25 Cryptocurrency Terms You Need to Know

A token with an inherent quality that cannot be exchanged for another token. A device that participates in network maintenance while abiding by a network’s protocol. In crypto, as in anything, don’t just take someone’s word for something. This should be true of every decision in life, but especially those involving spending money.

• The process by which blocks or transactions are verified and added to a blockchain using a Proof of Work consensus mechanism.
• An NFT is a unique token that can, for example, represent a piece of artwork.
• The network that these devices create is known as the Internet of Things.
• Accordingly, a hack is likely to lead to substantial depletion of the Supported Cryptocurrency held on your behalf .

A contract to buy or sell an asset at a later date with the price agreed upon today. Investors use these as both a hedge against risk and a tool for profit. The moment when a cryptocurrency’s market capitalisation surpasses that of another crypto. The selling of coins, especially by whales who hold large amounts to stabilise prices and avoid crashing them.

Major Cryptocurrency Terms

A whale is a cryptocurrency term used for people with the most valuable Bitcoin addresses. Below are some of the most popular cryptocurrency terms and abbreviations used in bitcoin and trading. “A whale is someone who owns a lot of cryptocurrency,” Saddington says. Digital currency bitcoin has seen a tumultuous ride in recent weeks, as the price fell to trade below $6,000 per coin in June, down from a high of over $19,000 last year. And, everyone from Warren Buffett to athletes and celebrities have weighed in on the future of cryptocurrencies. The process of buying and selling a coin on the market to raise its price and attract other users, followed by profit-taking. A distributed ledger where only certain members are allowed access; this is usually determined by a set of rules or an access control layer. A system where two parties can conduct financial transactions with each other without involving a third party, like a bank. The Blockchain is an example of this since it connects nodes in its network directly to one another and allows them to share data/transactions freely between themselves. The process in which miners must use their computing power to solve complex cryptographic puzzles before verifying transactions and earning mining rewards.

On the contrary, cryptocurrency is a language that is ripe with new and interesting terms and is filled with many new and functional concepts. An intermediary that assists traders with executing transactions. A globally accessible network in which anyone can participate in initiating & executing transactions. Regulatory guidelines set to manage the transmission and exchange of data on a particular network. When your little nest egg of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency reaches a value high enough to buy yourself a Lamborghini, you’ve reached Lambo wealth.

User Interface

Going long is effectively betting that the asset will increase in price, while shorting is betting on the asset will move to the downside. TA – TA is technical analysis and this can be applied to not only cryptocurrency markets but also legacy and major currency markets. Technical analysis is the analysis of a particular asset’s price-chart. Common methods of technical analysis are support, resistance and charting patterns. Crypto has taken group chats – and the entire money world – by storm. We Skimm’d some key cryptocurrency terms you need to know to make sense of it all.

In addition to DApps, which are built on the Ethereum platform, numerous other applications can be developed, such as gaming, finance, and social media applications. Read more about etherium to usd converter here. The cost of sending a cryptocurrency transaction; Fees are collected by miners who validate transactions grouped into blocks. Fees are relative to the specific cryptocurrency, the data size of transaction and the network congestion at the time. As miners earn fees for the blocks they mine they prioritise transactions with higher fees. This term has been applied to a hybrid type of digital currency that has been issued by a nation’s central bank. Largely inspired by elements of Stablecoin design, CBDCs enable central banks to create digital versions of existing fiat money where they retain control.

With it, crypto terms have entered into mainstream media, investing publications and family dinners. Used to describe the behaviour of traders who have made an emotional and/or negative decision that has led to poor performance in the markets. Can also describe someone who doesn’t have faith in a particular position in a market as opposed to Strong Hands. Describes an irrational perception that owning whole units of cheaper cryptocurrencies is preferable to fractions of more expensive ones.

A layer 1 solution would be to make the ethereum blockchain more efficient, such as by adopting proof-of-stake protocols. An example of a layer 2 solution is Immutable X, an exchange built on top of ethereum that uses smart contract technology to allow for gas-free, carbon-neutral trading. A cryptocurrency created as a joke by Billy Markus, an IBM software engineer, and Adobe engineer Jackson Palmer in 2017. It’s since become one of the biggest cryptocurrencies ever created, with a market cap over $20 billion at the time of writing. The ability to send data, tokens or assets from one blockchain to another. This is different from multichainservices, which are built to work on multiple blockchains. Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, built on the bitcoin blockchain. It was created in 2009 by a person or group of people under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto.

