Cryptocurrency Dictionary

Jump to: navigation, search

Cryptocurrency related acronyms, terms, vocabulary and slang are often used in crypto conversations. Knowing the terminology will really help you to follow cryptocurrency news and discussions in social media. Disclaimer: Some of these terms are used in fun and humor.

0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

  • 0x = 0x (abbreviated as ZRX) is an open and permissionless protocol designed to facilitate trading of ERC20 tokens on the Ethereum protocol. It was created to act as an open standard and primary building block to help drive interoperability of decentralized applications (DApps) that factor exchange functionality.
  • 2FA (TFA) = A "2-Factor Authentication" is a simple method of enhancing your security, representing an independent channel of authentication.
  • 51% Attack = A situation where more than half of the computing power on a network is operated by a single individual or concentrated group, which gives them complete and total control over a network.

A.....................................

  • AAL = "Account Abstract Layer" is a special point of contact or bridge between the Bitcoin Protocol and Ethereum Virtual Machine.
  • ADA = A symbol for Cardano currency.
  • Address = In cryptocurrency terms, an address is a code used to send, receive or store cryptocurrency. These addresses consist of 26-35 characters, a combination of letters and numbers. The address can also refer to the public key, a pair of keys needed to sign their digital transactions.
  • Addy = This refers to a cryptocurrency public address (or key). Example: "Send me your addy, please."
  • Aeternity = Aeternity is an open-source blockchain-based platform and digital asset platform designed for decentralized applications. The project is designed with special focus on enhancing the scalability of decentralized applications and smart contracts.
  • Agreement ledger = An agreement ledger is distributed ledger used by two or more parties to negotiate and reach agreement.
  • Altcoin = "Alternative coin" ("altcoin" or "alt coin") is every other cryptocurrency than Bitcoin (BTC). Bitcoin is considered the main index for cryptocurrency market.
  • AML = "Anti-Money Laundering" techniques are used to stop people converting illegally obtained funds, to appear as though they have been earned legally.
  • ANN = Announcement. Likely to view this near an announcement of a new cryptocurrency project that is about to launch or on forums like Bitcointalk.
  • API = An "Application Programming Interface" is a set of subroutine definitions, protocols, and tools for building application software.
  • Arbitrage = The act of buying and selling on different exchanges to earn the difference in the spread. Arbitrage opportunities occur due to differences in exchange reputation, community coin preferences and ease of bank funding. Take note that fees, limits and prices could change anytime when you are transferring your coins between exchanges, especially during volatile times.
  • Ashdraked = A situation where you lost all your money.
  • ASIC = "Application Specific Integrated Circuit". ASICs are silicon chips specifically designed to do a single task. In the case of Bitcoin, they are designed to process SHA-256 hashing problems to mine new bitcoins.
  • ASIC miners = The hardware which houses the ASIC silicon chip. Connected to the internet.
  • Asymmetric key algorithm = Asymmetric cryptography is a branch of cryptography where a secret key can be divided into two parts, a public key and a private key. These keys are needed to support cryptocurrency transactions. Both sender and receiver have this key, and can send secure information.
  • ATH = "All time high". This means that the price of a certain cryptocurrency has broken all of its past records and is trading at the highest price it has ever achieved.
  • Atomic swap = An atomic swap is a proposed feature in cryptocurrencies, that allows for the exchange of one cryptocurrency for another cryptocurrency without the need for a trusted third party (centralized exchange).
  • Attestation ledger = A distributed ledger providing a durable record of agreements, commitments or statements, providing evidence (attestation) that these agreements, commitments or statements were made.
  • AUD = Australian dollar.

B.....................................

  • Baghodler = A bagholder or baghodler is an investor or a trader who has been holding (or hodling) for too long on a certain cryptocurrency and now has to face the consequences of that decision.
  • Bags = Holdings of altcoins, with each altcoin being held in a different “bag”.
  • BC = "Bitcoin Classic", is one of alternative Bitcoin development branches. This solution has little support from the overall bitcoin community right now, though.
  • BCC
    • BCC = A Symbol for BitConnect currency.
    • BCC = In Binance, Bittrex and some other exchanges, BCC is a symbol for Bitcoin Cash. Do not get confused because usually BCH is a correct symbol for Bitcoin Cash.
  • Bear = This is a term borrowed from the Wall Street people. This means a trader or investor who believes the prices of a particular cryptocurrency or market will fall and wants to profit from that fall.
  • Bearwhale = This term means a trader with a fat account who is bearish on the price of a cryptocurrency.
  • Beggar = A person who shares his/her wallets to obtain donations. He/she is similar to leecher.
  • BFT = "Byzantine Fault Tolerance" is the dependability of a fault-tolerant computer system, particularly distributed computing systems, where components may fail and there is imperfect information on whether a component is failed.
  • Big Blockers = Those who believe in a scaling path for Bitcoin that increases the block size above 1MB. Notably, Bitcoin Unlimited and other factions/supporters.
  • Binance = One the fastest growing exchange for trading cryptocurrencies.
  • Binance Coin = Binance Coin is the digital currency on the Binance ecosystem. The asset is an ERC-20 token which means it is based on the Ethereum network.
  • BIP = "Bitcoin Improvement Proposal" is a standard to submit potential changes or improvements that will have a positive effect on the Bitcoin protocol as a whole.
  • BIP 148 = BIP 148 is a User Activated Soft Fork (UASF) that was designed to cause the existing SegWit MASF deployment to cause activation in all existing SegWit capable node software (which currently is 80% of the network nodes).
  • Bit = A unit used to designate a sub-unit of a bitcoin - 1,000,000 bits equals 1 bitcoin (BTC).
  • Bitcoin (uppercase) = Bitcoin with a capital “B” is typically associated with Bitcoin the protocol and payment network. Bitcoin is a well known cryptocurrency, based on the proof-of-work blockchain. Example: "I've studied a lot about Bitcoin."
Bitcoin (BTC)
  • bitcoin (lowercase) = Bitcoin with a lowercase “b” written as “bitcoin” is usually associated specifically with bitcoin as the currency. Bitcoin is the first decentralized, open source cryptocurrency that runs on a global peer to peer network, without the need for middlemen and a centralized issuer. Example: "Could you send me two bitcoins, please?"
  • Bitcoin ATM = A cash point where people can trade fiat currency and bitcoins.
Bitcoin ATM
  • Bitcoin Cash = Bitcoin Cash is a decentralized peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was developed from the Bitcoin Core. Bitcoin Cash was formed as a hard fork of Bitcoin.
  • Bitcoin Diamond = Bitcoin Diamond is one of the latest cryptocurrencies in the market created through a hard fork of the original Bitcoin. The fork occurred at the height of block 495,866.
  • Bitcoin Gold = Bitcoin Gold is a decentralized and open source cryptocurrency designed from a fork of Bitcoin. The fork took place at Bitcoin Block 491,407 in October 2017 with the purpose of restoring mining functionality to the community.
  • Bitcoin maximalist = The truest believer in bitcoin’s original mission and design, often paired with a disdain for altcoins.
  • Bitcoin network = The decentralized, peer-to-peer network which maintains the blockchain. This is what processes all Bitcoin transactions.
  • Bitcoin protocol = The open source, cryptographic protocol which operates on the Bitcoin network, setting the “rules” for how the network runs.
  • Bitcoin transaction = A transaction is a file that says, “Mike gives X bitcoin to Jennifer“ and is signed by Mike‘s private key. After signed, a transaction is broadcasted in the network, sent from one peer to every other peer. The transaction is known almost immediately by the whole network. But only after a specific amount of time it gets confirmed. As long as a transaction is unconfirmed, it is pending and can be forged. When a transaction is confirmed, it is set in stone.
  • Bitfinex = A full-featured spot trading platform for the major cryptocurrencies.
  • Bithumb = One of the Bitcoin community's largest and highest-volume exchanges based in Korea.
  • Bitpanda = Bitpanda is Europe's most popular digital currency trading platform.
  • Bitpay = Bitcoin processing company who allow merchants to accept bitcoin as a payment method.
  • BitShares = BitShares is an open-source, blockchain based and public financial platform that provides users with a decentralized asset exchange. The platform is the work of a cryptographic and computing expert, Daniel Larimer, who was not contented with the way trading at the standard trading exchanges was taking place.
  • Bitstamp = A digital currency exchange.
  • Bittrex = U.S. -based blockchain trading platform, which is designed for customers who demand lightning-fast trade execution and dependable digital wallets.
  • Block = Blocks are packages of data that carry permanently recorded data on the blockchain network.
  • Blockchain = Originally block chain, is a continuously growing list of records, called blocks, which are linked and secured using cryptography.
Blockchain formation. The main chain (black) consists of the longest series of blocks from the genesis block (green) to the current block. Orphan blocks (purple) exist outside of the main chain.
  • Blockfolio = Keeps track of your crypto holdings.
  • Block explorer = An online tool to view all transactions, past and current, on the blockchain. They provide useful information such as network hash rate and transaction growth.
  • Block confirmation = Block confirmation is a successful act of hashing a transaction, including it in a block, and then adding that block to the blockchain.
  • Block height = Block height refers to the number of blocks connected together in the block chain. For example, Height 0, would be the very first block, which is also called the Genesis Block.
  • Block reward = A form of incentive for the miner who successfully calculated the hash in a block during mining. Verification of transactions on the blockchain generates new coins in the process, and the miner is rewarded a portion of those.
  • Block size = A block size is the number of transactions that a block can hold. Block sizes can have an impact on a network’s transaction timing and fees.
  • Block timestamp = Each block contains a timestamp in Unix. They help to make it more difficult for someone else to manipulate the blockchain.
  • Bloodbath = When a certain cryptocurrency or most cryptocurrencies are nosediving (values in red).
  • Bollinger band = A Bollinger band is a moving average with two standard deviations plotted from it on either side. Standard deviation is a measure of market volatility and so Bollinger bands help account for volatility in a cryptocurrency.
  • Borrowing rate = When you open a leveraged position, you will be borrowing coins at a pre-determined rate. This rate will be added to reflect your position’s overall profit and loss.
  • Breakout = When market price moves passed a predefined support or resistance level.
  • BTFD = "Buy The Fucking Dip". When people are running around and selling because of fear, this is the time to buy.
  • BTM = A symbol for Bytom currency.
  • BU = Bitcoin Classic (BC) is one of the alternative branches of bitcoin development. BU, or "Bitcoin Unlimited", is another alternative Bitcoin solution. So far, it appears only a small portion of the bitcoin community supports this proposal, though.
  • Bubble = In the 2010s, various scholars and journalists have claimed that some cryptocurrencies have been involved in, or are displaying the signs of, an economic bubble phenomenon.
  • Bull / bullish = A market in which coin prices are rising, encouraging buying.
  • Butthurt = A description of where you will feel the pain when your shitcoin goes to zero.
  • Buy wall = A buy wall is what occurs when the amount and size of buy orders on a specific cryptocurrency far exceed the amount of sell orders. The wider and taller the buy wall, the better. A buy wall is a good sign for traders because it shows good sentiment regarding the currency. It means that traders are wanting to buy more than they are wanting to sell. If traders are buying more than they are selling, it becomes a sort of race to buy up all of the cheap orders. As the cheap orders get bought up, the buy orders quickly fill in behind the rising price point. See also "sell wall" and "fake wall" from this list.
  • Buying pressure = Occurs when the majority of traders are buying, indicating that the majority think the market price will increase.
  • Bytecoin = Bytecoin (BCN) is the first cryptocurrency based on the CryptoNote technology with an open source code designed for anonymous cash settlement. Bytecoin (BCN) doesn’t relate in any way with a fork of Bitcoin which is also known as Bytecoin (BTE).
  • Bytom = Bytom is the next generation cryptocurrency promising to bridge other blockchains, government agencies, businesses, and even individuals into a single ecosystem.

