds. Trades occur directly on the blockchain using an automated process such as a series of smart contracts.

 

Deep Web

The “deep web” is the part of the internet that is hidden from regular search engines.

 

Difficulty

A measure of how much computational work must be performed by miners in order to find the next block.

 

Distributed Ledger

A distributed ledger refers to a database of transactions that is stored and updated in a large network of computers and servers. This means that transactions are public, and recorded at each network point, or “node”.

 

Divergence

When an asset’s market price is moving in the opposite direction of another technical indicator (such as RSI or trading volume). This is a strategy used by traders to detect a trend reversal.

 

Digital

Digital technologies are these electronic tools that have the ability to generate, store or even process data.

 

Digital Art

Digital art is art and media that is made by using digital technology.

 

Digital Commodity

A commodity that exists digitally, as opposed to in “meatspace.”

 

Digital Currency

A currency that exists only in digital form, as opposed to traditional physical currencies.

 

Digital Identity

Information used by a person or entity to identify themselves to a computer or network.

 

Digital Signature

A method for proving the authenticity of a digital communication.

 

Dildo

No, not that. The red or green “candles,” or vertical lines, on graphs showing cryptocurrency market data.

 

Dip

A dip is when markets experience a short or protracted downturn.

 

Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)

A way of structuring data, often used for data modelling, and increasingly as a consensus tool in cryptocurrencies.

 

Distributed Consensus

Collective agreement reached among nodes in a network.

 

Distributed Ledger

Distributed ledgers are ledgers in which data is stored across a network of decentralized nodes. A distributed ledger does not necessarily involve a cryptocurrency and may be permissioned and private.

 

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT)

A database that is shared by multiple participants, in multiple places. The basis for blockchains.

 

Distributed Network

A network in which the data and applications are dependent on multiple sources, as opposed to one location.

 

Diversification

Diversification is a risk-management strategy that mixes a wide variety of investments within a portfolio.

 

Dogecoin (DOGE)

Originally created as a joke referencing the Shiba Inu dog meme, Dogecoin has gone on to reach heights of a 1 billion dollar market cap. It has become a popular coin to tip people over the internet. Dogecoin is a fork of Litecoin.

 

Dolphin

Someone with a moderate holding of cryptocurrency.

 

Dominance

This term refers to the percentage of the total crypto market cap that any specific cryptocurrency currently occupies. BTC Dominance, for example, is the BTC market cap divided by the total crypto market cap.

 

Dorian Nakamoto

Dorian Nakamoto is a Japanese-American physicist who some believe to be Satoshi Nakamoto.

 

Double Spending

Spending the same money more than once. This is a primary example of an issue that the blockchain solves (when working correctly). A 51% attack would allow the attackers to double spend their tokens.

 

Dump

A sudden sell-off of digital assets.

 

Dumping

A collective market sell-off that occurs when large quantities of a particular cryptocurrency are sold in a short period of time.

 

Dust Transactions

Miniscule amounts of Bitcoin in a wallet — with a value that would be outweighed by the cost of a transaction fee.

 

Dusting Attack

An attack that aims to uncover the identity of a wallet’s owner, information that can subsequently be used in phishing scams.

E-Signature

An electronic signature, or e-signature, is any electronic mark (sign, sound, symbol, etc.) used in the palace of a physical signature in signing a document or contract.

 

ELI5

Short for “explain like I’m five” — a plea for simplicity when crypto concepts are being explained.

 

EEA (Enterprise Ethereum Alliance)

A group of companies allied with the goal of making Ethereum work for large scale business purposes.

 

ENS (Ethereum Name Service)

A decentralized service which allows Ethereum addresses to be replaced with human-readable names.

 

Equihash

An asymmetric memory-bound Proof of Work system that is based on the generalized birthday problem. Its memory intensive nature can be used to prevent ASIC mining. ZCash and its numerous forks are the most notable cryptocurrencies that use the Equihash algorithm. Developed by Alex Biryukov and Dmitry Khovratovich at the University of Luxembourg.

 

Emission

The speed at which new coins are produced and released.

 

Encryption

Encryption is a method through which information can be made into code.

 

Escrow

A financial instrument where assets or cash are held by a third party while a buyer and a seller complete a deal.

 

Ether

Ether is the primary value token of the Ethereum blockchain and distributed computing platform.

 

Ethereum

Ethereum is a distributed public blockchain network similar to Bitcoin. However, there are important differences between the two. Ethereum uses smart contracts and gives developers resources to raise funds. Ethereum also has a faster transaction speed than the Bitcoin network.

 

Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP)

Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) describe standards for the Ethereum platform, including core protocol specifications, client APIs, and contract standards.

 

Ethereum Transaction

Ethereum transaction are cryptographically signed instructions to initiate a transaction to update the state of the Ethereum network.

 

Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)

A Turing-complete virtual machine that enables execution of code exactly as intended; it is the runtime environment for every smart contract. Every Ethereum node runs on the EVM to maintain consensus across the blockchain.

 

ERC-20

ERC-20 is the Ethereum token standard used for Ethereum smart contracts (associated with tokens). ERC-20 gives developers the ability to understand in advance how any new token based on the standard will behave on the Ethereum platform. Ethereum-based apps can then easily adapt to any new cryptocurrency or token that follows the ERC-20 protocol.

 

ERC-721

A standard format for implementing non-fungible (unique) tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. A common example of non-fungible tokens are collectibles, such as CryptoKitties.

 

ETF (Exchange Traded Fund)

A security that tracks another asset, such as a commodity, group of assets, or an index. It can be traded like a common stock on a stock exchange.

 

EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)

The runtime environment for smart contracts in Ethereum. It is sandboxed and completely isolated from the network, filesystem or other processes of the host computer system. Every Ethereum node in the network runs an EVM implementation and executes the same instructions.

 

Exchange

Cryptocurrency exchanges (sometimes called digital currency exchanges) are businesses that allow customers to trade cryptocurrencies for fiat money or other cryptocurrencies.

 

Exchange Rate

An exchange rate is the value of a currency in terms of another currency. Also known as a currency pair, exchange rates capture a moment in time when traders are willing to pay x amount in one form of currency for y amount of another form of currency. As orders are entered to buy a currency and sellers agree to sell at that price this sets Exchange Rates.They change constantly depending on movements in the market and even world events and news headlines.

 

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF)

A security that tracks a basket of assets such as stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies but can be traded like a single stock.

 

Exposure

A trader is said to have exposure to a specific market when they will be monetarily affected by that market moving in price (either directly or indirectly through a derivative).

Falling Knives

A term used to refer to someone buying an asset which is rapidly declining in price.

 

Faucet

A free source of a cryptocurrency (typically a very small amount). It may be in exchange for completing a trivial task.

 

Fiat Currency

Fiat currency refers to currency without any intrinsic value other than by legal decree. Fiat currencies are usually regulated and controlled by a government or central bank.

 

Fiat On-Ramp

A fiat-on ramp is a way to get cryptocurrency from fiat, or regular money.

 

Fiat-Pegged Cryptocurrency

Also known as “pegged cryptocurrency,” it is a coin, token or asset issued on a blockchain that is linked to a government- or bank-issued currency. Each pegged cryptocurrency is guaranteed to have a specific cash value in reserves at all times.

 

First In, First Out

First in, First Out (FIFO) is an inventory method used to specify your cost-basis when calculating your taxes.

 

Fish

A fish, or minnow, is someone who holds insignificant amounts of cryptocurrencies, often at the mercy of whales who move the market up and down. *see Dolphin and Whale.

 

Flash Loan Attack

Flash loan attacks are when malicious actors exploit a smart contract.

 

Flash Loans

Flash loans are a type of uncollateralized lending used in decentralized finance (DeFi).

 

Flippening

A situation hoped for by Ethereum fans, where the total market cap of Ethereum surpasses the total market cap of Bitcoin.

