Full crypto terminology guide 2024

Address	Unique alphanumeric identifier denoting a destination for crypto transfers.
Airdrop	When holders of a certain existing cryptocurrency are given tokens of a new crypto.
Algorithm	A set of rules to solve a maths problem. Blockchains employ consensus algorithms to verify transactions.
Altcoin	Alternative Coin. Because Bitcoin was the original crypto, all subsequent cryptos are technically altcoins.
API	Application Programmer Interface. A toolkit for developers to create apps.
Arbitrage	Buying and selling the same crypto on different exchanges, to capitalise on pricing differences.
ASIC Miners	Specialised machines dedicated to crypto mining. Significantly more efficient than using CPUs and GPUs.
AML	Anti-Money Laundering
ATH	All-Time High
ATL	All-Time Low
Atomic Swap	Exchanging a crypto coin or token for another via smart contracts – eliminating the need for a third party.
Avalanche (AVAX)	Smart contracts platform and cryptocurrency launched in September 2020.
Batched Transaction	Multiple smaller transactions grouped into a single bigger one for increased efficiency.
Bear	An individual who believes a crypto will flatline or drop in price. Usually refers to traders or speculators.
Bear Market	When most crypto prices are stagnant or falling.
Bear Trap	When a crypto falls in price, fooling investors into thinking it will keep dropping, but then rises considerably.
Binance	The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume. Founded by Changpeng Zhao (better known as ‘CZ’) in 2017 in China, it is now based in the Cayman Islands and Seychelles.
Binance Coin (BNB)	Cryptocurrency issued by Binance. Originally on the Ethereum network, but now on Binance’s own chain, the Binance Chain.
Bit	1/1,000,000 of a Bitcoin.
Bitcoin (BTC)	The first cryptocurrency, launched in 2009 and created by the still unidentified Satoshi Nakamoto. In 2022, Bitcoin was still by far the biggest crypto by market capitalisation, and the most expensive in terms of price.
Bitcoiner	A Bitcoin enthusiast.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)	A crypto created from Bitcoin’s first successful hard fork. Bitcoin Cash removed Bitcoin’s block size limit.
Bitcoin Core	The original Bitcoin wallet.
Bitcoin Network / Bitcoin Protocol	The first blockchain-based peer-to-peer open source protocol. Bitcoin is its native cryptocurrency.
BitcoinQT	A Bitcoin wallet using the core Bitcoin protocol, but with a more visually appealing interface.
Bitconnect	An infamous crypto ponzi scheme that tricked victims out of more than $1 billion before it was shut down in January 2018.
Bitmain	The world’s biggest ASIC miner distributor.
Block	A segment in a blockchain – it contains data about transactions and other information.
Block Explorer	A site giving users the ability to search a blockchain ledger for a specific address or transaction ID. It allows them to view technical transaction details, but not personally identifiable information.
Block Height	The total number of blocks created on a given blockchain since the initial (genesis) block.
Block Lattice	Designed to make scaling more efficient. Each user account has its own blockchain, which stores transaction data separately from the main blockchain.
Block Reward	A payment awarded to a miner for securing a POW (Proof-of-Work) blockchain.
Block Size	The amount of data able to be stored on a single block of a blockchain. Bitcoin’s Block Size limit is 1MB. The more data a block can store, the more transactions can be handled per block.
Blockchain	A digital distributed ledger. It holds all the data of every transaction ever made on the specific blockchain. Transactions, or blocks, are linked to each other, hence the name.
Blockchain 2.0	The second generation of blockchain tech, which went beyond providing a means to store and transfer wealth, by enabling smart contracts. Ethereum is the best known example.
Blockchain Bloat	When the amount of data stored on a blockchain becomes so high it starts to impact performance, like transaction speed.
Blockstream	A company developing second layer scaling solutions for Bitcoin. Its CEO is famous British cryptographer and cypherpunk Adam Back.