C.....................................

  • C&H = "Cup and Handle" refers to a trading pattern on the charts that looks like a cup with U shape with a handle visible on the graph as a slight drift.
  • CAD = Canadian dollar.
  • Cardano = Cardano is one of the first cryptocurrencies that is fully driven by research and scientific approach. The cryptocurrency is designed from the highly secure Haskell programming language.
Cardano (ADA)
  • Central Ledger = A central ledger refers to a ledger maintained by a central agency.
  • Centralized = A system or organization that is controlled by one person or group.
  • CEX.io = A multi-functional cryptocurrency exchange.
  • CFTC = The U.S. "Commodity Futures Trading Commission" is an independent agency of the US government created in 1974, that regulates futures and option markets.
  • Chain linking = A process of connecting two blockchains with each other, thus allowing transactions between the chains to take place. This will allow blockchains like Bitcoin to communicate with other sidechains, allowing the exchange of assets between them.
  • Changelly = A cryptocurrency exchange service between digital currencies.
  • Charlie Lee = A person who created Litecoin. He is a former Google employee.
  • Charlie Shrem = Flamboyant and early Bitcoin entrepreneur.
  • CHF = Swiss franc.
  • Choyna = A deliberately distorted way of referring to China. As China is a country which is immensely influential in the Bitcoin space, it has largely dominated mining and trading activities.
  • Cipher = An algorithm used for the encryption and/or decryption of information. In common language, "cipher" is also used to refer to an encryption message, also known as "code".
  • Circulating supply = The price of a coin has no meaning on its own. However, the price of a coin, when multiplied by the circulating supply, gives the coin’s market cap.
  • CNY = Chinese yuan renminbi.
  • Coin = The express purpose of a coin is to act like money: as a unit of account, store of value and medium of transfer. Coins tend to take the form of native blockchain tokens like Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Monero (XMR), and so on. A crypto coin is just that: a coin, or means of payment, whilst a token has wider functionality.
  • Coinbase = One of the world’s most popular cryptocurrency web wallet.
  • CoinJoin = CoinJoin is an anonymization method for bitcoin transactions proposed by Gregory Maxwell. It is based on the following idea: "When you want to make a payment, find someone else who also wants to make a payment and make a joint payment together".
  • Cold storage = A secure way of keeping cryptocurrencies in a hardware wallet off exchange.
  • Commodity Money = A currency whose value comes from the commodity from which it is made.
  • Confirmation = The successful act of hashing a transaction and adding it to the blockchain.
  • Consensus = Consensus is achieved when all participants of the network agree on the validity of the transactions, ensuring that the ledgers are exact copies of each other.
  • Consensus rule = Consensus rules are a set of rules that all nodes on a cryptocurrency network must enforce when the validity of a block and its transactions are concerned.
  • Consortium blockchain = A blockchain where the consensus process is controlled by a pre-selected set of nodes; for example, a consortium of 20 financial institutions.
  • Core = The group of individuals that are most active developing a cryptocurrency.
  • Correction = A reverse movement, usually negative, of at least 10% to adjust for an overvaluation. Corrections are generally temporary price declines interrupting an uptrend in the market or an asset.
  • Counterparty risk = A risk that one party will fail to meet their contractual obligation once an agreement has been reached between two or more parties.
  • CPU = A "Central Processing Unit" is the electronic circuitry within a computer that carries out the instructions of a computer program by performing the basic arithmetic, logical, control and input/output (I/O) operations specified by the instructions.
Block diagram of a basic uniprocessor-CPU computer. Black lines indicate data flow, whereas red lines indicate control flow; arrows indicate flow directions.
  • Cross-border transaction = A process where two or more parties from different countries transact with each other.
  • Crowdsourcing = The pooling of resources such as information or money contributed by the general population, to a goal. This is usually done online via websites where people can donate.
  • Crypto anarchist = Someone who totally hates the government.
  • Cryptoanalysis = A study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so.
  • Cryptocurrency = Also known as tokens or coins, cryptocurrencies are representations of digital assets.
  • Cryptographic hash function = Cryptographic hashes produce a fixed-size and unique hash value from variable-size transaction input. The SHA-256 computational algorithm is an example of a cryptographic hash.
  • Cryptography = The study and practice of secret communication.
  • Cryptopia = A cryptocurrency exchange based in New Zealand.
  • CYA / CYOA = "Cover your Ass" / "Cover Your Own Ass".