 

Flipping

An investment strategy (mostly popularized by real estate investing) where you buy something with the goal of reselling for a profit later, usually in a short period of time. In the context of ICOs, flipping refers to the strategy of investing in tokens before they are listed on exchanges, then quickly reselling them for a profit when they start trading on exchanges in the secondary market.

 

Fintech

Fintech refers to a technological innovation in the financial sector, from education to cryptocurrency.

 

Fibonacci Retracements

In technical analysis, it is often observed that when markets move substantially in one direction, they often pull back to specific levels before continuing a trend. These levels correspond with ratios derived from Fibonacci numbers (23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8% and 100%).

 

Formal Verification

Using mathematical proofs to logically ensure a given statement is true.

 

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

A slang acronym that stands for “Fear of Missing Out.” Cryptocurrencies that are quickly rising in value often draw interest from investors due to the fear of missing out (FOMO) on a chance to get in when prices are still low. Many market analysts advise against making investment decisions based purely on emotional reactions.

 

Forex

The abbreviation for Foreign Exchange, Forex is a decentralized global marketplace for trading in all of the world’s FIAT currencies. Famous for never closing, Forex allows trading 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from anywhere in the world. With a daily trading volume of $5 trillion or more, it’s the largest, most liquid market in the world. Forex does not officially support trading in bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, but some Forex brokers will trade in cryptocurrencies under certain circumstances.

 

Fork

A fork occurs when a cryptocurrency’s existing code is changed. A hard fork splits a blockchain into two divergent chains, which why two distinct cryptocurrencies arise, such as BTC and BTG. A soft fork is only results in one coin.

 

Fork (Software)

A software fork, also known as a project fork, is when developers take the technology (source code) from one existing software project and modify it to create a new project. An example is Litecoin, which was a software fork of Bitcoin.

 

Fractional Stablecoins

A fractional stablecoin is one that is backed in two ways: collaterally-backed and algorithmically modified.

 

Front Running

Front running is when you place a transaction in a queue when you have knowledge of a future transaction.

 

FUD (Fear Uncertainty Doubt)

FUD is an acronym for “Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt”. In cryptocurrency discussions, FUD refers to negative analysis that stimulates investors to step back from the market. FUD can cause the perceived value of a cryptocurrency to drop.

 

FUDster

Someone that is spreading FUD.

 

Full Node

A node which downloads a full copy of the blockchain and helps validate it, among other things (such as store a memory pool of pending transactions). Different blockchain implementations may have nodes serve different purposes. Someone who runs a node should not be confused with a miner.

 

Fundamental Analysis (FA)

A methodology of analyzing a potential intrinsic value of an asset based on both qualitative and quantitative factors such as economic metrics, competition and their product.

 

Fungibility

An asset where each unit is essentially identical and interchangeable with one another.

 

Fungible

In cryptocurrency, fungibility is when a coin or token can be replaced by any other identical coin or token.

 

Futures Contract

A derivative product representing a legal agreement to buy or sell an asset at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future

Gains

Gains refer to an increase in value or profit.

 

Gas

The internal pricing for running a transaction or contract on Ethereum.

 

Gas Limit

A term used on the Ethereum platform that refers to the maximum amount of gas the user is willing to spend on a transaction.

 

Gas Price

A term used on the Ethereum platform that refers to the price you are willing to pay for a transaction.

 

Gavin Wood

Gavin Wood is the co-founder of Parity Technologies, and one of the founders of Ethereum.

 

GDAX

GDAX is the original name for the Coinbase Pro exchange.

 

Genesis Block

A Genesis Block is the first block created on a blockchain. All cryptocurrencies begin with a Genesis Block. Bitcoin’s Genesis Block was the first-ever block of blockchain technology.

 

Gemini

Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2014 by the Winklevoss Twins. It has a strong focus on regulatory compliance (it is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services).

 

Geotagged NFT

Geotagged non-fungible tokens (NFT) feature 3D versions of the street art alongside the corresponding geo-location. They allows art aficionados to own both the virtual and physical artwork without the need to remove the actual infrastructure it was originally painted on.

 

Gold-Backed Cryptocurrency

A coin or token issued that represents a value of gold; for example, one physical gram of gold equals one coin.

 

Going Long

Going long is a term used to describe when an investor purchases an asset with the assumption that the asset price is likely to rise in the future. Also called a long position, going long is the action of an investor with bullish expectations about a given asset. Going long on bitcoin means purchasing bitcoin because the price is believed to rise in the near future. The opposite of going long is going short.

 

Going Short

Going short is a term used to describe a position when an investor expects an asset to lose value. Going short involves borrowing an asset from a broker, then immediately selling the asset at the current price. Once the asset loses value, the investor can repurchase the asset and pay back the broker with it. The investor profits off the difference between the asset’s value when it was initially borrowed and the lowered value when the asset was paid back. Going short is the opposite of going long.

 

Golden Cross

A technical analysis indicator, where a short-term moving average crosses above a long-term moving average. This is considered to be a bullish signal.

 

Governance Token

Governance refers to the method by which a cryptocurrency evolves over time. Certain coins have explicit “on-chain governance”, which outlines a specific process by which proposed changes are voted on.

 

GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)

A computer optimized for computing visual display information. It typically has a highly parallel architecture and excels at math-heavy calculations (and therefore, much better at mining cryptocurrencies than a regular CPU).

 

Group Mining

As opposed to solo mining, group mining is when multiple people mine together.

 

Gwei

1 gwei = 0.000000001 ETH. Gwei is a common way of expressing Ethereum gas prices, which are used to calculate the cost of sending a transaction on the ETH blockchain.

Hacking

Hacking is the process of using a computer to manipulate another computer or computer system in an unauthorized fashion.

 

Hal Finney

The first person to receive a Bitcoin transaction from Satoshi Nakamoto. Many believe he is actually Satoshi himself.

 

Hard Fork

A change in a blockchain protocol that is not backwards-compatible and requires all members involved to upgrade their software.

 

Hard Cap

A limit on the amount of funds that can be raised for a given ICO.

 

Halving

An infrequent event where the reward for mining gets cut in half.

 

Hardware Wallet

A wallet that stores a user’s private key in a secure hardware device. See: Wallet

 

Hardware Security Module

A hardware security module is a type of computing device that secures digital keys and encrypts data.

 

Hash

The act of performing a hash function on input data of arbitrary size, with an output of fixed length that looks random and from which no data can be recovered without a cipher. An important property of a hash is that the output of hashing a particular document will always be the same when using the same algorithm.

 

Hash Function

Any mathematical function that can be used to map data of arbitrary size to data of fixed size. In crypto, it is a one-way function that cannot be reverted. It’s the kind of mathematical work used to mine cryptocurrencies.

 

Hash Power / Hash Rate

The hashrate is the measuring unit for the processing speed of a given cryptocurrency network. The higher the hashrate, the faster the cryptocurrency network will complete transactions and other operations.

 

Hashgraph

A patented (closed source) “next-generation” consensus protocol that could theoretically render the blockchain obsolete. It features a “gossip protocol” where every node can spread signed information (events) on new and received transactions to randomly chosen neighbors. Neighbors will then aggregate received events with information from other nodes into a new event, and then send it on to other randomly chosen neighbors. This system can reportedly achieve an astonishing quarter-million transactions per second.

 

Hedging

Hedging describes an investment meant to reduce risk of price movements in a related asset. Investors will hedge their positions by purchasing assets or futures contracts that will offset their losses if their investment positions fail to pan out as expected. For example, an equities investor may buy gold to hedge against a possible stock market crash.

 

Hidden Cap

Hidden cap is an unknown limit to the amount of money a team elects to receive from investors in its initial coin offering (ICO). The purpose of a hidden cap is to even the playing field by letting smaller investors put in money, without the large investors forming an accurate understanding of the total cap and adjusting their investment as a result.

 

Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet (HD Wallet)

A wallet that uses Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) protocol to support the generation of crypto-wallets from a single master seed using 12 mnemonic phrases. *see Deterministic Wallet.

 

Hosted Wallet

A wallet managed by a third-party service.

