From Airdrops to Zero-Knowledge proofs, explore concise explanations and key insights for the terms that shape the digital asset economy.
An economic term that refers to an actor's direct advantage in efficiency due to having superior production capability.
An investing strategy is used by fund managers who aim to outperform the index or market to generate profits.
A form of distribution that awards holders of particular existing cryptocurrencies
An unambiguous set of instructions used to solve a specified class of problems.
An order to buy or sell a stock that will execute only in its entirety. If not, the order won't execute at all.
Dividing the total token supply into segments and determining if they can be earned, reserved, or purchased.
When used as an indication of active return on an investment, it measures the asset price against the overall market movement. The excess return…
Short for “Alternative Coin”, refers to all coins except Bitcoin.
Short for “Anti Money Laundering.” A set of regulations determined by a nation to combat money laundering.
Private investors who provide financial support to new startups in return for equity rights.
Short for “Application Programming Interface.” It is a piece of code that enables interaction between software to enable various tasks like obtaining real market…
Accelerated Processing Unit. A term coined by the semiconductor manufacturer AMD, it offers a CPU and GPU integrated onto a single die allowing for…
Taking advantage of variable prices across multiple exchanges in order to sell assets at a profit, despite little to no market movement.
An ascending triangle is generally considered to be a continuation pattern, meaning that the pattern is significant if it occurs within an uptrend or…
Application Specific integrated circuits. Computing units designed for use on a single algorithm providing high performance and power efficiency
The lowest price sellers determine as willing to accept.
The All Time High price of a cryptocurrency.
A medium to perform direct, peer to peer cross chain exchanges from one blockchain to another, without an intermediate trusted third party or escrow…
The entry points for unauthorized access into a system.
Someone who has bought at a recent high and is left holding onto their asset, waiting to sell at the next point it breaks…
Short for “Binance Blockchain Charity Foundation.” BCF is the world's first decentralized charity platform. It was established to advocate the concept of blockchain for…
A descriptive term borrowed from stock markets to describe a negative market outlook.
Short for “Binance Ecosystem Fund.” It is an initiative founded by Binance to establish collaborations within the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Short for “Binance Chain Evolution Proposal 2.” It defines a set of technical rules and specifications to create a new token on the Binance…
It is a token standard to use when transferring crypto assets from other chains to the Binance Smart Chain. It is an extension of…
The technical standard to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Binance Smart Chain. It is an extension of Ethereum ERC-721, the most commonly used…
A Binance Evolution Proposal that introduces a real-time burning mechanism to Binance Smart Chain.
When used to indicate software status, it refers to an early test version of a program. Beta versions are released for users to test…
The highest price a buyer is willing to pay for an asset.
It is the difference between the highest bid price and the lowest ask price of an asset.
This term is used to refer to the most unexpected event that has the maximum possibility to occur in the market.
Blocks are linearly arranged data structures that permanently record the transaction data on a blockchain.
Similar to the File Explorer of a computer’s operating system. It allows users to browse blockchain data such as addresses, transactions, blocks tokens and…
The section exists in each block that contains the information hashed when the block is mined. It is used to identify the block.
The number of blocks in the chain between the current block being minted and the genesis block.
A mechanism that awards miners with newly minted bitcoin, acting as an incentive for users to add hashing power to the network.
The average time it takes for the network to find a solution to the block hash.
A system of recording information in chronological order on a decentralized distributed ledger.
A technical analysis indicator measuring SMA20 and an upper and lower line.
Usage of the word “build” in the same fashion as “HODL”, refers to keeping your heads down and focusing on building a project.
Refers to having a positive trend in the prices of a market.
A descriptive term borrowed from stock markets to describe a positive market outlook.
A process where Cryptocurrencies remove stored tokens from the circulating supply.
Refers to a single huge buy order, or a composition of multiple large buy orders created at the same price.
A consensus mechanism that offers secure validation across a distributed set of data, stemming from information propagation theory labelled as the Byzantine Generals problem.
