Crypto Glossary | CoinMarketCap

API stands for Application Programming Interface. It is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. 

APIs specify how software components should interact, such as what data to use and what actions should be taken.

ASIC:

• An acronym for application - specific integrated circuit - a device designed for the sole purpose of mining cryptocurrencies.

ASIC-Resistant:

• This term usually applies to blockchains and mining algorithms, designed to give no benefit for ASICs over consumer grade hardware.

Algorithm:

• A process or set of rules to be followed in problem-solving or calculation operations, usually by a computer, although humans tend to follow steps algorithmically as well (let’s say doing math or following a recipe).

Algorithmic Stablecoin:

• An algorithmic stablecoin actually uses an algorithm underneath, which can issue more coins when its price increases and buy them off the market when the price falls.

All-Time-High (ATH):

• The highest point (in price, in market capitalization) that a cryptocurrency has been in history.

All-Time-Low (ATL):

• The lowest point (in price, in market capitalization) that a cryptocurrency has been in history.

Altcoin:

• As Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency that captured the world’s imagination, all other coins were subsequently termed “altcoins,” as in “alternative coins.”

Altcoin Trader:

• A person who trades cryptocurrencies alternative to Bitcoin.

BEP-2 (Binance Chain Tokenization Standard):

• A technical standard for tokens on Binance Chain.

BEP-20:

• BEP-20 is a Binance Smart Chain token standard created with the intention of extending ERC-20.

Someone who believes that prices in a given market will decline over an extended period. Such a person might be referred to as “bearish.”

What Is a Bear?

While a bear is an individual who is cautious or pessimistic, the related term “bear market” describes a market that is experiencing significant downward pressure over a sustained period of time. 

An automated teller machine (ATM or cashpoint) that allows the user to buy and sell Bitcoin.

A file containing information on transactions completed during a given time period. Blocks are the constituent parts of a blockchain.

Bull:

A person that is optimistic and confident that market prices will increase, this person is also known to be "bullish" about the market or price.

Bull Trap:

A bull trap occurs when a steadily declining asset appears to reverse and go upward, but soon resumes its downward trend.

Cryptocurrency tokens or coins are considered “burned” when they have been purposely and permanently removed from circulation.

An enthusiastic exclamation by supporters of a cryptocurrency to buy while prices are at a low point.

Capital is most commonly defined as the large sum of money you would use to invest.

Cash is the most liquid form of money: physical coins and banknotes in the most narrow sense of the term.

CBDCs are digital currencies issued by a central bank whose status as legal tender depends on government regulation or law.

A central ledger is a physical book or a computer file used to record transactions in a centralized manner.

A central processing unit (CPU) is the part of a computer that is in charge of interpreting and executing programs and coordinating the work of all other components.

A centralized organizational structure is one in which a single node or a small number of them are in control of an entire network.

Centralized exchanges (CEXs) are a type of cryptocurrency exchange that is operated by a company that owns it in a centralized manner.

In mineable cryptocurrencies, a coinbase is the number of coins that are generated from scratch and awarded to miners for mining every new block.

A movement encouraging alternatives to traditional, centralized forms of financial services.

Decentralized:

• Decentralization refers to the property of a system in which nodes or actors work in concert in a distributed fashion to achieve a common goal.

Decentralized Applications (DApps):

• A type of application that runs on a decentralized network, avoiding a single point of failure.

Decentralized Autonomous Initial Coin Offerings (DAICO):

• A method for decentralized funding of projects that introduces a form of governance in the ICO process, allowing backers to vote for the return of their funds if certain conditions are met.

A decline in the general level of prices for goods and services in an economy.

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAO):

• A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) is founded upon and governed by a set of computer-defined rules and blockchain-based smart contracts.

Decentralized Exchange (DEX):

• A peer-to-peer exchange allowing users to trade cryptocurrency without the need for an intermediary.

Decentralized Identifier (DID):

• A decentralized identifier, or DID, refers to an ID that can be issued by an autonomous, independent, and decentralized platform that acts as a proof of ownership of digital identity.

Someone with a moderate holding of cryptocurrency.

A dip is when markets experience a short or protracted downturn.

Dump - A sudden sell-off of digital assets.

Dumping - A collective market sell-off that occurs when large quantities of a particular cryptocurrency are sold in a short period of time.

ERC-20:

• Tokens designed and used solely on the Ethereum platform.

