An event in which individuals that hold existing cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin and Ethereum) are given tokens of a new cryptocurrency.

Wealthy individuals who contribute significant funds (usually over $1,000,000) to emerging projects.

The practice of buying and selling the same coins on different exchanges at the same time to take advantage of price differences.

Highly specialized computing machines that are far more efficient for mining than CPUs and GPUs. Jihan Wu (a Chinese businessman) is responsible for creating and selling many ASIC Miners.

A process for solving a mathematical problem. In blockchains consensus algorithms are used to verify transactions.

A famous advocate of Bitcoin who has given speeches and presentations about Bitcoin all over the world.

Application Programmer Interface. A type of toolkit provided for developers for creating applications.

A unique, alphanumeric identifier used as destination for transferring cryptocurrencies. 

A blockchain scaling solution in which every user account has its own blockchain. Block lattices reduce blockchain bloat by storing transaction data separately from a cryptocurrency's main blockchain.

Komodo's Decentralized Exchange which connects all of its independent blockchains and allows atomic swaps.

A company led by cypherpunk Adam Back that promotes second layer scaling solutions for Bitcoin.

A forum of myriad boards where enthusiasts and experts alike can go to discuss various cryptocurrency related topics.

The payment given to a miner for securing a blockchain that uses POW (Proof-of-Work) consensus

A term used to describe cryptocurrency projects that facilitate programmable transactions rather than simply acting as methods to store and transfer value. Projects like Ethereum are known as Blockchain 2.0 contracts because they allow their users to create and execute smart contracts and develop decentralized apps.

The first blockchain-based network that allows its users to store and transfer wealth.

Bitcoin’s ticker symbol.

Optimistic about the future of a cryptocurrency’s price.

Bitcoin Improvement Protocol. New feature proposed for Bitcoin are BIPs.

A trader or speculator who believes cryptocurrency prices will rise.

A tool used to identify moments when an asset's price is relatively high or relatively low to inform trading decisions.

The original Bitcoin wallet, considered to be among the safest wallets available.

The time it takes to mine a new block.

Pessimistic about the future of a cryptocurrency’s price.

The first successful hard fork of Bitcoin that allows the protocol to grow and scale by removing its block size limit.

A market in which most (or all) prices are falling.

a high-yield ponzi scheme in the cryptocurrency market, guarantee profits to investors. Customer losses are estimated to have exceeded $1 billion and was shut down in January 2018.

BNB (Binance Coin) is an ERC20 token that lives on the Ethereum blockchain. The token has multiple forms of utility, essentially being the underlying gas that powers the Binance Ecosystem. Most important, it can be used to pay for trading fees on the exchange, obtaining the equivalent of a 50% discount on trades during the first year, 25% during the second year and so on.

A digital, distributed ledger which contains data for all the transactions that have ever taken place using a given cryptocurrency.

The largest distributor of ASIC miners, run by Jihan Wu.

A short rise in a cryptocurrency’s price that makes investors think the price will continue to rise. Instead, the price falls significantly following the rise, fooling the “bulls.”  

Code making, breaking and studying.

The first exchange that allowed individuals to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

An asset, of any kind, that a lender will accept to secure a loan. If the borrower doesn't pay back the loan -- the lender keeps or sells the asset.

Verifications of consensus by miners and/or nodes. After an individual sends payment on a blockchain, confirmations are required before the recipient can accept payment. 

A cryptocurrency that relies solely on its own technology to function.

Advocates of using strong encryption to evade government spying. Cypherpunks were heavily involved in the early development of Bitcoin.

A paper written by Eric Huges that outlines Cypherpunks’ philosophy and vision. This Manifesto was a big influence on many early cryptocurrency enthusiasts.

Controlled by one group or within one certain area.

Addresses created to hold the remaining balance when users spend less than a full input. Mostly used in hierarchical deterministic wallets that can create an unlimited number of addresses.

The volume of coins being held and spent at a given time for a given cryptocurrency.

Digital currency that uses cryptography. Bitcoin & Altcoins are all types of cryptocurrency. 

Distributed amongst its users rather than controlled by one group or within one certain area.

Uses nodes spread out across many different locations to achieve decentralization.

A list of transactions that exists on every computer that elects to run blockchain software.

Transfers of value that are too small to be sent due to the proportionately high fee incurred. 

A unique, encrypted output that cannot be duplicated. Useful for creating digital identities and confirming authenticity.

Delegated Proof of Stake. A consensus mechanism that has a blockchain's nodes vote on the correct version of the blockchain. 

