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51% Attack

Also known as a Majority Attack. When one or a group of miners control greater than 50% of the network's mining hashrate or computational power.

A

Absolute Advantage

An economics concept in which one party has a direct advantage in efficiency in producing/providing a specific good or service over another party.

Ad Hoc

A phrase of Latin origin that is used in modern English to mean "for this purpose" or "specifically for this."

Address

String of text that designates the location of a particular wallet on the blockchain. Often a hashed version of a public key.

Airdrop

The distribution of digital assets to the public, either by virtue of holding a certain other token or simply by virtue of being an active wallet address on a particular blockchain

Algorithm

A sequence of unambiguous instructions used for the purpose of solving a problem.

All or None Order (AON)

An order which once placed, must either be filled in its entirety or not at all. This prevents any partial filling of orders. All-Time High (ATH) The highest price of a cryptocurrency in a quote​ currency, such as a dollar, BTC, ETH, or BNB

Allocation

An allotment of tokens or equity, that may be earned, purchased, or set aside for a certain investor, team, group, organization, or other related entity.

Alpha

The first look at a product released by a team, consisting of the very first version of a primitive, basic software or product.

Altcoin

A cryptocurrency that is alternative to Bitcoin. Used to describe cryptocurrencies that are not Bitcoin.

Anti Money Laundering (AML)

A framework consisting of legal and regulatory procedures to minimize and curb the flow of funds that are generated from illegal or dubious activities.

Application Programming Interface (API)

A collection of functions and procedures that allow users to interact/communicate with the data of an application or service, such as an exchange, to execute the features of the service programmatically.

Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)

An Integrated Circuit customized for maximum performance in a particular use, rather than general-purpose use.

Arbitrage

Buying and selling of assets over different markets in order to take advantage of differing prices on the same asset.

ASIC-resistant

Achieved by requiring a large amount of memory when mining. This means that additional physical area is needed on the chip. As a result an ASIC would experience no significant speed increase.

Asking Price

The lowest price a seller is willing to accept on their sell order when trading an asset on an exchange.

Atomic Swap

Smart contract technology that enables the exchange of one cryptocurrency for another without using centralized intermediaries, such as exchanges.

Attack surface

Different points in software environments where an attacker can attempt to enter data or extract data.

B

Bear Market

A negative trend in prices of a market. It is widely used not only in the cryptocurrency space but also in the traditional markets.

Benchmark

A measurement standard which can be used to gauge the performance of a particular asset or investment portfolio.

Bid Price

In the context of financial markets, it is the value buyers offer for an asset, such as a commodity, security, or cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin

A cryptocurrency created by the pseudonymous developer(s) Satoshi Nakamoto. The first cryptocurrency, initially described as a "Peer-to-Peer e-cash".

Bitcoin Dominance

The ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization versus the sum of the market capitalizations of all cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Pizza

The infamous Papa John's Pizza that cost Laszlo Hanyecz 10,000 Bitcoin when he offered the sum to anyone who bought a pizza for him online and ordered it to his door.

Black Swan Event

An event that is often entirely unexpected and deviates from the expected result causing widespread ramifications.

Block Explorer

An online Blockchain webpage which allows users to browse information about blocks, transactions, balances, and transaction histories.

Block Height

The number of blocks in the chain between itself and the first block on that blockchain (genesis block or block 0).

Blockchain (DLT)

A decentralized, digitized ledger that records transaction information about a cryptocurrency in a chronological order.

Bounty

A reward posted by a group or individual to incentivize certain work, behavior (such as referrals), or development.

Breakeven Multiple

The multiple of the current price by which an asset needs to appreciate in order to reach its previous all-time high.

BUIDL

Originally derived from HODL, a term referring to keeping your heads down and focusing on building your product.

Bull Market

A positive trend in prices of a market. It is widely used not only in the cryptocurrency space but also in the traditional markets.

Buy Wall

A single huge buy order or the composition of multiple large buy orders at the same price in the order book of a particular market.

C

Candidate Block

A temporary block created by mining nodes using transactions from the memory pool. Each mining node tries to add this candidate block to the blockchain.

Capitulation

Capitulation refers to a period of strong selling activity, where investors give up their positions and sell their holdings as quickly as possible.