Bull	An individual who believes a crypto will rise in price. Usually refers to traders or speculators.
Bull Market	When most crypto prices across the market are rising.
Bull Trap	When a crypto rises in price, fooling investors into thinking it will keep going up, only for it to fall again significantly.
Burn	Destroying crypto coins or tokens to reduce the supply.
Cardano (ADA)	Decentralised, scalable blockchain platform that supports smart contracts. Founded by Ethereum developer Charles Hoskinson. Its native cryptocurrency is Cardano Coin or ADA.
Celsius Network	A crypto lending company based in New Jersey. In June 2022 the company halted all user withdrawals, and in July filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Centralised	Controlled by a single entity. This could be a government, company or an individual.
Central Ledger	The heart of any blockchain – the immutable list of all transactions that have ever happened on the chain.
Coin	A cryptocurrency using its own blockchain.
Coinbase	A New York-based regulated cryptocurrency exchange.
Cold Wallet / Cold Storage	The most secure kind of crypto wallet or storage. Cold wallets are offline, unlike hot wallets.
Crypto	Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency	Digital currency employing cryptography.
Cryptography	The science of code making and code breaking.
Cryptographic Hash Function	Encoding inputs to create unique outputs.
Cypherpunks	Cryptographers who are ideologically opposed to government / corporate surveillance and advocate the use of encryption to protect the privacy of individuals.
dApps	Distributed Applications
DAI	A stablecoin that uses Ethereum margin trading to maintain dollar peg.
DAO	Decentralised Autonomous Organisation. An organisation governed by smart contracts with no centralised management.
Darknet	Part of the internet that can’t be accessed via normal browsers and search engines. You need software like TOR to access it. The Darknet is known for criminality, but is also used by those who just want total privacy. It was one of the first places to adopt crypto.
Dash	Popular open-source cryptocurrency created by Evan Duffield. Originally launched as xcoin in 2014. Later rebranded as Darkcoin, before becoming Dash in March 2015.
DDoS Attack	Distributed Denial of Service. An attack that makes a website slow or crash by overloading it with requests.
Decentralised Exchange (DEX)	Decentralised Exchange. A cryptocurrency exchange not controlled by any single company or entity.
Decentralised Identity Foundation (DIF)	An organisation promoting the development of an internationally accepted, decentralised identity verification system.
Deepweb	The parts of the internet not indexed by regular search engines like Google.
DeFi	Decentralised Finance
Deflation	When a crypto price rises due to limited or decreasing supply. The opposite of inflation.
Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance	A widely used consensus mechanism. Professional nodes broadcast their version of the blockchain, and if two-thirds or more of the nodes agree, the block is written onto the central ledger.
Delegated Proof of Stake	A consensus mechanism in which nodes of the blockchain vote on its correct version.
Desktop Wallet	A personal computer based software crypto wallet.
Difficulty	How much computing power (hashing power) is needed to find the next block on a blockchain.
DigitByte (DGB)	An open-source, proof-of-work blockchain and cryptocurrency launched in early 2014.
Digital Asset	Any digital item that has value. This could be a crypto, an NFT, an audio file, image, design, or text etc.
Digital Asset Array (DAA)	A collection of various cryptocurrencies, for example, a portfolio containing BTC, LTC and AVAX.
Digital Identity	Digital data representing a specific entity.
Digital Signature	Used for digital identities and confirming authenticity, it is a unique, encrypted output.
Digital Wallet Address	A unique alphanumeric combination that acts as an account number for digital asset holdings in a wallet.
Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG)	Also known as “Tangle” – an alternative to the chain of blocks type architecture used by most blockchains.
Distributed Autonomous Company	A distributed organisation that earns profits for its shareholders on the free market. Shareholders are the network coin holders.
Distributed Network	A network comprising multiple nodes, spread over a wide geographical range.
Dogecoin (DOGE)	A famous cryptocurrency that was launched as a joke inspired by the Doge meme, but has become an established and popular asset.