A block that a miner is trying to mine when it's not yet verified or added to the blockchain.
A representation of the price activity of an asset during a specific timeframe that displays four main price levels: open and close, and the…
Refers to losing hope in the asset and selling them at a loss to leave as quickly as possible.
A characteristic of a cryptocurrency network that prevents any entity to control transactions on it.
Short for “Commodity Futures Trading Commission,” a US-based agency responsible for regulating the derivatives markets.
An algorithm is used to encrypt and decrypt messages.
Refers to the total number of coins or tokens that are publicly available in the market and can be traded.
A cryptocurrency or digital cash that is operating on an independent blockchain and used as an exchange of value.
A storage method that keeps the wallet off of the internet when it is not being actively used.
Refers to the crypto asset that the borrower provides as a guarantee that the borrower will pay back.
A separate space in a data center of stock exchanges that is shared with other entities such as high-frequency traders.
Refers to the time between the moment a transaction is submitted to the network and the moment it got recorded into a confirmed block.
Ensures that all users taking part in the minting process maintain the same version the chain, whilst preventing any single party from using their…
Short for “Consumer Price Index,” which is a collection of assets whose price is tracked to gain market insight.
Central processing unit. A generalised processor used as the main ‘brains’ for a computer.
The process where a blockchain offers investors newly minted tokens or coins, often at a discounted rate, in exchange for capital.
Crypto is a form of medium of exchange that exists digitally or virtually and is secured by cryptography.
A science of using mathematical theories and computation to encrypt and decrypt information..
Refers to the holding of assets on behalf of a client.
Short for “Decentralized Autonomous Cooperative,” an organization that is controlled by its shareholders rather than a central authority.
Directed Acyclical Graph. A data structure that flows in one direct, it allows for chains to sprawl out into multi-threaded structures, increasing throughput whilst…
Decentralised Autonomous Organization. A business model that operates on a series of set parameters, built into the company from inception allowing the company to…
Stands for Decentralised Application. Where in part or all of the applications software stack is hosted, stored and processed on a network of systems…
Short for “Dollar Cost Averaging”, refers to a strategy where an investor invests fixed dollar amounts over a regular time period instead of all…
Distributed Denial of Service. A malicious attack that prevents users from communicating with the network by flooding the provider with requests in a way…
A death cross appears on a chart when an asset’s short-term moving average crosses below the long-term moving average indicating the potential for a…
Reverting the encrypted data back to its readable version.
Short for decentralized finance. DeFi offers financial vehicles without relying on intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks by using smart contracts on a…
Takes the fundamentals of proof of stake and adds a democratic element whereby the community elect Witness’ to secure the network and vote power…
Removal of a coin or token from a cryptocurrency exchange.
An attack by creating either a smart contract, decentralized market or other software with knowledge of certain flaws to trick users who are interacting…
Decentralized Exchange. A cryptocurrency exchange platform that facilitates trading of assets on its own distributed ledger, removing the need for a centralized authority and…
A term used specifically for Ethereum blockchain, referring to increasing mining difficulty due to its migration to proof of stake.
A unique digital identifier that allows for a user to distinctly recognise and validate a file or transaction, usually through the use of a…
A digital record of transactions that is maintained by a group of clients where changes and additions are verified across all parties to ensure…
Implies that a crypto asset is spent twice. Usually occurs as a result of a 51% attack.
Short for “Do Your Own Research”, used in crypto communities as a piece of advice before investing in any crypto asset.
Occurs when the majority of nodes are malicious and collectively prevent specific nodes from receiving information from the honest nodes.
Short for “Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.” EEA is a member-led organization that aims at driving the use of the Ethereum blockchain as an open standard…
Explain it Like I’m 5. A borrowed abbreviation form reddit used ask for a concise, beginner level explanation.
A technique to secure data into a code to prevent unauthorized access.
Similar to a DNS within internet infrastructure, it allows user to obtain a “custom domain” .eth address, instead of using regular hexadecimal hash.
