Crypto Glossary: Decoding Digital Currency

Unravel the complex language of cryptocurrency with our comprehensive and user-friendly glossary.

A

Altcoin

Altcoin is the term given to describe alternative digital assets, such as a coin or token that is not Bitcoin. This nomenclature comes from the idea that Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency and that all others are then considered “alternate” or “alternative” coins.

Accountability

Accountability is the need or willingness to take ownership of one's actions. When someone takes ownership, they are committing to producing successful outcomes.

Airdrop

A marketing tactic known as a cryptocurrency airdrop involves giving away free tokens or coins to existing owners of a specific coin or token.

Absolute Advantage

An economic theory in which one party produces or provides a particular good or service more efficiently than another party.

Active Management

Active management in crypto refers to an investment strategy where portfolio managers actively make buying and selling decisions to try to outperform the market and generate higher returns.

Ad Hoc

a Latin expression that means "for this purpose" or "specifically for this" in contemporary English.

Address

In blockchain, an address refers to a unique alphanumeric identifier associated with a digital wallet or account that is used to send, receive, and store cryptocurrencies or other digital assets.

Algorithm

An algorithm refers to a set of mathematical instructions or rules that are used to securely encrypt and decrypt data, ensuring confidentiality and integrity in cryptographic systems.

All or None Order (AON)

In crypto trading, an all or none order is a type of order where the entire order must be executed in its entirety, or none of it is executed at all.

All-Time High (ATH)

An all-time high in crypto refers to the highest price level ever reached by a particular cryptocurrency or token since its inception.

Allocation

Allocation in crypto refers to the distribution or assignment of funds or assets, typically referring to how an investor or trader divides their capital among different cryptocurrencies or investment opportunities.

Alpha

The development team releases software in stages. Asking a community for input and suggestions before releasing a product is common. Alpha is the first step in this software release life cycle manufacturing process.

Angel Investor

An angel investor is an individual who provides financial support, typically in the early stages, to startups or small businesses in exchange for equity or ownership in the company.

Anti Money Laundering (AML)

Anti Money Laundering (AML) refers to the set of laws, regulations, and procedures designed to detect and prevent the illegal process of disguising the origins of illegally obtained funds to make them appear legitimate.

Application Programming Interface (API)

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of protocols and tools that allows different software applications to communicate and interact with each other, enabling the exchange of data and functionality.

Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)

An Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) in crypto refers to specialized hardware designed specifically for efficiently mining cryptocurrencies, offering higher computational power and energy efficiency compared to general-purpose computer systems.

Arbitrage

Assets are bought and sold on many marketplaces to profit from varying prices on the same asset.

ASIC-resistant

The protocol and mining algorithm of an ASIC-resistant cryptocurrency are set up in such a way that utilizing ASIC processors to mine the coin is either impossible or provides no noticeable advantages over conventional GPU mining.

Ask Price

When selling an asset on an exchange, the lowest price a seller is prepared to accept on their sell order.

Asset Management

A system or method that helps individuals or companies manage assets. Either on behalf of their clients or their own.

Asynchronous

Events in electronic systems that do not happen at the same time or speed, or happen independent of the main program flow.


C

Candidate Block

In a few words, a candidate block is a block that a mining node (miner) is trying to mine in order to receive the block reward. So a candidate block may be described as a temporary block that will be either validated or discarded by the network. Miners compete with each other to validate the next block and add it to the blockchain, but first, they have to create a candidate block to participate in the mining competition.

Coin

Cryptocurrencies known as coins run on separate blockchains and are unrelated to other coins. Such a cryptocurrency's single unit is also known as a coin.

Candlestick

a price action graph that shows the open, close, high, and low points over a predetermined period.

Capitulation

a time when there is a lot of selling going on, with investors trying to get rid of their investments as quickly as they can.

Centralized

when a system's planning and decision-making processes are focused at a single location.

Cipher

a process for communication encryption and decryption. Depending on their primary model, these can be classified as symmetric or asymmetric.

Cloud

A shared resource pool in computer science that is made accessible to numerous users online.

Coin

a form of digital currency or money used for value exchange that is unrelated to any other platforms.

Collateral

putting up collateral to ensure that the individual taking out the loan would repay it in full.

Compound Interest

You can increase your profits on the principal sum by using compound interest, which is the interest that has accrued on the principal sum in addition to the interest from prior periods.

Crypto Protocol

A crypto protocol is a collection of guidelines that control how users interact with a decentralized network.

Cryptocurrency

a peer-to-peer (P2P) economic system that uses a digital money as a means of exchange that is protected by cryptography.