Double Spend	When crypto is spent more than once. All blockchain networks have mechanisms designed to prevent this.
DPoS	Delegated Proof of Stake
dPoW	Dynamic Proof of Work
Dump	Offloading or selling crypto. Usually refers to selling a lot and/or quickly.
Dust Transactions	Transactions involving crypto that is normally too small to send because of the fee involved.
ERC-20	The most common standard for smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
ERC-20 Token	A token issued to ERC-20 standard on the Ethereum platform.
ETF	Exchange Traded Fund
Ether (ETH)	The native token of the Ethereum network.
Ethereum	The blockchain network created by Vitalik Buterin. Ethereum was the first blockchain that enabled smart contracts. The native token of the Ethereum network is Ether (ETH). Many other crypto and defi projects run on Ethereum.
Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)	A virtual component present in every Ethereum node, which can execute bytecode for smart contracts.
Exchange	Online platforms that allow people to buy, sell and trade cryptocurrencies. There are both centralised and decentralised exchanges.
Exodus	A popular software wallet, supporting many altcoins. Has features like Shapeshift and Sports/Esports betting built-in.
Fantom (FTM)	A smart contract capable, open-source blockchain platform and cryptocurrency.
Fiat	Traditional currencies, like the US dollar, British pound, euro, and Japanese yen.
Fintech	Financial technology
FOMO	Fear of Missing Out
Forging Reward	Coins paid to those participating in Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanisms.
Fork (Hard)	When a consensus can’t be reached and a blockchain project splits, and the new software is incompatible with the original.
Fork (Soft)	When a consensus can’t be reached and the blockchain project splits, but the new software remains compatible with the original.
Founders’ Reward	A percentage of a block reward that is paid to the founders of a cryptocurrency.
Frictionless	Without the hassles and inefficiencies.
FTX	Popular centralised crypto exchange founded by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried. FTX is highly visible through numerous naming rights and sponsorship deals.
FUD	Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt
Fungibility	The property of a good or commodity having interchangeable and indistinguishable units. For example, it is required for a practical monetary system.
Gas Fees	Fees for network transactions.
Gemini	The US-based cryptocurrency exchange founded by the Winklevoss brothers.
Genesis Block	The first block on any blockchain.
Github	A popular open-source coding database and community
GPU	Graphics Processing Unit. GPU’s can be used to mine some cryptocurrencies.
Halving	A regular, scheduled process which sees the block reward given to miners slashed by 50%. Bitcoin halves every 4 years.
Hardware Wallet	A physical device to store cryptos. Popular brands include Trezor and Ledger.
Hard Cap	The upper limit of funds a crypto project will accept from investors in exchange for early coins or tokens.
Hash	A function of an algorithm that meets the encrypted demands for maintaining consensus on a blockchain.
Hashgraph	Another consensus alternative. Unlike blockchain, which links transactions to previous ones, making a ‘chain’, hashgraph uses a gossip protocol to send data to randomly chosen transactions across the network.
Hash Rate	Number of hashes performed over a set time.
Hashing Power	How powerful a mining machine is. The blockchain equivalent of a vehicle’s Horsepower.
Haskell	A programming language used by a number of cryptocurrencies.
HMRC	Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs. The UK equivalent to the United States’ IRS.
Hodler (HODL)	Someone who holds their crypto long-term. It derived from the typo ‘HODL’, which has since become a popular term, as it can stand for ‘Hold On for Dear Life.’
Hot Wallet	An online crypto wallet. These are convenient and popular, but less secure than offline cold wallets.
I2P	Invisible Internet Project. A network layer designed to allow censorship resistant communication.
Illiquidity	When a crypto becomes difficult to buy or sell because of a lack of market participants. If there are too few sellers, it can drive prices up. If there are too few buyers, it can drive prices down.
Immutable Ledger	The unchangeable data recorded on a blockchain.
Inflation	Increasing the supply of a crypto, which reduces the real value of a single unit.
