Crypto Glossary
72 terms — everything you need to know about cryptocurrency.
A
Altcoin
An altcoin (alternative coin) is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. The term was coined early in crypto history when Bitcoin was the only major cr...
ATH (All-Time High)
All-Time High (ATH) is the highest price a cryptocurrency has ever reached in its trading history. ATH is an important psychological level — breaking ...
AMM (Automated Market Maker)
An Automated Market Maker is a decentralized exchange protocol that uses mathematical formulas (typically x*y=k) instead of an order book to price ass...
Airdrop
An airdrop is a free distribution of cryptocurrency tokens to wallet addresses, typically used for marketing, rewarding early users, or decentralizing...
Active Addresses
Active addresses is the count of unique blockchain addresses that sent or received a transaction within a given period (24h, 7d, 30d). It is a primary...
B
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is the first and most well-known cryptocurrency, created in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. It operates on a decentralized peer-to-...
Blockchain
A blockchain is a distributed, immutable digital ledger that records transactions across a network of computers. Each block contains a cryptographic h...
Bull Market
A bull market is a period of sustained rising prices, typically 20% or more from recent lows, accompanied by widespread optimism and increased trading...
Bear Market
A bear market is a period of sustained declining prices, typically 20% or more from recent highs, accompanied by negative sentiment and reduced tradin...
Bridge
A blockchain bridge is a protocol that allows assets and data to move between different blockchains — e.g. ETH from Ethereum to Polygon. Bridges typic...
C
Consensus Mechanism
A consensus mechanism is the method by which a blockchain network agrees on the current state of the ledger. It ensures all nodes maintain the same co...
Circulating Supply
Circulating supply is the number of cryptocurrency tokens that are currently available and circulating in the market. It differs from total supply (al...
Cold Storage
Cold storage refers to keeping cryptocurrency private keys offline, completely disconnected from the internet. This includes hardware wallets, paper w...
D
DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
DeFi refers to financial services built on blockchain technology that operate without traditional intermediaries like banks. DeFi protocols enable len...
DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)
A DAO is an organization governed by smart contracts and token holder votes rather than a traditional management structure. Members use governance tok...
DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging)
Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) is an investment strategy where you invest a fixed amount of money at regular intervals, regardless of the asset's price. ...
E
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain platform that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). Created by Vitalik Buterin in 201...
EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)
The Ethereum Virtual Machine is the runtime environment that executes smart contracts on Ethereum. EVM-compatible blockchains (Polygon, BSC, Avalanche...
Exchange Inflow
Exchange inflow measures the amount of cryptocurrency being deposited onto centralized exchange addresses. High inflows typically signal increased sel...
F
FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation)
Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) is the theoretical market cap of a cryptocurrency if all possible tokens were in circulation, calculated as price × max ...
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
FOMO is the emotional impulse to buy a cryptocurrency because its price is rising rapidly, fearing that you'll miss out on further gains. FOMO buying ...
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)
FUD refers to the spread of negative information — often exaggerated or unfounded — about a cryptocurrency to manipulate sentiment and drive down its ...
Futures
Crypto futures are derivative contracts to buy or sell a cryptocurrency at a predetermined price on a future date. Perpetual futures (no expiry) are t...
Flash Loan
A flash loan is an uncollateralized loan that must be borrowed and repaid within a single blockchain transaction. If repayment fails, the entire trans...
Fork
A fork is a divergence in a blockchain's protocol, creating two separate paths from a common history. Soft forks are backward-compatible (e.g. Bitcoin...
G
Gas Fee
Gas fees are transaction costs paid to validators or miners for processing transactions on a blockchain. On Ethereum, gas is measured in 'gwei' (1 gwe...
Governance Token
A governance token grants holders voting rights on protocol decisions — fee changes, treasury usage, new features, or strategic direction. Examples: U...
H
Halving
A halving is a programmed event that reduces the block reward for miners by 50%. Bitcoin halvings occur approximately every four years (every 210,000 ...
HODL
HODL is crypto slang for 'hold on for dear life' — a long-term investment strategy of buying and holding crypto regardless of price volatility. The te...
Hardware Wallet
A hardware wallet is a physical device that stores cryptocurrency private keys offline, providing the highest level of security against hacks and malw...
Hot Wallet
A hot wallet is any cryptocurrency wallet connected to the internet — including exchange accounts, mobile apps (Trust Wallet, MetaMask), and desktop s...
Hash Rate
Hash rate measures the total computational power dedicated to mining a proof-of-work blockchain, typically expressed in hashes per second (H/s). Bitco...
I
K
L
Liquidity Pool
A liquidity pool is a collection of cryptocurrency locked in a smart contract that facilitates decentralized trading. Instead of traditional order boo...
Layer 2
Layer 2 refers to scaling solutions built on top of existing blockchains (Layer 1) to improve transaction speed and reduce costs. They process transac...
