#, A
Altcoin
An altcoin is any type of crypto that is not bitcoin. The word altcoin is made from the combination of the words alternative and coin.
AMM - Automated Market Maker
An AMM is a protocol that uses mathematical formulas to price assets while providing and maintaining liquidity. This is different from an Order Book on a traditional exchange where pricing is done on an algorithm.
APR - Annual Percentage Rate
APR comes into play when a cryptocurrency user decides to make their coins available for loans through staking and other DeFi methods. APR is the monetary value or reward that investors may earn, taking into consideration the interest rates and any other fees that borrowers must pay, exclusive of compounding interest.
APY - Annual Percentage Yield
The Annual Percentage Yield (APY) of an asset is a calculation that shows how much you will earn over the course of a year taking into consideration the compounding interest accrued.
B
Bear Trap
Because any market responds to price signals, a group of investors with deep pockets can arrange to sell an asset. This creates a selling pressure, which is when a bear trap is triggered, ending with those same investors buying the asset at a discount.
BEP-20
BEP-20 is a coding template for creating tokens on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) blockchain.
Block Producer
When it comes to Proof-of-Stake, a block producer is an important cog in the ecosystem as it is this person or group that has its hardware chosen to verify the transactions on a block, as well as begin the next block.
Block Reward
For blockchain to be a trustless and secure network, computers powering it must be incentivized. These computers are miners, and the rewards they receive for securing the network are called block rewards.
Bonding Curve
Bonding curve is a mathematical model describing that an increase in a token's supply is accompanied by an increase in its price.
BTFD — Buy the F*cking Dip
One of the more enthusiastic and forceful taglines of the cryptocurrency community that is usually seen at a time when the price of a cryptocurrency is falling. Instead of panicking and selling, the phrase is intended to incite buying at a lower price in the hopes of gains down the line.
Bubble
A Bubble indicates an asset's price has risen to a point where it is probably too high for the perceived intrinsic value and thus overinflated.
BUIDL
BUIDL is a warp of the word build and is a movement of sorts that encourages the building of the entire crypto eco-system as opposed to purely investing in and holding crypto for personal gain.
Bull Trap
Opposite to the bear trap, a bull trap is based on the market signal fooling traders that the asset's downturn is over, making them buy more. When it doesn't pan out, traders are triggered to abandon their long positions, lest they risk losses.
Buy the Rumour Sell the News
In cryptocurrency trading and trading in general, investors often buy the rumour and sell the news. This is generally because prices tend to rise as a rumour spreads and then drop when the actual rumoured event occurs.
Buy Wall
When traders want to enter the market, they look at buy and sell walls to figure out the market mood. Knowing this, whales often manipulate them to controls the asset's price.
C
Candlestick Charts
Candlestick charts are graphs used in the tracking of prices for certain assets over time. They offer four different points of information for a time period; the opening price, the price high, the price low, and the closing price.
Capitulation
Capitulation occurs, in cryptocurrency and traditional investing, when someone decides to sell off their remaining assets at a significant rate with the assumption being that the price will never rise enough to recoup funds.
CEX - Centralized Exchange
A CEX is a centralised exchange run by a 3rd party organisation that facilitates the buying, holding, exchanging, and trading of crypto. A CEX is designed to be simple to use and in most cases makes the exchange to and from fiat currencies pretty easy and straightforward.
Circulating Supply
Circulating supply is the best approximation of the number of coins or tokens currently active in the crypto market and in the hands of the general public.
Coin Burn
Crypto coin burn is when crypto coins or tokens are permanently and intentionally removed from circulation in order to help elevate the price by decreasing supply.
Consensus Mechanism
A consensus mechanism is a way of validating transactions and maintaining the integrity of a blockchain. It is there to stop a cryptocurrency from being manipulated or defrauded.
Correction
Usually following a dramatic rise in price, a correction occurs when the price of an asset drops by at least 10 percent.
Crypto Bull Run
In any sort of trading, there are bullish and bearish tendencies. The former is used to describe when the price of an asset is moving up, and the latter for the opposite. When talking about a Crypto Bull Run, this refers to when a crypto is making a prolonged and usually rapid rise in price.
