Comprehensive guide to the most common terms.

1. Airdrop: An event where a blockchain project distributes free tokens or coins to the community.
2. Air gapping: The act of keeping digital information or machinery isolated from unauthorised access to enhance security.
3. Altcoin: Any cryptocurrency that is an alternative to Bitcoin.
4. AML Anti-Money Laundering: is a legal framework used by governments worldwide to stop financial crimes like money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, and more.
5. ATH All-Time High: This is the highest value reached by an asset at any point in its history.
6. Bag holder: A derogatory term to describe investors who are still holding certain assets that have dropped significantly in value since their purchase price.
7. Bearish: When investors or traders see a bearish trend, they expect a price to decrease and would recommend selling coins/tokens.
8. Bear market: A market in which prices fall and negative sentiment is rife; this could lead to a drop-off in demand while buyers wait for lower prices.
9. Bitcoin: The first decentralised cryptocurrency was released in 2009.
10. Blockchain: A type of decentralised public ledger which contains records/transactions and forms the basis for how many cryptocurrencies work, using cryptography to link together blocks in a chain so that each block is linked with the previous one chronologically, preventing any tampering or revisionist history from occurring since it would be recognised immediately by other users on the network.
11. Block height: When discussing blockchain networks such as BitcoinBTC), this term refers to how many blocks make up their total height/length starting from block #0, also called its genesis block, which was mined during the first round of updates to this network.
12. Block reward: A type of monetary incentive provided by cryptocurrencies whenever an individual mines a block successfully. Coins/Tokens are not created out of thin air. Still, rather they must have gone through mining first before being awarded as such since it requires computational resources and electricity costs to mine them effectively.
13. Block size limit: The maximum amount of data that can be included in a block, measured in bytes. Bitcoin is hard-coded at one megabyte while Ethereum's was recently increased to around 20% of that number (to roughly 12.66MB), with plans for it to increase further over the coming years.
14. Bollinger bands: A technical indicator used by traders to measure market volatility consisting of three lines plotted at standard deviation levels above and below a centre line.
15. BTD: Buy The Dip; this means buying coins/tokens when the price drops and they're cheap.
16. Bullish: When investors are bullish, they expect a price to go up in the future and would be comfortable buying coins/tokens at these levels because they believe it will increase even more.
17. Bull market: A market in which prices are rising, and investors expect even better returns.
18 .Canister: A unit of software deployed on the Internet Computer, encapsulating both code and data. They are autonomous computing units on the ICP network that contain both data and code. They can be compared to smart contracts on other platforms,
19. Casper: Ethereum's proof-of-stake protocol upgrade, designed to replace the proof-of-work as mentioned earlier and improve the scalability of the network while also enhancing security by making it less costly for an attacker to attack the network.
20. Centralised: A system of power where a central authority has control over the execution of operations. Often associated with a dictatorial style of rule and a single point of attack.
21. Coinless protocol: A decentralised network where all incentive mechanisms are built into the protocol itself and not as an additional layer on top of it (like Ethereum). The purpose is to create fully autonomous systems with no need for central management.
22. Chaffing: The practice of purposely sending false signals between nodes on a network using fake IP addresses so that they only see information that has already been seen by another node or set of nodes before, thus making consensus impossible for any new data to be added onto the chain.
23. Confirmation: This is how many transactions have been processed/validated and added to its ledger so far since it began existing, either through mining or other means, including private ones off-chain.
24. Crowdsale: The process of selling crypto coins or tokens through crowdfunding, usually done before a new blockchain-based project launches its token/coin on the market so investors can take part in early bonuses and incentives.
25. Cryptoart: A product with a piece of art embedded on the front, and private keys to an address holding a digital currency or other token. These typically hold less value than traditional cryptocurrencies since they don't have a price set by markets, but are considered collectables that can be bought as gifts for others.
26. Cryptocurrency: A form of digital asset that uses cryptography as its main security measure to control the creation of additional units and verify transactions on its decentralised network.
27. Crypto derivatives: A financial instrument that derives its value from an underlying asset. They are usually contracts traded between two parties based on the price of a certain item, rate or index at some future date.
28. Cryptoeconomics: The combination of cryptography, information theory, computer science, and game theory creates secure economic systems that incentivise proof-of-work consensus models through mechanisms such as decentralised control, immutability, and trustless transactions.
29. Cryptography: The use of cryptographic protocols or mathematical techniques to encrypt messages sent between parties which are then decrypted using a key for security purposes.
30. Crypto-native assets: Digital tokens on a blockchain platform that derive their value from the decentralised consensus formed among all/majority of users, rather than coming from an external source like fiat money or company stock. Examples include Ether, Binance Coin (BNB), ICP (Internet Computer Protocol) and Basic Attention Token (BAT).
31. Dead coin: A project that was launched to be used as a digital currency but failed.
32. Decentralised: When something does not have any central control but rather operates independently through peer-to-peer networks and consensus algorithms instead, transactions cannot be reversed once confirmed on blockchains that do not have any central authority or place of residence since they are decentralised.
