Glossary

A distributed, append-only ledger replicated across many computers.

Digital money secured by cryptography and recorded on a blockchain.

The first and largest cryptocurrency, launched in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto.

The largest smart-contract blockchain, host to most DeFi and NFT activity.

Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin.

A token designed to hold a stable value, usually 1:1 with a fiat currency.

The largest fiat-backed stablecoin, pegged 1:1 to the US dollar.

A regulated, fully-reserved US dollar stablecoin issued by Circle.

A decentralized, crypto-collateralized stablecoin from MakerDAO.

A digital asset issued on a host blockchain (e.g. ERC-20 on Ethereum).

The Ethereum standard for fungible tokens — same interface, any logic.

The Ethereum standard for non-fungible (unique) tokens.

A unique on-chain token used to represent ownership of a digital or physical item.

A token driven by community and cultural momentum rather than utility.

Buying or selling crypto for immediate settlement at the current price.

An order that executes immediately at the best available price.

An order that only executes at your specified price or better.

The list of outstanding buy and sell orders for a market.

The gap between the best bid and best ask price.

The difference between expected and executed trade price.

How easily an asset can be bought or sold without moving the price.

Borrowing capital to amplify position size, magnifying both gains and losses.

Forced closure of a leveraged position when collateral runs out.

Derivative contracts to buy or sell crypto at a future date and price.

Crypto futures with no expiry, kept near spot via funding rates.

Buying a fixed dollar amount on a recurring schedule, regardless of price.

An exchange operated by a company that holds custody of user funds.

Financial apps that run on public blockchains without intermediaries.

An exchange that runs entirely on smart contracts, with no central operator.

Pricing model used by DEXs where pool reserves set the price.

A pool of two tokens that powers AMM swaps and pays fees to providers.

The opportunity cost LPs incur when pool token prices diverge.

Earning rewards by supplying liquidity or staking in DeFi protocols.

Locking tokens to help secure a proof-of-stake network and earn rewards.

Supplying crypto to a protocol to earn interest from borrowers.

Software or hardware that stores the private keys controlling your crypto.

The secret number that controls a crypto address. Never share it.

A 12-or-24-word backup that can restore your entire wallet.

Holding your own private keys instead of trusting an exchange or custodian.

Keeping private keys offline, on hardware that never touches the internet.

A dedicated USB-like device that signs transactions offline.

An extra login step beyond your password — usually a code from an app.

A scam where token creators drain the project's liquidity and disappear.

A computer that stores a copy of the blockchain and validates transactions.

A staking node that proposes and attests blocks on a proof-of-stake chain.

How a distributed network agrees on the state of the ledger.

Consensus model where miners spend energy solving puzzles to add blocks.

Consensus model where validators lock up tokens as collateral instead of burning energy.

Running specialized hardware to compete for block rewards on a PoW chain.

A scheduled 50% cut to Bitcoin's block reward, every ~4 years.

The fee paid to a blockchain (esp. Ethereum) to execute a transaction.

A self-executing program deployed on a blockchain.

A base blockchain that settles its own transactions (BTC, ETH, SOL).

A scaling chain that batches transactions and settles them on an L1.

A protocol that moves tokens between two blockchains.

Identity verification required by regulated exchanges.

Rules requiring exchanges to detect and report suspicious activity.

The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, in force since 2024.