D.....................................

  • DAO
    • A DAO = "Decentralized Autonomous Organizations" can be thought of as corporations that run without any human intervention and surrender all forms of control to an incorruptible set of business rules.
    • The DAO = A venture capital fund built on Ethereum that caused a soft and hark fork.
  • DAO attack = DAO was breached in 2016 in a case that resulted in $50-$60 million worth of Ether being stolen.
  • Dapp = A decentralized application ("Dapp" or "dApp") is an application that is open source, operates autonomously, has its data stored on a blockchain, incentivised in the form of cryptographic tokens and operates on a protocol that shows proof of value.
  • Dash = An open source peer-2-peer cryptocurrency started in 2014.
  • DASH = A symbol for Dash currency.
  • Day Trade = The term for trading AltCoins on trading platforms on a consistent basis to try to gain higher wallet %.
  • DBFT = "Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance" is a new type of algorithm used by NEO. Unlike the standard proof-of-work or proof-of-stake use in other networks, the dFBT allows the network to resolve issues without forcing a fork. It also makes it difficult for delegates to collude to harm the network.
  • DCA = "Dollar Cost Averaging". Used to reduce the volatility of market portfolios by spreading out buys and sells over a more extended period.
  • DDoS = "Distributed Denial of Service". A well-timed DDoS attack at exchanges during volatile movements may be devastating as traders will not be able to execute any order manually and will be at the mercy of their pre-set, or the lack of, limit orders.
  • Decentralized = A common term in cryptocurrency which means that the currency isn’t issued or regulated by a centralized authority, such as a government or bank.
  • Decryption = A process of turning cipher-text back into plaintext.
  • Denial-of-service attack = Denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host connected to the Internet.
  • Desktop wallet = A wallet that stores the private keys on your computer, which allow the spending and management of your bitcoins or altcoins.
  • Deterministic wallet = A wallet based on a system of deriving multiple keys from a single starting point known as a seed. This seed is all that is needed to restore a wallet if it is lost and can allow the creation of public addresses without the knowledge of the private key.
  • DEX = "Decentralized exchange" is an exchange market that does not rely on a third party service to hold the customer's funds. Instead, trades occur directly between users (peer-to-peer) through an automated process.
  • Difficulty = Difficulty, in Proof-of-Work mining, is how hard it is to verify blocks in a blockchain network. In the Bitcoin network, the difficulty of mining adjusts verifying blocks every 2016 blocks. This is to keep bitcoin block verification time at ten minutes.
  • Digital asset = Anything that exists in a binary format and comes with the right to use. Data that do not possess that right are not considered assets. Digital assets include but are not exclusive to: digital documents, audible content, motion picture, and other relevant digital data that are currently in circulation or are, or will be stored on digital appliances.
  • Digital certificate = A public key certificate, also known as a digital certificate or identity certificate, is an electronic document used to prove the ownership of a public key.
  • Digital commodity = A scarce, electronically transferrable, intangible, with a market value.
  • Digital identity = An online or networked identity adopted or claimed in cyberspace by an individual, organization, or electronic device.
  • Digital signature = A mathematical scheme for presenting the authenticity of digital messages or documents.
  • DigixDAO = DigixDAO (Digix Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is a project that has created digital gold. Every DigixDAO token in the market is equal to the market value of one gram of physical gold.
  • Dildo = Long green or red candles. A dildo is a long green or red bar found on a graph showing the changes in price of a cryptocurrency. Green and red bars of any size are known as candles.
  • Distributed = A computer system or organization that has entire copies of it being run and maintained simultaneously on multiple computers.
  • Distributed ledger = An agreement of shared, replicable and synchronized data, in this case spread across multiple networks, across many CPU’s.
  • Distributed network = A type of network where processing power and data are spread over the nodes rather than having a centralized data centre.
  • Dogecoin = An altcoin first started as a joke in late 2013. Dogecoin features a Japanese fighting dog as its mascot, gained a broad international following and quickly grew to have a multi-million dollar market capitalization.
  • Dolphin = Someone who has graduated from the ranks of minnows and has some influence over the price movement of a cryptocurrency, but hasn’t yet reached the status of whale.
  • Double spending = This occurs if someone tries to make purchases with their digital coins at two different places.
  • DPoS = Delegated-Proof-of-Stake, the fastest, most efficient, most decentralized, and most flexible consensus model available.
  • Dump = To sell off a coin.
  • Dumping = Downward price movement.
  • DYOR = "Do Your Own Research". The trader’s caveat that advice shouldn’t be taken at face value.

E.....................................

  • EEA = The "Enterprise Ethereum Alliance" connects Fortune 500 enterprises, startups, academics, and technology vendors with Ethereum subject matter experts.
  • EIP = "Ethereum Improvement Proposal" is a standard to submit potential changes or improvements that will have a positive effect on the Ethereum protocol as a whole.
  • ELI5 = "Explain Like I'm 5". Used when you want someone to explain something in the simplest way possible.
  • Encryption = A process of turning a clear-text message (plaintext) into a data stream (cipher-text), which looks like a meaningless and random sequence of bits.
  • EOS = EOS is a blockchain that runs as a smart contract for deployment of Decentralized applications (Dapps) and decentralized autonomous corporations.
  • ERC20 = ERC20 is a technical standard used for smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain for implementing tokens. ERC stands for Ethereum Request for Comment, and 20 is the number that was assigned to this request.
  • ETH = A symbol for Ether, token of the Ethereum blockchain.
  • Ethereum = A blockchain-based decentralized platform for apps that run smart contracts, and is aimed at solving issues associated with censorship, fraud and third party interference.
  • eToro = A social trading network, with more than 6 million registered users and an array of innovative trading and investing instruments.
  • EUR = Euro.
  • Evan Duffield = The creator of Dash cryptocurrency.
  • EVM = Ethereum provides a decentralized Turing-complete virtual machine, the "Ethereum Virtual Machine" (EVM), which can execute scripts using an international network of public nodes.
  • EVM code = A programming language in which accounts on the Ethereum blockchain can contain code. The EVM code associated with an account is executed every time a message is sent to that account, and has the ability to read/write storage and itself send messages.
  • Exchange = Where you buy or sell bitcoin and altcoins to or from your bank or credit card or from various coins on the open market. There are internal wallets yet the exchanges have the private keys to the wallets so it's never safe to store the cryptocurrency on these exchanges for a long period of time.
  • Exchange rate = Normally, money issued by the government, such as the US Dollar, will have a fluid exchange rate based on the country it is spent in. Cryptocurrency does not have this issue as it is digital. However, the exchange rate is based on two things; how it compares to a traditional currency, or how it stacks up against another type of cryptocurrency.

F.....................................