Central Bank

A financial institution that acts as a monetary authority and manages a states currency, interest rates, and money supply.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The part of a computer responsible for interpreting instructions of computer programs and executing operations.

Circulating Supply

The best approximate number of cryptocurrency coins or tokens that are publicly available and circulating in the market.

Coin

A cryptocurrency or digital cash that is independent of any other platform, which is used as an exchange of value.

Confirmation Time

The time elapsed when a transaction is submitted to the network and the time it is recorded into a confirmed block.

Credentials

Personal information. Examples include username, password, email address, qualifications and many more.

Cryptocurrency

A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that is secured by cryptography. One of its primary functions is to work as a medium of exchange within a peer-to-peer (P2P) economic system built on distributed ledger technology, which relies on cryptography to prevent frauds and counterfeiting. Most cryptocurrency systems are decentralized and maintained by a distributed network of computers (nodes) spread around the world.

Cryptography

Cryptography is a method of storing and sending data in a form so that it can only be read and processed by its intended recipient.

Custody

Ownership of one's funds or assets; in crypto, holding custody of a wallet and its assets also means holding the private keys and the responsibility of keeping funds safe.

D

Daemon

A process operating in the background waiting for a specific event or condition in order to be activated.

Decentralized Application (dApp)

Applications that run on a P2P network of computers rather than one central computer. This allows the software to run on the internet without being controlled by a single entity.

Decentralized Autonomous Cooperative (DAC)

An organization that is controlled by shareholders rather than a central authority.

Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)

In general, a system of hard coded rules that define which actions an organization will take. The DAO may also refer specifically to the DAO Organization that was instantiated on the Ethereum blockchain.

Decentralized Exchange

An exchange which does not require users to deposit funds to start trading and does not hold the funds for the user. Instead, users trade directly from their own wallets.

Delisting

The removal of an asset from an exchange either as a request from the project team or as a decision made by the exchange.

Design Flaw Attack

An attack in which a malicious user purposely creates a smart-contract, decentralized market, or other software with knowledge of certain flaws in order to trick individuals interacting within the permissionless environment.

Difficulty Bomb

A significant increase in mining difficulty for a proof-of-work coin. This term is often used in reference to Ethereum's exponentially increasing difficulty.

Divergence

Divergence occurs when the price of an asset and a certain indicator (e.g. MACD, RSI) are heading in opposite directions.

Do Your Own Research (DYOR)

A valuable piece of advice. It's always wise to research a coin or token yourself instead of following what others say.

Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA)

Investing fixed dollar amounts over regular periods of time regardless of the price of the asset.

Double Spending

When a given amount of coins are spent more than once. Usually as a result of a race attack or a 51% attack.

E

Eclipse Attack

When the majority of peers on the network are malicious and monopolize the network in order to prevent specific nodes from receiving information from honest nodes.

Encryption

Conversion of information or data into a secure code in order to prevent unauthorised access to the information or data.

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA)

The industry’s first global standards organization to deliver an open, standards-based architecture and specification to accelerate the adoption of Enterprise Ethereum.

ERC-20

A technical standard used on the Ethereum Blockchain. ERC stands for Ethereum Request for Comments. '20' is the unique proposal ID number.

ERC-721

An Ethereum based non-fungible token. ERC stands for Ethereum Request for Comments. '721' is the unique proposal ID number.

Exchange

A marketplace for cryptocurrencies where users can buy and sell coins.

F

Fiat

Money that a government has declared to be legal tender.

Fill Or Kill Order (FOK)

A buy or sell order which must be executed immediately in its entirety or else it will be cancelled.

Flappening

The name to describe the moment when Litecoin (LTC) surpassed Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in terms of market capitalization

Flippening

The name to describe the moment when/if Ethereum (ETH) surpasses Bitcoin (BTC) in terms of market capitalization

Forced Liquidation

When a broker forcibly liquidates an investors position as a result of their position falling below the margin requirement.

Formal Verification

Using mathematically rigorous proofs to ensure certain properties of cryptographic algorithms and blockchain mechanisms

Full Node

A computer that fully implements the entirety of rules of an underlying blockchain network and completely validates transactions and blocks on a blockchain.

