Crypto Terms & Definitions
Master the terms behind every trade.
AML
Anti-money laundering (AML) refers to measures designed to detect and prevent the concealment of criminal proceeds.
AMM
An automated market maker is a system that determines trading quotes and executes exchanges according to programmed rules.
API Trading
API trading uses an application programming interface to request market data and send trading instructions programmatically.
Account Abstraction
Account abstraction makes account authorization and transaction handling programmable through wallet logic.
Accumulation
Accumulation is the gradual building of an asset position, also used for a market phase interpreted as sustained buying.
Address
A blockchain address is an identifier used to specify an account, destination or other protocol-defined location for activity on a network.
Address Poisoning
Address poisoning plants misleading address entries in transaction history to trick a user into sending funds to the wrong recipient.
Address Verification
Address verification checks whether payment destination information is valid and appropriate for the intended transfer.
Air-Gapped
An air-gapped system is deliberately isolated from direct network connections to reduce exposure to remote attacks.
Airdrop
An airdrop distributes tokens or other digital assets to eligible recipients, often to support a launch or recognize participation.
Algorithmic Stablecoin
An algorithmic stablecoin seeks a target price primarily through programmed supply adjustments or market incentives rather than full backing by independent reserve assets.
All or None Order (AON)
An all or none order requires the entire specified quantity to execute or none of it to execute.
All-Time High (ATH)
An all-time high is the highest price recorded for an asset within a defined trading history and price source.
All-Time Low (ATL)
An all-time low is the lowest price recorded for an asset in the trading history covered by a specified dataset.
Allocation
A token allocation is the amount or share of tokens assigned to a participant, group, or purpose.
Alpha
Alpha measures investment performance beyond the return explained by a specified benchmark and risk model.
Altcoin
An altcoin is a cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, although the term’s scope sometimes varies by speaker and context.
Altseason
Altseason is an informal name for a period when a broad set of cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin outperforms Bitcoin.
Annual Percentage Rate (APR)
Annual percentage rate (APR) expresses a rate on an annual basis without including the effect of compounding.
Annual Percentage Yield (APY)
Annual percentage yield (APY) expresses an annualized return that includes an assumed compounding effect.
Anti-Phishing Code
An anti-phishing code is a user-chosen marker that a service includes in supported communications to help recipients recognize expected messages.
Ape
To ape into an asset is crypto slang for buying quickly with limited research, often because of hype or fear of missing out.
Aping In
Aping in means entering a speculative crypto position quickly with little investigation, often to avoid missing a perceived opportunity.
Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)
An application-specific integrated circuit is a chip designed for a particular task, such as calculating a cryptocurrency mining algorithm.
Approval Exploit
An approval exploit abuses token-spending permissions to move assets beyond the holder’s intended use of an application.
Arbitrage
Arbitrage seeks to profit from inconsistent prices for the same or economically related assets through offsetting transactions.
Ask
An ask is a price at which a participant offers to sell a specified quantity of an asset.
At the Money (ATM)
At the money describes an option whose strike equals the relevant underlying price, or the nearest listed strike under a stated market convention.
Atomic Swap
An atomic swap links the two sides of an asset exchange so that payment is conditional on the agreed counterpayment, with recovery paths if completion fails.
Attack Surface
An attack surface is the set of interfaces and exposure points through which a system could be accessed, influenced, or have information extracted.
Auction (Call Auction)
A call auction collects buy and sell orders over a period and matches eligible orders together at a single auction price.
Audit
An audit is a structured examination of specified records, systems or code against defined criteria and within an agreed scope.
Authenticator App
An authenticator app produces or approves authentication responses that help a service verify access to a registered account.
Auto-Compounding
Auto-compounding automatically reinvests earned rewards so they can contribute to future returns.
Auto-Deleveraging (ADL)
Auto-deleveraging is an exchange mechanism that forcibly reduces selected opposing positions when its liquidation risk process reaches specified limits.
Average Entry Price
Average entry price combines the opening fills of a position into one reference price according to the instrument’s calculation rules.
BEP-20
BEP-20 is the fungible-token interface standard used on BNB Smart Chain, derived from Ethereum's ERC-20.
BRC-20 Tokens
BRC-20 tokens are fungible token balances defined by a protocol that interprets specially formatted inscriptions recorded through Bitcoin transactions.
BUIDL
BUIDL is a deliberate misspelling of build used to encourage practical contributions to blockchain and crypto projects.
Backup
A wallet backup preserves the information needed to recover access if the original device, application or signing setup becomes unavailable.
Backwardation
Backwardation describes futures below the current spot price, or a downward-sloping curve where later maturities are cheaper than nearer ones.
Bag
A bag is informal crypto slang for the amount of a coin or token someone holds.
Bag Holder
A bag holder is someone who continues holding an asset after a substantial decline, often hoping to recover the purchase cost.
Bagholder
A bagholder is an informal name for someone who continues holding an asset after a substantial fall in its value.
Bankruptcy Price
Bankruptcy price is a risk-accounting reference where the collateral or equity assigned to a position would be exhausted under the venue’s calculation.
Base Currency
The base currency is the first asset in a conventional trading pair, whose value is expressed in the quote currency.
Base Fee
A base fee is a protocol-calculated fee component that sets the minimum price for using a specified blockchain resource.
Basis
Basis is the price difference between a derivative and a specified reference market, with the subtraction convention stated explicitly.
Bear Market
A bear market is a sustained period of broadly falling asset prices and often weakening investor confidence.
Bear Trap
A bear trap is an apparent bearish breakdown that reverses upward and catches traders positioned for further losses.
Bearish
Bearish describes an expectation that an asset or market will decline in price over a particular period.
Best Ask
The best ask is the lowest currently available sell price in a specified order book.
Best Bid
The best bid is the highest currently available buy price in a specified order book.
Beta
Beta measures how sensitively an asset’s returns have moved with the returns of a chosen market benchmark.
Bid
A bid is a price at which a participant offers to buy a specified quantity of an asset.
Biometric Authentication
Biometric authentication uses measurable physical or behavioral characteristics to help verify a person or activate a protected authenticator.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer monetary network whose native asset, BTC, can be transferred without a central operator.
Bitcoin Core
Bitcoin Core is open-source software that validates Bitcoin transactions and blocks and can also provide wallet functionality.
Bitcoin Dominance
Bitcoin dominance is Bitcoin’s market capitalization expressed as a percentage of a defined cryptocurrency market total.
Bitcoin Maxi
A Bitcoin maxi is someone who believes Bitcoin should be the dominant or only cryptocurrency with lasting significance.
Black Swan Event
A black swan event is an extreme-impact occurrence outside ordinary expectations that people later explain as though it had been predictable.
Block
A block is a structured group of transaction or state data that a blockchain records as part of its ordered history.
Block Explorer
A block explorer is a tool for browsing blockchain records such as blocks, transactions, addresses and contract activity.
Block Header
A block header is the compact metadata section of a block that helps identify it, link it to earlier history and verify protocol requirements.
Block Height
Block height is the number of blocks preceding a particular block in a blockchain’s history, usually starting from zero at genesis.
Block Reward
A block reward is the compensation associated with producing an accepted block, whose components depend on the network’s rules.
Block Time
Block time is the interval between blocks, or a network’s intended average interval, rather than a guarantee for every transaction.
Block Trade
A block trade is a large transaction negotiated separately from ordinary order-book matching under the applicable market rules.
Blockchain
A blockchain is a shared digital ledger that records data in cryptographically linked blocks, making past records difficult to alter.
Blue Chip
Blue chip is an informal label for a widely established asset with a strong market reputation and substantial trading activity.
Bollinger Bands
Bollinger Bands place volatility-based boundaries around a moving average to show how price sits relative to recent observations.
Bonding Curve
A bonding curve is a mathematical rule linking a token’s quoted price to supply, reserves or another defined measure of market state.
Borrowing
Borrowing is receiving assets with an obligation to repay them under agreed terms, usually including interest.
Break-Even Point (BEP)
The break-even point is the level at which proceeds equal the relevant costs, leaving neither a net profit nor a net loss.
Breakdown
A breakdown is a price move below an identified support level or lower chart-pattern boundary.
Breakout
A breakout is a price move beyond an identified support, resistance, or chart-pattern boundary.
Bridge
A blockchain bridge connects networks so that assets or messages can be represented or acted on across chain boundaries.
Bug Bounty
A bug bounty is a program that offers rewards for eligible vulnerability reports submitted under defined testing and disclosure rules.
Bull Market
A bull market is an extended period of broadly rising asset prices, usually accompanied by investor optimism.
Bull Trap
A bull trap is an apparent bullish breakout or recovery that reverses and leaves buyers exposed to falling prices.
Bullish
Bullish describes an expectation that an asset or market will rise in price over a specified period.
