Artificial Intelligence. As machines advance in intelligence, they are capable of learning from their environments and completing more complex tasks.

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

A term used to describe coins that do not require expensive equipment for mining. If a coin is ASIC-resistant, its mining is thought to be more fair and decentralized than coins that are not ASIC-resistant.

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

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

An investor who has a net worth of over $1 million and/or an annual salary over $200,000-300,000.

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

A segment of data recorded on the blockchain that can contain transactions and other information.

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

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

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.

A Bitcoin wallet that gives its users an aesthetically pleasing interface while still employing the core Bitcoin protocol.

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

Optimistic about the future of a cryptocurrency’s price.

A trader or speculator who believes cryptocurrency prices will rise.

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

Websites (available for most cryptocurrencies) that allow users to search an address or transaction ID to view its details.

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.

A trader or speculator who believes cryptocurrency prices will fall.

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

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

The time it takes to mine a new block.

The first blockchain-based cryptocurrency, launched in 2009. Bitcoin remains the most influential and widely recognized coin. All other cryptocurrencies are known as "altcoins," simply because they are not Bitcoin.

The unofficial website of Bitcoin Core.

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.”  

A condition that affects cryptocurrencies when the data stored reaches very large sizes due to increasing numbers of users and transactions. When blockchain bloat gets severe, transaction speed suffers.

An aspect of the Bitcoin Core wallet that allows users to specify which coins they wish to spend and which Change Addresses any remaining balance will be sent to.

A trade on a popular cryptocurrency exchange.

An offline wallet for holding cryptocurrencies. Considered more secure than hot wallets.

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

The shorthand form of Cryptocurrency. 

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

No longer in production, these were physical coins created by Mike Caldwell that have private Bitcoin keys.

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. 

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

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

An aspect of the Darkcoin crpytocurrency that allows users to make anonymous transactions.

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

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). 

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

Parts of the Internet that are not accessible through ordinary means, like search engines.

A metric for measuring bitcoin inactivity. Each day a Bitcoin remains unspent is another day added to its total number of Days Destroyed.

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

Distributed Apps. Applications without centralized control.

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 tax on cryptocurrency holdings that encourages spending coins because they are constantly being destroyed.

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.

A set of data used to represent an entity on a network or on the Internet.

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

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

A measure of how much hashing power (computing power) is required to find the next block on a blockchain. Difficulty increases over time on blockchains.

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

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

A token issued on the Ethereum platform.

Online platforms on which individuals can buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

An extremely secure messaging functionality offered by QRL.

The idea that all units in a money supply are exactly equal. Fungibility is considered to be an essential aspect of effective currencies by many economists.

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

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

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

A hypothetical society in which no one is forced to do anything against their wishes and all actions are voluntary.

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.

An open-source database for developers to create and share computer coding with a large community.

A consensus mechanism that employs both Proof of Stake and Proof of Work algorithms.

A physical device that stores private keys.

The maximum amount of money a cryptocurrency’s founders will accept while raising money in exchange for early coins on their platform.

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.

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

Initial Public Offering. An event in which a company “goes public,” selling early shares of their business in exchange for funds.

Invisible Internet Project. A network layer that facilitates anonymous, censorship-resistant communication between users.

Created each time coins are sent to an address.

Initial Coin Offering. An event in which a cryptocurrency project “goes public,” selling early coins in exchange for funds.

CEO of Bitmain, the largest distributor of cryptocurrency mining machines.

A popular programming language.

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

A bet that a cryptocurrency’s price will rise.

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

A cryptocurrency meme, short for Lamborghinis. When investors' coins' prices go to the Moon, they can buy Lambos.

The measure of how quickly an asset can be exchanged for usable currency.

A cryptocurrency meme that refers to the skyrocketing of a coin's price. When Hodlers’ coins go to the Moon, they can all buy Lambos.

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

The ability of machines and computers to integrate data and learn from it without being programmed to do so.