ERC-721:

• A token standard for non-fungible Ethereum tokens. An Ethereum Improvement Proposal introduced in 2017, it enables smart contracts to operate as tradeable tokens similar to ERC-20 tokens.

A financial instrument where assets or cash are held by a third party while a buyer and a seller complete a deal.

The form of payment used in the operation of the distribution application platform, Ethereum, in order to incentivize machines into executing the requested operations.

Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) describe standards for the Ethereum platform, including core protocol specifications, client APIs, and contract standards.

Ethereum transaction are cryptographically signed instructions to initiate a transaction to update the state of the Ethereum network.

A Turing-complete virtual machine that enables execution of code exactly as intended; it is the runtime environment for every smart contract. Every Ethereum node runs on the EVM to maintain consensus across the blockchain.

Exchange:

• Cryptocurrency exchanges (sometimes called digital currency exchanges) are businesses that allow customers to trade cryptocurrencies for fiat money or other cryptocurrencies.

Exchange Traded Fund (ETF):

• A security that tracks a basket of assets such as stocks, bonds, and cryptocurrencies but can be traded like a single stock.

Fiat currency is “legal tender” backed by a central government, such as the Federal Reserve, and with its own banking system, such as fractional reserve banking. It can take the form of physical cash, or it can be represented electronically, such as with bank credit.

A fish, or minnow, is someone who holds insignificant amounts of cryptocurrencies, often at the mercy of whales who move the market up and down. *see Dolphin and Whale.

An investment strategy (mostly popularized by real estate investing) where you buy something with the goal of reselling for a profit later, usually in a short period of time. In the context of ICOs, flipping refers to the strategy of investing in tokens before they are listed on exchanges, then quickly reselling them for a profit when they start trading on exchanges in the secondary market.

Gains refer to an increase in value or profit.

A term used on the Ethereum platform that refers to a unit of measuring the computational effort of conducting transactions or smart contracts, or launch DApps in the Ethereum network. It is the “fuel” of the Ethereum network. *see Gas Limit and Gas Price.

Gas Limit:

• A term used on the Ethereum platform that refers to the maximum amount of gas the user is willing to spend on a transaction.

Gas Price:

• A term used on the Ethereum platform that refers to the price you are willing to pay for a transaction.

Gwei:

• The denomination used in defining the cost of gas in transactions involving Ether.

Gavin Wood is the co-founder of Parity Technologies, and one of the founders of Ethereum.

More commonly known as a graphics card, it is a computer chip that creates 3D images on computers, but has turned out to be efficient for mining cryptocurrencies.

A type of passive investment strategy where you hold an investment for a long period of time, regardless of any changes in the price or markets. The term first became famous due to a typo made in a Bitcoin forum, and the term is now commonly expanded to stand for “Hold On for Dear Life.”

When an investor’s account value falls below the margin maintenance amount. The broker will then demand that the investor deposit additional money or securities to meet the minimum required maintenance amount to continue trading.

A practice where a trader uses borrowed funds from a broker to trade a cryptocurrency, which forms the collateral for the loan from the broker. It can be relatively risky for inexperienced traders who may receive a margin call if the market moves in the opposite direction of their trades. * Margin Bear Position The position you are taking if you are going “short” on margin. * Margin Bull Position The position you are taking if you are going “long” on margin.

An area or arena, online or offline, in which commercial dealings are conducted. Usually referred to as the “crypto market,” which refers to the cumulative cryptocurrencies and projects operating within the industry.

An online digital wallet that allows users to manage, transfer and receive Ethereum, operating as an extension to a regular browser.

Some cryptocurrencies have a system through which miners can be rewarded with newly-created cryptocurrencies for creating blocks through contributing their hash power. Cryptocurrencies with this ability to generate new cryptocurrencies through the process of confirmation is said to be mineable. * Not Mineable Some cryptocurrencies are generated only through other mechanisms, such as annual inflation through staking. These cryptocurrencies are said to be not mineable.

Minecraft is a video game where players can essentially create and break apart different kinds of blocks in a three-dimensional world.

Contributors to a blockchain taking part in the process of mining. They can be professional miners or organizations with large-scale operations, or hobbyists who set up mining rigs at home or in the office.

A minimum viable product (MVP) is a product that has enough features to attract early-adopter customers and validate a product idea.

A process where blocks are added to a blockchain, verifying transactions. It is also the process through which new bitcoin or some altcoins are created.