DAA. A collection or portfolio of assorted cryptocurrencies. For example, one Digital Asset Array could contain BTC, ETH, and DASH.

A feature which allows KyberNetwork to maintain high levels of liquidity. The DRP keeps reserves of cryptocurrencies and establishes rates of exchange between them, allowing any user to easily trade one crypto for another.

Distributed Denial of Service Attack. A means by which a malicious individual shuts down another individual's internet connection by overloading it with requests.

Distributed Denial of Service. A means by which a malicious individual shuts down another individual's internet connection by overloading it with requests.

An application created to run on a user's PC.

Distributed Apps. Applications without centralized control.

Decentralized exchange. A platform (which isn't controlled by any single authority) that allows users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

An over/under guessing game that uses random number generators to output results, allowing individuals to bet using cryptocurrencies.

Decentralized Autonomous Organization. An organization governed by smart contracts founded to allocate funds to cryptocurrency projects.

Delayed Proof of Work, the consensus mechanism used by Komodo. dPoW allows one blockchain to take advantage of the security and hashing power of a second blockchain (Bitcoin, in Komodo's case). 

A consensus mechanism that uses professional nodes to broadcast a version of the blockchain. If two thirds or more of the nodes agree, that block is written onto the chain. 

A third party used to facilitate transactions and increase security.

Exchange Traded Fund. A group of assets that can be bought or sold as a single asset.

A cryptocurrency created by Vitalik Buterin that runs on Ether (ETH). Ethereum was the first blockchain-based technology to make smart contracts and decentralized applications possible.

The native tokens of the Ethereum platform. Required in order to send transactions or execute smart contracts.

The predominant standard for creating smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain. Others may include ERC 721, ERC888, and more

A percentage of block reward that is paid to the founders of a cryptocurrency rather than to its miners. Zcash is a cryptocurrency with a Founders’ Reward.

A change in a cryptocurrency’s software that does not make it incompatible with the original version.

A term used to describe the way that cryptocurrencies remove many of the inefficiencies and hassles inherent in alternative methods of transferring payment.

A website that sends users small amounts of cryptocurrency intermittently and make money by advertising other services.

An amount of coins paid to users for participating in PoS consensus.

Fear of Missing Out. Investors with FOMO buy cryptocurrency (emotionally rather than logically) for fear of missing out on profits.

Fear Uncertainty and Doubt. The emotional (rather than logical) belief that cryptocurrency prices will fall.

A fee which must be paid to execute network transactions.

Graphics Processing Unit. Hardware that can be used for mining some cryptocurrencies.

APR stands for Annual Percentage Rate. It's the interest rate charged during a whole year. For example: borrow $1,000 at 10% APR means at the end of the year you'll pay back $1,100. The extra $100 may be split into 12 payments, once per month, if that is how the creditor asks for them.

DeFi stands for Decentralized Finance. DeFi is a new financial system based on the use of decentralized blockchains and smart contracts to create new types of financial products.

Hashgraph is a consensus alternative to blockchain. It uses a gossip protocol to spread transactions across the network by sending data to randomly chosen neighbors.

A physical device that stores private keys.

Output emitted from an algorithm for maintaining consensus on a blockchain.

The process of intermittently decreasing the block reward given to cryptocurrency miners by 50%.

The power of a mining rig. Similar in concept to the Horse Power of a vehicle.

First made popular in a post by a drunken Bitcoiner who advocated buying but not selling Bitcoin, it is now a meme to intentionally misspell “hold.” Hodlers see huge potential in the future of a cryptocurrency and don’t plan on selling anytime soon.

When an asset (i.e. coin) cannot be easily bought or sold due to a lack of buyers or sellers in a market. If there are only a handful of buyers or sellers the price may be substantially higher (due to few sellers charging a premium) or substantially lower (due to a few buyers demanding discounts).

Internet of Things. The system that will digitally connect physical objects, making them identifiable and trackable online.

A request for communication from one node to another node.

Internet Protocol Address. A series of numbers and periods used to identify computers communicating through a network.

The term used to refer to blockchains to describe the way in which blocks cannot be changed after they are recorded.  

Internal Revenue Service. A US tax collection agency that demands information from cryptocurrency exchanges for various reasons.

A feature of Komodo that offers its users private payments. Jumblr works by exchanging the cryptocurrency being used for payment and mixing it among other cryptos prior to the making an anonymous transaction.

Know Your Customer. Information gathered by cryptocurrency exchanges in compliance with AML (Anti Money Laundering) laws.

An algorithm used to adjust mining difficulty so that all miners are given a fair chance at earning block rewards.