Burn
A burn is an action intended to permanently remove units of a crypto asset from usable supply under the relevant design.
Burner Wallet
A burner wallet is a separate wallet used for a limited purpose or period, usually with only a small amount of assets.
Buy Pressure
Buy pressure describes demand that tends to support or raise prices relative to the supply available for sale.
Buy Wall
A buy wall is a relatively large concentration of resting buy orders at a price level in an order book.
Buy the Dip
Buying the dip means purchasing an asset after a price decline in the expectation that its price will recover.
Call Option
A call option gives its buyer the right to buy an underlying asset at a specified strike price under the contract’s exercise rules.
Candlestick
A candlestick summarizes an interval’s opening, highest, lowest, and closing prices in a single chart symbol.
Candlestick Chart
A candlestick chart arranges successive price candles to show how a market changes over time.
Capitulation
Capitulation is an episode of intense selling in which holders abandon hopes of recovery and accept losses.
Censorship Resistance
Censorship resistance is a system’s ability to continue accepting and processing legitimate activity despite attempts by particular actors to exclude it.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
A central bank digital currency is digital money issued as a liability of a central bank and denominated in its monetary unit.
Centralized
Centralized describes an arrangement in which important decisions or operational powers are concentrated in one authority or a small controlling group.
Centralized Exchange (CEX)
A centralized exchange is a trading platform whose operator manages customer accounts, order execution, and typically the custody of deposited assets.
Centralized Finance (CeFi)
Centralized finance (CeFi) refers to financial services managed by an identifiable intermediary rather than executed solely through user-controlled smart contracts.
Circulating Supply
Circulating supply estimates the quantity of an asset considered available in the market, using a provider’s stated inclusion rules.
Clearing
Clearing is the process of checking transaction records and determining obligations before settlement.
Cliff
A cliff is an initial vesting threshold before which an allocation has no vested portion available under the schedule.
Close Position
To close a position is to eliminate its remaining exposure through an offsetting transaction or the product’s settlement process.
Coin
A coin is commonly a blockchain’s native cryptocurrency, used within that network for functions such as payments or transaction fees.
Coin-Margined
Coin-margined commonly describes derivatives whose margin and settlement are based on a cryptocurrency such as BTC or ETH.
Coinbase Transaction
A coinbase transaction is the first transaction in a Bitcoin block, through which the miner can claim the permitted subsidy and transaction fees.
Cold Signing
Cold signing authorizes transactions with signing keys kept in an offline or isolated environment while another system handles network communication.
Cold Storage
Cold storage keeps the secret material needed to authorize cryptocurrency transfers away from ordinary online environments.
Cold Wallet
A cold wallet keeps signing keys isolated from online systems, reducing remote exposure while requiring careful backup and transaction verification.
Collateral
Collateral is an asset committed to support an obligation and may be liquidated or claimed if the applicable conditions are not met.
Collateral Factor
A collateral factor is the proportion of an eligible collateral asset’s assessed value that a lending protocol counts toward borrowing capacity.
Collateralization Ratio
The collateralization ratio compares the assessed value of pledged collateral with the outstanding debt it supports.
Collateralized Stablecoin
A collateralized stablecoin uses reserve assets or pledged collateral to support its target value and redemption or repayment mechanisms.
Composability
Composability is the ability to combine existing software components into applications or workflows with additional functionality.
Concentrated Liquidity
Concentrated liquidity lets an automated market maker’s liquidity providers allocate funds to a chosen price interval.
Confirmation
A confirmation indicates that a transaction has been included in accepted blockchain history, with the counting convention depending on the network.
Consensus Mechanism
A consensus mechanism is the set of rules and procedures a distributed network uses to agree on an accepted ledger state or history.
Consolidation
Consolidation is a period when an asset’s price pauses its directional move and trades within a relatively contained range.
Contango
Contango describes futures trading above the current spot price, or an upward-sloping curve where later maturities cost more than nearer ones.
Contract
In derivatives trading, a contract is an agreement defining financial rights and obligations linked to an underlying reference.
Contract Multiplier
A contract multiplier converts a quoted price or price change into the value represented by a derivative contract.
Contract Size
Contract size specifies the quantity of an underlying asset or the face amount represented by one derivative contract.
Convert
Convert is a simplified service for exchanging one supported asset for another at a quoted rate.
Cope
Cope is online slang for an explanation or reaction perceived as self-comfort after disappointment, often used critically in crypto discussions.
Copium
Copium is a slang metaphor for comforting rationalizations or denial after a disappointing result.
Copy Trader
A copy trader is a participant whose allocated funds follow another trader’s eligible actions through a copy-trading service.
Copy Trading
Copy trading is a service that replicates another trader’s eligible trading actions in a follower’s account according to specified settings.
Correction
A correction is a meaningful price decline from a recent peak, often discussed as a pullback within a broader market trend.
Crash
A crash is an unusually sharp and rapid fall in an asset’s price or a broader market’s value.
Cross Margin
Cross margin shares eligible collateral across positions within a defined account or margin pool.
Cross Rate
A cross rate expresses the value of one currency or asset in another using their prices against a common reference.
Cross-Chain
Cross-chain describes transferring information, coordinating actions or representing assets across two or more blockchain networks.
Cross-Chain Bridge
A cross-chain bridge coordinates asset transfers or messages between blockchains that maintain separate ledgers.
Cross-Chain Swap
A cross-chain swap exchanges an asset on one blockchain for an asset delivered on another blockchain.
Cross-Collateral
Cross-collateral allows eligible assets to support positions whose settlement currency differs from the collateral asset.
Crypto Wallet
A crypto wallet manages the credentials and interface used to receive assets and authorize transactions on a blockchain.
Crypto Winter
Crypto winter is an informal term for a prolonged downturn in cryptocurrency prices, confidence and industry activity.
Cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency is a digital asset that uses cryptography and a network ledger to enable transfers under defined rules.
Cryptocurrency Exchange
A cryptocurrency exchange is a service or protocol that enables users to buy, sell, or swap digital assets.
Cryptography
Cryptography studies techniques for protecting information and verifying properties such as authenticity and integrity using mathematical methods.
Custodial Wallet
A custodial wallet relies on a service provider to control the signing credentials used to manage cryptocurrency on behalf of its users.
Custodian
A digital-asset custodian safeguards assets for others and manages the controls used to authorize or administer their transfer.
Custody
Custody is the arrangement for safeguarding assets and controlling the credentials or processes through which they can be transferred.
DCA
Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) means investing a fixed amount of money at regular intervals regardless of the asset’s price.
DCA Bot
A DCA bot automates incremental purchases or position additions according to predefined timing or trading conditions.
DYOR
DYOR means “Do Your Own Research,” a reminder to investigate and verify information before making a crypto decision.
Danksharding
Danksharding is Ethereum’s approach to expanding data availability for rollups through distributed handling and sampling of blob data.
Dark Pool
A dark pool is a trading venue that does not publicly display its orders before execution.
Data Availability
Data availability means the data needed to verify or reconstruct blockchain activity has been published and can be retrieved.
Day Trading
Day trading opens and closes trading positions within the same trading day or defined session.
Dead Cat Bounce
A dead cat bounce is a temporary recovery during a broader decline that is followed by renewed falling prices.
Death Cross
A death cross occurs when a shorter-period moving average crosses from above to below a longer-period moving average.
Decentralization
Decentralization is the distribution of control, decision-making or infrastructure across multiple participants rather than one dominant authority.
Decentralized Application (dApp)
A decentralized application (dApp) is software whose important functions run through a decentralized network, commonly using smart contracts on a blockchain.
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)
A DAO is an organization that coordinates members and shared resources through agreed rules, often using blockchain-based voting and smart contracts.
Decentralized Exchange (DEX)
A decentralized exchange uses blockchain-based settlement to exchange assets, typically allowing users to trade from wallets they control.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
Decentralized finance (DeFi) comprises financial applications that use blockchain-based smart contracts to coordinate activities such as lending, trading and asset management.
Decentralized Identity (DID)
Decentralized identity is an approach to managing digital identity that reduces dependence on a single identity provider through independently verifiable identifiers and credentials.
Deflationary Token
A deflationary token is designed to reduce its supply over time or under specified conditions, though actual net supply depends on all issuance and removal flows.
Degen
Degen is crypto slang for a participant associated with highly speculative or risky trading and investing.
Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)
Delegated proof of stake is a consensus design in which token-based voting selects representatives to produce blocks.
Delegation
Delegation is the assignment of a specific authority to another participant without necessarily transferring ownership of the underlying assets.
Deleveraging
Deleveraging reduces borrowed financing or market exposure relative to the capital supporting it.
Delisting
Delisting is the removal of an asset, trading pair, or instrument from a platform’s supported markets.
Delivery Contract
In crypto trading, a delivery contract commonly means a futures contract with a fixed expiry and prescribed final settlement.
