Crypto Terminology

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1HR in Bitcoin and Crypto Trading

1HR in crypto trading refers to one hour of cryptocurrency trading data collected in real-time and presented as a candlestick. It is one of the most used time frames opted for by cryptocurrency traders who use technical analysis to generate signals.

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A

Account Abstraction

Account abstraction is a blockchain architecture upgrade that transforms cryptocurrency wallets from simple key-pair accounts into programmable smart contract wallets, enabling features like social recovery, gas sponsorship, transaction batching, and multi-signature authorization. Formalized on Ethereum through ERC-4337, account abstraction is…

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Airdrop

An airdrop is a distribution of free cryptocurrency tokens or NFTs sent directly to wallet addresses, typically used by blockchain projects to reward early users, incentivize adoption, decentralize token ownership, or raise awareness for a new protocol. Airdrops have become…

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B

Bitcoin ETF

A Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund) is a regulated investment product that tracks the price of Bitcoin and trades on traditional stock exchanges, allowing investors to gain exposure to BTC without directly holding the cryptocurrency. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission…

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Bitcoin Halving

A Bitcoin halving is a programmed event that occurs approximately every four years (every 210,000 blocks), cutting the block reward paid to miners by 50% and reducing the rate at which new Bitcoin enters circulation. The halving is a fundamental…

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Bitcoiner in Crypto

A Bitcoiner is a person who holds and advances the ideas of Bitcoin. In simple terms, a Bitcoiner believes BTC will change the world and is on the forefront in education, investment, and even trading of the digital asset.

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BitPay

BitPay is a software company headquartered in Atlanta, U.S. They specialize crypto payment processing, supporting a variety of coins like Bitcoin, ETH, XRP, and LTC.

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Block Reward in Crypto

In the world of cryptocurrency, miners or validators are rewarded tokens for confirming or validating transactions on the blockchain. In the case of Bitcoin, the lucky miner (typically, a mining pool) gets 6.25 BTC for confirming a batch of BTC…

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Blockchain 3.0

Blockchain 3.0 is a new advancement in blockchain technology, allowing for better efficiency, interoperability, scalability, sustainability, security, and more.

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Buy Wall in Crypto Trading

A buy wall forms as a result of a single huge buy order or the composition of multiple large buy orders placed at the same price in the order book of a crypto pair. 

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C

Cloud Mining in Cryptocurrency

Cloud mining is a way of mining cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin using rented cloud computing power. In this arrangement, users don’t have to install or operate gear to mine crypto assets, saving them valuable maintenance time or dealing with regularly…

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Consensus in Blockchain

consensus refers to the agreement between the distributed database, the recorded data, and users’ experience in exchanging and storing value in the form of cryptocurrency.

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Consortium Blockchain

A consortium blockchain is a permissioned ledger where information can only be shared with a small group of members. A few select nodes also govern the federated ledger.

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Core Wallet for Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

A core wallet is a type of cryptocurrency wallet that holds all the records of a ledger. Like other crypto and Bitcoin wallets, a core wallet allows users to receive, store, and send the ledger's cryptocurrency, allowing users to interact freely with the network.

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Cross-Chain Bridge

A cross-chain bridge is a protocol that enables the transfer of assets, data, or messages between different blockchain networks that cannot natively communicate with each other, serving as critical infrastructure for a multi-chain ecosystem. Bridges solve the fundamental interoperability challenge:…

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Crypto Wallet

A crypto wallet is a software application or hardware device that stores the private keys needed to access and manage cryptocurrency holdings on a blockchain, enabling users to send, receive, and monitor their digital assets. Crypto wallets are the primary…

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Cryptography in Crypto and Blockchain Security 

Cryptography is the science of how data or information is converted to a secret format to be transmitted securely between two parties. The process of converting the data into this format is called encryption. It ensures that the recipient, who has the keys to accessing the information, is the only one that can decrypt the data. 

