The Words of Crypto
Time to understand the language of blockchain, DeFi, NFT and Web3.
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2FA
2FA (two-factor authentication) is a security method that requires two separate forms of verification before granting access to an account or wallet.
51% Attack
A 51% attack happens when one party controls the majority of a blockchain's mining power or stake, allowing them to reverse or block transactions.
Account Abstraction
Account abstraction (notably via ERC-4337) lets crypto wallets behave like programmable smart contracts, enabling gas sponsorship, social recovery, and batched transactions.
Address Poisoning
Address poisoning is a scam where attackers send tiny transactions from an address that looks similar to one you frequently use, hoping you copy the wrong address later.
AI Agent Wallet
An AI agent wallet is a crypto wallet operated by an autonomous AI agent, letting software hold and move funds on your behalf under defined rules.
Airdrop
A crypto airdrop is the free distribution of tokens to wallet addresses, typically used by projects to reward early users or bootstrap a community.
Altcoin
An altcoin is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. The term combines "alternative" and "coin."
AMM
An AMM (Automated Market Maker) is the algorithm behind decentralized exchanges that prices assets using liquidity pools instead of order books.
Approve
Approving (token approval) is granting a smart contract or dApp permission to spend a specific amount of a token from your wallet.
Aster DEX
Aster DEX is a multi-chain decentralized perpetual futures exchange supporting up to 200x leverage.
ATH
ATH stands for "all-time high" — the highest price a cryptocurrency has ever reached. It's a key reference point for traders.
Bear Market
A bear market is a prolonged period of falling prices and negative sentiment, typically defined as a 20%+ decline from recent highs.
BEP-20
BEP-20 is the token standard for fungible tokens on BNB Smart Chain (BSC), modeled on Ethereum's ERC-20 standard.
Bid-Ask Spread
The bid-ask spread is the gap between the highest price buyers will pay for an asset and the lowest price sellers will accept.
Binary Option
A binary option is a fixed-payout financial contract that pays a set amount if an underlying asset's price meets a condition, or nothing if it doesn't.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) is the first and most widely recognized cryptocurrency, created in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto.
Blind Signing
Blind signing is approving a crypto transaction you can't fully read or verify — the wallet shows raw data instead of a clear description.
Block
A block is a batch of transactions bundled together and added to a blockchain by a validator or miner.
Blockchain
A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed digital ledger that records transactions across a network of computers.
Bonding Curve
A bonding curve is a smart-contract pricing mechanism that sets a token's price based on its current supply.
Bridge
A blockchain bridge is a tool that lets you move tokens and data between different blockchains.
Bull Market
A bull market is a prolonged period of rising prices and optimistic sentiment, typically defined as a 20%+ rise from recent lows.
Chain Abstraction
Chain abstraction is the design goal of letting people use blockchain apps without thinking about which chain they're on.
Clipboard Hijacking
Clipboard hijacking is malware that watches your device's clipboard for copied crypto addresses and silently swaps them for the attacker's.
Cold Wallet
A cold wallet stores your private keys completely offline, making it immune to remote hacks. It's the safest way to hold large amounts.
Collateral
Collateral is an asset pledged to secure a loan or leveraged position — in DeFi, borrowers typically deposit crypto as collateral.
Consensus Mechanism
A consensus mechanism is the set of rules a blockchain uses to let distributed, trustless nodes agree on the state of the network.
Cross Margin
Cross margin is a trading mode in which the entire account balance is used as collateral for all open positions.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and operates on a blockchain.
Crypto Drainer
A crypto drainer is malicious code — usually behind a fake website or app — designed to empty your wallet when you connect it.
Cryptography
Cryptography is the mathematics of securing information, and the foundation of crypto: it protects keys, signatures, and transactions.
Crypto Wallet
A crypto wallet is an app or device that stores and manages the private keys controlling your digital assets.
Custodial Wallet
A custodial wallet is one where a third party — such as an exchange — holds your private keys and, effectively, your funds.
DApp
A DApp (decentralized application) is a software application that runs on a blockchain or peer-to-peer network instead of a single server.
DAO
A DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is an organization governed by smart contracts and token-holder votes rather than a central authority.
DCA
DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging) is an investment strategy where you buy a fixed amount of an asset at regular intervals, regardless of price.