An Ethereum-based non-fungible token.
A protocol that outlines the specific functions and events that allow blockchains to interact with other via the Ethereum Blockchain. ERC20 tokens are currently…
A service that provides transaction security by acting as an impartial trusted third party, holding onto an asset until the terms of a contract…
An open source blockchain that acts as a distributed computing platform and operating system, allowing decentralized applications and smart contracts be executed.
Ethereum Virtual Machine. An Ethereum runtime environment for smart contracts, Isolated from the rest of the networks, allowing new software to be tested in…
A centralized or decentralized market used to buy or sell coins.
A term used in technical analysis to refer to a situation in which the investor enters into a position in anticipation of a future…
A site or application that will reward it’s users with a cryptocurrency for completing specified tasks and assignments.
Currency that has no direct material backing, usually in reference to debt based markets such as USD.
Fiat money refers to currencies issued and backed by governments.
A scenario in which Litecoin (LTC) overtakes Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in terms of market capitalization.
A scenario in where Ethereum overtakes Bitcoin as the dominant cryptocurrency.
Short for “Fill or Kill Order.” Refers to a buy or sell order which will be canceled unless it is executed immediately and completely.
Fear of Missing Out. Trades or Investment that is derived from an emotional reaction of wanting to take part in a popular trend.
A global market for trading fiat currencies. short for “Foreign Exchange Markets”
Checking the correctness of a system using cryptographic algorithms and mechanisms.
Frontier AI refers to extremely powerful foundation models that might have potentially dangerous capabilities that could seriously jeopardize public safety.
Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt that affects markets, usually in a negative fashion.
Someone who uses an elevated media platform or social network to perpetuate Fear Uncertainty and Doubt through the investing community in order to effect…
A computer that validates blocks and transactions by implementing all the rules of the chain. Unlike nodes, which download only key data and act…
Trying to determine the real value of an asset using all publicly available information.
An agreement that can be traded on exchanges that stipulates a buy or sell price of an asset at a specific price and time.
A measurement given to functions on the Ethereum blockchain to denote how computationally expensive they will be, this is offered to the miners who…
The maximum a user is willing to reward a miner in order to have their transaction processed, higher prices ensure faster transaction times.
A type of license that allows users to copy and modify software.
The first block of a blockchain, almost always hardcoded into the software clients — the only block in the chain that has no reference…
A website where teams can share their open-source codes.
An abbreviation for good morning, which in crypto is a friendly and quick way of wishing your followers or community a joyous day. GM…
A golden cross occurs when a short-term moving average crosses above a long-term moving average signaling a potential bullish breakout.
A procedure for peer-to-peer communication where nodes share the “gossip” of a transaction to their connected nodes.
Graphics Processing Unit. A specialized electronic circuit that utilizes a highly parallelized structure and high speed memory to rapidly process rendering and manipulating graphical…
The denomination in which gas prices are paid for on the Ethereum blockchain.
Refers to the process where the payout for reward mechanism for blockchain miners is halved when particular conditions are met.
Refers to the maximum amount of tokens that can be generated.
A software of protocol change that renders previous versions incompatible.
A wallet built upon a secure hardware platform that implement processes and platform specific software to provide greater security for their users.
Refers to the required total computational speed of mining hardware to calculate new hashes.
The process of transforming data using a mathematical function into a value or key that is reprehensive of the original data set. Used in…
Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet. Uses a 12 word mnemonic phrase or ‘seed’ to generate a Hierarchical tree like structure of keys, allowing the user to…
Short for “High Frequency Trading.” An algorithmic trading method that involves the execution of a large number of small amount orders within seconds.
A meme in the crypto community that is a purposeful misspelling of the word “hold.” Another interpretation for HODL is an acronym meaning, “hold…
Short for “Hashed TimeLock Contract.” A type of smart contract that reduces risk by creating a time-based escrow that unlocks with a cryptographic passphrase.