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D

DAICO in Crypto and Blockchain

A Decentralized Autonomous Initial Coin Offerings (DAICO) is a crypto funding implementation first forwarded by Vitalik Buterin of Ethereum, whose objective is to raise funds for potential startups, distribute the project's tokens, all while keeping investors' funds secure in a trustless environment while concurrently offering protection against fraud.

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DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)

A DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) is an internet-native organization governed by smart contracts and token-holder voting rather than traditional corporate hierarchies, enabling transparent, community-driven decision-making for managing treasuries, protocols, and collective resources. DAOs represent a fundamental rethinking of how organizations…

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DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

DeFi (decentralized finance) is an ecosystem of financial applications built on blockchain networks that replicate and extend traditional financial services — lending, borrowing, trading, insurance, and asset management — without relying on centralized intermediaries like banks, brokerages, or clearinghouses. DeFi…

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DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks)

DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks) is a blockchain-based model where individuals contribute physical hardware resources — such as wireless connectivity, computing power, storage, or sensors — to decentralized networks, earning cryptocurrency tokens in return. DePIN has emerged as one of…

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DEX (Decentralized Exchange)

A DEX (decentralized exchange) is a cryptocurrency trading platform that operates without a central authority, using smart contracts to enable peer-to-peer token swaps directly from users’ wallets, eliminating the need to deposit funds with a centralized intermediary. DEXs have become…

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Distributed Network

Distributed network systems spread out computer programming, software, or data across multiple computers, which communicate and depend on each other to sustain the network. The distributed network architecture creates a control system while distributing the load. 

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E

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA)

The Ethereum Enterprise Alliance (EEA) is a creators' collective aimed at collaboratively bringing unique ideas that make the smart contracting network a better platform, serving diverse users.

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Ethereum ETF

An Ethereum ETF is a regulated exchange-traded fund that provides investors with exposure to the price of Ether (ETH) through traditional brokerage accounts, without requiring direct cryptocurrency ownership or wallet management. Spot Ethereum ETFs launched in the United States in…

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Ethereum Layer-2 Solution: Raiden Network

The Raiden Network is a layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum that adopts the same principles as Bitcoin's Lightning Network. The Offchain scaling solution is designed to enable fast, low-fee, and immediate payments using Ethereum's ERC-20 tokens. 

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F

Flash Loan

A flash loan is an uncollateralized DeFi loan that must be borrowed and repaid within the same blockchain transaction — typically lasting just seconds — enabling users to access potentially unlimited capital with zero upfront collateral, provided the loan is…

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Gas Fees

Gas fees are transaction costs paid by users on blockchain networks to compensate validators or miners for the computational resources required to process and validate transactions, serving as both a spam prevention mechanism and an economic incentive for network security.…

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Geo-tagged NFT

Geotagged NFTs combine 3D representations of art street work such as graffiti with geographical data representing its physical location.

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Hard Cap in Cryptocurrency

Hard Cap is the is the maximum amount of funds that a crypto startup can raise through a crowdfunding event such as an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) or Initial DEX Offering (IDO).

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Impermanent Loss in DeFi

In automated market maker (AMM) systems, impermanent loss is the loss that a market maker incurs when the price of the asset they are providing liquidity for moves against them. This loss is temporary and will be reversed as soon as the price of the asset moves back in the market maker's favor.

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JOMO in Trading

oy of Missing Out, or JOMO, is a term used to describe the feeling of contentment and satisfaction that comes from not being involved in the stressful and often frenzied world of cryptocurrency trading.

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KYC (Know Your Customer)

KYC (Know Your Customer) is a regulatory compliance process that requires financial service providers — including cryptocurrency exchanges, on-ramps, and certain DeFi protocols — to verify the identity of their users before allowing them to transact, serving as a key…

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Layer 2 (L2)

A Layer 2 (L2) is a secondary blockchain network built on top of a Layer 1 base chain (most commonly Ethereum) that processes transactions off the main chain while inheriting its security guarantees, dramatically increasing throughput and reducing transaction costs.…

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Liquid Staking

Liquid staking is a DeFi mechanism that allows cryptocurrency holders to stake their assets to secure a proof-of-stake network while receiving a tradable liquid token representing their staked position, solving the liquidity lock-up problem inherent in traditional staking. Liquid staking…

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Liquidity Pool

A liquidity pool is a collection of cryptocurrency tokens locked in a smart contract that provides the trading liquidity for decentralized exchanges (DEXs), enabling users to swap tokens without relying on traditional order books or market makers. Liquidity pools are…

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Liquidity Provider in DeFi

A Liquidity provider is an investor or crypto holder who deliberately stakes their assets on DeFi platforms, mostly DEX, to earn passive income through transaction fees. 