 

Hot Storage

The online storage of private keys allowing for quicker access to cryptocurrencies. *see Cold Storage.

 

Hot Wallet

A hot wallet is a method of keeping a cryptocurrency reserve or wallet connected to the internet. Digital money platforms like Uphold offer both hot wallets and cold storage of cryptocurrency assets, which makes access and trading easier and more efficient. The trade-off is that hot storage is more vulnerable to hackers and other malevolent online factors than cold storage.

 

HODL

A meme derived from the misspelling of the word “Hold”. A mindset that encourages people to hold on to their cryptocurrencies and have faith in the longterm prospects of the industry. Often given the incorrect bacronym “Hold on for Dear Life”.

 

Howey Test

A test the SEC uses to determine if an asset should be classified as a security.

 

Hybrid PoW/PoS

A hybrid PoW/PoS allows for both proof-of-stake and proof-of-work as consensus distribution algorithms on the network. This approach aims to bring together the security of PoW consensus and the governance and energy efficiency of PoS.

 

Hyperledger (Hyperledger Foundation)

Hyperledger is an umbrella project of open source blockchains and blockchain-related tools started by the Linux Foundation in 2015 to support the collaborative development of blockchain-based distributed ledgers.

Ichimoku Cloud

A technical analysis indicator which provides trading signals by identifying trend directions and momentum.

 

Initial Bounty Offering (IBO)

A novel way of launching a project that focuses on people contributing skills to a platform rather than money.

 

ICO (Initial Coin Offering)

An initial coin offering (ICO) involves selling a newly created cryptocurrency or token to raise money for a startup, software project, or blockchain network. Investors generally buy tokens from ICOs which they hope to sell on an exchange for a profit later.

 

IEO (Initial Exchange Offering)

A method of raising money by selling a newly created cryptocurrency directly on an exchange.

 

IDO (Initial Dex Offering)

An initial dex offering (IDX) is an alternative to an initial coin offering (ICO).

 

Initial Token Offering (ITO)

ITOs are similar to initial coin offerings — but have more of a focus on offering tokens with intrinsic utility in the form of software or usage in an ecosystem.

 

Infinite Approval

Pre-approving smart contracts to enable the platform to spend any amount of your coins.

 

Inflation

A general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money.

 

Immutability

An object that cannot be changed once it is created, such as a transaction once it has been written to the blockchain.

 

InterPlanetary File System (IPFS)

An open-source, peer-to-peer file system.

 

Instamine

When a large portion of a coin’s total supply is distributed to investors shortly after launch.

 

Intermediary/Middleman

A person or entity that acts as the go-between different parties to bring about agreements or carry out directives.

 

Internet of Things

Internet of Things (IoT) is a global interconnected network of devices, sensors and software that can collect and exchange data with each other in real-time over the Internet.

 

IOTA

IOTA is a distributed ledger platform and one of the few prominent cryptocurrencies that does not rely on blockchain technology. IOTA does not need to be mined and is completely blockless. Instead, the platform verifies transactions by confirming previous transactions across IOTA wallets.

 

Invest

Investing is when you put money in a financial scheme with the intent of making a gain

Jed McCaleb

Creator of Mt. Gox, founder of Ripple, and co-founder of Stellar.

 

JOMO

JOMO is an acronym that stands for the “Joy of Missing Out.” JOMO is the opposite of FOMO. It occurs when an individual is glad they didn’t invest in a cryptocurrency that proved to be less valuable than initially imagined.

KYC (Know Your Customer)

A series of laws and regulations which require businesses to know the identity of their customers.

Lambo

Lambo refers to a an attitude or individual associated with significant financial success due to cryptocurrency trading. It may be derived from the story of Peter Saddington, who bought a Lamborghini with part of his bitcoin holdings originally valued at $115. Many cryptocurrency-related memes feature photos of Lamborghinis, referred to as “lambos.”

 

Ledger Nano

A Ledger Nano is a type of hardware wallet for storing cryptocurrencies. It can connect to any computer or device with a USB port. A Nano Ledger allows for the cold storage of cryptocurrencies, allowing you to access and manage your account using a computer.

 

Layer 0

Layer 0 is a network framework running beneath the blockchain. It is made up of protocols, connections, hardware, miners, and everything else that forms the foundation of the blockchain ecosystem.

 

Layer-1 Blockchain

A layer-1 blockchain is a set of solutions that improve the base protocol itself

 

Layer 2

This refers to a protocol that is built on top of an existing blockchain (the Layer 1).

 

Ledger

A record of financial transactions that cannot be changed, only appended with new transactions.

 

Legacy Markets

This refers to traditional financial markets (stocks, bonds, ETFs, etc). Used to refer to the financial ecosystem that excludes cryptocurrencies.

 

Leverage

Using borrowed money to increase the potential gains or losses of an investment.

 

Light Node

Light nodes are typically downloaded wallets and are connected to full nodes to further validate the information that is stored on the blockchain.

 

Lightning Network

A payment protocol that is built on top of a blockchain. It enables nearly instant transactions between parties and is one proposed solution to the scalability issues Bitcoin has faced.

 

Limit Order

A limit order is a term from finance used to describe an order to buy or sell an asset at a specific price or better. For example, a client or firm may give an individual trader a limit order, which authorizes the trader to execute a purchase or sale as long as certain price conditions are met.

 

Limit Order/Limit Buy/Limit Sell

Tools that enable traders to automatically buy or sell cryptocurrencies on a trading platform when a certain price target is reached.

 

Liquidation

To convert assets into cash or cash equivalents by selling them on the open market. People and companies can be forced to liquidate assets when they are bankrupt.

 

Liquidity

The availability of an asset to be bought and sold easily, without affecting its market price.

 

Liquidity Provider

How easily a cryptocurrency can be bought and sold without impacting the overall market price.

 

Liquidity Pool

Liquidity pools are crypto assets that are kept to facilitate the trading of trading pairs on decentralized exchanges.

 

Listing

When an exchange adds an asset to their exchange.

 

Litecoin

Litecoin is a cryptocurrency founded in 2011, making it one of the oldest coins after bitcoin. Envisioned as a lightweight alternative to bitcoin, it has maintained a consistent presence in the top 10 cryptocurrencies since its inception. Compared to bitcoin, litecoin has shorter time intervals between the addition of new blocks to its blockchain.

 

Long

A long position refers to when a party has invested in an asset with the expectation that the asset’s price will rise.

MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence)

A technical analysis method, it is a trend-following momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two price moving averages. The calculation is done by subtracting the 26-day exponential moving average (EMA) from the 12-day EMA.

 

MACD Crossover

A MACD Crossover is a trading indicator. It occurs when a short term moving average line intersects, or crosses over, the long term line. A crossover can occur in either a bullish or bearish direction.

 

Mainnet

An independent blockchain running its own network with its own technology and protocol. It is a live blockchain where its own cryptocurrencies or tokens are in use, as compared to a testnet or projects running on top of other popular networks such as Ethereum.

 

Margin Call

When an investor’s account value falls below the margin maintenance amount. The broker will then demand that the investor deposit additional money or securities to meet the minimum required maintenance amount to continue trading.

 

Margin Trading

Margin trading refers to the practice of investing in assets with money borrowed from a broker. For example, buying on margin would be borrowing money to purchase a security or other asset such as a cryptocurrency.

 

Market Cap

Short for Market Capitalization, this refers to the total value of all securities or assets related to a specific entity. In traditional financial markets, the market capitalization of a company like Apple would refer to the total value in US dollars of all outstanding shares of the company.

In cryptocurrency markets, the market capitalization of a cryptocurrency refers to the total value measured in US dollars of all the coins in a given cryptocurrency. For example, the market capitalization of Bitcoin refers to the current total value of all bitcoins in existence.

 

Market Depth

A way to represent the order book of a given market in real-time on an exchange. Strictly, it is the size of an order needed to move the market price by a given amount. This data is frequently visualized as a graph to easily digest.

