Crypto Glossary

95 essential terms — searchable, A-Z.

A

Address: A public identifier (like an account number) where crypto can be received. Derived from a public key.
Airdrop: Free distribution of tokens to wallet holders, often used to bootstrap a community or reward early users.
Altcoin: Any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin.
AMM (Automated Market Maker): A type of DEX that uses liquidity pools and a formula to price assets, instead of an order book. Uniswap is the most famous example.
APY: Annual Percentage Yield. The total yearly return including compounding.
ATH / ATL: All-Time High / All-Time Low. The highest or lowest price an asset has ever reached.

B

Bear market: A prolonged period of declining prices, typically 20%+ from the highs, often with weak sentiment.
Bitcoin (BTC): The first and most valuable cryptocurrency. Created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto.
Block: A bundle of transactions added to the blockchain. Each block references the previous one cryptographically.
Blockchain: A distributed, append-only ledger maintained by a network of computers.
Bridge: A protocol that lets you move tokens from one blockchain to another.
Bull market: A sustained period of rising prices and positive sentiment.
Burn: Permanently destroying tokens by sending them to an unspendable address. Reduces supply.

C

Candlestick: A chart shape showing the open, high, low, and close price of an asset over a given time period.
CEX: Centralized Exchange. A company-run platform like Coinbase, Binance, or Kraken.
Cold wallet: An offline wallet (usually hardware) where private keys never touch the internet.
Collateral: Crypto pledged to back a loan in DeFi. Liquidated if the loan becomes too risky.
Confirmation: When a transaction is included in a block. More confirmations = more security.
Custodial: When a third party (exchange, app) holds your private keys for you.

D

DAO: Decentralized Autonomous Organization. A group governed by token-holder voting on-chain.
DApp: Decentralized Application. A frontend that interacts with smart contracts.
DCA: Dollar-Cost Averaging. Buying a fixed amount on a fixed schedule, regardless of price.
DeFi: Decentralized Finance. Banking-like services (lending, swapping, earning) built on smart contracts, without intermediaries.
DEX: Decentralized Exchange. A non-custodial swap protocol like Uniswap or Curve.
Diamond hands: Holding through volatility without selling. Opposite: paper hands.
DYOR: Do Your Own Research. A reminder not to follow random calls blindly.

E

ERC-20: The most common standard for fungible tokens on Ethereum.
ERC-721: The Ethereum standard for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Ethereum (ETH): A smart-contract platform launched in 2015. The base layer for most DeFi and NFTs.
Etherscan: The most popular Ethereum block explorer. Lets you inspect any tx, address, or contract.
EVM: Ethereum Virtual Machine. The runtime where smart contracts execute. Many chains are 'EVM-compatible'.

F

Faucet: A site that gives away small amounts of (usually testnet) crypto for development or learning.
FDV: Fully Diluted Valuation. Price × Max Supply. Useful for spotting future inflation.
Flash loan: An uncollateralized loan that must be borrowed and repaid in a single transaction.
Fork: A change to a blockchain's rules. Can be 'soft' (compatible) or 'hard' (incompatible, may split the chain).
FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out. Buying because price is pumping, not because of conviction.
FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt. Negative narratives, sometimes spread maliciously.

G

Gas: The fee paid to execute a transaction on Ethereum or similar chains. Priced in gwei (1 gwei = 10⁻⁹ ETH).
Genesis block: The very first block on a blockchain.

H

Halving: Bitcoin's programmed event where block rewards are cut in half. Happens every ~4 years.
Hash: A unique cryptographic fingerprint of any data. Same input = same hash; tiny change = totally different hash.
Hardware wallet: A physical device that stores private keys offline. Examples: Ledger, Trezor.
HODL: Holding crypto long-term, ignoring short-term moves. Originally a typo of 'hold'.
Hot wallet: Software wallet connected to the internet (MetaMask, Phantom). Convenient, less secure.

I

ICO / IDO / IEO: Initial Coin / DEX / Exchange Offering. Different ways tokens are launched and sold.
Impermanent loss: Loss experienced by liquidity providers when token prices diverge from when they deposited.