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Meme Coin

A meme coin is a cryptocurrency that originates from internet culture, humor, or community enthusiasm rather than a specific technological innovation or utility, deriving its value primarily from social momentum, viral marketing, and speculative trading. Meme coins have become one…

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MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)

MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) is the profit that block producers — validators on proof-of-stake networks or miners on proof-of-work networks — can extract by strategically ordering, inserting, or excluding transactions within a block they produce. MEV has become one of…

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Mineable Coin in Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency mining is a novel concept in monetary terms. Crypto mining is a technique by which new coins or tokens are added into circulation without relying on a centralized printer like fiat currencies.

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Mining Difficulty

Mining difficulty is a metric to show how "hard" or time-consuming it is for a mining pool, miner, or operator to solve a cryptographic puzzle—that is mine, confirming that the content of a block is valid within a pre-programmed period. Often, mining difficulty is associated with computing power. The more difficult it is to mine—or solve a cryptographic puzzle—the more computing power it requires for the mining pool or node operator to dispense.

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Mt. Gox Bitcoin Exchange

Mt. Gox was a Bitcoin exchange based in Tokyo, Japan. It was launched in 2010, and by 2013 it was handling over 70 percent of all BTC transactions worldwide.

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NFT (Non-Fungible Token)

An NFT (non-fungible token) is a unique digital asset recorded on a blockchain that represents ownership of a specific item — such as digital art, music, virtual real estate, gaming items, or membership passes — distinguishing it from fungible cryptocurrencies…

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O

Oracle

A blockchain oracle is a service that connects smart contracts to external, real-world data — such as asset prices, weather conditions, sports scores, or API responses — that exists outside the blockchain, enabling smart contracts to execute based on information…

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Overbought in Trading

Overbought is a trading term that describes a situation where a particular crypto asset increases in value on account of disproportionately higher purchase activity.

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P

Pair in Bitcoin and Crypto Trading

A pair in cryptocurrency trading are two assets that can be exchanged for each other in an exchange, allowing users to compare spot prices between different cryptocurrencies. A trader will always consider a pair before changing one coin for another, making profits, or taking advantage of arbitrage opportunities.

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Post-Quantum Cryptography

Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) refers to cryptographic algorithms designed to remain secure against attacks from quantum computers, which threaten to break the elliptic curve cryptography that protects virtually all existing blockchain networks and cryptocurrency wallets. As quantum computing advances, PQC has…

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Proof of Stake (PoS)

Proof of stake (PoS) is a blockchain consensus mechanism where validators are selected to create new blocks and confirm transactions based on the amount of cryptocurrency they have “staked” (locked as collateral), replacing the energy-intensive computational competition used in proof-of-work…

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Proof of Work (PoW)

Proof of work (PoW) is the original blockchain consensus mechanism, pioneered by Bitcoin, where miners compete to solve computationally intensive mathematical puzzles to validate transactions and create new blocks, earning cryptocurrency rewards in exchange for expending real-world energy and computing…

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Proof-of-Burn (PoB) in blockchain

Proof-of-Burn (POB) is a type of consensus algorithm that is used in some cryptocurrencies. In this system, miners show "proof of work" by burning (or destroying) some of their coins.