 

Market Order/Market Buy/Market Sell

A purchase or sale of a cryptocurrency on an exchange at the current best available price. Market orders are filled as buyers and sellers are willing to trade. This is in contrast with limit orders at which a cryptocurrency is sold only at a specified price.

 

Market Maker

An individual or company that quotes a buy and a sell price, hoping to make a profit on the bid–ask spread. Also known as a liquidity provider.

 

Market Scanner

A market scanner is a system that collects market data and analyzes it for certain events or conditions. Traders can use market scanners to detect time-sensitive opportunities.

 

Market Signals

Market signals are pieces of information that help inform a trader about the current sentiment of a market, and help provide context for potential future price movements.

 

Masternode

A full node or wallet that keeps the complete copy of the blockchain, but also performs additional functionality that is specific to a given cryptocurrency (such as participating in governance, or facilitating instant transactions). Someone who runs a masternode typically needs to own a certain amount of tokens to qualify, and may in turn earn passive income from it.

 

Max Supply

The maximum amount of coins or tokens that will ever exist in the lifetime of a given cryptocurrency.

 

Mempool (Memory Pool)

The mempool is where pending Bitcoin transactions wait for their chance to be written to the blockchain. A mempool is hosted by a node. The order by which transactions are selected from the mempool is based on the transaction fee paid to the miners.

Our platform supports free Bitcoin mempool size alerts to help monitor sudden changes in the network.

 

Merkle Tree

An important data structure commonly used within blockchains (as well as BitTorrent and Git). It allows for fast and secure verification of the contents of large data structures. Is used to test whether a transaction is included in a set or not.

 

Mooning

To increase drastically in value.

 

Moving Average

A technical analysis indicator which takes the average of a specific number of previous data points in order to calculate its present value.

 

Miner Activated Soft Fork (MASF)

A soft fork activated because miners signaled (voted) for it.

 

Miner

While traditional currencies are printed by central banks, bitcoins are “minted” by Bitcoin miners. In this way, bitcoin resembles gold. Like gold, there is only a limited amount of bitcoins out there to find. The original Bitcoin protocol permanently limited the total number of bitcoins to 21 million.

In order to get bitcoins, miners must solve complex mathematical problems that require lots of computing power and time to solve. Also, bitcoins are awarded to miners as a form of payment for carrying out the task of validating bitcoin transactions on the blockchain nodes which they maintain.

 

Miner fee
A miner fee is crypto that is provided to reward miners for enabling transactions to be sent across the network.

 

Mining

The process by which new blocks are created on a blockchain and transactions are verified.

 

Mining Algorithm

The nature of the computational work that must be performed by a miner in order to discover the next block on a blockchain. This is only applicable in Proof of Work style blockchains.

 

Mining Pool

A mining pool facilitates the sharing of resources over a network (such as processing power/hashrate) among a given set of cryptocurrency miners, who then split the rewards of mining according to the contributions of each of them to the pool. Miners in pools benefit because they often get more cryptocurrency working together then they would when mining on their own.

 

Mining Difficulty

The mining difficulty of a cryptocurrency is how difficult it is to find the right hash for the next block.

 

Mining Farm

A mining farm is when a group of miners mine together for a variety of advantageous reasons, like energy use.

 

Mining Rewards

Mining rewards are the rewards that crypto miners receive for mining a new block on the blockchain.

 

Mining Rig

A computer being used for mining. A mining rig could be a dedicated piece of hardware for mining, or a computer with spare capacity that can be used for other tasks, only mining part time.

 

Mixing

Also called “tumbling”, it is the randomizing of pool of cryptocurrencies in order to obscure the original source of funds.

 

MetaMask

An online digital wallet that allows users to manage, transfer and receive Ethereum, operating as an extension to a regular browser.

 

MicroBitcoin (uBTC)

One millionth of a bitcoin or 0.000001 of a bitcoin. Often confused as a fork of Bitcoin.

 

Micropayment

A micropayment is essentially a small transaction that is carried out online and can be as small as a fraction of a cent.

 

Microtransaction

A business model where very small payments can be made in exchange for common digital goods and services, such as pages of an ebook or items in a game.

 

Mineable

Some cryptocurrencies have a system through which miners can be rewarded with newly-created cryptocurrencies for creating blocks through contributing their hash power. Cryptocurrencies with this ability to generate new cryptocurrencies through the process of confirmation is said to be mineable. * Not Mineable Some cryptocurrencies are generated only through other mechanisms, such as annual inflation through staking. These cryptocurrencies are said to be not mineable.

 

Mt. Gox

A Bitcoin exchange based in Japan which got hacked and went bankrupt in February 2014. The original name is short for “Magic: The Gathering Online Exchange”, which is what the site was originally intended for. It later became the first widely popular crypto exchange. It was founded by Jed McCaleb.

 

Mobile Wallet

A mobile wallet is a crypto wallet installed on a mobile device.

 

Moon

A situation where there is a continuous upward movement in the price of a cryptocurrency. Often used in communities to question when a cryptocurrency will experience such a phenomenon, saying “When moon?” It is usually combined with “When Lambo?”

 

Monero

Monero is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency first developed in 2014. It has gained popularity among users who wish to remain completely anonymous. Monero utilizes innovative technical features such as ring signatures and stealth addresses to protect the identity of individuals on its network. Ring signatures blend together an individual user’s account keys with public keys from the blockchain, resulting in a range of possible signers. This prevents anyone analyzing the blockchain from discovering the identity of the parties in a given transaction.

 

Multisig (Multisignature) Wallet

Multisig is short for multisignature. It is a security mechanism that requires more than one person to authorize access to a system. Most cryptocurrencies support both single signature and multisig transactions. Multisig is useful for organizations that do not want a single individual in total control of its cryptocurrency wallet.

Nash Equilibrium

A concept in game theory — where a player receives no additional incentives to change their strategy if the strategies of others remain unchanged.

 

Network

A cryptocurrency network is a peer-to-peer payment system that works under a cryptographic protocol. Users send and receive coins by sending messages to the network using compatible cryptocurrency wallet software. Miners solve complex, time consuming math equations to validate these transactions.

 

Network Fee

A network fee is a fixed amount of cryptocurrency a user must pay to transfer an amount via the blockchain. Network fees go to the miners who verify the transactions. Anytime you buy or sell a cryptocurrency, you must pay a network fee. Higher network fees generally mean faster transaction speeds as they are given priority over transactions with lower fees.

 

Nick Szabo

Inventor of smart contracts, and designer of a precursor to Bitcoin called “Bit Gold”.

 

Nifty Gateway

Nifty Gateway is an Non-fungible (NFTs) platform owned by the Winklevoss twins.

 

No-Coiner

A no-coiner is someone who has no cryptocurrency in his or her investment portfolio and firmly believes that cryptocurrency in general will fail.

 

Non-Custodial

Usually referring to the storage of keys, in relation to wallets or exchanges, a non-custodial setup is one in which private keys are held by the user directly.

 

Non-Fungible Token

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptocurrencies that do not possess the property of fungibility.

 

Node

A computer connected to a given blockchain network. This is where transactions are initially broadcast, before they are written to the blockchain itself.

 

Nonce

A “number only used once”, which may have different meanings in contexts both in and outside of crypto. A cryptographic nonce is often used to ensure that old communications cannot be reused in replay attacks.

 

Novi

Originally called Calibra, Novi is the name of Facebook’s Libra wallet. Novi will be a standalone app that acts as a way to convert fiat money to the crypto assets that the wallet supports (and vice-versa). Initially, the wallet will support currency-backed stablecoins, such as LibraUSD, LibraEUR, LibraGBP and LibraSGD.

Off-Ledger Currency

A currency that is created (minted) outside of the specified blockchain ledger but is accepted or used.

 

On-Ledger Currency

A currency that is both minted on the blockchain ledger and also used on the blockchain ledger, such as Bitcoin.

 

One Cancels the Other Order (OCO)

A situation where two orders for cryptocurrency are placed simultaneously, with a rule in place to enforce that if one is accepted, the other is cancelled.