Bear Market

Crucially, this is also how new cryptocurrency is added into circulation. In the case of bitcoin, roughly six bitcoins are minted each time a new block is mined. The process by which blocks or transactions are verified and added to a blockchain using a Proof of Work consensus mechanism. In order to verify a block a miner must use a computer to solve a cryptographic problem. Once the computer has solved the problem, the block is considered “mined” or verified. In the Bitcoin or Ethereum PoW blockchains, the first computer to mine or verify the block receives bitcoin or ether as a reward. Security Token Offering refers to a public offering for tokenized digital securities, or in short security tokens traded in cryptocurrency exchanges. This also allows for faster processing speeds since multiple copies are already available rather than one central authority who has to distribute them from scratch if something does go wrong. It should not be confused with distributed computing, though both use similar techniques but ledgers record data while computations perform actions based on said data.

For example, an individual dollar is considered fungible as we can trade dollars with one another. Artwork is usually deemed non-fungible as paintings, sculptures, or masterpieces are likely to be unequal in quality or value. A non-fungible token is a type of token that is a unique digital asset and has no equal token. This is in contrast to cryptocurrencies like ether that are fungible in nature. Any computer connected to the blockchain network is referred to as a node. A full node is a computer that can fully validate transactions and download the entire data of a specific blockchain. In contrast, a “lightweight” or “light” node does not download all pieces of a blockchain’s data and uses a different validation process. Hyperledger is an ecosystem of open-system tools, libraries, and products designed to enable and support enterprise-grade blockchain technology.
A type of hype where someone heavily promotes a cryptocurrency by using social media or their influence to draw attention towards it, often with no regard for the quality of the said coin. An alternative proof-of-work algorithm designed by Colin Percival for Tarsnap online backup service in an effort to make it more difficult to perform large scale custom hardware attacks . It’s been adopted by many altcoins since then due to the increased cost involved when using ASICs rather than GPUs/CPUs, including Litecoin and Dogecoin. A slang term used to describe a situation where an investor becomes “wrecked” by losing all their money due to trading or other factors within the market. A proposed upgrade to the Bitcoin protocol, consisting of a number of separate changes which aim to improve privacy and scalability without compromising on the latter. One main change it introduces is Confidential Transactions, which allows for both amounts and other metadata from transactions to be hidden. It was first suggested by Tom Elvis Jedusor (the alias of Harry Potter’s nemesis Voldemort) in 2016. A digital currency that doesn’t have any inherent value and is used for social media purposes. An economic condition where the general level of prices for goods and services is rising and the purchasing power of a currency falls. Initial decentralised offering, which is similar to an ICO but lets users interact with the project before it goes live.
These are the points at which an investor decides to buy or sell a particular coin/token. Anti-Money Laundering, a legal framework used by governments worldwide to stop financial crimes like money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, and more. The block will then be ‘mined,’ or validated, by randomly selected validators. The method uses a random system to determine who gets to “mine” rather than using a mechanism based on competition like proof-of-work.
A bear market is the reverse of a bull market, where outlooks are negative as market prices seem to be on a downward trend. A transaction that has yet to be confirmed on the blockchain, and therefore, isn’t part of the the blockchain yet. A random series of 12 to 24 words generated by your crypto wallet and used to gain access to it. An altcoin based on a meme, a kind of inside joke in the form of an image repeatedly altered and shared online. Although not required, many crypto exchanges carry out certain identity checks on their customers under KYC rules. Traditional currencies are backed by the full faith and credit of a nation state. The U.S. dollar, the euro or the British pound are fiat currencies.

Many cryptocurrencies are decentralized networks based on blockchain technology—a distributed ledger enforced by a disparate network of computers. A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are generally not issued by any central authority, rendering them theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation. DApps, or decentralized applications, are programs that run on top of blockchain networks and use smart contracts to provide trustless tools and services for end users. The most widely adopted smart contract platform today is the Ethereum protocol, where hundreds of dApps exist today. Symmetric-key cryptography is used by various blockchain networks for transfer of cryptocurrencies. Blockchain addresses generated for wallets are paired with private keys that allow transfer of cryptocurrency. In decentralized blockchain systems, transactions that are added to a network blockchain by anonymous miners and validators are added and validated as they are done. In a sense, this is the basis for any technology-based on blockchain transactions.

Hot Wallets are convenient for transacting and trading but are more susceptible to the threat of hacking. Examples are hot wallets are Mobile Wallets and Web Wallets. A slang term used within the crypto community meaning to steadfastly hold on to your crypto assets especially through big price dips. Hodling is a mentality driven by belief in the underlying use case for crypto. A fund that gives an investor exposure to a basket of securities or assets without actually owning them.

