Cryptocurrency Glossary

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

Anti-Money Laundering. AML laws and restrictions require exchanges to obtain personal information about their customers and their activities.

All-Time High. The highest price a cryptocurrency has ever reached.

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.

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.

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

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

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.”  

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 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.

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

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

A transaction that combines multiple transactions into one for increased efficiency and decreased fees.

The amount of data that can be stored in one block of a given blockchain. For example, the Block Size limit of Bitcoin is 1MB. Larger block size allows for more transactions per block. Thus, it’s not that transactions are “faster” or “slower”. It’s that transactions may be seemingly faster because the network is handling more transactions at a time.

Bitcoin’s ticker symbol.

A bank run occurs when many clients withdraw their money from a bank at the same time, because they believe the bank may cease to function in the near future. Banks do not hold everyone's money at once, they lend it out. So if everyone tries to get their money at the same time, they can't.

Optimistic about the future of a cryptocurrency’s price.

A trader or speculator who believes cryptocurrency prices will rise.

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.

Backtesting is the method of running your trading strategy on historical data to find out how well it would have performed.

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

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

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

A trader or speculator who believes cryptocurrency prices will fall.

1 Bit is equal to 1/1,000,000 of a Bitcoin. Not to be confused with the computer science definition in which 1 bit equals 0.125 bytes.

A new version of the Bitcoin Protocol developed using the Javascript programming language.

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.

Someone who uses Bitcoin regularly or is heavily involved in its technology.

The unofficial website of Bitcoin Core.

In the cryptocurrency sphere this term refers to storing cryptocurrency in a location that is offline and thus inaccessible by anyone on the internet.

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

Code making, breaking and studying.

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

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

A general agreement among participants using and mining a cryptocurrency.

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

An irreversible list of all transactions that have ever occurred on a platform.

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

Free movement of coins between individuals.

Controlled by one group or within one certain area.

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

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

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.

The limiting or decreasing of a cryptocurrency's supply, which usually drives its price up.

An organization that operates to earn profits for its shareholders (coin holders) by creating value for the free market.

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

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

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

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

A digital wallet address is a combination of letters and numbers that pseudonymously represent an account number for digital holdings. 

The act of selling cryptocurrency.

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 famous problem that occurs when cryptocurrency is spent more than once. Miners and transaction finality ensure that double-spend cannot occur.

A cryptocurrency that uses the “Doge” meme with a cult-like following.

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.

Transforming data into unrecognizable code that can only be decoded with the exact decryption key.

Online platforms on which individuals can buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

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 token issued on the Ethereum platform.

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.

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.

A change in a cryptocurrency’s software that makes it incompatible with the original version. For example, any block size increase in the Bitcoin protocol constitutes a hard fork.

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

LTV stands for Loan-to-value. The ratio expresses the amount of a loan compared to the value of an asset. For example: taking a $1,000 loan and putting up $2,000 worth of Bitcoin as collateral = 50% LTV. The loan is worth 50% of the bitcoin collateral securing it.

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

The first block mined on a blockchain.

An online wallet for storying cryptocurrencies. Considered less secure than cold wallets.

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.

A programming language used to develop several cryptocurrencies (including Cardano and Nanocoin).

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

The number of hashes a miner performs over a given period of time.

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.

A request for communication from one node to another node.

The process of increasing a cryptocurrency's supply, which usually drives its price down.

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.

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

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.

A popular programming language.

Software that records every button press of an individual’s keyboard. Often used to hack into accounts by recording passwords.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

The process of allowing two different cryptocurrencies using the same consensus algorithm to be mined simultaneously. 

A very small payment made possible with digital currencies.

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

The process by which users on a PoS blockchain verify transactions and receive new coins for their participation.

A third party that enables anonymous transactions by grouping payments together, obscuring their sources.

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.

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 cryptocurrency that allows data (and transactions) to be written onto its blockchain.

Near-Field Communication. Enables devices located close to each other to transmit data without the need for internet connection.

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.

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

Over The Counter Exchange, also known as Off-Exchange Trading. Trades that occur between two parties rather than using a centralized exchange.

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

A block that is no longer a part of the original blockchain because it was not verified by the majority of miners.

The initiator of communication on a cryptocurrency network.

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

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.

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.

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

Short for Price Down Limit. PDL is a price set by DeFi platforms. If the collateral crypto price decreases below the PDL set , customers' collaterals will be sold.

A permissioned system is a private and closed system. Not anyone can join the network freely.

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.

Peer-to-Peer. Refers to networks in which individuals connect to each other rather than a central authority.

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

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).

A situation that occurs when an asset's market value is far higher than it's actual worth, making a sharp drop in price imminent.

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 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.

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

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.

A scalability solution for Ethereum that allows more transactions per second by introducing additional blockchains to the main Ethereum blockchain. 

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

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

RNG refers to 'Random Number Generator," which is the technological device responsible for producing random results, based on a game's established Return to Player (RTP) percentage. It is designed to avoid bias.

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

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

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

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

All processes involved in delivering products and services from their providers to their customers.

Segregated Witnesses. A protocol implemented by Bitcoin to increase transaction speed. SegWit allows more transactions to be written into a single block on a blockchain.

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.

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

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

Selling, before buying, and intending to repurchase the stock at a lower price to realize the profit from a coin/asset decreasing in value. Basically profiting from the falling price of an asset.

An individual who believes that the blocks in Bitcoin should be kept small so that anyone can run a full node.  

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

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

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.

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

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.

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."

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.

Self-custody means only you hold and have access to your digital assets. This means that you choose not to use a third party, and will manage your private key yourself.

Typically a person posing as a legitimate user of a product but who is, in fact, being paid or otherwise compensated to promote said product.

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

An alternative to mining rewards. Staking rewards are earned by putting a certain amount of your cryptocurrency up as a 'stake' to confirm transactions. Rewards are given for doing this.

A measure that describes the strength of association between an address and earlier transaction addresses.

Test

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.

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

Transactions per second. A measure which describes how fast a cryptocurrency can handle its users' transactions.

TradFi is short for Traditional Finance. It refers to traditional retail, commercial, and investment banks, and FinTechs.

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

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

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.

Transaction.

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

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

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.

Unspent transaction output. For example, if an individual receives 1 BTC and holds it, they possess a UTXO.

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.

The filename which stores public and private keys for a full node.

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

An electronic transaction in which value is sent from one party to another.

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

A formula that uses data to make predictions about how financially secure businesses are.

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

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.