 

Online Storage

The act of storing cryptocurrencies in devices or systems connected to the internet.

 

Offline Storage

The act of storing cryptocurrencies in devices or systems not connected to the internet.

 

Off-chain

Any information that is not stored directly on a blockchain.

 

Open-High-Low-Close (OHLC)

For any given period of time, the price of an asset is commonly expressed using these four metrics. The open is the price at the beginning of a given time window. The high is the max value within that window. The low is the minimum value, and the close is the value at the end of the window. This data is conveyed within each candle of a candlestick chart.

 

Open Source

Software that has its source code publicly available to modify, fork, or redistribute.

 

Open/Close

The price at which a cryptocurrency opens at a time period or the programming principle of software parts being extendable.

 

OpenSea

OpenSea is a decentralized P2P platform for NFTs.

 

Option

A contract giving the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price.

 

Options Market

A public market for options, giving the buyer an option to buy or sell a cryptocurrency at a specific strike price, on or before a specific date.

 

Open Interest

The number of contracts outstanding of a specific derivative at a given time.

 

Oracle

A service which allows for smart contracts to interact with data outside of the blockchain environment.

 

Order Book

A current list of buy and sell orders for a specific asset on an exchange. Can be used to see if a market has sufficient liquidity to execute a trade at a given price.

 

Orphan

A valid block on the blockchain that is not part of the main chain.

 

Orphaned Block

A valid block that is not part of the main chain. May occur when two miners produce a block at the same time, or caused by an attacker attempting to reverse transactions.

 

OTC (Over the Counter)

An asset traded directly between two parties, and isn’t tied to a formal exchange. An asset traded this way may not have the liquidity or transparency that an exchange offers.

 

Ouroboros

Ouroboros is the name of Cardano’s staking algorithm. In this algorithm, a node is selected to generate a new block based on the relative economic stake they have in the network. Time is divided into “epochs”, and further subdivided into “slots”, where leaders are chosen.

 

Out of gas
When an ETH transaction runs out of gas, it has done so because not enough gas was provided for a transaction to fully process on the blockchain. This error is common with smart contracts.

 

Overbought

When a cryptocurrency has been purchased by more and more investors over time, with its price increasing for an extended period of time.

 

Oversold

When a cryptocurrency has been sold by more and more investors over time, with its price decreasing for an extended period of time.

P/L (Profit & Loss)

A statement that calculates the profit or loss for a time period.

 

Pair

Trade between one cryptocurrency and another, for example, the trading pair BTC/ETH.

 

P2P (Peer to Peer)

P2P stands for “peer-to-peer” and refers to networks that have no central control. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies operate as peer-to-peer electronic transaction systems.

 

Paper Bitcoin

This refers to a derivative of Bitcoin that represents the underlying asset — but is not actually Bitcoin itself. For example, the Robinhood exchange does not allow you to withdraw BTC, because they only sell a Bitcoin derivative that is intended to reflect the price of the real thing.

This may also refer to a Bitcoin Paper Wallet, which is an entirely different concept.

 

Paper Trade

A paper trade is a simulated trade used with pretend money for educational purposes.

 

Paper Wallet

A physical document containing private keys or data which can generate private keys (such as a recovery seed). See: Wallet

 

Parachain

Parachains are application-specific data structures that run in parallel to each other within Polkadot.

 

Password Manager

A password manager is a tool or software that stores all sorts of passwords needed for online applications and services.

 

Payee

A payee is a party within an exchange of goods or even services that can receive payment.

 

Permissioned Ledger

A permissioned ledger is a variant on the blockchain used by certain cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s public blockchain allows any party to read the chain as well as make changes and write new blocks (as long as the rules of blockchain are followed). By contrast, a permissioned ledger is a type of blockchain that requires permissions to perform some or all of these actions. Ripple is a prominent cryptocurrency that utilizes a permissioned ledger in its blockchain. Ripple decides who can be a transaction validator on their network, and it has partnered with organizations such as MIT and Microsoft to serve as transaction validators.

 

Pegged Asset

An asset who’s price is designed to remain the same as another asset, such as a stablecoin.

 

Perpetual Swap

A derivative product similar to a futures contract, but has no expiration date. BitMEX has popularized this kind of crypto derivative.

 

Phishing

When a scammer pretends to be a trusted institution or person to trick people into revealing sensitive information such as Social Security numbers, passwords, banking details, etc., often through a malware link disguised as legitimate.

 

Platform

On CoinMarketCap, platform refers to the parent blockchain of tokens. It may also refer to a cryptocurrency exchange on which you may trade cryptocurrencies.

 

Ponzi Scheme

A fraudulent investment involving the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors.

 

Pre-mine

Pre-mining is the creation of a certain number of tokens before the cryptocurrency is available to the public.

 

Pre-sale

A sale event that runs prior to the proper crowdsale in an ICO. There is usually a low cap to the funds raised, and they are often sold in bulk or at a discount.

 

Price Rally

An increase in the price of an asset over a sustained length of time.

 

Priced-In

When discussing a certain piece of information and how it relates to the price of an asset, it is said to be “priced in” when the current market price has already factored in this information.

 

Prisoner’s Dilemma

A common situation in game theory — when individual players each acting in their best interest produce an undesired result that makes the whole group worse off.

 

Private Key

A private key is a cryptographic code made up of 51 alphanumeric characters. A private key allows its owner to access his/her cryptocurrency assets and gives its owner unique protection from theft and unauthorized access to funds. A private key is one half of a key pair.The other half is the public key (or address). Funds can be deposited with knowledge of the public key, but withdrawn only with access to the private key.

 

Public Key

The public key is the known identity of a cryptocurrency reserve or wallet. It serves as an address known to the public, and allows for the deposit of funds into the wallet. A public key is also one half of a key pair. The other half is the private key, known only to its owner. You may better understand the key pair using this analogy: the public key is like a mailbox, and the private key is like the key that opens the mailbox.

 

PoI (Proof of Importance)

A blockchain consensus algorithm first introduced by NEM. Proof of Importance is the mechanism that is used to determine which nodes are eligible to add a block to the blockchain (this process is known as “harvesting” in NEM). It is different than Proof of Stake in that it factors one’s overall support of the network into account, not just the current moment in time. Vesting, transaction partners, number and size of transactions are all factors.

 

Poloniex

Poloniex is a cryptocurrency and digital asset exchange based in the United States. Founded in early 2014, this exchange offers trading in a wide variety of cryptocurrencies and provides advanced charts and data analysis tools. Poloniex also emphasizes its margin trading and lending products.

 

PoSpace

PoSpace is an acronym for Proof of Space, or can also be referred to as PoC for Proof of Capacity. With PoSpace or PoC, Hard Driving mining is used to validate new coins. This means miners use the space on their hard drive to mine. The more space you have, the more likely you are to mine a block.

 

Portfolio

A group of financial assets in someones possession. Each item in this group is known as a position.

 

Position

An single element in a portfolio. The amount of a specific asset that is held.

 

PoS (Proof of Stake)

PoS is an acronym for Proof of Stake. In PoS-based cryptocurrencies, the creator of the next block is chosen in a deterministic way, depending on his/her wealth (aka stake). In PoS systems, there is no block reward, so miners take transaction fees.

 

PoW (Proof of Work)

PoW is an acronym for Proof of Work. Proof of Work is a key principle underlying blockchain technology. In most blockchain systems, PoW is a piece of information which is hard to get but easy for others on the network to verify and which also follows the network’s rules. PoW requirements force miners to conduct expensive computations in order to facilitate transactions on the blockchain.

The computations are expensive in the sense that they are costly in terms of time, hardware and energy. The expense involved in PoW is compensated by paying miners in cryptocurrency coins. PoW is very similar to PoSpace (Proof of Space), except PoSpace.

 

Proof-of-Authority (PoA)

A blockchain consensus mechanism that delivers comparatively fast transactions using identity as a stake.