DEX
A DEX (Decentralized Exchange) is a peer-to-peer trading platform that lets users swap tokens without a centralized intermediary.
DeFi
DeFi (Decentralized Finance) is a set of financial services — lending, borrowing, trading, earning — built on public blockchains without intermediaries.
Diamond Hands
Diamond hands is slang for holding a crypto asset through volatility and drawdowns without selling.
DYOR
DYOR stands for "Do Your Own Research" — a reminder to investigate any project before investing.
ENS
ENS (Ethereum Name Service) is a naming system that maps human-readable names like "alice.eth" to wallet addresses and other data.
ERC-20
ERC-20 is the most widely used token standard on Ethereum, defining how fungible tokens behave and interact.
ERC-721
ERC-721 is the Ethereum standard for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — each token is unique and cannot be exchanged 1:1 for another.
ERC-4337
ERC-4337 is the Ethereum standard for account abstraction, enabling smart contract wallets with features like gasless transactions and social recovery.
EVM
The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is the runtime environment that executes smart contracts on Ethereum and EVM-compatible chains.
Exchange
An exchange is a platform where users can buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies. Exchanges can be centralized (CEX) or decentralized (DEX).
Faucet
A faucet is a service that distributes small amounts of crypto — usually for testing or onboarding purposes.
Fiat
Fiat is government-issued currency, such as USD, EUR, or GBP, that isn't backed by a physical commodity.
Flash Loan
A flash loan is an uncollateralized loan that must be borrowed and repaid within a single blockchain transaction.
Fork
A fork is a change to a blockchain's protocol. Soft forks are backward-compatible; hard forks split the chain into two.
FOMO
FOMO stands for "Fear Of Missing Out" — the anxiety that drives people to buy an asset after it has already risen sharply.
FUD
FUD stands for "Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt" — negative sentiment or misinformation aimed at driving prices down.
Gas Fees
Gas fees are payments made to a blockchain network to process transactions. They vary with network congestion and transaction complexity.
Genesis Block
The genesis block is the first block of a blockchain — the foundation on which the entire chain is built.
Governance Token
A governance token gives holders voting rights over key decisions in a protocol or DAO.
Halving
A halving is a scheduled event that cuts a blockchain's block reward in half — most famously, Bitcoin every 4 years.
Hard Fork
A hard fork is a permanent divergence in a blockchain's protocol — nodes running the old software are incompatible with the new chain.
Hash
A hash is a fixed-length output produced by a cryptographic function from arbitrary input data. Hashes secure blocks, addresses, and signatures.
HODL
HODL is slang for holding crypto long-term through volatility, derived from a misspelled forum post ("hold").
Hot Wallet
A hot wallet is a crypto wallet connected to the internet — convenient but more exposed to attacks than a cold wallet.
ICO
An ICO (Initial Coin Offering) is a fundraising method where a project sells tokens to early backers in exchange for crypto.
Impermanent Loss
Impermanent loss is the temporary loss liquidity providers experience when the price of pooled assets changes relative to holding them.
Inflation
In crypto, inflation refers to the rate at which new tokens are created and enter circulation.
Layer 1
A Layer 1 (L1) is a base blockchain that processes and settles its own transactions — examples include Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana.
Layer 2
A Layer 2 (L2) is a secondary network built on top of a Layer 1 to improve throughput and reduce fees — examples include Arbitrum, Optimism, and Base.
Leverage
Leverage lets traders open positions larger than their capital by borrowing funds — it amplifies both gains and losses.
Liquidity
Liquidity is the ease with which an asset can be bought or sold without affecting its price.
Liquidity Pool
A liquidity pool is a pool of tokens locked in a smart contract that facilitates trading on a DEX.
Long
Going long means betting that an asset's price will rise.
Market Cap
Market cap is the total value of a cryptocurrency — current price multiplied by circulating supply.
Memecoin
A memecoin is a cryptocurrency with no real utility, driven primarily by community hype and internet culture — examples include Dogecoin and Shiba Inu.
Mempool
The mempool is a waiting area where pending blockchain transactions sit until a validator or miner includes them in a block.
Merkle Tree
A Merkle tree is a data structure that lets a blockchain efficiently verify that a transaction belongs to a block.
Mining
Mining is the process by which proof-of-work blockchains add new blocks by solving cryptographic puzzles.
Multi-Sig
A multi-sig (multi-signature) wallet requires more than one private key to authorize a transaction.