Initial Public Offering (IPO)	When a company lists on a stock exchange (‘goes public’), it offers a certain amount of stock at a special price to raise funds. Thereafter, the market determines the price.
IoT	Internet of Things. Objects, from entertainment devices and home appliances to cars, that are linked digitally.
IP Address	Internet Protocol Address. Used to identify individual devices on a network.
IRS	Internal Revenue Service. The US federal tax collection agency.
Keylogger	Software, often maliciously installed by hackers, used to track every keystroke.
Kraken	One of the most popular centralised cryptocurrency exchanges.
KYC	Know Your Customer. Various businesses, including banks and centralised crypto exchanges have to gather KYC information to comply with AML (Anti Money Laundering) regulations.
Liquidity	How quickly a digital asset can be traded for other currencies. A highly liquid asset is readily sellable, an illiquid asset is difficult to trade.
Leverage	To borrow funds to trade assets, including cryptos. Several DeFi platforms enable crypto traders to leverage their positions, but it can be a high risk strategy.
Lightning Network	A second layer network that sits on top of Bitcoin. It allows many small transactions to accumulate before batch processing as one bigger transaction, thus significantly reducing fees.
Litecoin (LTC)	One of the first altcoins, designed to enable quicker transactions.
Limit Order	A pre-set trade which is only executed if the market price meets or exceeds the traders desired limit.
Long	Going ‘long’ means you buy a crypto with the intention of holding it for a long time, before selling for a profit.
Machine Learning	When computers can autonomously collect data and learn from it.
Mainnet	The main network of a protocol. The mainnet normally launches after several testnets have been run.
Margin Call	When an investor sells their position in order to repay a loan.
Margin Trading	Buying and selling assets with borrowed funds.
Market Cap	The total value, at a given point, of all the supply of a specific cryptocurrency.
Market Order	A pre-set trade that will only execute if the crypto involved reaches a specified price.
mBTC	1/1,000th of a Bitcoin.
Masternode	A core node that runs the complete software for a crypto.
Metamask	A popular extension for Chrome, which acts as a wallet for Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens.
Metaverse	A virtual space in which users can interact. Often used to describe vast virtual ecosystems, or even one huge, global parallel digital world.
Merged Mining	When two different cryptos are mined simultaneously, because they use the same consensus algorithm.
Micro-transaction	A very small transaction
Miner	An individual or entity that provides computing power to verify blockchain transactions in exchange for block rewards. Some miners are individuals, but increasingly, they are large companies with thousands of mining rigs.
Miner Fee	A fee paid to miners for the use of their computing power to verify transactions.
Mining	The process, carried out by miners, which sees new coins created as transactions on a blockchain are verified.
Mining Pool	A collective that combines their mining rigs to get better results.
Mining Rig	A computer used for crypto mining. Some are specially built just for mining, others are multi-use machines.
Minting	Verifying transactions on a Proof-of-Stake blockchain and receiving new coins as a reward.
Mixing Service	A third party service that groups crypto payments together, to help obscure their origins and enhance anonymity.
Mnemonic	A set of random words, normally between 12 and 24, that can be used to recover a crypto wallet or account.
Mobile Wallet	A crypto wallet designed for mobile devices.
Monero (XMR)	A popular cryptocurrency with a very high degree of anonymity.
Money Laundering	A process to deliberately hide or obscure the source or history of funds.
Moon	If a crypto is going “to the Moon” it means its price is rising dramatically.
Mt. Gox	One of the first crypto exchanges, founded in 2010, Mt Gox was hacked in early 2014, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars worth of user funds. It suspended trading and filed for bankruptcy in February 2014.
Multi-Layer	A blockchain with more than one layer. Additional layers are often to improve security and scalability.
Multisig / Multi-Signature	When a number of keys are required to authorise a transaction.
MyEtherWallet	One of the most popular online Ether and ERC-20 wallets.