A trading method in which a large buy or sell order is divided into several small ones.
A passively managed fund, where investors are buying into a portfolio that a particular segment of the market, called an index. Examples include the…
Similar to Crowdsale, provides blockchain with a one-time event allowing investors to buy tokens at a discounted rate and provide the chain with start-up…
A fundraising method through which coins are sold through a trusted exchange market.
A fundraising method where tokens are sold through a trusted private company.
Refers to the ability of different blockchains to be compatible with each other, transfer data from one another and build upon each others' features.
Internet of Things. Used to describe one of landmark stages of the internet in where non-human web traffic, in the form of internet connected…
Short for “InterPlanetary File System,” an open-source, distributed peer-to-peer network to store and share data.
A margin balance is allocated to an individual position. It restricts the amount of margin allocated to each position and thereby reduces risks.
A family of cryptographic hashing functions which utilize sponge construction in order to provide wider random permutation, leading to greater flexibility in its use…
Know Your Customer. A process used as an anti-money laundering countermeasure that involves investors providing exchanges and banks with verifiable means of identification such…
A meme referring to the luxury vehicle investors will buy with their new found crypto wealth.
The time delay between submitting a transaction to a network and the first confirmation of the transaction.
Refers to the readiness of consumers to buy a certain amount of assets from a certain price.
The first layer of a blockchain which includes the necessary elements to build the chain itself, such as hardware for mining and an internet…
Refers to an operating blockchain.
Refers to a solution protocol built on the layer 1 blockchain. Layer 2 solutions usually aim at providing scalability and speed to the layer…
A record-keeping system where the monetary and identity details of transactions are recorded anonymously.
A blockchain scalability model that greatly expands throughput, speed, cost effectiveness and compatibility.
The Liquidation Sensitivity Index is a financial metric devised by CryptoSlate used to gauge the market's reaction to price movements in the crypto markets, particularly Bitcoin.…
Refers to the ease of buying or selling an asset without causing significant price fluctuations.
Addition of an asset to an exchange market.
These are individuals or entities that have held onto their Bitcoin for a longer period, typically considered to be more than 155 days.
Referring to processes or transactions that occur on the most currently released version of a particular blockchain.
Refers to the migration of an asset from one blockchain network to another.
A high-risk trading behavior where the investor uses borrowed funds.
A measurement of the market valuation for outstanding tokens. Calculated by taking the price of a single token and multiplying it by the amount…
Refers to a continuous increase or decrease in market price within a certain timeframe.
Nodes that verify new blocks and carry-out special governing roles, unlike regular nodes that add new transaction blocks to the blockchain.
Indicates the maximum number of tokens that will be created.
A hashing function developed in 1992 due to known vulnerabilities predominately used for checksums and data validity.
A node's mechanism for storing unconfirmed transactions.
Mining more than one cryptocurrency at the same time without sacrificing hash rate.
Also known as a Hash Tree, is a data structure where every child node contains a hashing label of the node that exists above…
A data type that includes basic information about other data, such as its features or a transaction.
A virtual world where, one day, we will all interact, create, work, and live our lives. Crypto will play a pivotal in the metaverse…
My Ether Wallet. A free open source tool to create ERC-20 compatible Ethereum wallets, currently the industry standard.
A process where algorithms use mathematical function to guess the hash of a block. This acts as collection, validation.
Collection of multiple miners, or a large data center devoted to crypto mining.
The process where market value of an asset skyrockets, exceeding investor’s expectations, often used as a meme.
An observational rule of thumb credited to Gordon Moore in 1965 stating that the density of integrated circuits will double every approximately two years.
A technical analysis tool used to forecast future prices by indicating the relationship between two moving averages to provide a metric for price momentum.
A Japanese cryptocurrency exchange that in 2013 accounted for over 70% of all bitcoin transactions, hacked in 2014 and filing for bankruptcy, its influence…
A digital signature scheme which allows multiple user to sign a contract or wallet.