Crypto Faucet
A crypto faucet is a website that pays out tiny amounts of crypto in exchange for performing small tasks, such as clicking on links or watching ads.
Crypto Lending Platform
Just like banks make your cash deposits available for borrowing, crypto lending platforms also do the same for your crypto assets. In both cases, you receive an interest rate.
Crypto Mining Rig
Cryptocurrencies are created (mined) by solving complicated mathematical calculations. Powerful, dedicated hardware, called a crypto mining rig, is used in the process.
Crypto Presale
When blockchain developers need funds prior to ICO (Initial Coin Offering), they offer a crypto presale of the project's tokens. Usually priced low, if the project is successful, these tokens would later net the interested parties a hefty return on investment.
Crypto Trading Bot
Just as aimbots automate aiming in video games, crypto trading bots automate cryptocurrency trading. In both cases, the workload is offloaded to computer scripts.
Cryptoasset
In essence, a cryptoasset can be defined as a digital asset that employs cryptographic technologies in order to operate and function. Most notably, cryptocurrencies.
D
dApps - Decentralized Applications
Decentralized Applications - dApps - represent a friendly interface that allows users to access software built on blockchain. Specifically, on a blockchain that is capable of running smart contracts.
DeFi Degens
Somewhat controversial, DeFi degens are people who try to push the boundaries of DeFi protocols. By pushing the limits of their tokens, they assume a lot of risk, gaining the reputation of (degenerate) gamblers.
Digital Commodities
Digital commodities are blockchain-powered assets, gaining value based on their utility and demand.
DYCO - Dynamic Coin Offering
Dynamic Coin Offering (DYCO) avoids volatility issues when funding blockchain projects by having the tokens backed by the US dollar for the duration of the first 16 months.
DYOR - Do Your Own Research
Do Your Own Research is a common term in the cryptocurrency space that is made into the DYOR acronym. It is intended to persuade people not to take everything they hear as truth.
E
ELI5 - Explain Like I'm Five
ELI5 is an acronym that many will see in the cryptocurrency space as there are many complex and technical concepts that people want explained to them. Instead of keeping it technical, people prefer to have the concept explained to them like they are a five year old child.
ERC-20
ERC-20 tokens are specifically created to work on the Ethereum blockchain platform. ERC-20 is a common standard that allows ERC-20 smart contract tokens to be easily created, shared, exchanged, and transferred to a compatible crypto wallet.
Ethereum Transaction
Transfer of Ethereum-compatible assets from one wallet address to another.
F
Fakeout
A fakeout refers to a situation in technical chart analysis where a trader enters a situation and takes a position in anticipation of a big price move or technical signal, but that never develops and the asset price does not move as expected leaving the traders stranded.
Fiat Money
Fiat money is a currency that is backed by a government or central authority but not backed by any valuable commodity like gold or silver.
FUD - Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt
Fud, which stands for Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt has inevitably and unsurprisingly made its way into daily crypto speak. As a knowledgeable crypto investor, it is well worth understanding what fud is, what is behind it, what to look out for and importantly, and how to pick up on possible fud as it could well save you a pretty penny!
G
Gas
When looking to perform a transaction on Ethereum, there is a fee, and this fee is measured in Gas. Gas is therefore the cost required to successfully conduct a transaction or execute a contract on the Ethereum blockchain.
Genesis Block
The first block of a blockchain after it launches on a mainnet - independent blockchain computer network. As such, it is the only data block without a preceding block, yielding a mining reward that is not spendable.
Gold-Backed Crypto
Gold-backed crypto is a derivative-based digital asset and type of stablecoin whose value is matched to and supposedly backed by a certain value in gold measured in grams or troy ounces.
Golden Cross Pattern
The golden cross is a technical chart pattern that traders look for that shows a relatively short-term moving average crosses above a long-term moving average. When this is seen it is an indicator that there may be a bullish breakout about to happen.
GPU Mining
GPU mining is the mining of cryptocurrencies using a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) to solve complex mathematical calculations called "hashes" instead of purely using the CPU as was more common in the early days of crypto.
Gwei
Gwei is a term used in determining the cost of a transaction with Ethereum. It is the denomination for defining a gas fee.
H-M
Halving
A cryptocurrency halving is an important step in its development where the rewards from mining new blocks are cut in half to affect the supply and inflation rates.