Depeg
A depeg is a departure of an asset’s market price from the reference value or exchange relationship it is intended to maintain.
Deposit
A deposit transfers funds or assets into an account or service for credit to the recipient’s balance.
Depth Chart
A depth chart plots the cumulative buy and sell quantities displayed in an order book at different prices.
Derivatives
Derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends on an underlying asset, rate, index or other reference.
Device Authorization
Device authorization is a service’s process for approving a device or session to access an account under specified conditions.
Diamond Hands
Diamond hands describes holding an asset through volatility or pressure to sell, emphasizing resolve rather than a guaranteed outcome.
Difficulty
Mining difficulty expresses how demanding a proof-of-work network’s current target is for finding an acceptable block hash.
Digital Asset
A digital asset is an electronically represented item with value or utility, including but not limited to blockchain-based assets.
Digital Signature
A digital signature is cryptographic evidence that a message was authorized using a particular signing key and has not been altered in the signed form.
Dip
A dip is an informal term for a price decline often viewed as a short-term pullback within a broader trend.
Direct Market Access (DMA)
Direct market access is an electronic arrangement that lets a trader submit orders to a trading venue through an approved market connection.
Distributed Ledger
A distributed ledger is a record maintained across multiple participants that coordinate how entries or state changes are accepted.
Distribution
In market analysis, distribution is the gradual reduction of holdings by sellers into available buying demand.
Divergence
Divergence in technical analysis occurs when a price move is not confirmed by a corresponding move in an indicator.
Diversification
Diversification spreads exposure across investments or risk sources to reduce dependence on any single outcome.
Dollar-Cost Averaging
Dollar-cost averaging is a recurring investment method that commits the same monetary amount at each scheduled purchase.
Double Spending
Double spending is an attempt to use the same digital value for more than one conflicting payment.
Dual Investment
Dual investment is a structured product that pays a return while allowing settlement in either of two assets under agreed price conditions.
Dump
Dump is informal crypto language for heavy selling or a sharp price fall, with the precise meaning depending on context.
Dusting Attack
A dusting attack sends tiny amounts of cryptocurrency to addresses in an attempt to link their owners through later transaction activity.
EIP
An EIP is an Ethereum Improvement Proposal that documents a proposed technical standard, process, or information relevant to Ethereum.
EIP-1559
EIP-1559 is the adopted Ethereum proposal that introduced a protocol-adjusted base fee, fee burning and capped priority fees for execution transactions.
ERC-1155
ERC-1155 is a multi-token standard that manages different token IDs and quantities within one smart contract.
ERC-20
ERC-20 is a standard interface for fungible tokens on Ethereum and compatible smart-contract networks.
ERC-721
ERC-721 is a smart-contract standard for tracking ownership and transfers of individually identified non-fungible tokens.
Eclipse Attack
An eclipse attack isolates a blockchain node’s view of the network by controlling the peers or communication paths through which it receives information.
Emission
Emission describes the creation or scheduled release of cryptocurrency units, with the precise meaning depending on the project’s supply model.
Encryption
Encryption transforms readable information into ciphertext so that access depends on possession of the appropriate decryption key.
Entry Price
Entry price is the price at which a trade establishing or increasing a position actually executes.
Epoch
An epoch is a protocol-defined cycle used to organize recurring blockchain activities, such as validator duties and consensus updates.
Ethereum (ETH)
Ethereum is a programmable blockchain that uses its native asset, ether (ETH), to pay execution fees and support proof-of-stake security.
Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
The Ethereum Virtual Machine is the execution environment that processes smart-contract instructions and determines corresponding state changes on Ethereum.
Execution
Execution is the fulfillment of a trading order through one or more completed trades.
Exit Liquidity
Exit liquidity is the buying demand or available trading capital that allows existing holders to sell their positions.
Exit Price
Exit price is the actual execution price at which all or part of a trading position is closed.
Exit Scam
An exit scam is a fraudulent operation in which operators collect users’ funds and then disappear or stop honoring their obligations.
Expiration Date
An expiration date identifies when a dated derivative reaches the end of its contractual life.
Expiry
Expiry is the scheduled end of a dated derivative’s life, when its remaining rights or obligations are handled under the contract’s terms.
Exploit
An exploit is a method or implementation that takes advantage of a weakness to produce behavior outside a system’s intended security rules.
Exponential Moving Average (EMA)
An exponential moving average smooths prices while giving greater weight to more recent observations.
Externally Owned Account (EOA)
An externally owned account is an Ethereum account controlled through a private key that can authorize transactions.
FOK
FOK, or fill or kill, requires an order’s entire quantity to execute immediately or the whole order to be canceled.
FOMO
FOMO is the fear of missing out that can push someone to buy or trade because others appear to be profiting.
FUD
FUD means fear, uncertainty, and doubt, and describes negative sentiment or messaging that undermines confidence in an asset or project.
Fair Launch
A fair launch is a token distribution approach intended to give public participants access without privileged pre-launch allocations to insiders.
Fake Airdrop
A fake airdrop is a fraudulent token giveaway designed to steal funds, sensitive information, or wallet permissions.
Falling Knife
A falling knife is market slang for an asset whose price is dropping sharply while its eventual bottom remains uncertain.
Faucet
A faucet distributes small amounts of a crypto asset, commonly testnet coins used to try network functions without production funds.
Fear and Greed Index
A Fear and Greed Index summarizes selected market signals on a scale intended to represent fear at the low end and greed at the high end.
Fiat Balance
A fiat balance is an account amount denominated in a government-issued currency such as euros or dollars.
Fiat Currency
Fiat currency is government-issued money whose value is not based on a promise of redemption for a fixed quantity of a commodity.
Fiat Gateway
A fiat gateway connects conventional payment systems with services for buying or selling cryptocurrency.
Fiat Off-Ramp
A fiat off-ramp converts cryptocurrency into conventional money that can be paid out through supported financial channels.
Fiat On-Ramp
A fiat on-ramp is a service that converts conventional money into cryptocurrency.
Fibonacci Retracement
Fibonacci retracement maps percentage levels within a selected price move to identify areas traders may watch during a pullback.
Fill
A fill is an execution that completes some or all of a trading order.
Finality
Finality is the degree of assurance that a blockchain's accepted transaction history will not be reversed under its consensus assumptions.
Flash Loan
A flash loan provides temporary liquidity that must satisfy repayment conditions within the same blockchain transaction.
Flippening
The flippening usually means the hypothetical event in which ether overtakes bitcoin by market capitalization.
Floor Price
An NFT collection’s floor price is usually the lowest qualifying asking price among its currently listed items on a specified market.
Forced Liquidation
Forced liquidation is the compulsory reduction or closure of a position by a trading venue after its risk conditions are breached.
Fork
A fork is a divergence in blockchain history or protocol development that can be temporary or persist as separate networks.
Formal Verification
Formal verification uses mathematical methods to check whether a system satisfies precisely stated properties under an explicit model and assumptions.
Fraud Proof
A fraud proof is evidence used by a blockchain verification system to challenge an incorrect claim about a computation or state transition.
Fren
Fren is a playful spelling of “friend” used to address people in crypto and other online communities.
Front-Running
Front-running means trading ahead of a known upcoming transaction to benefit from its expected effect.
Full Node
A full node independently verifies blockchain data against the protocol’s rules rather than accepting another participant’s conclusions without validation.
Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV)
Fully diluted valuation estimates a token’s value at its current price across the supply assumed to be fully issued.
Fundamental Analysis
Fundamental analysis evaluates the economic, technical, and organizational factors that may support or weaken an asset’s value.
Funding Interval
A funding interval is the period between scheduled funding events for a perpetual contract.
Funding Payment
A funding payment is the amount credited or debited to an eligible perpetual position under its funding rules.
Funding Rate
A funding rate is the percentage used to calculate funding exchanged between positions in a perpetual contract.
Funding Wallet
A funding wallet is a platform account compartment commonly used to receive, hold, and move assets between supported services.
Fungible
Fungible assets have units that are interchangeable with equivalent units of the same asset for the relevant purpose.
Futures Contract
A futures contract is a standardized agreement with future settlement terms that creates exposure to an underlying asset or reference.
Futures Grid
A futures grid automates orders at successive price levels using derivatives positions supported by margin.
GM
GM is short for “Good Morning,” a friendly greeting widely used in crypto and Web3 communities.
GTC
GTC, or good till canceled, is an instruction that keeps an order active until it is filled or canceled, subject to venue rules.
GameFi
GameFi combines blockchain-based games with digital-asset ownership, token incentives or financial mechanisms.
Gas
Gas measures the computational resources needed to execute transactions and smart-contract operations on networks such as Ethereum.
Gas Fee
A gas fee is the payment for executing a transaction, typically calculated from the gas consumed and the effective price per unit.