 

Proof-of-Burn (PoB)

A blockchain consensus mechanism aiming to bootstrap one blockchain to another with increased energy efficiency, by verifying that a cost was incurred in “burning” a coin by sending it to an unspendable address.

 

Proof-of-Developer (PoD)

Any verification that provides evidence of a real, living software developer who created a cryptocurrency, in order to prevent an anonymous developer from making away with any raised funds without delivering a working model.

 

Proof-of-Replication

Proof-of-replication (PoRep) is the way that a storage miner proves to the network that they are storing an entirely unique copy of a piece of data.

 

Proof-of-Spacetime

In simplest terms, PoSt means that someone can now guarantee that they are spending a certain amount of space for storage.

 

Protocol

The set of rules that define interactions on a network, usually involving consensus, transaction validation, and network participation on a blockchain.

 

Pseudonymous

Writing under a false name, such as “Satoshi Nakamoto.”

 

Public Address

A public address is the cryptographic hash of a public key, allowing the user to use it as an address to request for payment.

 

Public Blockchain

A blockchain that can be accessed by anyone.

 

Pump and Dump (P&D) Scheme

A form of securities fraud involving the artificial inflation of the price of a cryptocurrency with false and misleading positive statements in order to sell previously-cheaply purchased stock at a higher price.

 

Pyramid Scheme

A pyramid scheme is a scam with a hierarchical top-down structure.

QR Code

A machine-readable label that shows information encoded into a graphical black-and-white pattern. For cryptocurrencies, it is often used to easily share wallet addresses with others.

 

Quadratic Voting

A specific voting process, and a proposed method of governing a blockchain. Voters are able to express how strongly they feel about an issue by purchasing more votes for a specific outcome. While voters can vote as many times as they want, the cost of each vote increases exponentially.

Raiden Network

An off-chain scaling solution aiming to enable near-instant, low-fee and scalable payments on the Ethereum blockchain, similar to Bitcoin’s proposed Lightning Network.

 

Rank

The relative position of a cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

 

Rebase

A token designed so that the circulating supply adjusts automatically according to price fluctuations.

 

Regulated

Regulation is when something is controlled by a specific set of rules.

 

Recovery Phrase

Also known as a mnemonic seed, it is a list of words which store all the information needed to recover a private key.

 

Resistance Level

It is a price that a given asset typically has trouble reaching above. If it does reach above that level, it will likely climb even higher now that this level has been broken.

 

Rekt

Rekt is a deliberate misspelling of “wrecked.” It is a slang term to describe the condition of one who has suffered a major financial loss due to unwise cryptocurrency trades. A run of bad luck may also be associated with the term.

 

Revolut

Revolut is a digital money platform for peer-to-peer payments in traditional currency and cryptocurrency.

 

Replay Attack

Replay attacks are network security attacks where the comms between a sender and receiver is intercepted.

 

Replicated Ledger

A copy of a distributed ledger in a network that is distributed to all participants in a cryptocurrency network.

 

Resistance (Line/Level)

The highest price level of an asset during a specific period.

 

Reverse Indicator

A person whom you may use as an indicator of how not to place buy or sell orders because they are always wrong at predicting price movements of cryptocurrencies.

 

Ripple (XRP)

Ripple is a San Francisco-based technology startup company, and it is also the name of the payment protocol and associated cryptocurrency, also developed by the company. Ripple released 100 billion XRP tokens at the get go – and this is the maximum amount of tokens there will ever be. This is in contrast to other cryptocurrencies such as Ether which essentially has no limit to the number of tokens it can release or Bitcoin which has to be ‘mined’ and will eventually reach a maximum amount of coins.

XRP was actually intended as a ‘bridge currency’ for financial institutions, to allow them to make simple, fast, cross-border payments, without the need for multiple middlemen, or the huge fees usually associated with these types of transactions.

 

Ring CT (Confidential Transactions)

RingCT is how transaction amounts are hidden in Monero.

 

Ring Signature

A technology used by Monero in order to obfuscate the input of a transaction. A message signed with a ring signature appears to be endorsed by any person within a certain group of people. It is computationally infeasible to determine which member of the group actually produced the signature.

 

ROI (Return on Investment)

The percentage gain/loss on an investment.

 

Ross Ulbricht

The creator of the Silk Road, currently serving a life sentence in jail. Known under the pseudonym “Dread Pirate Roberts”.

 

Roadmap

A roadmap is a high-level visual summary that helps map out the vision as well as the direction of a specific product.

 

Roth IRA

Roth IRAs are generally the best investment option when you think your taxes will be higher in retirement than they are now.

 

RSI (Relative Strength Index)

A form of technical analysis that serves as a momentum oscillator, measuring the speed and change of price movements and used to identify overbought or oversold conditions when trading an asset.

 

Rug Pull

A rug pull is a type of scam where developers abandon a project and take their investors’ money.

 

Rust

Rust is a multi-paradigm programming language, similar to C++.

 

Ryuk Ransomware

Ryuk ransomware is a ransomware attack first discovered in August 2018.

Safe Haven Asset

A financial asset that is expected to perform well (or at least retain its value) during an economic downturn. Gold is a common example, and many people think Bitcoin has the potential to display similar properties.

 

Satoshi (SATS)

A satoshi is one hundred millionth of a bitcoin. Each bitcoin can be divided into fractions up to 8 digits long. That means 1 bitcoin can be divided into a maximum of 100,000,000 subunits. Each 0.00000001 of a bitcoin is called a satoshi. This is the smallest possible fraction of a bitcoin. Satoshi is named for the original designer of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.

 

Satoshi Nakamoto

Satoshi Nakamoto is the original designer of Bitcoin and the inventor of the blockchain technology. Satoshi Nakamoto’s true identity is unknown and many believe the name is a pseudonym used by a person or team of persons who developed Bitcoin. Nakamoto has not been actively involved in Bitcoin since mid-2010.

 

Scaling Problem

The scaling problem is the limitations of a blockchain’s transaction throughout and ability to have fast and low cast transactions.

 

Scaling Solution

A scaling solution is a method of enable a system to expand.

 

Scam

A fraudulent or deceptive cryptocurrency or ICO.

 

Scamcoin

Also called a shitcoin, this refers to a token that provides little or no value, and is simply propped up on hype and false promises.

 

Scammer

A scammer is someone that participates in a fraudulent scheme.

 

Script

A computer script is a list of commands that are executed by a certain program or scripting language.

 

Scrypt

An alternative proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm to SHA-256, used in Bitcoin mining. Scrypt mining relies more heavily on memory than on pure CPU power, aiming to reduce the advantage that ASICs have and hence increasing network participation and energy efficiency.

 

Second-Layer Solutions

A set of solutions built on top of a public blockchain to extend its scalability and efficiency, especially for micro-transactions or actions. Examples include Plasma, TrueBit, Lightning Network and more.

 

SEPA

SEPA is an acronym for “Single Euro Payments Area.” SEPA wire transfers allow for easy transactions between banks and bank accounts that are located in Europe. Not all cryptocurrency platforms and exchanges support SEPA transfers.

 

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)

A US federal government agency responsible for protecting investors by regulating securities markets. The mission statement of the SEC is to “promote a market environment that is worthy of the public’s trust”.

 

STO (Security Token Offering)

Similar to an ICO, but the tokens issued offer more rights and may be backed by assets, profits, or revenue generated by companies. The idea is to give these tokens tangible value from day one, and reduce the component of hype and speculation.

 

Security Token

A security token is essentially a digital form of traditional securities.

 

Security Token Offering

A security token offering (STO) is a public offering where tokenized digital securities are sold.

 

Seed Phrase

A single starting point when deriving keys for a deterministic wallet.

 

Segwit (Segregated Witness)

SegWit is a soft fork that changed the rules of the transaction format used in the Bitcoin blockchain and increased the block size limit. SegWit solved the problem by stripping off the signature from the public address of the sender in a transaction and moving it to a structure towards the end of the transaction. For more on Segwit, check out this guide.

 

Sell Wall

A large sell order set at a specific price, likely to prevent higher sell orders from executing. This may be the result of whales attempting to keep the price of an asset low.