  • FA = "Fundamental Analysis" is a method of evaluating a security in an attempt to measure its intrinsic value, by examining related economic, financial and other qualitative and quantitative factors.
  • Fake wall = When you’re a cryptocurrency investor that either day trades or holds short term positions, you have to play smart and understand which are fake buy or sell walls. You have to understand that there are whales that have the ability to manipulate markets. Whales are traders with large amounts of capital that can put a buy or sell order at a certain position that is large enough that it is unlikely to be filled. They can set the floor and ceiling for price movement. See also "sell wall" and "buy wall" from this list.
  • FAQ = "Frequently Asked Questions".
  • FATCA = The "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act" is a 2010 United States federal law requiring all non-U.S. ('foreign') financial institutions (FFIs) to search their records for customers with indicia of 'U.S.-person' status.
  • Faucet = A reward system on a website that dispenses bitcoin in the form of a Satoshi (a hundred millionth of a bitcoin).
  • FBA = "Federated Byzantine Agreement" is a model suitable for worldwide consensus. In FBA, each participant knows of others it considers important. It waits for the vast majority of those others to agree on any transaction before considering the transaction settled. In turn, those important participants do not agree to the transaction until the participants they consider important agree as well, and so on.
  • Fiat money / Fiat currency = A currency without intrinsic value established as money, often by government regulation ($ USD, € EUR, £ GBP, ¥ JPY etc.).
Yuan dynasty banknotes are the earliest known fiat money.
  • Fill or kill = A limit order that will not execute unless an opposite order exceeds this limit order’s amount.
  • Flash P&D = "Flash Pump and dump" are often based on small chat groups or discussion forums where the leaders tell the group to buy a specific coin at a specific time. The leader has already bought a bunch of cheap coins, so they sell to the rest of the group. The leaders take out incredibly high profit, but the rest of the group ends up with a coin they bought to an ridiculous high price, with a potential of a huge loss.
  • Flippening = The name given for the event where a cryptocurrency who surpasses bitcoin in market capitalisation (yet to happen at time of writing).
  • Flipping = The term for constantly rotating your altcoins on a trading platform trying to catch the raising percentages as the coins constantly go up in value.
  • FOMO = "Fear of Missing Out". FOMO means the fear of missing out on the profit which might result from an investment or a decision.
  • Forging = The name giving to the process in proof of stake blockchains where there is no block reward. Forgers keep transaction fees instead.
  • Fork = Forks create an alternate version of the blockchain, leaving two blockchains to run simultaneously on different parts of the network.
  • FUD = "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt". This term usually refers to investors who are unsure of the potential of a situation.
  • FUDster = A person who spreads FUD based on facts or gut feelings.
  • Full node = A computer running a cryptocurrency program that is part of a network. Specifically, it is running the entire program, ignoring those transactions that are incorrect and adding every transaction that is correct to its record.
  • Fungible = A positive quality where two or more of the same thing have identical value. That is to say, one of a group of things can be a substitute for another and it won’t change the value.

G.....................................

  • Gas = A measurement roughly equivalent to computational steps.
  • GBP = British pound.
  • GDAX = A trading exchange provided by Coinbase.
  • Genesis Block = The very first block in a block chain.
  • Government = A group of people with the authority to govern a state or country.
  • Gox crisis = A critical point in Bitcoin history when more than $480 million of it disappeared due to mismanagement of the cryptocurrency. The name is derived from the Tokyo-based Mt. Gox Bitcoin exchange.
  • GPU = A "Graphics Processing Unit" is a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly manipulate and alter memory to accelerate the creation of images in a frame buffer intended for output to a display device.

H.....................................

  • H&S = "Head and shoulders" refers to a trading pattern viewed on the charts that predicts the price of cryptocurrency is expected to increase and opposite when it is expected to decrease.
  • Halving = Bitcoins have a finite supply, which makes them a scarce digital commodity. The total amount of bitcoins that will ever be issued is 21 million. The number of bitcoins generated per block is decreased 50% every four years. This is called "halving". The final halving will take place in the year 2140.
  • Hard fork = A type of fork that renders previously invalid transactions valid, and vice versa. This type of fork requires all nodes and users to upgrade to the latest version of the protocol software.
  • Hardware wallet = A device which allows cold storage of coins, for increased security. Also known as "hard wallet".
  • Hash = The act of performing a hash function on the output data. This is used for confirming coin transactions.
  • Hash algorithm = A function that converts a data string of an arbitrary length to a fixed, shorter length.
  • Hashcash = A proof-of-work system used to limit email spam and denial-of-service attacks, and more recently has become known for its use in bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) as part of the mining algorithm.
  • Hashrate = Measurement of performance for the mining rig is expressed in hashes per second. Mh/S (mega hash per second) is the speed that a graphics processor, GPU, can hash per second.
  • HD wallet = Wallets which generate the hierarchical tree-like structure of numerous public and private keys starting from the root seed key.
  • HF = "Hard fork" is a type of fork that renders previously invalid transactions valid, and vice versa.
  • Hodl = "Hodl" is originally a typo of the word "hold" which appeared on the Bitcoin talk forum in 2013. It came from a member named GameKyuubi under the thread “I AM HODLING”. The writer seemed to be drunk. Hodl is one of the most used funny terms in cryptocurrency world.
  • Hot wallet = A crypto wallet that has an active connection to the internet. These are used for “everyday” transactions and should never hold large amounts of cryptocurrencies, since their connectivity reduces their security.

I.....................................

  • ICO = "Initial Coin Offering", which takes a page from the usual IPOs investors know. Coins bought during ICOs are usually sold for a profit when the coin first hits exchanges. This is due to the initial hype which increases demand for the coin. On the supply side, ICOs create entry barriers as the buyer has to set up his private wallet to receive the coins from the ICO purchase.
  • ICON = ICON is an open source cryptocurrency and a blockchain network that target creating a massive ecosystem for all players to coexist. It aims to hyperconnect the world by allowing other blockchains and players to link via loopchain technology and smart contracts.
  • ICX = A symbol for ICON currency.
  • IMO = "In My Opinion".
  • Inflationary / deflationary = If you are familiar with finance, don’t be fooled by these common words used with cryptocurrencies. They have nothing to do with credit cycles and instead mean that some people think a large number of coins are good and others think the opposite.
  • Input = Input describes digital money coming into your digital wallet. When you want to spend your money, your inputs are later used as proof to show that you have X amount of money. That is known as an “output”.
  • INR = Indian rupee.
  • InstantSend = A function designed to allow for instantaneous transactions on the Dash network.
  • Interoperability = A characteristic of a product or system, whose interfaces are completely understood, to work with other products or systems, at present or in the future, in either implementation or access, without any restrictions.
  • IOTA = IOTA is a public distributed ledger that stores transactions in a directed acyclic graph (DAG) structure, called a Tangle.
  • IPFS = "InterPlanetary File System" is a hypermedia distribution protocol, addressed by content and identities. It is a peer-to-peer distributed file system that seeks to connect all computing devices with the same system of files.
  • Irreversible = After confirmation, a transaction is unable to be reversed. By nobody. There is no safety net for that situation.
  • ISO = "Initial Scam Offering", simply a play on words for Initial Coin Offering, referring to the fact that majority (if not all) of them are scams.

J.....................................

  • JOMO = "Joy Of Missing Out".
  • JPY = Japanese yen.

K.....................................

  • Key = See the definitions of "Public key" and "Private key" from this dictionary.
  • Kraken = One of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in euro (EUR) volume and liquidity, and also trading Canadian dollars (CAD), US dollars (USD), British pounds (GBP) and Japanese yen (JPY).
  • KYC = "Know Your Customer" (or Know Your Client) refers a situation where you have checked the identity of an individual and have taken precautions so that the money you are receiving is clean and not associated with laundering.

L.....................................

  • Lambo = Shortened form of Lamborghini (an Italian sports car) and the preferred transportation method of cryptocurrency enthusiasts once they’ve made their fortune. Lambo refers to insane returns, enough to buy a $1 million Lamborghini.
Lamborghini Huracán
  • Ledger = An append-only record store, where records are immutable and may hold more general information than financial records.
  • Ledger Nano S = A cryptocurrency hardware wallet, based on robust safety features for storing cryptographic assets and securing digital payments.
Ledger Wallet, Ledger Nano S
  • Lending rate = Some exchanges have lending accounts. You may deposit your coins into these lending accounts to lend your coins for others to execute their leveraged trades. The lending rate fluctuates throughout the day based on the demand for shorting the coin.
  • Leverage = In trading, leverage multiplies the real funds in your account by a given factor, enabling you to make trades that result in significant profit. By giving leverage to a trader, the trading exchange is effectively lending them money, in the hope that it will earn back more than it loaned in commission. Leverage is also known as a "margin requirement".
  • Light node = A computer on a blockchain network that only verifies a limited number of transactions relevant to its dealings, making use of the simplified payment verification (SPV) mode.
  • Lightning network = Builds on networks like bitcoin and litecoin to allow off-chain settlements.
  • Limit order = An order placed at a future price that will execute when the price target is hit.
  • Liquidity = The ability to buy and sell an asset easily, with pricing that stays roughly similar between trades. A suitably large community of buyers and sellers is important for liquidity. The result of an illiquid market is price volatility, and the inability to easily determine the value of an asset.
  • Lisk = Lisk is an open source blockchain platform that allows developers to write dApps (decentralized applications) using JavaScript. The architecture of the Lisk platform allows developers to craft their own sidechains that are linked to the main network. These sidechains can even have their own tokens.
  • Litecoin = A peer-to-peer cryptocurrency based on the Scrypt proof-of-work network. Sometimes referred to as the silver to bitcoin's gold.
  • LN = One of the future bitcoin scaling solutions goes by the name of LN, also known as the "Lightning Network". This particular proposal allows for bitcoin microtransactions to be bundled into one single transaction, reducing delays and excessive fees.
  • Long term hold = A position that a trader takes. To take a long position on something is to believe its value will rise in the future.
  • LSK = A symbol for Lisk currency.