A network layer that functions on top of the Bitcoin blockchain and allows for a huge number of low-fee microtransactions.

Cryptocurrency that has had its origins intentionally obscured to hide evidence of illegal activities.

A cryptocurrency forked from Bitcoin known primarily for its decreased block time, which (theoretically) allows for faster transactions.

A type of exchange used to make it easier for individuals to exchange assets for usable currency.

An individual that volunteers computing power to verify transactions on a blockchain in exchange for block rewards.

The process by which new coins are created as transactions on a network are verified.

A group of people online who agree to combine their mining rigs into one for more collective mining power. They split rewards evenly based on each person's mining power.

A cryptocurrency exchange led by Mark Karpeles that allegedly lost millions of dollars in user funds.

A popular online wallet that supports Ether and most ERC20 tokens.

When a blockchain features several levels for scalability and encryption purposes, it can be said to be "Multi-Layered."

Metamask is a Chrome extension which allows users to store and transact Ethereum and other ERC-20 tokens.

The version of a protocol that uses real money. A cryptocurrency is generally considered to be “live” after the first Mainnet block (the genesis block) is mined.

A node (device running the full software of a cryptocurrency) that fulfills more purposes than regular nodes - such as increasing privacy, providing instant transactions, and participating in governance.

Software that allows individuals to store their cryptocurrencies on handheld devices.

John McAfee (the creator of McAfee antivirus) is a cybersecurity mogul who is known for promoting cryptocurrency and speculating about altcoins.

A series of words that can be used to recover an account or wallet.

A mining rig is a computer used for mining cryptocurrencies. The rig might be a dedicated computer or it could be a computer that fills other needs too.

The practice of borrowing money to buy and sell assets.

A pre-planned trade set to execute if a cryptocurrency reaches a certain price.

An arbitrary number that is used only once in cryptography to make replay attacks impossible.

A popular framework for JavaScript code to be written in. 

The quality by which cryptocurrencies become more useful as more people use them.

An individual that trades cryptocurrencies but does not have a high net worth or high salary, and is not elgiible for certain investment opportunities.

Transfer of value that takes place outside of a blockchain for reduced fees and quicker transaction time.

A term used to describe software that is made available online so that any individual can view its code and submit improvements.

A grouping of addresses that receive coins in a cryptocurrency transaction.

Operations Security. Refers to how well assets are protected.

A third-party entity capable of transmitting reliable information to a blockchain so that smart-contracts can be executed.

Permissionless refers to public blockchains (like Bitcoin) - anyone can generate an address and transact BTC.

Proof of Stake. A consensus mechanism in which individuals use their holdings of a cryptocurrency to secure the platform in exchange for rewards.

Private keys are used to spend cryptocurrencies.

Freedom from surveillance.

Similar to a password but often longer. Where a password is generally a single word -- a passphrase can be a combination of words.

Proof of Work. A consensus mechanism for verifying transactions with computing power that creates new coins in the process.

An address that individuals share with others to receive cryptocurrency.  

Proof-of-Importance is a consensus algorithm similar to PoS. Nodes "vest" currency to participate in the creation of blocks. Unlike PoS, Proof-of-Importance quantifies a person’s support of the network. NEM is using Proof-of-Importance.

A rapid rise in a cryptocurrency’s price.

a fraudulent type of operation where a company attracts investors to send money, with expected profits in return. The company pays back investor profits using later investors’ money. Once the company can no longer attract new investors, then payments cannot be made to clients, the company collapses and investors lose money.

Occurs when a cryptocurrency’s price shoots up and then quickly crashes. Pump and dumps are often coordinated manipulations of the market by groups of individuals for profit.

PoI stands for Proof-of-Importance. It is a new consensus algorithm that requires users to stake currency to participate in the consensus. Compared to PoS, it adds importance to staking. Thus, it takes into account one’s involvement in the network. PoI was introduced by NEM.

If you are running a full node, a “peer” is some else also running a full node.

A cryptocurrency that uses both PoW and PoS in its consensus mechanism to offer increased security.

Pseudonymity is an almost anonymous state in which users have a unique identifier that is different from their real name.

PoS. A method of minting new coins and securing a platform by allowing users to stake their coins and receive more coins as a reward. Introduced as an energy efficient alternative to PoW (Proof of Work).

An advanced form of computing that allows extremely complex problems to be solved very quickly. For cryptocurrency, quantum computing is important because once it is advanced enough, it may be capable of hacking private keys.

A method of increasing monetary supply (and lowering interest rates) by introducing new money to the market from a central authority.

Transfer of currency across a large distance, usually across borders.