Gas Limit
A gas limit is the maximum quantity of gas permitted for a transaction or block, separate from the price paid per gas unit.
Generative Art
Generative art is artwork produced through a system of rules or processes that the artist designs or selects.
Genesis Block
The genesis block is the initial block from which a blockchain’s history and later block references begin.
Going Long
Going long means establishing or increasing a bought position, usually to benefit from a rise in the relevant price.
Going Short
Going short means establishing or increasing a sold exposure, commonly to benefit from a price decline or hedge a holding.
Golden Cross
A golden cross occurs when a shorter-period moving average crosses from below to above a longer-period moving average.
Governance
Governance is the process through which a network or organization discusses, decides and implements changes to its rules or shared resources.
Governance Token
A governance token gives holders a role in specified decision-making processes for a protocol or organization, subject to its governance rules.
Governance Vote
A governance vote records an eligible participant’s choice on a proposal under a project’s decision rules.
Green Candle
A green candle commonly represents a chart period in which the closing price is above the opening price.
Grid Trading
Grid trading places a series of buy and sell orders at planned price levels to seek gains from repeated price movements between them.
Gwei
Gwei is a denomination of ether equal to one billion wei, commonly used to quote Ethereum gas prices.
HODL
HODL is a crypto community term for continuing to hold an asset through short-term price fluctuations, often with a long-term outlook.
HODLer
A HODLer is someone who intends to retain cryptoassets through short-term market fluctuations rather than trade them frequently.
Hack
In incident reporting, a hack usually means unauthorized interference with a system, account or protocol that compromises confidentiality, integrity or availability.
Halving
A halving is a scheduled reduction by half in a blockchain’s block subsidy or a similarly defined issuance amount.
Hard Fork
A hard fork changes blockchain validation rules in a way that can make blocks accepted under the new rules incompatible with older software.
Hardware Wallet
A hardware wallet is a dedicated device that protects private keys and signs transactions without ordinarily exposing those keys to its connected computer or phone.
Hash
A cryptographic hash is a fixed-length digest derived from input data, used to detect changes and identify data in blockchain systems.
Hash Function
A hash function deterministically maps input data to a digest, with cryptographic versions designed to resist specified attacks.
Hash Rate
Hash rate measures how many hashing attempts a proof-of-work miner or network performs per unit of time.
Hashing
Hashing applies a function to data to produce a digest used for tasks such as identification, integrity checking, and cryptographic commitments.
Health Factor
Health factor is a lending-protocol metric that compares liquidation-adjusted collateral value with outstanding debt.
Hedge
A hedge is a position or arrangement intended to offset a specified risk in another exposure.
Hedge Mode
Hedge mode allows separate long and short positions in the same derivatives contract to be held at the same time.
Hedging
Hedging is the process of reducing a specified financial risk by taking an offsetting exposure or arranging protection.
Herd Instinct
Herd instinct is the tendency to follow other market participants’ apparent choices when deciding what to buy, sell, or hold.
High-Frequency Trading (HFT)
High-frequency trading uses automated systems and very low latency to react to market information and manage orders at high speed.
Higher High
A higher high is a price peak above the preceding comparable peak on a chart.
Honeypot
In crypto scams, a honeypot is a token or arrangement that attracts buyers while preventing or severely restricting their ability to exit.
Hot Wallet
A hot wallet uses signing keys in an internet-connected environment, making transactions convenient but increasing exposure to online threats.
IOC
IOC, or immediate or cancel, requires immediate execution of any available quantity and cancellation of the unfilled remainder.
IPFS
IPFS is a peer-to-peer system for organizing and retrieving data by content identifiers rather than a single server location.
Iceberg Order
An iceberg order divides a larger intended trade into smaller visible portions so the full quantity is not displayed at once.
Immutable
In blockchain discussions, immutable describes records that are designed to resist later alteration under a network’s rules and security assumptions.
Impermanent Loss
Impermanent loss is the shortfall of a liquidity position's asset value relative to holding the original assets when their relative prices change.
Implied Volatility
Implied volatility is the volatility input that makes an option-pricing model consistent with an observed option price under stated assumptions.
In the Money (ITM)
An option is in the money when the relationship between its strike and the relevant underlying price gives it positive intrinsic value.
Index Price
An index price is a calculated market reference built from selected price sources under a defined methodology.
Inflationary Token
An inflationary token increases its supply through issuance under a protocol or contract, with the rate and distribution determined by its design.
Initial Coin Offering (ICO)
An initial coin offering raises funds by selling newly issued or allocated crypto tokens under a project’s offering terms.
Initial DEX Offering (IDO)
An initial DEX offering is a token launch or fundraising arrangement conducted through a decentralized-exchange-related platform or process.
Initial Exchange Offering (IEO)
An initial exchange offering is a token sale conducted through a centralized exchange’s offering platform under its participation rules.
Initial Margin
Initial margin is the collateral required to establish or increase a margined trading position.
Inscription
An inscription is data recorded in blockchain transactions and interpreted by a particular protocol as a digital artifact or message.
Instant Buy
Instant Buy is a simplified service for purchasing cryptocurrency at a displayed quote using an available payment method.
Institutional Investor
An institutional investor is an organization that invests and manages assets for clients, beneficiaries or its own institutional purposes.
Insurance Fund
An insurance fund is a platform reserve used under specified rules to absorb certain trading shortfalls, commonly arising from derivatives liquidations.
Interchain
Interchain describes communication and coordinated activity among distinct blockchains through compatible protocols.
Internal Transfer
An internal transfer moves a balance within a platform’s own account system rather than through an external blockchain transaction.
Interoperability
Interoperability is the ability of different systems to exchange information and use it according to shared rules.
Inverse Contract
An inverse contract is a derivative commonly quoted with a fixed dollar face value whose profit and loss are calculated and settled in the underlying coin.
Isolated Margin
Isolated margin assigns a defined amount of collateral to an individual position instead of automatically sharing a common collateral pool.
KYC
Know Your Customer (KYC) is the process a service uses to establish and verify who its customers are.
Keylogger
A keylogger records keystrokes and can expose passwords or wallet secrets when used without the person’s knowledge or consent.
Keystore File
A keystore file stores cryptographic key material, commonly encrypted with a password, together with information needed to read it.
LFG
LFG is an enthusiastic crypto-community exclamation commonly expanded as “Let’s Fucking Go.”
LP Token
An LP token represents a liquidity provider’s position and the associated withdrawal rights in a liquidity pool.
Lambo
Lambo is shorthand for Lamborghini and a crypto meme about becoming wealthy enough from investment gains to buy an expensive sports car.
Last Price
The last price is the price of the most recent executed trade in a particular market.
Launchpad
A crypto launchpad provides tools or services for projects to introduce tokens, raise funds or distribute initial allocations.
Layer 1
Layer 1 is a base blockchain that defines its own consensus, transaction validation and ledger-settlement rules.
Layer 2
Layer 2 is a system built above a base blockchain that processes activity separately while relying on that base chain for specified settlement or security guarantees.
Lead Trader
A lead trader provides the source trading activity that a copy-trading service can reproduce for followers.
Ledger
A ledger is an organized record of transactions, balances or other state changes used to track activity over time.
Lending Pool
A lending pool is a shared reserve of assets that a protocol makes available for borrowing under defined rules.
Lending Protocol
A lending protocol is a set of smart contracts that organizes the supply and borrowing of digital assets under predefined rules.
Leverage
Leverage creates market exposure larger than the capital supporting it, amplifying gains and losses relative to that capital.
Leverage Ratio
A leverage ratio compares a defined amount of market exposure with the margin or equity supporting it.
Leveraged Tokens
Leveraged tokens are managed trading products that package amplified long or short exposure into units that users can buy and sell.
Lightning Network
The Lightning Network is a payment network that transfers bitcoin through linked off-chain channels while relying on Bitcoin transactions for settlement and enforcement.
Limit Order
A limit order permits execution only at its specified price or better, without guaranteeing that a trade will occur.
Linear Contract
A linear contract has profit and loss that change proportionally with the underlying price movement for a fixed position quantity.
Liquid Staking
Liquid staking provides a transferable token representing assets committed to proof-of-stake validation and their associated rewards or losses.
Liquid Staking Token (LST)
A liquid staking token represents a claim or share associated with assets committed through a liquid staking arrangement.
Liquidation
In margined trading, liquidation is a venue-controlled reduction or closure of exposure when required collateral support is insufficient.
Liquidation Cascade
A liquidation cascade is a chain reaction in which forced position closures contribute to price moves that trigger further liquidations.
Liquidation Engine
A liquidation engine is a platform system that manages positions when their supporting margin no longer meets required risk thresholds.
Liquidation Price
A liquidation price is the price level at which a position is expected to breach the applicable margin threshold under stated assumptions.