M.....................................

  • Mainnet = A blockchain that actually carries out the functionality of transferring digital currency from senders to recipients. This is different from a testnet, which basically is just a test of such transaction functionality.
  • Margin call = The act of calling in a margin requirement. An exchange will issue a margin call when it feels that a trader does not have sufficient funds to cover a leveraged trading position.
  • Margin trading = A term for ‘trading with leverage’. In this instance of trading, you borrow one side of the trading pair at an agreed loan rate and sell it for the other side of the trading pair. Depending on the direction you believe the market to move, you may place a long or a short bet on the trading pair of concern.
  • Market cap (Market capitalization) = A stock’s market cap refers to the market value of the company’s outstanding shares. In the cryptocurrency market, the market cap is used to illustrate a coin’s dominance in the entire cryptocurrency market.
  • Market order = An instruction given to an exchange, asking it to buy or sell an asset at the going market rate. In a cryptocurrency exchange, you would place a market order if you simply wanted to buy or sell cryptocurrencies immediately, rather than holding them until a set market condition is triggered to try and make a profit.
  • Market Sentiment = It is likely that cryptocurrency trader will switch between multiple positions at a high frequency. Therefore, it becomes important that any position you take is well researched and has a positive market sentiment surrounding it. It's important to read recent articles on a cryptocurrency you intend to take a position in.
  • MASF = "Miner Activated Soft Fork" is a mechanism by which miners trigger activation of soft forks when a majority signals the readiness to upgrade. This allows for a faster activation time for the soft fork, leaving full nodes to upgrade at their leisure.
  • Masternode = Although not technically staking, running a masternode, a form of decentralized server, requires held currency to receive rewards in some Proof-of-Stake networks.
  • MCAP = Market Capitalization.
  • Medium of exchange = An intermediary used in trade to avoid the inconveniences of a pure barter system. Fiat currencies are the generally accepted mediums of exchange. Their most important and essential function is to provide a measure of value.
  • Medium Term Hold = The Term for holding onto altcoins for a medium amount of time, generally hours to days, before trading them for a different coin.
  • Mempool = A technical term for a collection of unconfirmed transactions stored by a node until they either expire or get included in the main chain.
  • Miners = Servers/computers which are used to solve the cryptographic problems attached to blockchain transactions. Miners receive a reward in the form of cryptocurrency for providing transactions on the blockchain.
  • Mining = The process by which transactions are verified and added to a blockchain. This process of solving cryptographic problems using computing hardware also triggers the release of cryptocurrencies.
A Bitcoin mining farm in Iceland.
  • Mining algorithm = The algorithm used by a cryptocurrency to sign transactions, these vary across different cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s mining algorithm is SHA256, whilst Litecoin and Dogecoin’s are Scrypt.
  • Mining difficulty = Mining difficulty is simply a measure of how difficult it is to be the next person that gets to add a block to the blockchain, and receive the reward for doing so. A lower mining difficulty indicates that a cryptocurrency is easy to mine. Conversely, a higher mining difficulty suggest that a cryptocurrency is more difficult to mine.
  • Mining pool = A group of miners who have decided to combine their computing power for mining. This allows rewards to be distributed more consistently between participants in the pool.
  • Mining rig = A mining rig consists of dedicated computer systems that are specifically designed and setup to mine cryptocurrencies.
  • Minnow = Someone who has a small amount of cryptocurrency and is thus considered a “small fish”.
  • MIOTA = A symbol for IOTA currency.
  • Mixing service = A service that mixes your bitcoins with someone else’s, sending you back bitcoins with different inputs and outputs from the ones that you sent to it. A mixing service (also known as a tumbler) preserves your privacy because it stops people tracing a particular bitcoin to you. It also has the potential to be used for money laundering.
  • Monero = Monero is an open-source cryptocurrency created in April 2014 that focuses on privacy and decentralization that runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and FreeBSD.
  • Moon / mooning = Extreme bullish movement of a coin. "To the moon".
  • Mountain peak / mountain top = A term for a candlestick on the trading platform being at it's highest peak before a dip.
  • Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) Indicator = The MACD indicator is made up of two exponential moving averages that help measure momentum in a cryptocurrency by using the difference between short-term and long-term price trends to help predict future trends.
  • Mt. Gox = One of the first bitcoin exchanges, and at one time the most popular. Based in Japan, the exchange was started by Jed McCaleb in 2010. In February 2014, Mt. Gox suspended trading, closed its website and exchange service, and filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors. In April 2014, the company began liquidation proceedings. Mt. Gox announced that approximately 850,000 bitcoins belonging to customers and the company were missing and likely stolen, an amount valued at more than $450 million at the time.
  • Multipool = A type of mining pool that allows a user to switch between the mining of different cryptocurrencies depending on its profitability.
  • Multisignature (Multisig) = Multi-signature addresses provide an added layer of security by requiring more than one key to authorize a transaction. Multisignature addresses have a much greater resistance to theft.
  • MW = One of the potential solutions to make bitcoin scale goes by the name MimbleWimble, sometimes abbreviated to MW.

N.....................................

  • Nano = RaiBlocks cryptocurrency rebranded itself to Nano end of January 2018. Nano operates by providing a decentralized model of bypassing centralized institutions such as banks, it design utilizes block-lattice architecture and delegated Proof-of-Stake that eliminates the need for miners, makes the network fast, and lighter.
  • NANO = A symbol for Nano currency.
  • NEM = NEM (New Economic Movement) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency which refers itself as the smart asset blockchain.
  • NEO = NEO is the next generation smart economy platform that has exploded to fame because of its fast price growth. It was founded in June 2017 when AntShares rebranded to NEO.
  • NeoContract = A smart contract that allows developers to build decentralized applications on top of the NEO blockchain.
  • Network = A group of two or more computers connected together with the purpose of sharing resources as well as information.
  • Nick Szabo = A creator of bitgold, an unimplemented forerunner of Bitcoin. Thought by some to be Satoshi Nakamoto, which he always denies.
  • Node = A copy of the ledger operated by a participant of the blockchain network.
  • Noob = A person who is inexperienced in cryptocurrencies.

O.....................................