Fundamental Analysis (FA)

Evaluating an asset based on its underlying characteristics and traits as an effort towards arriving at an intrinsic value of the asset.

Futures Contract

A standardized version of forward contracts that are used as a legal agreement to buy or sell an asset in the future at an agreed upon price and date.

G

Genesis Block

The genesis block is the first ever block recorded on its respective blockchain network, also referred to as Block 0 or Block 1.

GitHub

A site/system/folder/repository where a team can share, collaborate, and save their open source or propietary code.

H

Halving

When the block reward of a crypto asset, such as bitcoin, drops to one-half of what it was before; this is used to create a decaying rate of issuance to arrive at an eventual finite supply of a crypto asset.

HODL

A typo of "Hold" originating from bitcointalk that has also been retrofitted to be an acronym for Hold on for Dear Life - to maintain ownership of coins and not sell.

Honeypot

A mechanism used in computer security used to detect or counteract unauthorized access of information systems.

I

Iceberg Order

A conditional order to buy or sell a large amount of assets in smaller predetermined quantities in order to conceal the total order quantity.

Index

A financial instrument used to track the price value of a given asset or basket of assets

Initial Coin Offering (ICO)

A fundraising method in which new projects will sell their cryptocurrency to investors.

Initial Exchange Offering (IEO)

A fundraising method designed to reduce the risk for token purchasers by introducing a trusted intermediary between the project team and the user.

Initial Public Offering (IPO)

Refers to the moment a private company starts offering its shares to the public for the first time.

Integrated Circuit (IC)

A small chip, typically made of silicon, that holds a set of electronic parts such as transistors, resistors or capacitors.

Interoperability

A concept of allowing blockchains to be compatible with each other and build upon each other's features and use-cases.

K

Keccak

A versatile cryptographic function designed by Guido Bertoni, Joan Daemen, Michaël Peeters, and Gilles Van Assche.

Know Your Customer (KYC)

A standard procedure in the finance industry which allows companies to identify their customers and comply with KYC AML laws

L

Lightning Network

A second layer operating on top of a blockchain, enabling increased transaction speed among participating nodes. This is one proposed scaling solution.

M

Mainnet

A blockchain protocol which is fully developed and deployed where transactions are being broadcasted, verified, and recorded.

Maker

You become a “maker” when you place an order and it does not trade immediately, so your order stays in the order book and waits for someone else to fill/match with it later.

Malware

Any software program or code that is created to infiltrate and intentionally cause damage to computer systems and networks.

Margin Trading

Trading using borrowed funds - note: this is a high risk strategy and should only be done by experienced investors.

Market Capitalization

The total trading value of a given coin - calculated by the product of the supply of the coin by the current price.

Market Order

When a taker picks the best available bid or ask for a cryptocurrency, taking the price and quantity available on the order book.

Masternode

Nodes on a network that often require a minimum amount of a given coin staked in order to access staking rewards.

Merkle Tree

A way of organizing and structuring large amounts of data to make it more straightforward to process. A hash-based data structure.

Metadata

Data that includes information about other data, such as information about features of a specific transaction.

Mining

The verification of transactions on a blockchain network, in which transactions are added as entries into the blockchain ledger.

Mining Farm

A collection of many miners, often in a warehouse or large data center devoted to mining cryptocurrencies

Multisignature

Wallet which requires another party to authorize a transaction before it is broadcasted to the network.

N

Nonce

A single-use arbitrary string or number generated for verification purposes to prevent replaying past transactions.

O

Off-chain

Transactions that occur off a given blockchain network, that may be later reported or batched together before submitted

Offshore account

An account that is registered in a jurisdiction that is different to the jurisdiction of the holder's citizenship.

Oracle

A data source or feed from a third party used for determining outcomes for smart contracts

P

Paper Wallet

A pair of public and private keys that individuals can print out onto a sheet of paper for safekeeping.

Pegged Currency

A currency where the price is designed to remain the same as a designated asset. For example: 1 USDT is pegged to 1 USD. Also referred to as a stablecoin.

Phishing

A malicious attack where a bad actor will attempt to obtain the credentials of a user in order to gain unauthorised access into their account.