A term introduced by Bloomberg Senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas to refer to a group of nine spot Bitcoin ETFs that were launched in…
An abbreviation for non-fungible token. Unlike most cryptocurrencies, which are fungible, NFT's defining characteristic is that they cannot be divided or split into multiple…
An abbreviation for not going to make it. i.e., “Dave sold all his Bitcoin at the bottom. He's NGMI!”
A point of conversion in the network that acts as a redistribution or end point.
A random arbitrary number used to timestamp or otherwise ensure the order of a transaction in order to prevent against a replay attack.
Short for “one cancels the other order.” Refers to a pair of contradicting orders created together where only one of them can be executed.
A transaction or process that occurs outside the main blockchain.
Originating from the software industry, it is a program whose source code is made freely available to anybody, allowing them to study, change and…
A third party data feed used by smart contracts to trigger events.
Refers to a block that has been created but was not accepted by the network to be added to the main blockchain.
Stands for Peer to Peer. Denoting the ability for two computers to communicate across a network without a server or central authority.
Paper Bitcoin is the term for Bitcoin derivatives that don't require direct cryptocurrency ownership.
An offline wallet that is simply the private key and address printed on paper, usually alongside a QR code, one of the safest ways…
A type of decentralized communication model created by two or more nodes who come together to share the workload and communicate.
Refers to the currencies which are linked to a specific (usually government-backed) asset in terms of their price. For example, USDT is pegged to…
A phishing attack happens when the attacker attempts to acquire the credentials of users to gain access to their wallets.
Projects who compete to reserve a spot on the Polkadot chain ask their supporters to stake Polkadots (DOT) to support their projects. This process…
An investment fraud in which the attacker collects funds from investors with promises of high returns, and uses the collected funds to pay certain…
A token event sale that operates before an ICO campaign, often with lower targets.
An accumulation of buy or sell orders at a specific price.
Operates in tandem with a Public key as part of common asymmetric cryptography standards, this key should never be shared.
A protocol that uses blockchain technology to create badges or collectibles to mark the attendance at an event.
A centralised validation method that gives the right to validate to only to eligible parties that have been approved by an authority.
Also known as proof of space. This validation method is similar to PoW, but requires miners to pre-mine unique hashes, relying more on large…
A power efficient transaction validation system in where users must ‘stake’ their coins in order to mint new blocks, minting of fraudulent transactions will…
A transaction validation system that requires the use of a computationally intensive process within the network that acts as a deterrent to prevent denial…
A function that can produce an outcome that can pass statistical randomness tests.
The process of buying a large amount of tokens at once, usually as a co-ordinated group, in order to artificially inflate or ‘pump’ the…
Refers to two transactions that are created simultaneously with the purpose of spending the same funds twice.
An ERC-20 compatible token designed to leverage secure payment channels in order to create an off-chain scaling solution for the Ethereum Blockchain.
A type of virus that threatens to destroy or publish private data unless a ransom is paid.
Synonym for liquidated.
Used as a synonym for “liquidated.”
A digital signature topology developed in 2001 leveraged in security focused cryptocurrencies, as a mechanism to anonymise transactions.
Short for “Return of Investment.” Calculated via the ratio between net profit and net cost, it is used as a measure for evaluating the…
An internet service provider level attack to manipulate the participation in an online system. Used on blockchains to manipulate nodes and mining.
Relative Strength Index. A common trading metric that provides a visual indicator of general market trends.
A scam where a project team unexpectedly abandons the project and sells all its liquidity.
The smallest quantifiable amount of Bitcoin, one-billionth of a single Bitcoin or 0.000000001 BTC.
The pseudonymous name used by the original inventor of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
A power efficient hashing algorithm that is more RAM intensive than SHA-256, it saw its debut in the cryptocurrency market as the algorithm of…
Short for “Securities and Exchange Commission.” It is a US government agency responsible for regulating the securities markets.