  • OCD = "Obsessive Cryptocurrency Disorder". Suffered by those who can’t stop monitoring the value of their coins.
  • Off-Ledger currency = A currency minted off-ledger and used on-ledger. An example of this would be using distributed ledgers to manage a national currency.
  • OmiseGO = OmiseGO is an open payment platform and decentralized exchange issued on Ethereum, an open-source public blockchain. Its slogan is "Unbank the Banked" and the stated objective is to provide better financial services for everyone.
  • OMG = A symbol for OmiseGO currency.
  • On-Ledger currency = A currency minted on-ledger and used on-ledger. An example of this would be the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.
  • Ontology = Ontology is a new blockchain/ distributed ledger network that combines distributed identity system, distributed data collaboration, distributed communities, and distributed procedure protocols. This means that the network builds the infrastructure of a peer-to-peer trust network that is cross-chain, cross-industry, cross-application, and cross-device.
  • Open source = The practice of sharing the source code for a piece of computer software, allowing it to be distributed and altered by anyone.
  • Oracles = Oracles work as a bridge between the real world and the blockchain by providing data to the smart contracts.
  • Order book = An order book is a list of all the active buy and sell orders placed for a currency on an exchange.
  • Orphan = A block that has been abandoned and will not be built upon.
  • OTC = "Over The Counter". OTC exchange is an exchange in which traders make deals with each other directly, rather than relying on a central exchange to mediate between them.
  • Output = Output describes digital money going out of your digital wallet. Digital money coming into your digital wallet is known as an “input”. When you want to spend your money, your inputs are later used as proof to show that you have X amount of money. That is known as an “output”.

P.....................................

  • P&D = "Pump and dump". People go together to buy the same coin, pushing the price up, and when it's high, they sell to take out their profit.
  • P2P / Peer to Peer = Peer to Peer (P2P) refers to the decentralized interactions between two parties or more in a highly-interconnected network. Participants of a P2P network deal directly with each other through a single mediation point.
  • Panic = This happens to some people when the value of their cryptofolio is decreasing. They might end up selling the coins in panic, often with a loss, instead of keeping it through the dump and holding it for the long run. Doing a comprehensive research before investing in coins will help you not to lose your faith in difficult situations.
  • Paper wallet = A form of cold storage. These are public and private keys held on a piece of paper. A good designer can make them look like branded bank notes.
Bitcoin paper wallet
  • Paxful = A peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace connecting buyers with sellers.
  • Payment processors = Merchants who accept bitcoins, use specific processors to handle the transactions. This can include online merchants, brick and mortar businesses, or individuals.
  • PBFT = "Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance" algorithm provides high-performance Byzantine state machine replication, processing thousands of requests per second with sub-millisecond increases in latency.
  • Peer to peer exchange = A person who owns bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies willing to sell it to you or you buy/sell to them.
  • Permissioned blockchain = Permissioned blockchains provide highly-verifiable data sets because the consensus process creates a digital signature, which can be seen by all parties.
  • Permissioned ledger = A ledger where actors must have permission to access the ledger. Permissioned ledgers may have one or many owners. When a new record is added, the ledger’s integrity is checked by a limited consensus process. This is carried out by trusted actors — government departments or banks, for example — which makes maintaining a shared record much simpler that the consensus process used by unpermissioned ledgers.
  • Permisionless = A positive quality, where anyone is permitted to join and participate in an activity. Permissionless is often used when describing blockchain technologies because anyone can download the digital record known as the blockchain and participate in recording and verifying information.
  • PKI = "Public Key Infrastructure" is a set of roles, policies, and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates and manage public-key encryption. The purpose of a PKI is to facilitate the secure electronic transfer of information for a range of network activities such as e-commerce, internet banking and confidential email.
  • PnD = "Pump and dump". People go together to buy the same coin, pushing the price up, and when it's high, they sell to take out their profit.
  • PoA = "Proof-of-Authority" is a consensus mechanism in a private blockchain which essentially gives one client (or a specific number of clients) with one particular private key the right to make all of the blocks in the blockchain.
  • PoI = "Proof-of-Importance" algorithm. PoI is different from other initiatives which use a fee-sharing model that does not take into consideration one's overall support of the network.
  • Poloniex = A popular cryptocurrency exchange.
  • Ponzi scheme = A fraudulent investment operation where the operator generates returns for older investors through revenue paid by new investors, rather than from legitimate business activities or profit of financial trading.
  • Pool = A collection of mining clients which collectively mine a block, and then split the reward between them. Mining pools are a useful way to increase your probability of successfully mining a block as the difficulty rises.
  • Pool reward = A reward awarded to a group of miners for successfully adding a block to the blockchain.
  • Populous = Populous is an online platform started in 2017 and offers peer2peer payment of invoices. The cryptocurrency is based on the Ethereum network and, is the first to offer invoice financing both in the Ethereum network and entire cryptocurrency industry.
  • PoS = "Proof-of-Stake" is a type of algorithm by which a cryptocurrency blockchain network aims to achieve distributed consensus.
  • PoW = "Proof-of-Work" system (or protocol, or function) is an economic measure to deter denial of service attacks and other service abuses such as spam on a network by requiring some work from the service requester, usually meaning processing time by a computer.
  • Private key = A private key is a string of data that allows you to access the tokens (cryptocurrency) in a specific wallet. They act as passwords that are kept hidden from anyone but the owner of the address.
  • Private key cryptography = This key is encrypted so that it is confidential to only its owner.
  • PrivateSend = A function specifically designed to increase a user’s anonymity when transacting on the Dash network.
  • Protocol = Protocols are sets of formal rules describing how to transmit or exchange data, especially across a network.
  • Public address = A public address is the cryptographic hash of a public key. They act as email addresses that can be published anywhere, unlike private keys.
  • Public key = In cryptography a public key is a cryptographic key that can be utilized by any party to encrypt a message. Another party can then receive the message and using a key that is only known to that individual or group, decode the message.
  • Pump = Upward price movement.
  • Pump and dump (P&D) (PnD) = Pump and dump is a form of securities fraud that involves artificially inflating the price of an owned cryptos through false and misleading positive statements, in order to sell the cheaply purchased coins at a higher price. The value increase is called the "pump" while the selling of this now expensive token to naive bystanders is the "dump" phase. Once the operators of the scheme "dump" sell their overvalued shares, the price falls and investors lose their money. P&D most often happens in chat groups or discussion forums in which several thousand people buy a specific shitcoin.
  • Pyramid = Where an organization is setup on a referral to referral basis constantly accepting investments with locked contracts in order to hold onto investors money. The more people underneath each other investing in the system, is the only fuel for maintaining these infrastructures until they can no longer withstand the demand for payouts. At this time, they will generally disappear or crumble.

Q.....................................

  • Q&A = "Questions and Answers".
  • QA = "Qualitative Analysis" is a research that uses subjective judgment based on nonquantifiable information, such as management expertise, industry cycles, and labor relations.
  • QR code = "Quick Response Code" is a digital representation of a Bitcoin public or private key that is easy to scan by digital cameras. QR codes are similar to barcodes found on physical products in that they are a machine-friendly way to embody a piece of data.
Example of QR code
  • Qtum = Qtum (Quantum) is a Chinese based cryptocurrency and open source blockchain network that allows application of smart contracts and decentralized application. The cryptocurrency is a hybrid of Bitcoin and Ethereum based on the advanced proof-of-stake consensus version three.
  • QTUM = A symbol for Qtum currency.

R.....................................