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Q

Quorum in Crypto Governance

In crypto governance, quorum refers to the minimum number of approved members of an organization or company who must be present for a meeting to take place or a motion passed.  From a governance standpoint, quorum members can make binding…

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R

Real World Assets (RWA)

Real World Assets (RWA) refers to the tokenization of traditional financial assets — such as government bonds, real estate, private credit, commodities, and equities — on blockchain networks, making them tradable, programmable, and accessible through decentralized infrastructure. RWA has emerged…

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Restaking

Restaking is a mechanism that allows staked cryptocurrency — most commonly staked Ether (ETH) — to be simultaneously used to secure additional protocols and networks beyond the base blockchain, effectively recycling economic security across multiple systems. Pioneered by EigenLayer on…

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Rollup

A rollup is a Layer 2 scaling solution that processes transactions off the Ethereum mainnet but posts transaction data or proofs back to Layer 1, inheriting Ethereum’s security while offering dramatically higher throughput and lower fees. Rollups have become the…

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S

Scrypt Crypto Mining Algorithm

Scrypt is a password-based essential derivation function and a proof-of-work consensus hash function used for mining certain cryptocurrencies. It is another secure alternative to SHA-256 used by Bitcoin and has been widely adopted by leading blockchains, mainly Litecoin. The algorithm allows miners to contribute work for a chance to confirm a block of transactions and receive rewards.

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Settlement Layer in Blockchain

The settlement layer is the second layer in a crypto network’s architecture built on top of the data or transfer layer therefore providing a higher degree of functionality and flexibility.

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Smart Contract

A smart contract is a self-executing program stored on a blockchain that automatically enforces the terms of an agreement when predetermined conditions are met, eliminating the need for intermediaries and enabling trustless, transparent transactions. Smart contracts are the foundational technology…

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Stablecoin

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value by pegging its price to a reference asset, most commonly the U.S. dollar, making it useful for trading, payments, savings, and as a bridge between traditional finance and crypto.…

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Staking

Staking is the process of locking up cryptocurrency in a proof-of-stake blockchain network to help validate transactions and secure the network, earning rewards in return — functioning as the crypto equivalent of earning interest on a savings deposit. Staking has…

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Tokenization

Tokenization is the process of converting rights to an asset — whether physical, financial, or digital — into a digital token on a blockchain, enabling that asset to be traded, divided, programmed, and transferred with the speed and transparency of…

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Tokenomics

Tokenomics is the study and design of a cryptocurrency token’s economic model — encompassing its supply schedule, distribution, utility, incentive mechanisms, and governance rights — that collectively determine its value dynamics, sustainability, and long-term viability. Understanding tokenomics is essential for…

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TVL (Total Value Locked)

TVL (Total Value Locked) is the total dollar value of cryptocurrency assets deposited in a DeFi protocol’s smart contracts, serving as the primary metric for measuring a protocol’s adoption, trust level, and economic significance within the decentralized finance ecosystem. TVL…

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V

Volatility in Cryptocurrency

Volatility is a measure of how much the price of an asset fluctuates over time. In the cryptocurrency markets, it refers to how much the price of a coin or token can change in a short period of time.

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W

Whale

A whale is a cryptocurrency holder who owns a large enough quantity of a particular token that their trading activity can meaningfully influence the market price, creating ripple effects across the broader market. The term borrows from traditional finance and…

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Who is Craig Wright?

Craig Wright is an Australian computer scientist and businessman who has been claimed to be the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.

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Who is Hal Finney: A Revered Bitcoin Supporter

Hal Finney was a Bitcoin supporter, a revered cryptographer and cypherpunk, and a gifted computer scientist. He was the first person to run the Bitcoin software in 2009, setting a firm base for the network and helping it "stand up". On his first encounter with the Bitcoin software, he is famously quoted as saying it presented a very promising idea.

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Y

Yield Farming

Yield farming is a DeFi strategy where cryptocurrency holders deploy their assets across various protocols to earn returns — typically through providing liquidity, lending, staking, or participating in incentive programs — often stacking multiple yield sources simultaneously to maximize overall…

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Z

Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP)

A zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) is a cryptographic method that allows one party (the prover) to demonstrate to another party (the verifier) that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself. In blockchain, ZKPs…

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