K

KYC: Know Your Customer. Identity verification required by regulated exchanges.

L

Layer 1 (L1): A base blockchain (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana). Settles its own transactions.
Layer 2 (L2): A scaling solution built on top of an L1, batching transactions for lower fees and faster confirmation.
Leverage: Borrowing to amplify a position. Multiplies both gains and losses.
Limit order: An order that only fills at a specified price or better.
Liquidation: Forced closure of a leveraged position when collateral falls below the required threshold.
Liquidity: How easily an asset can be bought or sold without moving the price. High liquidity = tight spreads.
Liquidity pool: A smart contract holding two or more tokens, used by AMMs to price swaps.
Long: A position that profits if price goes up.

M

Market cap: Price × Circulating supply. A rough measure of a project's size.
Market order: An order that fills immediately at the best available price. Can suffer slippage.
Mempool: The waiting area for unconfirmed transactions before they're included in a block.
Mining: Securing a Proof-of-Work blockchain by solving cryptographic puzzles in exchange for rewards.
Multisig: A wallet that requires multiple keys (e.g., 2 of 3) to authorize a transaction.

N

NFT: Non-Fungible Token. A unique on-chain token that can represent art, collectibles, memberships, and more.
Node: A computer running blockchain software, validating and broadcasting transactions.
Nonce: A counter included in transactions to prevent replay attacks.

O

Oracle: A service that feeds real-world data (prices, scores) to smart contracts. Chainlink is the largest.
Order book: A list of all open buy and sell orders. Used by CEXs and some DEXs.

P

Paper hands: Selling at the first sign of trouble. Opposite: diamond hands.
Peg: A target price a stablecoin tries to maintain (usually $1).
Phishing: A scam attempting to trick you into entering credentials or signing malicious transactions.
Private key: A secret number that proves ownership of an address. NEVER share it.
Proof of Stake (PoS): A consensus mechanism where validators lock up coins to validate blocks. Used by Ethereum, Solana, Cardano.
Proof of Work (PoW): A consensus mechanism where miners solve puzzles to validate blocks. Used by Bitcoin.
Public key: Derived from the private key. Safe to share. Used to generate addresses.
Pump and dump: Coordinated price spike followed by mass selling. Often a scam.

R

ROI: Return On Investment.
Rug pull: When a project team takes investors' money and disappears.

S

Satoshi (sat): The smallest unit of Bitcoin. 1 BTC = 100,000,000 sats.
Seed phrase: 12 or 24 words that back up your entire wallet. Lose them = lose your funds.
Shitcoin: Slang for low-quality, hype-driven cryptocurrencies.
Short: A position that profits if price goes down.
Slashing: A penalty in PoS systems where a validator loses part of their stake for misbehaving.
Slippage: The difference between expected and actual fill price, common with low liquidity.
Smart contract: A self-executing program stored on a blockchain.
Stablecoin: A token pegged to a stable asset, usually the US dollar.
Staking: Locking up coins to help secure a PoS network and earn rewards.
Stop-loss: An order that sells automatically if price drops to a set level.

T

Testnet: A development blockchain where tokens have no real value. Used to test code.
Token: A digital asset issued on top of a blockchain (vs. a 'coin' which is the chain's native asset).
TVL: Total Value Locked. The amount of crypto deposited in a DeFi protocol.

V

Validator: A node that helps secure a Proof-of-Stake network by proposing and attesting blocks.
Volatility: How much an asset's price moves over time. Crypto is famously volatile.

W

WAGMI / NGMI: We're All Gonna Make It / Not Gonna Make It. Crypto Twitter memes about confidence.
Wallet: Software or hardware that stores your private keys and lets you sign transactions.
Whale: An individual or entity holding a very large amount of a coin.

Y

Yield farming: Stacking DeFi strategies (lending + LP + rewards) to maximize returns.

Z

ZK proof: Zero-Knowledge proof. Cryptographically proves a statement is true without revealing the data behind it.