Namecoin	A cryptocurrency originally forked from Bitcoin in 2011 that is primarily intended to serve as a domain naming system, rather than an alternative digital currency.
NEM	New Economic Movement. An open-source crypto token and blockchain platform launched in 2014.
NeoContracts	NEO platform smart contracts.
Network Effect	How cryptos become more attractive and useful as more people adopt them. Otherwise known as ‘success breeds success’.
Non-accredited Investor	A crypto trader who does not meet specified requirements, usually in terms of net worth or income. In some jurisdictions, certain services can only be offered to accredited investors.
Nonce	A cryptographic term describing an arbitrary number that is used one time only in order to remove the potential for replay attacks.
Non-fungible Token (NFT)	A blockchain-based token that is unique. Unlike a cryptocurrency, it can’t be copied, substituted or subdivided. For example, NFTs are often used for collectibles and art.
Off-Chain Transactions	Transactions that take place off the blockchain in order to reduce fees and transaction times.
Open Source	Software that is freely available, allowing anyone to view its code and suggest improvements.
Opsec	Operations Security
Oracle	A trusted third party that provides reliable information to a blockchain in order for smart contracts to be executed.
Orphan	A block that has been removed from the original blockchain after failing to be verified by the required majority of miners.
OTC Exchange	Over the Counter Exchange. An OTC service allows trading between two specific parties, rather than on the main exchange. OTC services are normally used by institutions and high net worth clients.
Paper Wallet	A crypto wallet, with private key and public key, written on a physical piece of paper.
Parent Chain	The main blockchain of a crypto, connecting other sidechains/subchains.
Paxos / Pax Dollar (USDP)	Ethereum-based stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. Launched in 2018 as Pax Standard (PAX) before rebranding as Pax Dollar (USDP)
Peer to Peer (P2P)	Decentralised networks, allowing individuals to interact directly with no need for a central authority.
Passphrase	Like a password, but consisting of several words.
Peercoin (PPC)	A crypto that uses both Proof of Work and Proof of Stake.
Permissionless	A public blockchain on which anyone is free to generate an address and transact.
Permissioned System	A private, closed network requiring permission to join.
Phishing Attack	One of the most common types of attack, where a crook impersonates a legitimate person or company in order to try and steal information like passwords.
Plasma	A scalability solution for Ethereum.
PoI	Proof of Importance. An alternative consensus algorithm that goes beyond Proof of Stake, by also giving weight to the level of involvement in the network.
Polkadot (DOT)	An open-source blockchain and cryptocurrency, created by Ethereum co-founder Gavin Wood, and launched in May 2020.
Ponzi Scheme	A scheme in which organisers promise high returns to investors, and initially pay those returns using money from new investors. However, it can only sustain itself as long as there is an ever increasing supply of new investors. When there aren’t enough new investors, it collapses and investors lose their money.
Pre-Sale	When tokens are offered before launch, normally at a discount to encourage interest in a project.
Privacy Coin	A crypto that provides a very high level of privacy during transactions, like Monero and ZCash.
Private Key	The unique code needed to authorise crypto transfers.
Proof of Burn (PoB)	A consensus mechanism which involves miners sending coins to unspendable addresses – i.e. ‘burning’ them.
Proof of Importance (PoI)	A consensus mechanism similar to Proof of Stake, but which gives weight to an individual’s level of support.
Proof of Provenance (PoP)	A consensus mechanism used to track movements, ownership and security of physical assets.
Proof of Stake (PoS)	An alternative, more energy efficient, consensus mechanism than PoW, Proof of Stake sees new coins minted and a blockchain secured by letting users stake their coins in return for more coins.
Proof of Stake and Trust (PoST)	An alternative consensus mechanism which gives weight to nodes’ performance history, giving higher rewards to the more reliable ones.
Proof of Work (PoW)	The original type of crypto consensus mechanism, as used by Bitcoin. It involves miners competing against each other, and is very secure but relatively inefficient and slow.