Money supply can only grow if an equivalent amount of gold is added to bank reserves. The Gold Standard was finally abandoned in 1971 by the USA’s decision to stop converting dollar reserves to gold at a fixed value. Game theory term used to describe the competitive advantage gained by being the first to take action. In reference to cryptocurrency applies to those coins developed first, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. The term to describe money created by governments which isn’t backed by any asset like Gold. In Latin FIAT means ‘let it be done’, so Fiat Money is essentially money that functions and has value simply because the government says so. The contractual use of an intermediary to hold and distribute assets on behalf of the sender and receiver. The distribution of assets is usually dependent on conditions agreed to by the transacting parties being met.

E.g 7 Day Simple Moving Average is the sum of the previous seven days closing prices divided by seven. A low cost credit card sized computer that plugs directly into a monitor or TV. Designed by the UK based charity Raspberry Pi Foundation to make computing low-cost and accessible to everyone. A type of fraudulent investment scheme that lures investors in with high returns that are solely funded from the deposits of newer investors. Also known as a Pyramid Scheme, as that is the shape of investor growth over time, until https://www.beaxy.com/faq/beaxys-guide-to-sending-wire-transactions/ the fraud is mathematically unsustainable and collapses. Prediction made by American engineer, Gordon Moore, in 1965, that the number of transistors per silicon chip doubles every year. To date, transistor technology development has kept apace with this prediction which has important implications for all industries that rely on computing power, such as crypto. An increasingly popular macroeconomic theory that sees money as a public monopoly and unemployment as evidence that the supply of that money is overly restricted.

These schemes are often orchestrated through apps like Slack or Telegram, he adds, and advises curious chatroom readers to beware of such gimmicks. An investigation into “pump and dump” schemes by Business Insider found the practice to be an “open secret among many cryptocurrency traders.” “Pump and dumpers are people who often say, ‘Hey, let’s all of us together pump this coin,’ which means buy the coin, create the demand in the market, the coin will go up in value,” Saddington says. In early bitcoin forums, someone posted a message that spelled the word “hold” wrong, and readers interpreted it as an acronym “hold on for dear life,” Saddington explains. “Now, it’s become a meme of sorts, so that when the prices are highly volatile, bitcoin buyers say ‘HODL!'” Saddington describes himself as “a long-term HODLER.” A unit of value used for various purposes within a crypto ecosystem. Tokens can represent any asset, from commodities like gold or coffee beans, to loyalty points, real estate, or even other cryptocurrencies.

Jake Frankenfield is an experienced writer on a wide range of business news topics and his work has been featured on Investopedia and The New York Times among others. He has done extensive work and research on Facebook and data collection, Apple and user experience, blockchain and fintech, and cryptocurrency and the future of money. Algorithmic stablecoins (aka non-collateral stablecoins) are managed by smart contracts to smartly manage the supply to maintain the stability of the underlying asset. NFTs are distinctive digital tokens indicating ownership of assets, real or virtual, on the blockchain. Most commonly, it is used to describe the quality of a cryptocurrency to be freely bought and sold.

This term is a good one to know because market participants with the ability to execute very large transactions can potentially manipulate the market—or “make waves in the ocean.” Newcomers are frequently described as “noobs” by industry insiders. While simply buying digital currency is one example of taking a long position, there are other methods available. FXCM is a leading provider of online foreign exchange trading, CFD trading and related services. Cryptocurrencies continue to grow, with new currencies cropping up all the time, and are here to stay. Their rising popularity is driven by the proven reliability of the top cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum. BitIRA facilitates the purchase of Digital Currency, nothing more, and charges a fee for the service it provides . No fiduciary relationship, broker dealer relationship, principal agent relationship or other special relationship exists between BitIRA and its customers.

Abbreviation for ‘number only used once’ It is of vital importance next to the hash in the verification of data from the Bitcoin blockchain network. To intercept a particularly large AMM buy order for the purpose of purchasing an reselling the assets back to the buyer before the order transaction is mind on the blockchain. An exchange-traded fund is a form of security that tracks a collection of securites such as stocks, bonds, index or cryptocurrency but tradeable like a single stock. It is an investment strategy to gain potential return of the investment by borrowing the money. For example, you could loan from an exchange to conduct a margin trading, where you leverage your positions by buying asset at a low price and sell them at a higher price. Binance, Kukoin, Luno, and LocalBitcoins are all examples of exchange markets. Clacified has tabulated the list of the top 10 trading/exchange sites for cryptocurrency.
A unit of value on a blockchain that usually has some other value proposition besides just a transfer of value . Two users interacting directly without a third party or intermediary. Financial activities conducted without the involvement of an intermediary, like a bank, government, or other financial institution. Named after Bitcoin’s anonymous creator that used the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Short for wrecked – or what happens if you lose lots of money on a trade. ” they are asking when a particular coin’s price will increase and they will profit enough to buy a Lamborghini. A typo for “hold” that has come to mean “Hold On for Dear Life”.