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

A feature that requires several keys to authorize a single transaction, especially for dividing responsibility among separate parties.

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.

A method of intentionally obscuring the source of illegally-obtained funds.

A feature that requires several keys to authorize a single transaction, especially for dividing responsibility among separate parties.

The practice of borrowing money to buy and sell assets.

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

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 very small payment made possible with digital currencies.

A mathematical problem that is solved by participants of a blockchain to verify transactions in exchange for block rewards.

An agreement that allows individuals to sell their computing power for the purposes of verifying transactions on a blockchain.

Digital agreements between users on NEO's platform that are carried out automatically when their terms are met.

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

A popular framework for JavaScript code to be written in. 

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

Cardano's Proof-of-stake algorithm. It is used to randomly pick the next node to produce a block in. Ouroboros divides physical time into epochs, and then slots. Slot leaders have the sole right to produce one block and are chosen from the group of stakeholders.

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

Operations Security. Refers to how well assets are protected.

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

A portion of the total supply of a cryptocurrency reserved for its founders. These funds are often marked as funds to pay developers or fund future ventures, but cryptocurencies with premines are generally viewed as less legitimate and fair those without premines.

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

Freedom from surveillance.

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.

The consensus algorithm introduced by Bitcoin. PoW requires miners to compete against each other to add new block and earn rewards.

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

A process of storing information that cannot be changed or deleted.

Proof of Stake and Trust. A consensus mechanism used by Waltonchain that relies on token holders (nodes) to verify transactions while retaining information about nodes' past performance to give higher rewards to the most reliable nodes.

A physical piece of paper containing a private key, a public key, and often corresponding QR codes.

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

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.

PoP for short. A consensus mechanism used by DigixDAO to track the movements of physical assets, identify their ownership, and ensure their security.

A social attack in which a malicious individual masquerades as a trustworthy person in an attempt to fool the victim into giving up personal information (like passwords).

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).

QRTs. Customizable tokens that can be created using Quantum Resistant Ledger. QRTs are resistant to attacks from quantum computing.

A code containing information that can be read by a device with a camera.

A platform that connects banks, payment providers, and digital asset exchanges to provide frictionless transactions.

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

An individual that contributes their tokens to Kyber Network's Dynamic Reserve Pool to improve the platform's liquidity.

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."

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

The process by which a full database is split into smaller databases called shards. Sharding helps with the scalability of cryptocurrencies.

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 anonymous person or group that created Bitcoin.

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

An altcoin that is marketed as technology with potential, but is really just sold to make money with no promise of a future use case.

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

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

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

Agreements between two parties that self-execute when their terms are met and automatically cancel when their terms are not met.

A programming language used to create smart contracts.

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.

A digital asset on the Steem blockchain that can be launched by any user for the purpose of monetizing online content and encouraging positive user participation.

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

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

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

Any cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset for the purpose of reducing price volatility.

A computing system that can perform a whole set of computational functions is considered “Turing Complete.”

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.

A consensus method that allows users to transact anonymously and requires relatively little electricity. An alternative to PoW (Proof of Work) and PoS (Proof of Stake). 

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

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.

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

An individual who buys and sells cryptocurrency.

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

The first hardware wallet, created by a Bitcoiner called “Slush.”

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.

Software that changes an environment irreversibly after its release. For example, once Bitcoin’s code was launched and distributed amongst many machines, it virtually could not be stopped.

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,

A measure that describes how rapidly an asset tends to fluctuate in price.

A highly respected programmer responsible for writing Ethereum's white paper and co-creating Ethereum's technology.

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

A very wealthy individual capable of making large trades.

A list of registered and approved participants in an ICO. Whitelists are used to exclude non-accredited investors in order to better comply with regulations.

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

Payment that has been broadcast but is still pending inclusion on a blockchain.

Even millions of dollars worth of security won't protect an individual if someone threatens to hit them with a $5 wrench unless they give up their passwords. The best defense is keeping quiet about your cryptocurrency holdings.

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.