 

Settlement Layer

A settlement layer is a layer that essentially provides an anchor for an entire ecosystem.

 

Shard

Essentially, a shard is a portion of a blockchain network that has been split into multiple shards, which has its own data.

 

Shard Chain

In the world of cryptocurrencies, sharding can reduce the network congestion as well as increase transactions per second through the creation of new chains

 

Sharding

Sharding is a scaling approach that enables splitting of blockchain states into partitions containing states and transaction history, so that each shard can be processed in parallel.

 

Shilling

The act of enthusiastically promoting a cryptocurrency or ICO project.

 

Shitcoin

A coin with no obvious potential value or usage.

 

Shill

Someone trying to spread hype about something by endorsing the product in public. Typically has negative associations.

 

SHA-256

A method of encryption. Stands for Secure Hash Algorithm. Is involved in the mining process for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

 

Sharding

A method of scaling a blockchain (increasing how many transactions can be processed per second) by splitting up which miners are working on what at a given time.

 

Shielded Address

A kind of address used by ZCash that is highly private. They are not visible in the blockchain and offer strong privacy against transaction graph analysis. The value transferred is private if both the sender and receiver are shielded. Shielded addresses are not supported in every ZCash wallet.

 

Short

A method of betting on an asset decreasing in value. When someone shorts an asset, the investor borrows that asset and immediately sell it, hoping to buy it back when it is cheaper.

 

Short Squeeze

A rapid increase in the price of an asset due to a large number of short positions being liquidated at the same time.

 

Sidechain

The ability to transfer assets from one blockchain to a separate blockchain and then be moved back if needed. It’s a way for multiple cryptocurrencies to interact with one another.

 

Signature

Information that allows someone to prove that they have a private key, without having to reveal the actual private key.

 

Silk Road

An online black market, popularized as a platform for selling illegal drugs. It was only accessible via TOR, and only accepted Bitcoin as payment, which were tumbled in order to increase anonymity. Created by Ross Ulbricht.

 

Simplified Payment Verification (SPV)

A lightweight client to verify blockchain transactions, downloading only block headers and requesting proof of inclusion to the blockchain in the Merkle Tree.

 

Slippage

Slippage happens when traders have to settle for a different price than what they initially requested due to a price movement.

 

SIM Jacking

Also known as a SIM swap scam or SIM splitting, this is a method of hijacking someone else’s phone number in order to gain access to other accounts tied to that person. The hacker does this by gaining basic information about the victim and then contacting their phone provider pretending to be them. It is advised to use an app such as Google Authenticator instead of a phone number for two-factor authentication (2FA).

 

Smart Contract

A Smart Contract is a contract recorded in computer language rather than in legal language. A smart contract can be used to set out the parameters of a legally-binding agreement in a transparent way that minimizes conflict, while avoiding the involvement of a lawyer. Smart contracts are stored and replicated on the blockchain and enforced by the network of computers that run the blockchain.

 

Soft Cap

The minimum amount of money raised in an ICO in order to consider it a success.

 

Soft Fork

A change in the protocol that is backward-compatible, and generally does not require users to upgrade their wallets or take any other action. See: Hard Fork.

 

Solidity

A high level programming language for writing smart contracts on the Ethereum network.

 

Spoon (Blockchain)

A hard spoon is a meta-protocol that exists on top of a blockchain.

 

Spot

A contract or transaction buying or selling a cryptocurrency for immediate settlement, or payment and delivery, of the cryptocurrency on the market.

 

Spot Market

A public market in which cryptocurrencies are traded for immediate settlement. It contrasts with a futures market, in which settlement is due at a later date.

 

Spyware

Spyware is a malware that records all of the activities on an electronic device.

 

Spot Price

The current market price for a given asset.

 

Stock to Flow Modal (S2F)

A theoretical model of Bitcoin’s past and future price, primarily influenced by the amount of Bitcoin being mined at any given time. This means that the halving is the primary event that influences the price of Bitcoin, according to this model.

 

Stable Coin

A cryptocurrency that is pegged to a specific value (usually a fiat currency) and is intended not to fluctuate in price.

 

Staking

The process of holding funds in a cryptocurrency wallet to support the network of the blockchain that is tied to those funds. This is an alternative to traditional mining.

 

Stale Block

A block which was successfully mined but not included on the current longest blockchain, usually because another block at the same height was added to the chain first.

 

State Channel

A second-layer scaling solution that reduces the total on-chain transactions necessary, moving the transactions off-chain and letting participants sign to the main chain after multiple off-chain transactions.

 

Storage (Decentralized)

Decentralized storage refers to the concept of storing files online by splitting them into encrypted fragments and delegating these fragments to multiple nodes on a distributed network, e.g. a blockchain.

 

Store of Value

A store of value is an asset, commodity or currency that can be saved, retrieved as well as exchanged in the future without it losing any value.

 

Substrate

Substrate is a web app development framework developed by Parity Technologies.

 

Symbol

The ticker of a cryptocurrency; for example, bitcoin’s symbol is BTC.

 

Stealth Address

A way of sending cryptocurrency by giving additional privacy to the recipient. By using a stealth address, you ask payers to generate a unique address in such a way that you can deduce the corresponding private key. So although a single “stealth address” can be visible in public, the blockchain sees all incoming payments as going to separate addresses.

 

Stop Limit

An order to buy or sell an asset that combines the features of a stop order and a limit order. Once a stop price is reached, a limit order is placed.

 

Stop Loss (Stop Order)

An order designed to limit an investor’s loss on a position. A trade that gets executed once a price reaches a certain level.

 

Store of Value

An asset that can be reliably saved, retrieved, exchanged and predictably useful. Anything that retains these qualities as time passes is a good store of value.

 

Swing Trader

A strategy of trading assets over a period of a few days to several weeks, in order to turn a profit.

Taint

The percentage of cryptocurrency in an account that can be traced to another account.

 

Tangle

A type of DAG (directed acyclic graph) used by IOTA. It’s a network consisting of nodes that issue and validate transactions. A qualifying node must choose two other transactions to approve, ensure approved transactions are not conflicting, and solve a cryptographic puzzle. A “coordinator” is currently used as a centralized consensus mechanism to prevent attacks on the network, and is scheduled to be shut down once the network is stable enough.

 

Technical Analysis (TA)

TA is an acronym for Technical Analysis. TA considers the the history of a coin with regards to price charts and trading volume, without focusing on value projections. TA is useful for traders to asses the crypto market.

 

Testnet

An alternate blockchain meant for testing purposes. Coins on this chain have no value.

 

Ticker Symbol

The abbreviation used to identify an asset on an exchange. They are typically 3 or 4 characters, and capitalized. For example, the ticker symbol for Bitcoin is BTC.

 

This Is Gentlemen

Originally an error in writing the full “This is it, gentlemen”. It is now used as an introduction for good news.

 

Token

Token is a word often used interchangeably with cryptocurrencies, or single units of a particular cryptocurrency, but tend to represent a digital asset, utility, or equity that runs on top of another blockchain. Tokens are especially associated with ICOs (initial coin offerings).

 

TGE (Token Generation Event)

Another way of describing an ICO (Initial Coin Offering).

 

Trading Bot

A computer program that automatically buys and sells assets based on the rules that it was programmed with. It can incorporate any number of strategies behind its logic, such as arbitrage, technical analysis or even social media sentiment analysis.

 

Trading Indicator

Trading indicators are any metrics that are used to help inform someone of a potential trade.

 

Trading Signal

Trading signals are automated notifications that suggest to a trader than it is a good time to buy or sell an asset.

 

Trading Pair

A trading pair entails a trade between two different kinds of currency. For example, a Bitcoin-Dash trading pair would mean buying bitcoin with dash or selling dash for bitcoin.

 

Trading Volume

Trading volume refers to the total value of assets and/or securities that are traded in a given period. For example, daily trading volume in a cryptocurrency exchange refers to the total amount of cryptocurrencies that were traded on that exchange over the course of a single day.