Plasma

An Ethereum off-chain scaling solution which may allow Etherum to greatly increase the transactions per second capablities.

Ponzi Scheme

A scam in which new investors' funds are used to pay returns promised to previous investors. Do not invest in these.

Private Sale

An early stage investment round for strategic investors with a considerable amount of investible funds.

Pseudorandom

The property of a definite function that can produce an outcome that passes statistical tests of randomness.

Q

Quantum Computing

Quantum computing works using particles that can be in superposition. These particles represent qubits instead of bits and can take the value of 1, 0 or both simultaneously.

R

Race attack

When two transactions are created with the same funds at the same time, with the intention of spending those funds twice.

Ransomware

A type of malware which takes over your computer and threatens to destroy or reveal files unless a ransom is paid.

Resistance

A term in Technical Analysis (TA). When a price that is increasing finds resistance. Usually compared with previous highs.

Return on Investment (ROI)

A measure used in order to assess the efficiency of an investment. The ratio between net profit and net cost.

Routing Attack

An attack on the Internet Service Provider level to affect uptime or participation in a web-enabled system, such as a blockchain.

S

Satoshi Nakamoto

Satoshi Nakamoto was the pseudonym of the creator or creators of the bitcoin protocol and whitepaper.

Segregated Witness (SegWit)

A process where the transaction signatures are separated from bitcoin transactions. Allowing more transactions to fit within one block.

Smart Contract

Smart contracts are automated contracts that trigger certain action when predetermined conditions are met. It works like "If…then" conditions as for instance, it needs condition C met before money can be transferred from A to B.

Stablecoin

A type of cryptocurrency that is designed to maintain a stable value, rather than experiencing significant price changes.

State Channel

A two-way communication channel between two users or nodes on a network, or between a user and a service.

Supercomputer

A computer or virtual machine that operates at the highest level of currently possible computing power.

Supply Chain

A network of people and businesses involved in creating and distributing a particular product or serving a particular customer.

Support

A term in Technical Analysis (TA). When a price that is decreasing finds 'support'. Usually compared with lows.

T

Taker

The "taker" is someone who decides to place an order that is instantly matched with an existing order on the order book.

Ticker

The trading "symbol" or shortened name (typically in capital letters) that refer to a coin on a trading platform. For example: BNB

Token Sale

The issuance of tokens in exchange for another cryptocurrency. Also referred to as an Initial Coin Offering.

Total Supply

Refers to the number of coins or tokens that currently exists and are either in circulation or locked somehow.

Transaction ID (TXID)

Transaction ID also referred to as a Transaction hash. This is a transaction identifier used to reference transactions on a blockchain.

Transactions Per second (TPS)

Refers to the amount of transactions that a blockchain is capable of processing each second.

Turing Complete

Turing Complete refers to a machine that, given enough time and memory along with the necessary instructions, can solve any computational problem, no matter how complex.

U

User Interface (UI)

The interface where interactions between humans and machines occur. It establishes how a user can interact with a machine.

V

Verification Code

Code sent to a second device to ensure the identity of someone logging in to an account. Used for Two-Factor Authentication

Virtual Machine

An emulated computer system, or a distributed system that is designed to replicate the features of a computer's architecture.

Vladimir Club

A term used to describe someone who has acquired 1% of 1% (0.01%) of the maximum supply of a cryptocurrency.

Volatility

How quickly and how much the price of an asset changes. Calculated in terms of standard deviations in the annual return of an asset over a set period of time.

W

Wallet

Used to store cryptocurrencies. Different types include: Cold wallets, hot wallets, hardware wallets, and paper wallets

Web 1.0

The initial iteration of the web, when data was primarily read-only pages connected with hyperlinks. Also known as "read-only" web.

Whiskers

The lines extending from the colored bar in a candlestick chart that indicate the full low-high range of a trading pair within a certain time frame. Also referred to as wicks or shadows.

Wick

A line found on a candlestick chart which is used to indicate where the price of an asset is fluctuating in regards to its opening and closing prices.

Z

Zero-Knowledge Proofs

Proofs to verify that transactions are valid without revealing any information about these transactions, providing privacy to the transaction while maintaining its legitimacy.

Zk-Snarks

“Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge” - an approach to zero knowledge proofs.