  • RaiBlocks = RaiBlocks cryptocurrency rebranded itself to Nano end of January 2018.
  • RBF = "Replace-By-Fee" was introduced to allow users to rebroadcast a previous transaction but with a higher fee. This also nullifies the original transaction, as it is effectively “overwritten” by the new one.
  • Recipient = A person (or object) who is capable of receiving something from someone, such as a cryptocurrency.
  • Recovery phrase / seed keyword = Random 12, 18, 24 words that are used to derive numerous pairs of private and public keys. Using these seeds, you can restore your wallet in any other supported seed key wallet.
  • Reddit = Reddit is an American social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website. Registered members submit content to the site such as links, text posts, and images, which are then voted up or down by other members. Reddit is a popular platform for cryptocurrency communities.
  • Rekt = This is a misspelling of the word “wrecked”. This term refers to a trader or investor who is utterly ruined and destroyed with losses from the current downfall of a price. Term "rekt" also traces back to multiplayer video games.
  • Remittance = A transfer of money by a foreign worker to an individual in his or her home country.
  • Research = This could mean a plenty of different situations in crypto world. Before you decide to invest in a coin, you should find out as much as possible about this coin. What it's supposed to do? Who is behind it? Is it a profitable investment? Has it been hacked? A good way to do your own research is to read articles about different coins from this website.
  • Resistance level = A price point in which upward price movement is resisted due to market conditions.
  • Reverse indicator = Someone who is always wrong predicting price movements.
  • Ring signature = A type of digital signature that can be performed by any member of a group of users that each have keys.
  • RingCT = "Ring Confidential Transactions" help to create stealth addresses that mask receiving address. RingCT hides transaction amounts as well.
  • Ripple = A payment network built on distributed ledgers that can be used to transfer any currency. The network consists of payment nodes and gateways operated by authorities. Payments are made using a series of IOUs, and the network is based on trust relationships. The banking industry is adapting this platform.
  • RNG = "Random Number Generation" is the generation of a sequence of numbers or symbols that cannot be reasonably predicted better than by a random chance, usually through a hardware random-number generator.
  • Roger Ver = Roger Keith Ver (born January 27, 1979) is an early investor in bitcoin related startups. He was formerly an American citizen and was born and lived in Silicon Valley. He now resides in Japan.
  • ROI = "Return on Investment". How much you’ve made (or lost) on your cryptocurrency since buying.
  • RSI = "Relative Strength Index" is a technical trading indicator and is classified as a momentum indicator.
  • Ryan Fugger = A person who conceived Ripple in 2004 after working on a local exchange trading system in Vancouver.

S.....................................

  • Saj candle = Huge green candle.
  • Satoshi = The satoshi is currently the smallest unit of the Bitcoin currency recorded on the blockchain. It is a one hundred millionth of a single bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC).
  • Satoshi Nakamoto = The name used by the unknown person or group of people who designed bitcoin and created its original reference implementation.
  • SC = A symbol for Siacoin currency.
  • Scalability = A term used to describe the ability of a cryptocurrency to handle increased transaction volume over its network.
  • Scamcoin = A fake cryptocurrency created to make money for the creator while stealing it from those who supported and invested in the coin.
  • Scammer = You are nobody in the industry until you are either called a scammer, or you have called someone else a scammer. It is a rite of passage. A popular bitcoiner, @tone_LLT would have nothing to say if you removed the word “scam” from his vocabulary.
  • Scrypt = An alternative proof-of-work system to SHA-256, designed to be particularly friendly to CPU and GPU miners, while offering little advantage to ASIC miners.
  • SegWit (Segregated witness) = A proposed scaling solution for bitcoin involving a soft fork.
  • SegWit2x = SegWit2x was a proposed upgrade to hard fork the cryptocurrency Bitcoin. The proposal consisted of two separate parts: Activate Segregated Witness in August 2017 and then trigger a hard fork for a 2 megabyte block size. After the activation of SegWit in August as part of the proposal,[1] the next step in the process was to hard fork to increase the block size; the fork was estimated to occur on 16th November 2017.
  • Sell wall = Sell walls are the same as buy walls; just with sentiment in the opposite direction. Sell walls are indicative of a long road ahead for a cryptocurrency. When sell walls build, traders generally sell. See also "buy wall" and "fake wall" from this list.
  • Selling Pressure = Occurs when the majority of traders are selling, indicating that the majority think the market price will decrease.
  • Settlement system = A system that enables the contractual obligations of an agreement made between two parties to be fulfilled.
  • SF = "Soft Fork" differs from a hard fork in that only previously valid transactions are made invalid.
  • SHA-256 = A cryptographic algorithm used by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. However, it uses a lot of computing power and processing time, forcing miners to form mining pools to capture gains.
  • ShapeShift = A web and API platform formed in August of 2014 to provide instant Bitcoin and altcoin conversion.
  • Sharding = A process of breaking down a big chunk of digital information into smaller pieces so it runs quicker and is more manageable.
  • Shill = The act of unsolicited endorsing of the coin in public. Traders who bought a coin has an interest in shilling the coin, in hopes of igniting the public's interest in that particular coin.
  • Shitcoin = This is not necessarily a bad term. Traders don’t avoid a coin because it is a shitcoin. There have been seen traders rally a coin with a broken blockchain. Just never fool yourself and start believing in a shitcoin.
  • Short term hold = The term for holding onto coins for a short amount of time, usually seconds to minutes and sometimes a few hours before trading them. To take a short position on a coin is to believe its value will fall in the future.
  • Siacoin = Siacoin is a solution to the problem of Big Data. Its design and focus are aimed at helping users to store data in a decentralized, secure, and safe way.
  • Sidechain = These are theoretical, independent blockchains which are "two way pegged" to the Bitcoin blockchain. These can have their own unique features and can have bitcoins sent to and from them.
  • Signature = A mathematical operation that lets someone prove their sole ownership over their wallet, coin, data or on. An example is how a Bitcoin wallet may have a public address, but only a private key can verify with the whole network that a signature matches and a transaction is valid. These are only known to the owner and are basically mathematically impossible to uncover.
  • Silk Road = The first modern dark net market, achieved notoriety. Subsequently shut down by the FBI who then auctioned confiscated bitcoins.
  • Small Blockers = Those who believe in a scaling path that does not require an increase in the block size of Bitcoin. Namely, Bitcoin Core and their supporters.
  • Smart contract = Smart contracts are contracts whose terms are recorded in a computer language instead of legal language. Smart contracts can be automatically executed by a computing system, such as a suitable distributed ledger system.
  • Soft fork = A soft fork differs from a hard fork in that only previously valid transactions are made invalid. Since old nodes recognize the new blocks as valid, a soft fork is essentially backward-compatible. This type of fork requires most miners upgrading in order to enforce, while a hard fork requires all nodes to agree on the new version.
  • Software wallet = Software wallets are installed on computers, phones, and other mobile devices.
  • Solidity = Solidity is Ethereum's programming language for developing smart contracts.
  • SPV = "Simple Payment Verification" allows a lightweight client to verify that a transaction is included in the Bitcoin blockchain, without downloading the entire blockchain.
  • Stealth address = A random, one-time address created for a transaction (utilized on the Monero blockchain).
  • Steem = Steem is an open source and decentralized cryptocurrency used for powering the Steemit platform. Steemit is an incentivized blockchain social media platform where users are free to curate content and get a reward for it.
  • STEEM = A symbol for Steem currency.
  • Stellar = Stellar is a distributed blockchain based ledger and comprehensive database that helps to facilitate the cross-asset transfer of value and payments.
  • Stop Loss = A sell stop loss is placed on top of a cryptocurrency trade that executes a sell order when the cryptocurrency reaches a certain price. Sell stop losses are placed below the buy-in price and are an effective tool in mitigating risk. The process is exactly the same for a buy stop loss, except the stop loss price must be above the buy-in price.
  • STRAT = A symbol for Stratis currency.
  • Stratis = Stratis is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency created to help simplify the development, testing, and deployment of applications for enterprises in the finance sector that target to enjoy advantages of blockchain technology. It operates as a Blockchain-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform to help enterprises craft their own blockchains (side chains) with the features they need.
  • Stream cipher = Stream ciphers are a method of encrypting text ("cyphertext" or "ciphertext") in which a cryptographic key and algorithm are applied to each binary digit in a data stream, one bit at a time.
  • Superconducting transaction = A mechanism whereby buyers and sellers of digital assets are matched off-chain, on a centralized exchange, whilst actual transactions involving digital assets are settled on a blockchain.
  • Supply & Demand = Supply and demand is a factor that certainly affects the price of a cryptocurrency.
  • Support Level = A price point in which downward price movement is resisted due to market conditions.
  • Swing = Zig zag price movement (Upwards and downwards).
  • Sybil attack = An attack wherein a reputation system is subverted by forging identities in peer-to-peer networks.

T.....................................