 

Total Supply

The amount of coins in existence. This number subtracts any coins that have been burned.

 

Token Generation Event

The time at which a token is issued.

 

Token Swap

Token swaps can refer to one of two things: 1. Direct exchange of a certain amount of one cryptocurrency token for another between users facilitated by a special exchange service. 2. Migration of a cryptocurrency token built on top of one blockchain platform to a different blockchain.

 

Tokenize

The process by which real-world assets are turned into something of digital value called a token, often subsequently able to offer ownership of parts of this asset to different owners.

 

Total Supply

The total amount of coins in existence right now, minus any coins that have been verifiably burned. *see Circulating Supply and Max Supply.

 

Trade Volume

The amount of the cryptocurrency that has been traded in the last 24 hours.

 

Trading Tournament

Trading tournaments are unique crypto trading campaigns organized by cryptocurrency exchanges, encouraging users to trade more to win incentives, such as tokens, hardware wallets and more.

 

TOR (The Onion Router)

Open-source software designed to protect a user from Internet surveillance by routing traffic across a randomized set of proxy servers.

 

Trailing Stop Loss

A specific way of using a stop loss order. As the price of an asset rises, the stop price rises as well. But if the price falls, the stop loss price doesn’t change. This is a way to limit losses while locking in gains.

 

Transaction (TX)

An expense that must be paid to miners in order for a cryptocurrency to be sent to a different wallet. This fee can vary based on how congested the network is, among other things.

 

Transactions Per Second

The number of transactions that a given blockchain can handle/process each second. This is the primary metric used when thinking about scaling blockchains.

 

Trend Line

A line that can be drawn (either horizontal or diagonal) in which the value of a given asset or indicator can frequently bump into but not cross. If a trend line is crossed, a larger price movement often follows.

 

Trustless

A system that minimizes the amount of trust required from any single person or entity in a system by distributing it among many agents within it.

 

Turing Complete

Turing completeness is a quality that a programming language possesses if it can be used to emulate a Turing Machine.

 

Turing Machine

A Turing machine is a system that can simulate any computer algorithm, regardless of its complexity.

 

Txid (Transaction Identifier)

A (mostly) unique identifier for a given transaction.

 

Transaction Unconfirmed

A transaction that has not yet been included on a block, so it is still in a pending state.

 

Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is method of access that requires two different forms of authentication.

UTC Time

Coordinated Universal Time. It is the primary time standard by which the world regulates clocks and time, kept using highly precise atomic clocks combined with the Earth’s rotation.

 

Unbanked

Unbanked refers to those that are either unable to access banking services, or choose not to.

 

Unconfirmed

A state in which a transaction has not been appended to the blockchain.

 

Unpermissioned Ledger

A public blockchain.

 

Utility Token

Tokens that are designed specifically to be able to help people use something.

 

Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO)

UTXOs are a fundamental concept behind the way cryptocurrency is transferred on many blockchains, including Bitcoin. The total UTXOs tied to a given wallet address represents the amount of funds available in that wallet. Every transaction consumes elements from this set and creates new ones. When funds are sent to a wallet address, the remaining balance in that wallet is sent back to itself as an UTXO.

 

User Activated Soft Fork (UASF)

A change in the blockchain protocol enacted by a majority of full nodes (as opposed to miners).

Validator

A participant on a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain, involved in validating blocks for rewards.

 

Vanity Address

An address that you choose yourself, or at least partly. Different blockchains have different capabilities around this.

 

Venture Capital

A form of private equity provided to fund small, early-stage firms considered to have high growth potential.

 

Virgin Bitcoin

A bitcoin that has never been spent.

 

Vitalik Buterin

A co-founder of Ethereum and a prominent voice in the cryptocurrency community.

 

Volatility

Volatility in finance is the level of variation in asset prices measured over time. Measured in % change in price over a given period, high volatility means unstable asset prices that experience wild, hard-to-predict swings in valuation over the short term. Low volatility suggests relatively stable asset prices that do not bounce around unpredictably. Generally speaking, cryptocurrency markets have been characterized by high volatility in the recent past.

 

Volume

The number of coins or tokens traded on an exchange in a given period of time.

 

Volume Spike

When trading volume dramatically increases in a short period of time. This often occurs in tandem with large price movements. A volume spike is often considered to add “conviction” to a price movement, and confirms a breakout from a trend line or pattern.

Wallet

A wallet has a special meaning in the cryptocurrency context. Instead of holding a collection of bills, coins and bank cards, a digital wallet stores bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. A digital wallet is exclusively controlled by its owner.

There are many different types of wallets for cryptocurrency. Some can hold other types of fiat currencies, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. here

 

Wash Trade

A form of market manipulation in which investors create artificial activity in the marketplace by simultaneously selling and buying the same cryptocurrencies.

 

Watchlist

A watchlist is a feature of the website where users can create their own lists of cryptocurrencies to follow. Alternative definition A watchlist is a set of pages a user has selected to monitor for changes.

 

Weak Hands

People who panic sell when the price of an asset begins to plummet.

 

Web 3.0

Web 3.0 is the coming generation of the internet.

 

Wei

The smallest fraction of an Ether, with each Ether to 1000000000000000000 Wei.

 

Whale

A very wealthy person who can single-handedly manipulate the price of an asset.

 

When Lambo

A phrase referring to when cryptocurrency holders will become rich enough to afford the purchase of a Lamborghini.

 

When Moon

A phrase used to ask when the price of cryptocurrencies will explode.

 

Whitepaper

An informational document that outlines a proposed solution or methodology for a given organization. This has become the go-to way for ICOs to market their token.

 

Whitelist

A list of interested participants in an initial coin offering, who registered their intent to take part or purchase in a sale.

 

Wick

In a candlestick chart, a wick is the line extending from the top or the bottom of a candle. It represents the high or low price relative to the opening or closing price. In short, it shows the price extremes within a candle.

 

Wrapped Bitcoin

Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) is an ERC-20 token backed by Bitcoin. Allows BTC to be used in the DeFi & Ethereum ecosystem.

 

Wrapped Ether

Wrapped Ether (WETH) is an ERC-20 token backed by Ethereum. Since Ethereum existed before the ERC-20 standard, it is not natively compatible as a token, and a smart contract must be used to achieve this. Wrapped Ether allows ETH to be directly exchanged for an ERC-20 token without a trusted third party.

XBT

An informal currency code for Bitcoin. You can sometimes use this on your stock ticker app to track the price of BTC.

YTD

Stands for Year to Date.

 

Yield Farming

Yield farming is a process of earning interest and generating a return on capital within the DeFi & Ethereum ecosystem. This refers to a combination of numerous techniques involving incentive schemes, liquidity pools and leverages borrowing. Popular platforms where yield farming takes place include Compound, Aave, 0x, Balancer, Uniswap and Synthetix.

Zero Confirmation Transaction

Alternative phrasing for an unconfirmed transaction.

 

Zero Knowledge Proof

A method that lets someone prove possession of certain information (such as a secret key), without revealing that information, and without any interaction between the prover and verifier.

 

Zero-Sum Game

A system where one persons gain must mean that someone else has incurred a loss. In a zero-sum game, there is no way for everyone to benefit mutually at the same time.

 

Zk-SNARKs

An implementation of a Zero Knowledge Proof used by ZCash among other cryptocurrencies.

0x (ZRX)

0x is an open, permissionless protocol allowing for ERC-20 tokens to be traded on the Ethereum blockchain. It offers a cheaper and faster solution than possible on the Ethereum blockchain directly, and is often used to help build DEXs. Users place their orders off-chain, which removes the need to pay fees. Only the actual transfers of value occur on-chain. Relayers broadcast all the off-chain orders of the 0x network to the rest of the network to match buyers with sellers. 0x is already being used by a number of blockchain projects.

 

51% Attack

A specific method of attacking a blockchain, where a single group of miners control more than 50% of the network. This allows a centralized party to control the “truth”, effectively destroying its integrity.