A site that aggregates a nearly endless range of topics. Subreddits exist within Reddit to focus on specific topics.

Radio Frequency Identification chips. RFID chips are attached to physical objects to make them easier to identify and track.

Often referred to as Bitcoin Jesus, he was the first major Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investor.

A measure of how easily a cryptocurrency will be able to handle more users and increased transactions.

A type of password that an individual can use to recover their wallet.

A feature of PIVX that allows users to complete transactions instantly without needing to wait for confirmations.

Smart Contract. An agreement between two parties that carries itself out once its terms are met.

A fraudulent endeavor. In the cryptocurrency world, this often refers to the practice of fooling investors in some way.

A block that has been worked on by a miner but is not included in the blockchain because another miner successfully completes another block first.

Price-stable cryptocurrencies that achieve stability through pegging their value to another asset, like the US dollar.

A platform that functions alongside an existing blockchain protocol, allowing transactions to occur off of the main blockchain. Sidechains can be customized to allow features like faster transaction time and increased anonymity.

The Securities and Exchange Commision. A regulatory US agency responsible for the investigation and shut down of several cryptocurrency-related projects.

An indication of support for a feature, often sent out by miners to inform the general public of their opinion.

An online black market on the Darknet best known as a place individuals could buy and sell illegal goods and services. One of the first communities to use Bitcoin as currency.

A blockchain that runs separately from a cryptocurrency's main blockchain, using the native currency to carry out transactions. Subchains help scalability by reducing the amount of data stored on a cryptocurrency's main blockchain, often called the "parent chain."

The minimum amount of funds that a cryptocurrency's founders wish to raise in an ICO. If an ICO does not meet its soft cap, it will often be canceled until a later date.

Simplified Payment Verification. Allows wallets to function by letting them connect to local nodes that have full copies of the blockchain rather than requiring download of the full blockchain (like Bitcoin Core).

Secure Hash Algorithm 256. An algorithm used by some Proof of Work consensus mechanisms (most notably, Bitcoin's).

An individual who predicts future prices of assets and makes bets based on their predictions.

A popular exchange service created by Eric Voorhees that allows individuals to trade most altcoins anonymously for a small fee.

A derogatory term used to describe altcoins that are based on faulty technology or have little promise for the future.

A feature of the ARK cryptocurrency which allows separate blockchains to connect with each other and communicate.

The Onion Router. A web browser that allows users anonymous access to darknet sites.

Transaction.

A feature of cryptocurrency exchanges that makes it easy for individuals to buy one cryptocurrency with a different cryptocurrency. For example, a BTC/DASH trading pair allows an individual to buy DASH with BTC or vice versa.

The practice of creating digital assets that represent real-world physical assets.

A cryptocurrency created using another platform (like Ethereum). Tokens operate by using the technology of the platform on which they were created.

A measure that describes how many coins of a given cryptocurrency can exist (after all mining is completed, if applicable).

A sequence of numbers used to identify the moment in time that a transaction occurred.

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. A set of protocols that allow multiple computers to communicate.

Software preprogrammed to buy, sell, short, long or execute other trading strategies and commands when the owner is absent. Trading while asleep or away from the keyboard.

Commonly known as 2FA. A measure of security used for protecting accounts. 2FA requires users to have not only a username and a password to login, but an extra piece of information, as well.

An amount of value that must be paid to transfer value on a blockchain.

A unit of currency consumed in a process. For example, an arcade token that gets used when a game is played or a coin like BNB Binance token, which is used to pay exchange fees.

User-Issued Assets, Tokens that can be created on the BitShares network.

An adult person without an account at a bank or other financial institution. 

Addresses that hold cryptocurrency. Instead of random alphanumeric strings, however, users with vanity addresses can choose specific words and phrases for their addresses, similar to vanity license plates,

An individual that invests in an emerging project with the hopes of earning a large return on their investment when the project succeeds.

A measure used to describe the rate at which currency is exchanged from transaction to transaction.

Software or devices that contain public and private keys for storing cryptocurrencies

A very wealthy individual capable of making large trades.

A technical document that outlines a project’s features, technology, and vision.

Ticker for Bitcoin used on Kraken and some other exchanges. Same as BTC.

The native currency of Monero.

A cryptocurrency that uses the Bitcoin protocol but offers increased anonymity in transactions.

Two Factor Authentication. A protective measure that uses one-time passwords to prevent keyloggers from gaining unauthorized access to accounts.

A hypothetical attack in which a malicious individual gains control of more than half of a cryptocurrency’s hashing power and is then able to re-write old blocks, allowing double-spend.