  • TA = "Technical Analysis". It is used by analysts to predict the price action and direction of a coin in the near future. Some people believe it is nothing short of quackery but many analysts think they can generate handsome profits with the typical volatility that occurs in crypto markets.
  • Telegram = Telegram is a messaging app similar to Slack or WhatsApp. It's often used by cryptocurrency communities.
  • Testnet = A test blockchain used by developers to prevent expending assets on the main chain.
  • Tether = Tether is a cryptocurrency with a value meant to mirror the value of the U.S. dollar.
  • This is Gentleman = This is Gentleman is an error in writing, "This is it gentlemen". It is now used as an introduction for good news.
  • To the moon = This refers to a cryptocurrency's upward momentum as it keeps climbing in price, as in, "The price of this coin will one day go to the moon!"
  • Token = Usually considered as a "coin", but a crypto coin is just that: a coin, or means of payment, whilst a token has wider functionality. Blockchain tokens do have value, but they cannot be considered money in quite the same way that a straightforward coin can. Tokens are generally hosted on another blockchain, like Ethereum or Waves: 2.0 protocols that allow users to create them using the core coin.
  • Tokenless ledger = Refers to a distributed ledger that doesn’t require a native currency to operate.
  • TPS = "Transactions Per Second".
  • Trading bot = Many people trade cryptocurrencies using a bot as a way to generate passive income. Some famous trading bots are Haasbot, Tradewave, Zenbot, Cryptotrader, Gekko and BTC Robot.
  • Trading volume = The total amount of crypto that was traded during a certain period of time.
  • Transaction = Buying or selling of a cryptocurrency, which is broadcasted across the network and collected into blocks.
  • Transaction block = A collection of transactions on the Bitcoin network, gathered into a block that can then be hashed and added to the blockchain.
  • Transaction fee = All cryptocurrency transactions involve a small transaction fee. These transaction fees add up to account for the block reward that a miner receives when he successfully processes a block.
  • Transaction ID = Alphanumeric string through which you can publicly see the transfer details (amount sent, sending/receiving bitcoin address, as well as the date of transfer) on the bitcoin blockchain.
  • TREZOR = A hardware wallet providing advanced security for handling bitcoin private keys. Unlike traditional cold storage methods (offline storage or paper wallet), TREZOR is able to make secure payments without exposing your private keys to a potentially compromised computer.
TREZOR hardware wallet
  • TRON = TRON is a cryptocurrency that has trained the focus on the entertainment industry. The TRON protocol targets to construct a new worldwide free content entertainment ecosystem using the blockchain and distributed technology.
  • Trustless = A positive quality where you are not required to trust the person you’re doing the transaction with. A trustless system or technology is so secure and smooth in handling your transactions, that both people in a transaction can safely hand over money and other valuables without the risk of being cheated.
  • TRX = A symbol for TRON currency.
  • TTD = "Time To Dump".
  • Turing complete = Ability of a machine to perform calculations that any other programmable computer is capable of. An example of this is the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
  • Turing machine = A mathematical model of computation that defines an abstract machine, which manipulates symbols on a strip of tape according to a table of rules.
  • Twitter = Twitter is an online news and social networking service on which users post and interact with messages known as "tweets". Twitter is a popular platform for cryptocurrency communities.

U.....................................

  • UAHF = "User Activated Hard Fork" proposal is a peaceful and voluntary departure of different community members who have different opinions or visions, and it is not intended to make an attack against other blockchain(s), even if the UAHF chain has the higher hash rate.
  • UASF = "User Activated Soft Fork" is a mechanism where the activation time of a soft fork occurs on a specified date enforced by full nodes, a concept sometimes referred to as the economic majority. The UASF concept was combined with SegWit activation in the BIP148 proposal which became active on 1st August 2017.
  • Unpermissioned ledger = Unpermissioned ledgers such as Bitcoin have no single owner — indeed, they cannot be owned. The purpose of an unpermissioned ledger is to allow anyone to contribute data to the ledger and for everyone in possession of the ledger to have identical copies.
  • USD = US dollar.
  • USDT = A symbol for Tether currency.
  • Utility = Utility simply means the usefulness of a cryptocurrency. The more useful a cryptocurrency is, the more likely it is to be noticed as valuable, and therefore, the more likely it is to be bought.
  • Utility token = A token that when purchased, gives the owner access to a specific protocol or network.
  • UTXO = "Unspent Transaction Output", which refers to a number of coins held by a specific wallet address.

V.....................................

  • VeChain / VeChain Thor = VeChain is a cryptocurrency crafted with a mission of enhancing a trustless and distributed enterprise ecosystem for enabling a free flow of information, high-speed value transfer, and efficient collaboration. VeChain has rebranded to VeChain Thor.
  • Vendor = Also known as a supplier, is a person or group that offers something for sale.
  • Verge = Verge is a decentralized and open-source cryptocurrency that offers anonymous transactions by obfuscating the user’s IP address and geo-location. The cryptocurrency aims at making all transactions untraceable while facilitating high throughput and prompt confirmations.
  • Vitalik Buterin = A Russian-Canadian programmer who created Ethereum and is a co-founder of Bitcoin Magazine.
Vitalik Buterin, born in 1994 in Russia. Nationality: Russian-Canadian
  • Volatility = A measure of the price movement of an investment over time. The cryptocurrency markets are well known for their high levels of volatility.

W.....................................

  • Wall = A "wall" is a very large order in the order book. Check out the definitions for "buy wall", "sell wall" and "fake wall" from this list.
  • Wallet = A secure digital wallet that houses private keys. It usually contains a software client which allows access to view and create transactions on a specific blockchain that the wallet is designed for.
  • WAN = A symbol for Wanchain cryptocurrency.
  • Wanchain = Wanchain is a blockchain technology that targets building a super financial market for the fast growing digital economy. It targets building a distributed infrastructure (call it ecosystem) for the digital asset economy.
  • Waves = Waves is an open source cryptocurrency and a platform designed and run by the Waves Platform AG. Its architecture includes smart contracts which means it allows users to launch and run their crypto tokens.
  • WAVES = A symbol for Waves currency.
  • Weak hands = Those who can't be patient and sell at loss when the market is down.
  • Web wallet = Also referred to as a hosted wallet. Web wallet is hosted by a third party.
  • Wei = A denomination to Ether, like cents to Dollars or pennies to Pounds.
  • Whale = This term is borrowed from gambling people. It means a trader with a fat account, usually one who is bullish (one who thinks the market will rise) on the price of any specific cryptocurrency. These people are also referred to as bullish whales.
  • White paper = In cryptos is prepared by a party prior to launching a new currency. A White paper is authoritative reports that inform readers in short to understand complex issues, solve problem and make right decision.
  • Winklevoss Twins = Early proponents of Bitcoin, tried to establish a bitcoin ETF (exchange traded fund) which was rejected in March 2017.
  • Wire transfer = Electronically transferring money from one person to another. Commonly used to send and retrieve fiat currency from cryptocurrency exchanges.

X.....................................

  • XBT = A common abbreviation for Bitcoin (same as BTC).
  • XEM = A symbol for NEM currency.
  • XLM = A symbol for Stellar currency.
  • XMR = A symbol for Monero currency.
  • XRB = A symbol for RaiBlocks currency. RaiBlocks rebranded itself to Nano end of January 2018.
  • XRP = A symbol for Ripple currency.
  • XVG = A symbol for Verge currency.

Y.....................................

  • Yellow paper = A formal paper that is used for research. It is type of thesis or research paper of specify topic and have not any legal or authorized value.

Z.....................................

  • Zcash = Zcash is based on a decentralized blockchain but with unique new features that enhance users’ anonymity. It utilizes proof-of-construction called zk-snark that allows the network keep a secure ledger of all the balances without revealing involved parties or amounts.
  • ZEC = A symbol for Zcash currency.
  • ZIL = A symbol for Zilliqa currency.
  • Zilliqa = Zilliqa is the first high-throughput open source blockchain platform that is designed with the latest technology to scale up thousands of simultaneous transactions every second. It is an ERC20 token that was introduced in August of 2017 to help address the problem of scalability.
  • ZRX = A symbol for 0x currency.

See Also

Retrieved from "https://wikicryptocoins.com/index.php?title=Cryptocurrency_Dictionary&oldid=7279"