Liquidation Threshold
A liquidation threshold is a lending-protocol risk parameter used to determine when collateral no longer sufficiently supports a debt position.
Liquidity
Liquidity is the ability to buy or sell an asset promptly without materially moving its price.
Liquidity Grab
A liquidity grab is an informal label for a brief move through a level where orders are thought to cluster, followed by a reversal.
Liquidity Mining
Liquidity mining distributes token incentives to users who supply qualifying liquidity to a protocol.
Liquidity Pool
A liquidity pool is a collection of assets held under smart-contract rules to support activities such as token exchange or lending.
Liquidity Provider
A liquidity provider supplies executable trading interest or assets that allow other participants to transact.
Liquidity Provider (LP)
A liquidity provider (LP) supplies assets that other market participants can trade or borrow.
Listing
A listing is the addition of an asset or trading instrument to a platform’s supported markets.
Long Position
A long position is ownership of an instrument or a bought contractual position, commonly used to gain from rising prices.
Long Squeeze
A long squeeze occurs when falling prices pressure holders of long positions to sell, adding to the downward move.
Lower Low
A lower low is a price trough below the preceding comparable trough on a chart.
Mainnet
A mainnet is a blockchain’s production network, where its live ledger and assets operate under the network’s actual rules.
Maintenance Margin
Maintenance margin is the minimum collateral support required to keep a margined position or account within its risk limits.
Maker
A maker supplies resting liquidity to an order book that another participant later trades against.
Maker Fee
A maker fee is the rate or charge applied when a resting order supplies liquidity and is subsequently executed.
Malware
Malware is software designed to perform unwanted or harmful actions, including stealing data, altering transactions or disrupting access.
Margin
Margin is collateral used to support a trading position and meet the applicable risk requirements.
Margin Call
A margin call is a request to restore required collateral after a margined account or position no longer meets the applicable threshold.
Margin Mode
Margin mode determines how collateral supports positions and how the trading system assesses their margin risk.
Margin Ratio
A margin ratio compares specified collateral or equity measures with a margin requirement, using a platform-defined formula.
Margin Trading
Margin trading uses collateral to support borrowing or leveraged exposure larger than the trader’s own committed funds.
Mark Price
A mark price is a calculated reference used to value derivative positions and support risk controls.
Market Cap
Market cap is a cryptocurrency’s current unit price multiplied by its circulating supply.
Market Correction
A market correction is a decline from a recent high, commonly discussed as a pullback within a broader market trend.
Market Depth
Market depth measures the buy and sell quantities available across a range of prices.
Market Maker
A market maker regularly quotes buy and sell prices to facilitate trading while managing the resulting inventory.
Market Order
A market order seeks prompt execution against available orders without setting a specific limit price.
Market Sentiment
Market sentiment is the prevailing attitude or mood of participants toward an asset or market.
Master Trader
Master trader is a platform label for a trader whose eligible transactions can be copied by followers.
Matching Engine
A matching engine is the software component that processes orders and applies a market’s rules to produce trade executions.
Max Leverage
Max leverage is the highest leverage setting permitted for a particular contract and account under the platform’s current rules.
Max Supply
Maximum supply is the greatest quantity of an asset that can exist under its specified issuance rules, when those rules define a cap.
Maxi
Maxi is short for maximalist and describes someone with a strong, often exclusive preference for a cryptocurrency or blockchain.
Maximal Extractable Value (MEV)
MEV is value obtainable through choices about transaction inclusion, exclusion, or ordering beyond ordinary block rewards and transaction fees.
Melt-Up
A melt-up is an accelerating market rise associated with investor enthusiasm, momentum and fear of missing further gains.
Meme Coin
A meme coin is a crypto asset whose identity and attention are strongly associated with an internet meme, joke or community theme.
Mempool
A mempool is a node's collection of pending transactions awaiting possible inclusion in a block.
Merged Mining
Merged mining allows compatible proof-of-work blockchains to reuse the same mining work through auxiliary proof of work.
Merkle Tree
A Merkle tree is a hierarchy of hashes that commits to a collection of data and supports compact inclusion proofs.
Metadata
Metadata is descriptive information that helps identify, interpret, organize, or locate other data.
Metaverse
The metaverse describes shared digital environments where people interact through virtual identities, spaces and activities.
Miner
A miner is an entity or device that performs proof-of-work computations to compete for the production of valid blocks.
Mining
Mining is the proof-of-work process of proposing blocks by performing computational searches that meet a network’s difficulty target.
Minting
Minting is the creation or issuance of token units according to a blockchain protocol or token contract’s rules.
Modular Blockchain
A modular blockchain specializes in selected blockchain functions while relying on other layers for complementary functions.
Money Lego
Money Lego is an informal metaphor for combining DeFi protocols and tokens like reusable building blocks.
Money Market
A money market facilitates borrowing and lending, with crypto protocols often using pools whose rates respond to available liquidity and demand.
Moon
Moon is crypto slang for a very large price increase, whether observed, hoped for or predicted informally.
Move-to-Earn
Move-to-earn applications reward qualifying physical activity with points, tokens or other digital assets under their rules.
Moving Average (MA)
A moving average smooths a sequence of prices by updating an average as new observations arrive.
Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD)
MACD is a technical indicator that compares moving averages to describe changes in price trend and momentum.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-factor authentication verifies identity using at least two different factor categories, so compromising one factor alone should not be enough to gain access.
Multi-Signature Wallet
A multi-signature wallet requires a defined number of authorized signatures before an action can be executed.
Multisig
A multi-signature wallet requires a defined number of authorized signatures before an action can be executed.
NFA
NFA means “Not Financial Advice,” a disclaimer used when someone shares market commentary, opinions, or investment ideas.
NFT Marketplace
An NFT marketplace is a service or protocol that helps users discover, list, buy or sell non-fungible tokens.
NGMI
NGMI means “Not Gonna Make It,” slang used to express doubt, criticism, or self-deprecating humor about an outcome.
Nakamoto Consensus
Nakamoto consensus combines proof of work, independent rule validation, and selection of the valid chain with the most accumulated work to coordinate a blockchain history.
Native Token
A native token is an asset built into a network’s protocol or core system, often used for fees or consensus-related functions.
No-Coiner
No-coiner is slang for someone who holds no cryptocurrency, often with an added implication of skepticism or opposition to crypto.
Node
A node is a computer or software instance participating in a blockchain network by exchanging, storing or checking network data.
Non-Custodial Wallet
A non-custodial wallet lets users control transaction authorization without relying on a provider to hold their signing credentials.
Non-Fungible
Non-fungible describes assets that are individually distinguishable and are not automatically interchangeable on a one-for-one basis.
Non-Fungible Token (NFT)
An NFT is a blockchain token with an individually distinguishable identity, often used to represent a collectible, credential or other specific item.
Nonce
A nonce is a protocol value used to distinguish operations or vary a cryptographic input within a defined context.
Notional Value
Notional value measures the reference economic size of a contract or position, rather than the collateral posted to support it.
OHLC
OHLC stands for open, high, low, and close, four prices that summarize a trading interval.
OTC Desk
An OTC desk is a trading service that arranges negotiated transactions outside a public order book.
OTC Trading
Over-the-counter trading negotiates transactions directly between counterparties rather than through a public exchange order book.
On-Chain Governance
On-chain governance records or executes governance decisions through blockchain transactions and smart-contract rules.
One-Way Mode
One-way mode maintains a single net position direction for the same derivatives contract.
Open Interest
Open interest measures outstanding derivative contracts that have not been closed or settled.
Open Order
An open order is an accepted trading instruction with some quantity still awaiting execution.
Open Position
An open position is an executed holding or contract exposure that has not yet been fully closed or settled.
Optimistic Rollup
An optimistic rollup processes transactions outside a base blockchain and uses a challenge mechanism to reject incorrect state claims.
Options
Options are contracts giving buyers a specified right, without an obligation to exercise it, in exchange for a premium.
Options Premium
An options premium is the price paid by the buyer to obtain the contractual rights of an option.
Oracle
An oracle is a mechanism that supplies external information to smart contracts or connects their outputs to outside systems.
Order
An order is an instruction to buy or sell an asset under specified execution conditions.
Order Block
An order block is a chart zone interpreted by some traders as an area of prior concentrated buying or selling.
Order Book
An order book displays outstanding buy and sell orders by price, helping traders assess available liquidity and execution conditions.
Order Flow
Order flow describes the stream of orders, changes and executions through which trading activity develops.
Order Margin
Order margin is collateral capacity reserved or required for an order that could open or increase a leveraged position.
Order Matching
Order matching pairs compatible buy and sell instructions according to a trading venue’s execution rules.
Order Size
Order size is the quantity or value a trader instructs a trading system to buy or sell.
Order Type
An order type defines the instructions governing how a trading order is priced, triggered, or executed.