Leverage
Leverage allows traders to control a larger position than their capital using borrowed funds. 10x leverage means a $1,000 deposit controls a $10,000 p...
Liquidation
Liquidation is the forced closure of a leveraged position when the market moves against the trader and their margin falls below the maintenance requir...
M
Market Capitalization
Market capitalization (market cap) is the total value of a cryptocurrency, calculated by multiplying the current price by the circulating supply. It i...
Mining
Cryptocurrency mining is the process of using computational power to validate transactions and add new blocks to a proof-of-work blockchain. Miners co...
MVRV Ratio (Market Value to Realized Value)
The MVRV (Market Value to Realized Value) ratio compares a cryptocurrency's market cap with its realized cap — the aggregate value of all coins at the...
Multisig (Multi-Signature)
Multisig wallets require multiple private key signatures to authorize a transaction — typically configured as 2-of-3 or 3-of-5 schemes. This eliminate...
Mempool
The mempool ('memory pool') is a node's holding area for pending transactions that have been broadcast but not yet confirmed in a block. Miners select...
N
NFT (Non-Fungible Token)
A Non-Fungible Token (NFT) is a unique digital asset stored on a blockchain that represents ownership of a specific item — such as digital art, music,...
NVT Ratio (Network Value to Transactions)
The NVT (Network Value to Transactions) ratio, often called the 'crypto P/E ratio', compares a cryptocurrency's market cap to its on-chain transaction...
Node
A node is any computer that runs a blockchain's software and participates in the network. Full nodes (like Bitcoin Core) download and validate the ent...
O
P
Proof of Work (PoW)
Proof of Work is a consensus mechanism where miners compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles to validate transactions and create new blocks. The ...
Proof of Stake (PoS)
Proof of Stake is a consensus mechanism where validators are chosen to create new blocks based on the amount of cryptocurrency they have 'staked' (loc...
Private Key
A private key is a secret cryptographic code that gives you full control over your cryptocurrency. It is used to sign transactions and prove ownership...
Perpetual Swap (Perp)
A perpetual swap is a crypto derivative similar to a futures contract but without an expiry date. Prices are kept aligned with the spot market through...
R
ROI (Return on Investment)
Return on Investment measures the profit or loss of an investment relative to its cost, expressed as a percentage. Formula: ROI = (Current Value - Ini...
Rollup
A rollup is a Layer 2 scaling solution that bundles many transactions off-chain, then posts a compressed proof to the underlying Layer 1 blockchain. R...
Realized Cap
Realized Cap values every coin at the price of its last on-chain movement, rather than the current market price. It represents the aggregate cost basi...
S
Smart Contract
A smart contract is a self-executing program stored on a blockchain that automatically enforces the terms of an agreement when predefined conditions a...
Staking
Staking is the process of locking up cryptocurrency to participate in validating transactions on a proof-of-stake blockchain. In return, stakers earn ...
Seed Phrase (Recovery Phrase)
A seed phrase (also called mnemonic or recovery phrase) is a sequence of 12 or 24 words that serves as a master backup for a cryptocurrency wallet. It...
Stablecoin
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, usually pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. Major stablecoins include USDT (Tether), US...
Slippage
Slippage is the difference between the expected price of a trade and the actual executed price, typically caused by low liquidity or fast-moving marke...
Solidity
Solidity is the primary programming language for writing Ethereum smart contracts. Designed by Gavin Wood and the Ethereum team, it has syntax similar...
T
TVL (Total Value Locked)
Total Value Locked (TVL) measures the total amount of cryptocurrency deposited in a DeFi protocol. It is one of the most important metrics for evaluat...
Token
A token is a digital asset created on an existing blockchain, as opposed to a coin which has its own native blockchain. Tokens follow standards like E...
Trading Volume
Trading volume is the total amount of a cryptocurrency traded within a specific time period, typically measured in 24 hours. High volume indicates str...
Tokenomics
Tokenomics describes the economic design of a cryptocurrency: supply, distribution, utility, and incentive mechanisms. Key questions: What is the max ...
Token Burn
A token burn permanently removes tokens from circulation by sending them to an unspendable address (often 0x0...000). Burns reduce total supply, creat...
V
Volatility
Volatility measures the degree of price variation over time. Cryptocurrency markets are known for extreme volatility — Bitcoin regularly moves 5-10% i...
Vesting
Vesting is a schedule that releases allocated tokens gradually over time — preventing immediate selling by team members, investors, and advisors. Typi...
W
Wallet
A crypto wallet is a tool that allows you to store, send, and receive cryptocurrencies. Wallets don't actually store coins — they hold the private key...
Whale
A whale is an entity (person or institution) that holds a very large amount of cryptocurrency — enough to potentially influence market prices. Bitcoin...
Whitepaper
A whitepaper is a foundational document published by a cryptocurrency project that explains its purpose, technology, tokenomics, and team. Satoshi Nak...