Used as a point of origin for certain wallets, it uses a mnemonic phrase to generate a wallet ID which can then be used…
Short for “Segregated Witness.” This refers to separating transaction signatures from Bitcoin transactions to increase the number of transactions recorded in one block.
Refers to when a miner strategically withholds or releases new blocks to the blockchain to create a competitive advantage for himself.
Happens when an accumulation of sell orders at a certain price level reaches a very large amount.
Stands for Secure Hashing Algorithm: a standard of hashing algorithm developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the latest iteration being labeled…
A scalability solution for the Ethereum blockchain that validates the blockchain in a parallelised manner.
A measurement created in 1966 and used by investors to evaluate the return on investment.
Conversely, these are individuals or entities that have held their Bitcoin for a shorter period, usually less than 155 days.
A separate blockchain, attached to a parent blockchain that allows assets to be interchangeable, in turn increasing the scope, throughput and availability of their…
One of the five finalists of the NIST hash function competition, based on the Threefish tweakable block cypher. Skein allows for a modular package…
A digital protocol used to facilitate and enforce the negotiation of a contract without use of a third party.
A change to the software or protocol that allows for backwards compatible with previous versions.
A software based wallet that is able to be hosted as a desktop, mobile or web application, many providing cross-platform integration with all three.
A programming language based around EMCA Script and by extension JavaScript, created specifically for writing Smart contracts.
A type of cryptocurrency that is backed by reserve assets and therefore can offer price stability.
A way of earning passive income from cryptocurrencies. When investors stake their coins, they don't sell them and can't trade them. In return, the…
Staking pools are created by miners to increase their chance of successfully validating a new block.
IOTA’s DAG based alternative to the blockchain data structure, aimed predominantly at the IoT sector. It provides high throughput and instantaneous, feeless transactions. Each…
A term used in traditional financial markets to refer to a strong downwards trend in the price history of a certain asset.
An alternative blockchain running separate to the main chain used for developers to prototype software and updates to ensure stability before launch.
A combination of letters used to represent a cryptocurrency on trading platforms. (Example: BTC, ETH, USDT etc.)
A type of cryptocurrency issued on a blockchain. Unlike coins, tokens can represent an asset and be redeemed for them, or hold value on…
A pre-planned lock-up or vesting period where tokens or coins are not allowed to be traded or liquidated. Usually set following a token sale…
Selling tokens in return for cryptocurrencies. Same as Initial Coin Offering.
The Onion Router. An anonymous communications network that encrypts data with multiple layers of security as it passes through nodes, bouncing traffic randomly through…
Shows the number of assets that currently are in circulation or locked.
Short for “Transaction per Second.” Shows the number of transactions a blockchain is able to issue per second.
A set of characters unique to each verified transaction on the blockchain.
A system that can be used to solve any possible computational problem.
An abbreviation for total value locked. TVL refers to the total value of crypto assets locked in protocols. For example, Aave has over $20…
Abbreviation for “we're all going to make it,” i.e. “All my friends bought Ethereum in 2017 and we held. WAGMI!”
A software program that stores public and private keys, allowing the user to interact and perform transactions on blockchain.
Similar to an email address, a wallet address acts as a destination for crypto to be sent to or received.
Concept created by Vitalik Buterin to refer to a requirement of PoS blockchains where certain nodes have to rely on other ones when determining…
The first version of the web consists of read-only pages connected via hyperlinks.
The version of the web where participants can create content for an audience.
The version of the web built on the ideas of decentralization, openness, and privacy.
The smallest denomination of ETH. One ETH is equal to 1018 wei.
A cryptocurrency investor with enough resources to move the market price significantly with large buy or sell orders.
(A.k.a. Wick or shadow) Vertical lines extend from the candle charts that show the highest and lowest points of a trading pair.
A spam filtering mechanism where only users registered to the list will be granted communications or access.
Wrapped tokens represent the original token at a 1:1 ratio and allow users to trade from the main chain to ERC-20 tokens.
