Crypto Glossary (A-Z)
Contents
This glossary is designed for beginners. It's not meant to be perfect or academic'just clear.
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How to use this glossary
If you're reading one of our guides and hit a term you don't recognize, come back here. For the full context, use the 'Read next' links at the bottom.
A
- Address: A public identifier you can share to receive crypto.
- Airdrop: Free token distribution to wallets, often for marketing or community rewards.
- Altcoin: Any cryptocurrency that isn't Bitcoin.
- API Key: A credential used by apps or bots to access an exchange account via API.
- Arbitrage: Buying and selling the same asset across venues to capture price differences.
- ATH (All-Time High): The highest price an asset has ever reached.
- ATL (All-Time Low): The lowest price an asset has ever reached.
B
- Bear Market: A prolonged period of falling prices and weak market sentiment.
- Bitcoin (BTC): The first and most widely known cryptocurrency.
- Block Confirmation: Validation of a transaction after it is included in a block.
- Blockchain: A shared record of transactions stored in blocks linked together.
- Bot Strategy: Rule-based trading logic executed automatically by a trading bot.
- Bridging: Moving assets between different blockchains using a bridge protocol.
- Bull Market: A prolonged period of rising prices and strong market sentiment.
- Burn (Token Burn): Permanently removing tokens from circulation.
C
- CEX (Centralized Exchange): A company-run exchange where you trade crypto.
- Circulating Supply: Number of tokens currently available to the market.
- Cold Storage: Keeping private keys offline for stronger security.
- Cold Wallet: A wallet that keeps keys offline (often a hardware wallet).
- Consolidation: Sideways price action after a strong move up or down.
- Consensus Mechanism: How a blockchain agrees on valid transactions (for example, PoW or PoS).
- Counterparty Risk: Risk that the other party (for example, an exchange) fails to meet obligations.
- Countertrend Trade: A trade taken against the dominant market trend.
- Custody: Holding and controlling private keys or client assets.
D
- Decentralized Exchange (DEX): A smart-contract-based exchange where you trade from your wallet.
- DeFi (Decentralized Finance): Financial apps built on blockchains without traditional intermediaries.
- Derivatives: Contracts whose value comes from an underlying asset (for example, futures).
- Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA): Investing fixed amounts on a schedule instead of timing entries.
- Drawdown: Decline from a peak to a trough in account value or asset price.
E
- Exit Liquidity: Situation where late buyers provide liquidity for earlier holders to sell.
F
- Fiat: Government-issued currency like EUR or USD.
- FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Emotional urge to buy because price is moving up quickly.
- FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt): Negative sentiment that can cause panic selling.
- Funding Rate: Periodic payment between long and short traders in perpetual futures.
G
- Gas Fee: A network fee paid to process transactions on some blockchains.
- Genesis Block: The first block in a blockchain.
H
- Halving: Scheduled reduction in block rewards on some blockchains (for example, Bitcoin).
- Hash: Fixed-length output created by a cryptographic hash function.
- Hot Wallet: A wallet connected to the internet.
I
- Impermanent Loss: Temporary value loss from providing liquidity versus simply holding tokens.
- IP Whitelist: Security setting that only allows API access from approved IP addresses.
K
- KYC (Know Your Customer): Identity verification required by many regulated platforms.
L
- Layer 1: Base blockchain network (for example, Bitcoin or Ethereum mainnet).
- Layer 2: Scaling network built on top of a Layer 1 chain.
- Leverage: Borrowed exposure that amplifies gains and losses.
- Limit Order: Order to buy or sell only at a specified price or better.
- Liquidation: Forced closure of a leveraged position when collateral is insufficient.
- Liquidity: How easily an asset can be bought or sold without large price impact.
- Liquidity Mining: Earning token rewards for providing liquidity to a protocol.
- Liquidity Pool: Smart-contract pool of assets used to enable swaps.
- Liquidity Sweep: Price move that takes nearby stops before reversing or continuing.
M
- Maker vs Taker: Maker adds liquidity with passive orders; taker removes liquidity with marketable orders.
- Margin: Collateral posted to open and maintain leveraged positions.
- Market Cap: Asset price multiplied by circulating supply.
- Market Depth: Available buy and sell orders at different prices in the order book.
- Market Order: Order to buy or sell immediately at the best available price.
- Market Structure: Overall trend pattern of highs/lows, ranges, and breakouts.
- MEV (Maximal Extractable Value): Extra value extracted by reordering, including, or excluding transactions.
- Multisig (Multi-Signature Wallet): Wallet requiring multiple approvals to authorize a transaction.
N
- Node: Software/computer that validates and relays blockchain data.
- Nonce: Number used once; in crypto often a transaction/account sequencing value.
O
- On-Chain Transaction: Transaction recorded directly on a blockchain ledger.
- Oracles: Services that feed external data (for example, prices) into smart contracts.
- Order Book: Live list of buy and sell orders on an exchange.
- Order Flow: Real-time pattern of executed orders showing buying/selling pressure.
P
- Perpetual Futures: Futures contracts with no expiry date.
- Portfolio Allocation: How capital is distributed across assets or strategies.
- Position Sizing: Choosing trade size based on risk limits and account size.
- Private Key: The secret that authorizes spending from a wallet.
- Proof of Reserves: Verification method showing a platform holds enough assets for user balances.
- Public Key: Cryptographic key used to derive addresses and verify signatures.
R
- Rekt: Slang for taking a severe loss.
- Risk-Reward Ratio: Comparison of potential loss versus potential gain in a trade.
- Rug Pull: Scam where project insiders drain liquidity or abandon the project.
S
- Seed Phrase / Recovery Phrase: 12-24 words that can restore your wallet.
- Self-Custody: You control your own private keys instead of relying on a third party.
- Slashing: Penalty where a validator loses stake for rule violations.
- Slippage: Difference between expected price and actual execution price.
- Smart Contract: Self-executing code on a blockchain.
- Spread: Difference between best bid and best ask prices.
- Stablecoin: Token designed to track a stable asset such as USD.
- Staking: Locking assets to help secure a network and earn rewards.
- Stop-Loss: Predefined exit to limit downside if price moves against you.
T
- Token Supply: Total amount of a token (circulating and/or maximum depending on context).
- Tokenomics: Economic design of a token including supply, utility, and incentives.
- Trading Volume: Amount traded over a given time period.
- Transaction: A transfer recorded on a blockchain.
- TVL (Total Value Locked): Total capital locked in a DeFi protocol.
- Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): Extra login security using a second verification method.
U
- Utility Token: Token used to access a product, service, or protocol feature.
V
- Validator: Node/operator that verifies transactions and produces blocks in PoS networks.
- Volatility: Degree and speed of price movement.
W
- Wallet: Software or hardware that manages keys and lets you send/receive crypto.
- Whales: Large holders whose trades can move markets.
- Whitepaper: Project document describing technology, goals, and token design.
- Whitelisting (Addresses): Restricting withdrawals/transfers to approved wallet addresses.
Z
- Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZK Proof): Method to prove something is true without revealing underlying data.
Read next
- Crypto Basics: What Is Bitcoin & Blockchain
- Centralized vs Decentralized Exchanges Explained
- How Crypto Wallets Work (Simple Overview)
- Common Crypto Scams & Red Flags
- Risk Management for Beginners
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Disclaimer: Educational content only. Not financial advice.