Out of the Money (OTM)
An option is out of the money when its strike is unfavorable relative to the relevant underlying price and its intrinsic value is zero.
Over-Collateralization
Over-collateralization means backing a debt or issued asset with collateral worth more than the obligation it supports.
Overbought
Overbought describes unusually strong recent upward price momentum under a specified technical indicator.
Overleveraged
An overleveraged position or account carries exposure that is excessive relative to its available capital and ability to absorb losses.
Oversold
Oversold describes unusually strong recent downward price momentum under a specified technical indicator.
P2P Trading
P2P trading lets buyers and sellers agree directly on an exchange, often using a marketplace and escrow support.
Paper Hands
Paper hands is a usually critical slang label for someone who sells an asset quickly when faced with volatility, fear, or pressure.
Paper Wallet
A paper wallet records cryptocurrency access information on paper, typically a private key and its address, rather than on a signing device.
Parabolic
Parabolic describes a rapidly accelerating price move whose plotted path becomes increasingly steep.
Parachain
A parachain is a specialized blockchain that uses Polkadot’s relay-chain infrastructure for shared validation and security.
Partial Fill
A partial fill occurs when only part of an order’s requested quantity has executed.
Partial Liquidation
Partial liquidation is a forced reduction of only part of a position or portfolio to address a margin shortfall.
Passkey
A passkey is a public-key authentication credential that lets users sign in to a supported service without entering a reusable shared password.
Passphrase
A wallet passphrase is an additional secret that, in supported recovery schemes, combines with a backup to derive a particular wallet.
Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
Peer-to-peer describes interaction between participating systems or users without requiring every exchange to pass through one central server.
Permissionless
Permissionless describes a system in which eligible participants can perform specified activities without discretionary approval from a central gatekeeper.
Perpetual Contract
A perpetual contract is a derivative that provides price exposure without a scheduled expiration date.
Perpetual DEX
A perpetual DEX is a decentralized trading system for derivative contracts with no scheduled expiry.
Perpetual Funding
Perpetual funding is a payment mechanism commonly used to encourage a perpetual contract’s price to stay near its reference market.
Perpetual Protocol
Perpetual Protocol is the DeFi project associated with PERP that developed smart-contract-based perpetual derivatives trading.
Perpetual Swap
A perpetual swap is a derivative that provides ongoing long or short exposure without a scheduled expiration date.
Phishing
Phishing uses impersonation and deceptive messages or interfaces to trick people into revealing secrets or authorizing harmful actions.
Play-to-Earn (P2E)
Play-to-earn describes games that reward certain player activities with tokens or other assets that may be transferable or tradable.
PnL
PnL is profit and loss, measuring the gain or loss from a trade or position under a stated valuation and cost method.
Ponzi Scheme
A Ponzi scheme pays purported investment returns using money from new participants rather than sufficient genuine investment earnings.
Portfolio Margin
Portfolio margin calculates collateral requirements from the combined risk of eligible positions rather than treating every position independently.
Position
A position is an existing holding or contractual exposure created by executed trades.
Position Margin
Position margin is the collateral amount or margin requirement associated with an existing leveraged position.
Position Mode
Position mode determines whether opposite trades in the same contract are netted into one position or tracked as separate long and short positions.
Position Size
Position size is the quantity of exposure held in a trade, expressed in the units specified for the instrument.
Position Trading
Position trading holds market exposure over a relatively long horizon to pursue a broader price trend or investment thesis.
Post-Only
Post-only is an order instruction intended to add liquidity to the order book rather than execute immediately against existing orders.
Pre-Market
In crypto, pre-market commonly refers to trading arrangements offered before an asset begins its regular listed market.
Pre-Sale
A crypto pre-sale offers tokens or rights to receive tokens before a broader sale or public trading launch.
Price Action
Price action is the movement of an asset’s price over time and the study of patterns formed by that movement.
Price Chart
A price chart plots an asset’s quoted or traded price against time to make changes easier to examine.
Price Impact
Price impact is the change in a market’s price caused by a trade itself.
Price Oracle
A price oracle provides reference prices that smart contracts use to value assets and apply financial rules.
Private Key
A private key is secret cryptographic data used to create signatures that authorize actions for the blockchain accounts or outputs it controls.
Private Sale
A private sale is a fundraising transaction offered to a selected group of participants rather than through a generally open sale.
Profile Picture (PFP)
In NFT communities, PFP refers to profile-picture artwork or collections used as avatars and social identity markers.
Proof of Reserves
Proof of reserves provides evidence about assets controlled by a service, often alongside a way to verify inclusion of customer balances.
Proof of Stake (PoS)
Proof of stake uses assets committed under protocol rules to determine validator participation and provide economic incentives for honest consensus behavior.
Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA)
Proof of Staked Authority combines stake-based validator selection with block production by an authorized validator set.
Proof of Work (PoW)
Proof of work is a mechanism that makes block production depend on demonstrable computational effort rather than freely created identities.
Proposal
A proposal is a documented request for a governance decision, such as changing protocol settings or allocating shared funds.
Proto-Danksharding
Proto-Danksharding is the Ethereum upgrade, specified by EIP-4844, that introduced blob-carrying transactions for publishing rollup data.
Pseudonymous
Pseudonymous describes activity associated with identifiers such as blockchain addresses rather than necessarily with a person’s legal name.
Public Key
A public key is cryptographic information that allows others to verify signatures made with the corresponding private key.
Public Ledger
A public ledger is a record whose contents can be inspected by the public, subject to the system’s data representation and access design.
Pump
A pump is crypto slang for a rapid price rise and can also refer to an attempt to inflate a price through promotion or coordinated buying.
Pump and Dump
A pump and dump is a manipulation scheme that promotes an asset to inflate its price before organizers sell into the induced demand.
Put Option
A put option gives its buyer the right to sell an underlying asset at a specified strike price under the contract’s exercise rules.
Quarterly Futures
Quarterly futures are dated futures contracts whose scheduled maturities follow a quarterly cycle.
Quote
A quote states a price at which an asset may be bought or sold, subject to specified conditions.
Quote Currency
The quote currency is the second asset in a trading pair and measures the price of one unit of the base asset.
ROE
ROE, or return on equity, expresses profit or loss as a percentage of the equity or margin basis defined for the calculation.
ROI
Return on investment (ROI) measures a gain or loss relative to the amount invested, usually as a percentage.
Race Attack
A race attack attempts to exploit the time before a payment is confirmed by presenting conflicting transactions to different participants.
Rally
A rally is a period of sustained upward price movement in an asset or market over the time frame being discussed.
Range-Bound
Range-bound describes a market whose price repeatedly trades within an identifiable upper and lower area.
Ransomware
Ransomware is malicious software that disrupts access to systems or data and supports demands for payment to restore access or prevent disclosure.
Real World Asset (RWA)
In crypto, a real world asset is an asset or financial claim outside the native crypto economy that is represented or used through blockchain arrangements.
Realized PnL
Realized PnL is profit or loss recognized through completed closes or other booked position-related amounts under the platform’s accounting rules.
Rebase Token
A rebase token adjusts existing holder balances under protocol rules without requiring ordinary transfers between those holders.
Rebate
A rebate returns part of an eligible charge or pays a qualifying incentive under a platform’s stated rules.
Recovery Phrase
A recovery phrase is a word-based wallet backup that can restore access using compatible software and any other required recovery information.
Recovery Seed
Recovery seed is a common name for the secret backup material, often written as mnemonic words, used to reconstruct a wallet.
Red Candle
A red candle commonly marks a chart period in which price closes below where it opened.
Reduce-Only
Reduce-only is an order instruction that permits an execution to reduce an existing position without opening or increasing exposure in the opposite direction.
Reentrancy Attack
A reentrancy attack abuses a callback into a contract before an earlier operation has safely completed its state changes.
Referral Program
A referral program rewards eligible users for bringing qualifying new participants or activity to a platform.
Rekt
Rekt is slang derived from “wrecked,” commonly used in crypto to describe a severe loss or damaging market outcome.
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
The Relative Strength Index measures the balance of recent upward and downward price changes on a scale from 0 to 100.
Relief Rally
A relief rally is a price rebound as selling pressure or fears ease, without necessarily establishing a lasting upward trend.
Replay Attack
A replay attack reuses a previously valid message or signature in a context where it should no longer authorize an action.
Resistance Level
A resistance level is a price area where selling interest has previously slowed or reversed an advance.
Restaking
Restaking commits assets already involved in staking to additional security obligations, potentially earning rewards while accepting further penalties.
Retail Investor
A retail investor is an individual who invests personal money rather than acting for an investing institution.
Retest
A retest is a return of price to a previously identified level or zone to observe its response.
Retroactive Airdrop
A retroactive airdrop distributes tokens according to activity or contributions that occurred before a defined cutoff.
Revenge Trading
Revenge trading is impulsive trading driven by the urge to recover a recent loss rather than by a considered trading decision.