Provably Fair	A term commonly used for crypto casino games where users can analyse and verify the outputs of the algorithm.
Pseudonymous	Not quite truly anonymous, but identities are obscured.
Public Key	An address that can be shared in order to receive crypto transfers from others.
Pump	When the price of a crypto rapidly rises.
Pump and Dump	Normally the result of deliberate market manipulation, this is when the price of crypto is pushed extremely high, and then a rapid sell-off causes it to crash.
OpenSea	New York-based online NFT marketplace.
QR Code	A printed or on-screen graphical code that can be read by smart devices via a camera.
Quantum Computing	A new, vastly more powerful form of computing. Still extremely expensive, quantum computers are nevertheless becoming a commercial reality, and potentially pose a serious threat to the security of cryptocurrencies.
Quantum Resistant Tokens	Tokens created using Quantum Resistant Ledger. Designed to be resistant to the emerging threat of attack from incredibly powerful quantum computing machines.
Ripple (XRP)	A blockchain-based payments platform designed to connect banks, providers and exchanges. The native crypto of the network is XRP.
RNG	Random Number Generator
Roadmap	A detailed plan for a crypto project, setting out goals, deadlines and strategy.
Roger Ver	One of the first big Bitcoin investors, known as ‘Bitcoin Jesus’.
Satoshi	The smallest subunit of Bitcoin – 1/100,000,000 of a Bitcoin.
Satoshi Nakamoto	The pseudonym of the still unidentified creator of Bitcoin.
Scalability	The ability of a cryptocurrency to handle more users and transactions. This is especially crucial in cryptos designed for daily use.
Scamcoin	An altcoin designed solely to make money for its creators.
Scrypt	A RAM-intensive hash function designed to dissuade hacking attempts. Used by Litecoin.
SEC	Securities and Exchange Commission. The US federal agency responsible for preventing market manipulation.
Security	A financial instrument, including digital ones, that has monetary value and can be purchased, sold and traded. In some jurisdictions, notably the US, there is an ongoing debate about which cryptocurrencies should be classed as securities.
Seed	A password or phrase used to recover crypto wallets.
SegWit	Segregated Witnesses. A Bitcoin protocol enabling more transactions to be written in a single block, thereby increasing transaction speed.
Self-custody	When an individual or entity holds their own crypto, and is responsible for the security and management of their own private key.
SHA-256	Secure Hash Algorithm 256. Used by a number of PoW consensus mechanisms, including Bitcoin’s.
Shapeshift	An exchange service that enables people to trade many altcoins anonymously. Built-in to some wallets, including Exodus.
Sharding	Splitting a database into smaller data sets, used to improve speed and scalability of some cryptocurrencies.
Shiba Inu (SHIB)	Meme coin, launched by a mysterious group or individual called ‘Ryoshi’, as ‘Doge killer’ in 2020.
Shill	Someone who masquerades as a genuine user, customer or supporter, but is actually being paid to help influence opinion or promote a product.
Shitcoin	Slang term for altcoins that don’t have much potential.
Short	Deliberately selling an asset before it falls in price, then rebuying it at a lower price, thus realising a profit while still ending up with the asset. Often employed by crypto and stock traders.
Sidechain	An additional platform that operates alongside the Mainnet of a protocol. Used for increasing capacity, making transactions faster, more privacy etc.
Signature	A maths mechanism that confirms authenticity by combining a public address with a private address.
Silk Road	An online black market that existed on the Darknet from February 2011 to October 2013. Best known as a place to buy illegal goods and services, it was one of the first places to see widespread Bitcoin use.
Small Blocker	Someone who feels Bitcoin blocks should be kept small to make it easier to run full nodes.
Smart Contracts	Self-executing/cancelling contracts running on generation 2 and later blockchains – the most widely used being Ethereum.
Smart Media Token	A digital asset on the Steem blockchain. Designed to enable the monetisation of online content.