Hard Cap
Hard cap is a hard-coded limit placed on a token's supply when it is launched.
Hash Power
The hash power or hash rate is the combined computing power of a cryptocurrency network or the computational power use of a mining rig on a crypto network that is solving cryptocurrency Proof of Work hashing algorithms.
HODL
HODL is a term very commonly used by cryptocurrency investors and the crypto world in general and refers to a person holding onto their crypto even in a bear market, refusing to sell and simply holding on for dear life!
IDO - Initial Dex Offering
An initial DEX offering (IDO) is a decentralised fundraising and bootstrapping method for crypto startups that is growing in popularity. It is in some ways a natural successor to the initial coin offering (ICO) or the initial exchange offering (IEO) that have been hugely popular in recent years.
IOU - I Owe You
A document noting that one party is indebted to the other.
Lambo
The term Lambo refers to the luxury supercar maker, Lamborghini. Its association with the crypto community refers to people using the car as a measure of successful, expected, and rapid growth in their investment to a point where they can buy a Lambo.
Layer 2
Layer 2 is a scaling solution to enable faster and lower-cost transactions on a blockchain network like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
Ledger
In the crypto sphere, ledger or DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) is a way of storing information across multiple locations and accessible by multiple participants. This distributed but unified database is the Ledger.
Leverage Trading
Leverage trading in crypto makes it possible to trade a larger amount of crypto without the need to have the full amount of funds required to execute the trade. It is a risky way of trading and very much a double-edged sword that can multiply both profits and losses.
Lightning Network
The Lightning Network is a Layer Two protocol that is aimed at solving scaling issues in blockchain by allowing transactions to happen much quicker with the same security as on-chain transactions.
Liquidity
The ability of an asset to be exchanged or liquidated at a demanded price point.
Liquidity Provider
To make up for the lack of centralized institutions on the blockchain, crypto market participants are incentivized to provide liquidity. As a reward, they gain interest rate, thus becoming yield farmers.
Liquidity Ratio
A metric that points to the likelihood of paying off debt without resorting to raising capital.
Liquidity Risk
When there are not enough buyers or sellers for a transaction to happen, such low liquidity incurs a liquidity risk.
Liquidity Trap
During a recession, central banks stimulate the economy by encouraging spending and lowering interest rates. However, most people become too afraid to invest or spend, so they end up saving money instead.
Mainnet
A mainnet is an independent and live blockchain that carries out the task of transferring digital currency from senders to receivers via its own network and using its own unique technology and protocol.
Market Cap
When we multiply the number of cryptocurrency tokens in circulation with the single token's current price, we gain the cryptocurrency's valuation.
Max Supply
With cryptocurrencies, there are often set amounts of coins that will ever be minted, this is known as the max supply.
Mining Farm
Cryptocurrency mining can be accomplished on a large scale, using multiple mining rigs and machines - these operations are known as cryptocurrency mining farms.
Mining Pool
Cryptocurrency mining is an operation best undertaken with multiple miners, or as an organisation. Mining pools are arrangements where multiple miners pool their resources together to increase profitability.
N
Nakamoto Consensus
As the first blockchain consensus deployed in Bitcoin (BTC), Nakamoto Consensus ensures that blockchain's data blocks - transactions - are verified as true across all the nodes on the blockchain network.
Non-Fungible Token
Non-fungible tokens or NFT is any content stored on a blockchain. This makes it attain key features of cryptocurrencies - traceability and security.
O
Off-Chain Transactions
Off-chain transactions occur outside of a blockchain network and as a result, are generally cheaper and faster than on-chain transactions but do not benefit fully from all of the inbuilt security offered by a crypto blockchain.
Order Book
When people enter the market, they do so to either buy or sell an asset. An order book is a record of all the buys and sells in a given time frame.
Overbought
When the asset's price is higher than its worth, it is overbought.
Oversold
A crypto can be considered oversold if a large amount of selling has pushed the price down over a period of time but in fact, the price does not reflect the true value, meaning the crypto could actually be undervalued and likely to go up.
P
PoB - Proof of Burn
Like its more popular counterparts, Proof-of-work, and Proof-of-Stake, Proof-of-Burn is a blockchain consensus algorithm that verifies a cost was incurred in “burning” a coin.