Revoke Approval
Revoking an approval removes or reduces a previously granted permission for another address to spend tokens or manage NFTs.
Risk Limit
A risk limit is a venue-defined constraint on permitted exposure or the margin required to support it.
Roadmap
A roadmap outlines a project’s intended milestones and development direction, which may change as technical or operational conditions evolve.
Rollover
Rollover replaces an expiring derivatives position with a later-dated contract to maintain the intended market exposure.
Rollup
A rollup executes transactions separately from a base blockchain and publishes data to that chain in batches.
Routing Attack
A routing attack manipulates the network paths carrying blockchain communications to disrupt, delay, intercept, or isolate information flows.
Royalty
In NFT markets, a royalty is a payment to a designated recipient associated with a sale or use, subject to the applicable technical and contractual arrangements.
Rug Pull
A rug pull occurs when project insiders extract value in a deceptive way and leave other participants with severe losses or unusable holdings.
SIM Swap
A SIM-swap attack redirects a victim’s mobile number to an attacker-controlled SIM or eSIM, exposing phone-based account access.
Sandwich Attack
A sandwich attack places transactions before and after a target trade to profit from its price impact while worsening the target's execution.
Satoshi
A satoshi is one hundred-millionth of a bitcoin, allowing BTC amounts to be expressed in small units.
Satoshi Nakamoto
Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym used by the creator or creators of Bitcoin to publish its original design and early software.
Scalability
Scalability is a system's ability to accommodate growing demand while maintaining acceptable performance and resource requirements.
Scalping
Scalping is a trading style that seeks small price gains through very short holding periods and repeated transactions.
Scam Token
A scam token is a cryptoasset used to deceive buyers or wallet users and extract money or permissions from them.
Secure Enclave
A secure enclave is an isolated execution or security subsystem designed to protect sensitive operations and secrets from the main computing environment.
Security Token
A security token is a blockchain-based representation of an interest treated as a security under the applicable legal and contractual framework.
Security Token Offering (STO)
A security token offering is an offering of securities represented or issued as blockchain tokens.
Seed Phrase
A seed phrase is an ordered set of words used by compatible wallet software to reconstruct the secret material from which accounts are derived.
Segregated Witness (SegWit)
Segregated Witness is a Bitcoin protocol upgrade that separates witness data from the transaction data used to calculate the traditional transaction identifier.
Self-Custody
Self-custody means retaining control over the keys or authorization arrangements needed to manage your own blockchain assets.
Sell Pressure
Sell pressure describes selling interest that tends to weigh on prices relative to available buying demand.
Sell Wall
A sell wall is a relatively large cluster of resting sell orders at a price level in an order book.
Sell-Off
A sell-off is a period of concentrated selling associated with a notable decline in an asset or market.
Sentiment Analysis
Sentiment analysis evaluates expressed opinions and market signals to estimate attitudes toward an asset or market.
Sequencer
A sequencer orders transactions for a blockchain system, commonly providing the transaction sequence used by a rollup.
Settlement
Settlement is the process of fulfilling a transaction’s obligations by transferring the required assets or funds.
Settlement Price
A settlement price is a contract-defined reference used to calculate settlement obligations for a derivative.
Sharding
Sharding is a scaling technique that partitions data or processing responsibilities across smaller groups instead of requiring every participant to handle the entire workload.
Shill
To shill is to promote an asset or project enthusiastically, often with an implied personal or commercial interest.
Shitcoin
Shitcoin is a derogatory slang term for a cryptocurrency the speaker considers to have little value, credibility, or useful purpose.
Short Position
A short position is a sold position whose price exposure commonly benefits when the relevant instrument or underlying price falls.
Short Squeeze
A short squeeze occurs when rising prices induce short-position holders to buy back exposure, reinforcing the rise.
Shrimp
A shrimp is informal crypto slang for a small holder, with any numerical cutoff depending on the asset and data provider.
Sidechain
A sidechain is a separate blockchain connected to another chain, generally using its own consensus and security rules.
Sideways
Sideways describes price action with little sustained upward or downward progress over a chosen period.
Sideways Market
A sideways market is one in which prices fluctuate within a broad horizontal range without a sustained upward or downward trend.
Simple Moving Average (SMA)
A simple moving average is the arithmetic mean of a fixed number of recent observations, updated as each new observation arrives.
Single-Sided Staking
Single-sided staking generally means depositing one type of token into a reward arrangement rather than supplying a token pair yourself.
Slashing
Slashing is a protocol penalty that removes some or all committed stake when specified security obligations are violated.
Slippage
Slippage is the difference between an expected execution price and the price actually received.
Slippage Tolerance
Slippage tolerance is the maximum unfavorable change from a trade quote that a user permits at execution.
Smart Contract
A smart contract is code deployed to a blockchain that executes defined operations when invoked under the network’s rules.
Smart Contract Audit
A smart contract audit is a scoped review of contract code and assumptions intended to identify security weaknesses before or after deployment.
Smart Contract Wallet
A smart contract wallet uses programmable on-chain rules to control assets and authorize actions.
Smart Money
Smart money is an informal label for capital associated with investors believed to have superior information, skill, or resources.
Snapshot
A snapshot records selected blockchain or account data as it stood at a specified time or block.
Social Engineering
Social engineering manipulates people into disclosing information or performing actions that weaken security.
Social Recovery Wallet
A social recovery wallet lets designated guardians help restore account control under predefined rules when normal signing access is lost.
SocialFi
SocialFi combines social-network activity with blockchain-based assets, incentives or user-controlled identity and ownership features.
Soft Fork
A soft fork tightens blockchain validation rules so that blocks following the new restrictions remain acceptable under the earlier rules.
Software Wallet
A software wallet is an application for managing blockchain accounts, preparing transactions and, when it controls keys, creating digital signatures.
Solidity
Solidity is a statically typed programming language used to write smart contracts for the Ethereum Virtual Machine.
Soulbound Token (SBT)
A soulbound token is a token designed to remain associated with an account through restrictions on ordinary transfers.
Speculation
Speculation is taking market exposure with the aim of profiting from anticipated price or value changes.
Spoofing
Spoofing in trading is placing orders with the intention of canceling them before execution to mislead the market.
Spot Market
A spot market is a venue or network where participants trade assets for immediate or near-term settlement at agreed prices.
Spot Premium
A spot premium is the amount by which a spot price exceeds a specified comparison price.
Spot Trading
Spot trading exchanges an asset for payment with prompt settlement, rather than creating a contract for a future delivery date.
Spot Wallet
A spot wallet is an exchange account compartment used to hold balances for spot trading.
Spread
The bid-ask spread is the gap between the best available selling and buying prices in a market.
Stablecoin
A stablecoin is a crypto asset designed to track the value of a reference asset, although its market price can deviate from that target.
Stack Sats
Stack sats means to accumulate small amounts of bitcoin over time.
Staking
Staking is the commitment of cryptoassets to participate in a proof-of-stake network’s security and consensus process.
Staking Derivatives
Staking derivatives are instruments whose value or entitlement is linked to staked cryptocurrency and its associated rewards.
Staking Pool
A staking pool combines participants’ assets to take part in proof-of-stake validation and share the resulting rewards under common rules.
Staking Rewards
Staking rewards are payments earned for participating in a proof-of-stake network’s validation process, either directly or through an eligible staking arrangement.
State Channel
A state channel lets a defined set of participants exchange signed state updates off-chain while using a blockchain to enforce settlement and resolve disputes.
Stealth Launch
A stealth launch releases a crypto token or project with little or no advance public announcement.
Stop Hunt
A stop hunt is an attempt, or alleged attempt, to move prices far enough to trigger other traders’ stop orders.
Stop Loss (SL)
A stop loss is an exit instruction designed to reduce exposure when a specified adverse price condition is reached.
Stop Order
A stop order activates a market or limit instruction when a specified trigger condition is met.
Stop-Limit Order
A stop-limit order activates a limit order when its specified trigger condition is met.
Store of Value
A store of value is something held to preserve economic value for future use.
Strike Price
The strike price is the contractual reference price used to determine an option’s exercise terms and payoff.
Sub-Account
A sub-account is a secondary account linked to a main account for organizing trading activity, balances or access.
Subnet
A subnet is a distinct network within a larger network, with a specific validator-network meaning in Avalanche.
Support Level
A support level is a price area where buying interest has previously slowed or reversed a decline.
Swap
In DeFi, a swap exchanges one asset for another under the execution rules of a protocol or trading service.
Swing Trading
Swing trading seeks to capture a price move over several days or weeks rather than completing every position within one session.
Sybil Attack
A Sybil attack uses many identities controlled by one actor to gain disproportionate influence over a system.
Synthetic Asset
A synthetic asset is a financial instrument designed to reproduce exposure to a reference asset or index without necessarily holding that underlying asset.