Soft Cap	A minimum level of funding required to be raised in an ICO. If the Soft Cap isn’t reached, the ICO will likely be delayed.
Solana (SOL)	A decentralised public blockchain, with native cryptocurrency called SOL, launched in March 2020.
Solidity	A popular programming language used to create smart contracts.
SPV	Simplified Payment Verification. When wallets connect to local nodes that are running full copies of a blockchain, rather than having to download the full blockchain.
Stablecoin	A cryptocurrency that is pegged to another asset, for example the US dollar, to ensure relative stability.
Staking	Locking up coins or tokens to support Proof of Stake consensus mechanisms. Stakers earn rewards, often more coins, for doing this.
Staking Rewards	Given to those who stake cryptos to help confirm transactions on Proof of Stake blockchains.
Stellar Lumens (XLM)	Decentralised global payments network that was launched in 2014. Its native cryptocurrency is Lumens.
Tangle	Another alternative consensus mechanism, designed to be more energy efficient than Proof of Work.
Testnet	Trial versions of a protocol using simulated money. They allow developers to find and fix bugs before the launch of the Mainnet.
Tether (USDT)	A stablecoin, pegged or ‘tethered’ to the US Dollar on a 1-to-1 basis.
Token	A cryptocurrency that is built and operates on another platform. For example, ERC-20 tokens, which are Ethereum-based.
Tokenise / Tokenize	Creating digital assets to represent physical or other non-digital assets.
Tokenomics	‘Token’ combined with ‘economics.’ The study and understanding of the cryptocurrency economy.
TOR	The Onion Router. A web browser specifically designed to give anonymous access to the Darknet – the part of the internet not indexed by mainstream search engines.
Total Coin Supply	The total number of coins that can exist of a given crypto. For example, when mining has been completed, there will be 21 million Bitcoin.
TPS	Transactions Per Second
Transaction Fee	A fee for transacting on a blockchain.
Trezor	Popular crypto hardware wallet brand.
Trustless	A transaction system that can be trusted without the need for individuals participating to trust each other.
Turing Completeness	Named after English mathematician and computer scientist Alan Turing, it refers to a coding language that can perform a full range of computational functions.
Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)	Security measure to make accounts more secure – requires two different types of information to login. For example, a password and an authenticator code.
UIA	User-Issued Assets (BitShares network tokens)
Uniswap (UNI)	A decentralised crypto trading protocol and cryptocurrency, running on the Ethereum blockchain.
Unstoppable Code	Software code that effectively can’t be stopped once it is released and distributed.
USD Coin (USDC)	US dollar-pegged stablecoin launched in 2018. Managed by Centre – a consortium that includes Circle and Coinbase.
UTXO	Unspent Transaction Output
Vanity Address	Crypto addresses made up of specific words or phrases.
Velocity of Money	The rate at which currency is exchanged.
Virgin Coins	Crypto coins that have never been spent.
Vitalik Buterin	Co-creator of Ethereum
Volatility	How prone to price fluctuations an asset is.
Wallet	Software, hardware (or paper) containing public and private keys, enabling the storing of cryptocurrencies.
Web3	The next generation of the World Wide Web, including techs like decentralisation, blockchain, and tokenomics.
Whale	Someone who makes large crypto trades (also used in gambling world to denote high rollers).
White Paper	Technical document detailing a crypto project.
Zcash (ZEC)	A privacy coin developed by Matthew Green and graduate students from Johns Hopkins University. Launched in October 2016.
Zero Confirmation Transaction	A payment that is pending inclusion on a blockchain.
Zk-SNARKs	Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge. A tech designed to shield crypto transaction info from third parties.
$5 Wrench Attack	Refers to brute physical attacks on people to get them to hand over passwords and credentials.
51% Attack	When an entity gains control of over half of a crypto’s hashing power, and is thus able to rewrite old blocks and double spend. Virtually impossible with large decentralised networks, because it would cost more to do than could possibly be gained.