Price Impact
The price impact represents the change in the price of an asset depending on how, usually a large, trade moves the market. Single trades have the possibility of affecting price and this is known as the trade's price impact.
Pump and Dump
Taking advantage of people's fear of not missing out, a coordinated group of investors misleadingly inflate an asset's price. When other traders buy in, raising the price further, the original investors start selling, thus creating a pump and dump scheme.
R
Rug Pull
A rug pull is when a crypto project creates a huge amount of hype leading to lots of people buying in. Once a sufficient level of liquidity has been reached, the people behind the project pull the rug and abandon the project leaving behind worthless tokens.
S
SATS - Satoshi
Sats stands for Satoshis, the smallest unit of bitcoin (BTC) recorded on the blockchain. One Satoshi (sat) is equal to 0.00000001 BTC or one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin.
Scamcoin
Not to be confused with shitcoins, these are cryptocurrencies launched with the goal of attracting investors only to be sold for massive profits in a short time.
Scrypt
A type of Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm that is more memory intensive. It was unsuccessfully used by Litecoin developers to make mining less dependent on ASIC machines.
SEC - Securities and Exchange Commission
Securities and Exchange Commission is purportedly an independent regulatory US agency in charge of protecting investors when they enter the market.
Security Token
Traditional securities are commonplace in investing, but they have received a blockchain boost through security tokens which operate as a digital form of these traditional financial tools.
Seed Phrase
Seed phrase is a phrase consisting of 12–24 words that can recover your crypto funds.
Sell Wall
A large limit order is placed at the desired cryptocurrency price to sell those coins when the price reaches the desired level.
Settlement Layer
A settlement layer is an idea that calls for an anchor of transaction settlement for the entire blockchain ecosystem. In this instance, it would be that one blockchain is used as the final settlement layer for all cryptocurrency and blockchain transactions.
Shitcoin
Not necessarily scamcoins, shitcoins are called so because they don't bring anything new to the cryptocurrency table. By copycatting existing coins and lacking a clear purpose, they also lack long-term sustainability.
Side Chain
A blockchain operates as a single, long chain where all transactions happen. However, this can lead to issues and thus a sidechain off the main one can come in to alleviate problems.
Slippage
In volatile markets, where price changes can happen drastically and rapidly, traders often have to take a different price than what they requested and this is known as slippage.
Soft Cap
When a new project launches its token with an ICO they will often set a target amount they want to raise as the minimum point.
Solidity
Just like video games are coded with a programming language, so are blockchains. Specifically, Solidity is used to develop Ethereum's smart contracts.
Stablecoin
Tokenized fiat money. Investors who don't want to worry about crypto volatility tend to buy tokens that are pegged to fiat currency in a 1:1 value ratio, enabling them to quickly enter or exit the market.
Staking
Staking in crypto allows cryptocurrency holders to earn a passive income by staking their coins in a proof of stake (PoS) network to help verify blockchain transactions in exchange for a reward.
Store of Value
Store of value usually refers to a commodity or asset that would normally retain purchasing power into the future where it can be saved, retrieved and exchanged at a later time. In crypto, the same applies, but the definition of certain cryptos as a store of value is still debated.
T
Ticker Symbol
People navigate the world best when they use shortcuts. Ticker symbols represent an asset in its short form for easier trading, such as Bitcoin - BTC or Tesla - TSLA.
Tokenomics
Tokenomics is a combination of the words “token” as in crypto token and “economics” and is about understanding the economics and fundamentals of a crypto token.
Trustless
In the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, one of the core tenets of the ecosystem is the notion of trustlessness. To be trustless in crypto means there is no need to trust anyone else, or a thyroid party, for your transactions.
TVL - Total Value Locked
The TVL represents the entire number and value of assets that are being staked in a protocol. Often used in DeFi.
TXID - Transaction ID
A TXID also known as a transaction ID or transaction hash is a unique string of characters given to every single transaction that is verified and added to a crypto blockchain such as Bitcoin or Ethereum.
U-Z
Utility Token
Utility tokens are types of tokens that represent a value within blockchain services. Their primary role is to incentivize their usage.