Another term for cloud mining, where users can rent or invest in mining capacity online.

A setup where multiple miners combine their computing power to gain economies of scale and competitiveness in finding the next block on a blockchain. Rewards are split according to different agreements, depending on the mining pool. Another term for this is Group Mining.

The reward resulting from contributing computing resources to process transactions. Mining rewards are usually a mix of newly-minted coins and transaction fees.

A computer being used for mining. A mining rig could be a dedicated piece of hardware for mining, or a computer with spare capacity that can be used for other tasks, only mining part time.

A situation where there is a continuous upward movement in the price of a cryptocurrency. Often used in communities to question when a cryptocurrency will experience such a phenomenon, saying “When moon?” It is usually combined with “When Lambo?”

A network refers to all nodes in the operation of a blockchain at any given moment in time.

The most basic unit of blockchain infrastructure that stores data.

Open source is a philosophy, with participants believing in the free and open sharing of information in pursuit of the greater common good.

A contract giving the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset or instrument at a specified strike price.

A public market for options, giving the buyer an option to buy or sell a cryptocurrency at a specific strike price, on or before a specific date.

The decentralized interactions between parties in a distributed network, partitioning tasks or workloads between peers.

A collection of cryptocurrencies or crypto assets held by an investment company, hedge fund, financial institution or individual.

The set of rules that define interactions on a network, usually involving consensus, transaction validation, and network participation on a blockchain.

A form of securities fraud involving the artificial inflation of the price of a cryptocurrency with false and misleading positive statements in order to sell previously-cheaply purchased stock at a higher price.

A pyramid scheme is a scam with a hierarchical top-down structure.

A machine-readable label that shows information encoded into a graphical black-and-white pattern. For cryptocurrencies, it is often used to easily share wallet addresses with others.

A shorthand slang for “wrecked,” describing a bad loss in a trade.

Short for “Return on Investment,” the ratio between the net profit and cost of investing.

A cryptographic hash function that generates a 256-bit signature for a text, used in Bitcoin proof-of-work (PoW).

The smallest unit of bitcoin with a value of 0.00000001 BTC.

The individual or group of individuals that created Bitcoin. The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto has never been confirmed.

Dorian Nakamoto is a Japanese-American physicist who some believe to be Satoshi Nakamoto.

An alternative proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm to SHA-256, used in Bitcoin mining. Scrypt mining relies more heavily on memory than on pure CPU power, aiming to reduce the advantage that ASICs have and hence increasing network participation and energy efficiency.

A situation where a large limit order has been placed to sell when a cryptocurrency reaches a certain value.

The act of enthusiastically promoting a cryptocurrency or ICO project.

A coin with no obvious potential value or usage.

Slippage happens when traders have to settle for a different price than what they initially requested due to a price movement.

A smart contract is a computer protocol intended to facilitate, verify or enforce a contract on the blockchain without third parties.

A cryptocurrency with extremely low volatility, sometimes used as a means of portfolio diversification. Examples include gold-backed cryptocurrency or fiat-pegged cryptocurrency.

Participation in a proof-of-stake (PoS) system to put your tokens in to serve as a validator to the blockchain and receive rewards.

A mindset where you have a longer-term investment horizon of months to years.

A digital unit designed with utility in mind, providing access and use of a larger crypto economic system. It does not have a store of value on its own, but is made so that software can be developed around it.

The total amount of coins in existence right now, minus any coins that have been verifiably burned. *see Circulating Supply and Max Supply.

A payment for using the blockchain to transact.

A participant on a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain, involved in validating blocks for rewards.

A bitcoin that has never been spent.

How much cryptocurrency has been traded over a set period, such as the past 24 hours.

A place where cryptocurrency users can store, send and receive digital assets.

A watchlist is a feature of the website where users can create their own lists of cryptocurrencies to follow. Alternative definition A watchlist is a set of pages a user has selected to monitor for changes.

A term used to describe investors who have uncommonly large amounts of crypto, especially those with enough funds to manipulate the market.

A phrase used to ask when the price of cryptocurrencies will explode.

A list of interested participants in an initial coin offering, who registered their intent to take part or purchase in a sale.

A document released by a crypto project that gives investors technical information about its concept, and a roadmap for how it plans to grow and succeed.

Yield farming involves earning interest by investing crypto in decentralized finance markets.