TP/SL
TP/SL combines take-profit and stop-loss instructions to plan exits under favorable and unfavorable market conditions.
TWAP
TWAP, or time-weighted average price, averages prices over time and also names an execution strategy that spreads an order across a schedule.
Take Profit (TP)
Take profit is an exit instruction intended to realize gains when a specified favorable price or profit condition is reached.
Taker
A taker executes against orders already available in the order book, removing liquidity from the market.
Taker Fee
A taker fee is charged on executions that consume orders already resting in the market.
Technical Analysis
Technical analysis studies market data such as price and volume to describe behavior and develop testable trading scenarios.
Testnet
A testnet is a separate blockchain environment used to experiment with transactions, applications and protocol changes before or alongside production use.
Throughput
Throughput is the amount of work a system processes during a specified period.
Tick Size
Tick size is the permitted minimum increment between valid prices for a trading instrument.
Ticker
A ticker is a short market identifier, while a ticker data feed reports summary information for the identified instrument.
Time in Force
Time in force is an order instruction that determines how long an order may remain active and how unfilled quantity is handled.
To the Moon
“To the moon” is a crypto community slogan expressing excitement or hope that an asset’s price will rise dramatically.
Token
A token is a digital unit recorded on a blockchain, commonly issued through an existing network’s smart-contract or asset framework.
Token Approval
A token approval grants a specified spender permission to transfer tokens under the rules of the token contract.
Token Burn
A token burn permanently removes token units through a verifiable contract action or other recognized mechanism, rather than merely moving them between holders.
Token Generation Event (TGE)
A token generation event marks a project-defined stage at which tokens are created or made available for initial distribution.
Token Standard
A token standard defines common interfaces and behavior that let applications interact with a class of blockchain tokens.
Token Swap
A token swap can mean exchanging tokens in a trade or converting an existing token into a replacement under a project’s migration rules.
Token Unlock
A token unlock removes a restriction that previously prevented allocated tokens from being transferred or claimed.
Tokenization
Tokenization is the creation of digital tokens that represent assets or rights on a programmable ledger.
Tokenized
Tokenized describes an asset or right represented by digital tokens on a blockchain or other programmable ledger.
Tokenomics
Tokenomics describes the economic design of a token, including issuance, distribution, uses and incentives that influence participant behavior.
Total Supply
Total supply is the quantity of an asset that currently exists, generally including locked units but excluding units permanently removed by recognized burns.
Total Value Locked (TVL)
Total value locked (TVL) measures the monetary value of assets deposited in a protocol or group of protocols under a specified methodology.
Trading Bot
A trading bot is software that monitors inputs and submits or manages trades according to programmed rules or models.
Trading Competition
A trading competition ranks eligible participants over a defined period using specified trading metrics and reward rules.
Trading Fee
A trading fee is an explicit charge for executing a purchase, sale, or asset exchange.
Trading Pair
A trading pair identifies the two assets exchanged in a market and the unit used to express its price.
Trading Strategy
A trading strategy defines the conditions and rules used to select, enter, manage and exit trades.
Trading Terminal
A trading terminal is an interface for viewing market information and managing trading instructions and account positions.
Traditional Finance (TradFi)
Traditional finance (TradFi) describes the established financial system of banks, securities markets, insurers and other institutions that provide payments, savings, credit and investment services.
Trailing Stop
A trailing stop adjusts its trigger with favorable price movements and activates after a specified reversal.
Transaction
A blockchain transaction is a submitted instruction that can transfer assets or change network state when accepted under the protocol’s rules.
Transaction ID (TxID)
A transaction ID is a protocol-defined identifier used to look up and distinguish a transaction on a particular network.
Transaction Signing
Transaction signing uses authorized cryptographic credentials to approve the exact data of a proposed blockchain operation.
Transactions per Second (TPS)
TPS is the number of transactions counted as processed per second under a stated measurement method.
Treasury
A treasury is the pool of assets a project or organization manages to fund operations, obligations and approved objectives.
Trend Line
A trend line connects selected price turning points to visualize the direction and slope of a market move.
Trustless
Trustless describes systems designed to reduce reliance on particular intermediaries by making important actions verifiable under explicit rules and assumptions.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)
Two-factor authentication requires evidence from two different factor categories to verify a user, reducing reliance on a password alone.
USDT-Margined
USDT-margined describes derivatives whose margin and settlement framework is based on USDT, subject to the account’s collateral rules.
Uncle Block
An uncle block, also called an ommer, is a historical Ethereum proof-of-work block outside the canonical chain whose qualifying header could be referenced for a reward.
Unit of Account
A unit of account is a common measure used to state prices, record balances and compare economic values.
Unrealized PnL
Unrealized PnL is the estimated profit or loss on exposure that remains open, calculated using a specified reference price.
Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO)
A UTXO is a transaction output that remains available to be spent according to its locking conditions.
Utility Token
A utility token is a token designed to provide access to a function, service or other practical use within an ecosystem.
VIP Tier
A VIP tier is a platform membership level that determines eligibility for specified fees, services, or benefits.
Validator
A validator participates in a blockchain’s consensus process by performing duties such as proposing blocks or voting on accepted history.
Validator Node
A validator node runs the software and signing infrastructure used to perform a blockchain’s assigned consensus duties.
Vaporware
Vaporware is an announced or promoted product that remains unavailable or fails to deliver its promised functionality.
Vault
A DeFi vault is a smart-contract-based arrangement that holds and manages assets under specified deposit, accounting, and withdrawal rules.
Vesting
Vesting is a schedule or set of conditions under which allocated tokens become available to a recipient over time.
Volatility
Volatility measures how widely an asset’s returns fluctuate over a specified period.
Volatility Decay
Volatility decay is the erosion of compounded performance that price fluctuations can cause, especially in products that repeatedly reset leverage.
Volume
Trading volume measures the quantity or value of completed trades over a defined period.
Volume Spike
A volume spike is a sharp increase in trading activity relative to a comparable baseline.
Volume-Weighted Average Price (VWAP)
VWAP is an average price that weights observations by their traded volume over a defined interval.
WAGMI
WAGMI means “We’re All Gonna Make It,” an informal expression of shared optimism in crypto communities.
Wallet Address
A wallet address is a blockchain identifier used by a wallet to receive assets or interact with a network.
Wallet Recovery
Wallet recovery restores the ability to access or authorize assets using the recovery mechanism appropriate to the wallet’s design.
Wash Trading
Wash trading is deceptive trading arranged to create apparent activity without a genuine change in economic exposure.
Watch-Only Wallet
A watch-only wallet monitors addresses and transactions using public information without holding the credentials needed to spend their assets.
Web3
Web3 is a broad vision of internet services that use decentralized networks, cryptographic identities and digital assets to give users greater control over online participation.
Wei
Wei is the smallest denomination of ether, with one ETH equal to 10^18 wei.
Whale
A whale is a person or entity holding a large amount of a cryptocurrency relative to the market being discussed.
Whitelist
A whitelist is a predefined list of permitted addresses, identities or actions that a system uses to restrict access.
Whitepaper
A whitepaper is a document explaining a project’s proposed design, goals or technical approach, rather than proof that its claims have been implemented.
Wick
A wick is the thin part of a candlestick that extends from its body to a period’s highest or lowest price.
Withdrawal
A withdrawal requests the transfer of funds or assets out of an account to an external destination.
Withdrawal Address
A withdrawal address identifies the destination for cryptocurrency sent from a platform or wallet on a selected blockchain network.
Withdrawal Limit
A withdrawal limit caps the amount an account may withdraw in a transaction or over a specified period.
Withdrawal Whitelist
A withdrawal whitelist restricts account withdrawals to previously approved destination addresses under a service’s security rules.
Wrapped Asset
A wrapped asset is a tokenized representation of an underlying asset adapted for use in a different token format or blockchain environment.
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC)
Wrapped Bitcoin is a tokenized representation of bitcoin designed to be backed by one BTC for each WBTC.
Wrapped Ether (WETH)
Wrapped Ether, or WETH, represents ether through an ERC-20 token interface for use in compatible applications.
Wrapped Token
A wrapped token represents another asset through a mechanism that changes its usable token format or network representation.
Yield
Yield is the income generated by an asset or strategy over a period, commonly expressed relative to the amount committed.
Yield Aggregator
A yield aggregator coordinates DeFi strategies to manage deposits and collect or reinvest returns across supported opportunities.
Yield Farming
Yield farming is the use of crypto assets in DeFi strategies to seek interest, trading fees, or token rewards.
Zero-Knowledge Proof
A zero-knowledge proof demonstrates that a statement is true without revealing private supporting information beyond what the statement itself implies.
zk-Rollup
A zk-rollup executes transactions outside a base blockchain and uses validity proofs plus published data to secure its state updates.