NFT
An NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is a unique blockchain-based token representing ownership of a specific asset, artwork, or collectible.
Node
A node is a computer that connects to a blockchain network and helps maintain it by validating and relaying transactions.
Non-Custodial
Non-custodial means you — and only you — hold your private keys. OneWebWallet is non-custodial.
Nonce
A nonce is a number used once — in crypto, it typically prevents replay attacks or validates proof-of-work.
Oracle
A blockchain oracle is a service that feeds real-world data, like asset prices, into smart contracts.
Order Book
An order book is a list of all open buy and sell orders for an asset on an exchange.
On-Chain
On-chain means a transaction or piece of data is recorded and validated on a blockchain.
P2P
P2P (Peer-to-Peer) refers to direct transactions between two parties without a central intermediary.
Perpetual
A perpetual (perps) is a futures contract with no expiration date, letting traders hold leveraged positions indefinitely.
Phishing
Phishing is a scam that tricks users into revealing sensitive info — like seed phrases — through fake websites, emails, or messages.
Private Key
A private key is a secret string that controls a wallet. Whoever holds it can spend the wallet's funds.
Proof of Stake
Proof of Stake (PoS) is a consensus mechanism where validators lock up (stake) tokens to earn the right to validate transactions.
Proof of Work
Proof of Work (PoW) is a consensus mechanism where miners solve computational puzzles to validate transactions and earn rewards.
Public Key
A public key is derived from your private key and generates the wallet address others can send funds to. It's safe to share.
Rug Pull
A rug pull is a scam where a project's team suddenly drains liquidity or abandons the project, leaving investors with worthless tokens.
Recovery Phrase
A recovery phrase (seed phrase) is a 12- or 24-word sequence that lets you restore a wallet on any compatible device.
Rekt
Rekt is slang for a massive loss in crypto, typically from leverage or a bad trade.
RWA
RWA (Real-World Asset) refers to tokenized representations of real assets like stocks, bonds, or commodities on a blockchain.
Satoshi
A satoshi is the smallest unit of Bitcoin, equal to 0.00000001 BTC.
Scam
A scam is any fraudulent scheme designed to steal crypto, private keys, or personal information.
Seed Phrase
A seed phrase is a human-readable backup of a wallet — usually 12 or 24 words. Never share it.
Sharding
Sharding is a scaling technique that splits a blockchain into smaller pieces (shards) to process more transactions in parallel.
Short
Going short means betting that an asset's price will fall.
Slashing
Slashing is a penalty on proof-of-stake networks where a validator loses part of their stake for misbehavior.
Smart Contract
A smart contract is self-executing code on a blockchain that automatically enforces the terms of an agreement.
Social Recovery
Social recovery is a wallet feature where trusted contacts can help you regain access if you lose your device.
Stablecoin
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, usually pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar.
Staking
Staking is locking crypto in a proof-of-stake network to help secure it and earn rewards.
Slippage
Slippage is the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which it actually executes.
Swap
A swap is a direct exchange of one crypto asset for another, usually on a DEX.
Testnet
A testnet is a separate blockchain used for testing without risking real funds.
Token
A token is a digital asset issued on an existing blockchain, distinct from a native coin like BTC or ETH.
Token Approval
Token approval is the step where you grant a smart contract permission to spend your tokens. It can be revoked later.
Total Supply
Total supply is the total number of a token that exists, including both circulating and locked amounts.
TVL
TVL (Total Value Locked) is the total value of crypto deposited in a DeFi protocol's smart contracts.
Transaction Fee
A transaction fee is a payment to the blockchain network for processing a transaction. On Ethereum it's called gas.
Validator
A validator is a node that verifies transactions and proposes new blocks on a proof-of-stake blockchain.
Vanity Address
A vanity address is a wallet address with a custom prefix, often used by projects for branding.
Volatility
Volatility is how much an asset's price fluctuates over time. Crypto markets are typically more volatile than traditional ones.
Wallet Address
A wallet address is a public string of characters where others can send you crypto.
Web3
Web3 is the next evolution of the internet, built on blockchain technology and enabling decentralized applications and services.
Whale
A whale is an individual or entity holding a very large amount of a specific crypto asset.
Whitepaper
A whitepaper is a document that outlines a crypto project's technical design, goals, and tokenomics.
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