33. Decentralised applications (DApps): DApps are essentially software programs built and hosted on blockchain technology, providing users with various functions through peer-to-peer action rather than depending on traditional intermediaries such as governments or banks. Decentralised apps are frequently used to execute decentralised finance operations.
34. Decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO): A company or business that is run by smart contracts and governed by its token-holding community.
35. Decentralised exchange (DEX): A system that allows for the trustless, peer-to-peer trading of cryptocurrencies without a third party or intermediary taking fees along the way.
36. Decentralised finance (DeFi): This pushes the development of alternative decentralised blockchain-based financial applications to enable peer-to-peer transactions without third parties. DeFi apps include lending platforms, exchanges, prediction markets and many more solutions built on top of various protocols like Ethereum or Bitcoin.
37. DFINITY: The organization behind the development of the Internet Computer. DFINITY Foundation is a not-for-profit organization that develops and supports the Internet Computer blockchain, a platform for decentralized applications and services.
38. Distribution: The selling of coins, especially by whales who hold large amounts to stabilise prices and avoid crashing them.
39. Distributed ledger: A type of database that is spread out across several nodes in different locations and countries so that it can remain decentralised as well as transparent to those involved with keeping records on it; every single node will hold a complete copy which is updated regularly through consensus algorithms when new transactions take place.
40. Double-spend: When someone tries to send a transaction, but ends up sending it twice since they did not wait for the first one to be confirmed on-chain; this is often done by those with malicious intent and can lead to losing all of your funds if you fall, victim.
41. Digital gold: Different cryptocurrencies are sometimes compared to actual gold based on their storage and appreciation. Bitcoin is sometimes referred to as digital gold.
42. Dumping: The process of offloading large quantities of coins onto exchanges all at once which drives down prices because there is more supply than demand for that particular cryptocurrency.
43. DYOR: Do Your Own Research; this means that all crypto investors should do their own research on a project before investing in it.
Entry and exit points: These are the points at which an investor decides to buy or sell a particular coin/token.
44. ERC-20: A technical standard used for smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain which ensures that all tokens and transactions comply with certain rules (such as how many decimal points to use).
45. Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM): A Turing complete virtual machine that helps run smart contracts on Ethereum's blockchain by keeping track of their state and allowing them to be executed simultaneously across the entire network through consensus. The computational step requires a fee paid in Ether.
46. Etherscan: A web tool that lets you explore transactions, wallets, and other aspects of Ethereum's blockchain. It also provides various charts to visualize said data as well as a list for those who want to track specific activity on the network.
47. Exchange: Platforms that allow users to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies for other digital currencies or traditional currencies like US dollars or euros. Cryptocurrency exchanges are a vital part of the crypto ecosystem, providing users with access to crypto funds.
48. Fiat currency: A legal tender declared by the government; this can be backed up by its economy and has an institution that regulates it (central bank). For example, the Great British Pound (GBP) and the United States Dollar (USD) are both fiat currencies.
49. Fiat gateways: A cryptocurrency exchange that allows users to deposit fiat currencies such as the dollar or euro into their account for trading purposes.
50. Flippening: When a cryptocurrency's market capitalisation (or the total value of its tokens in circulation) surpasses that of another crypto.
51. FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out; the acronym that describes a phenomenon when investors buy or sell an asset based on others' actions, causing them to miss out on more profitable opportunities.
52. Fork: A software update that is not backwards compatible with previous versions of the same cryptocurrency protocol, creating an entirely new branch from block 0.
53. FUD: Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt; the acronym coined for cryptosphere discussions. A FUDster is a person who spreads FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) about a specific coin or blockchain project, often for self-benefit.
54. Gas fee: The name given to the transaction cost of running a smart contract, functions on Ethereum and other similar platforms. It is paid in units called Gwei which are a billionth of an Ether.
55. Genesis block: The first block in the Blockchain, usually hardcoded into the coin's system which is used to bootstrap its network.
56. Governance Token: Tokens that confer voting rights and decision-making power to the holders in the governance of the Internet Computer. Anyone can stake ICP inside the Network Nervous System (which governs the Internet Computer) to earn new ICP in the form of voting rewards. When ICP is staked, it creates a neuron that can vote on proposals that update, manage, and configure the network, which are executed automatically.
57. Halving: The process by which Bitcoin mining rewards are reduced by 50% every four years; this is done to create scarcity and control the total supply (since no more than 21 million Bitcoins can ever be mined).
58. Hard fork: A software update that is not backwards compatible with previous versions of the same cryptocurrency protocol, resulting in the creation of an entirely new branch from block 0.
59. Hardware wallet: Also known as cold storage, it's essentially a USB stick that can be used for offline transactions and keeping your private keys safe. It's considered more secure than most other forms of wallets since they're harder to access if you lose them.
60. Hash function: A specific algorithm that maps data of any size to a fixed size output, also referred to as a cryptographic function since they are often used for encryption and other security purposes where it cannot be reversed through computation alone; hashing takes an inputted document and outputs the same thing every single time so long as its original content has not been altered even if just by one letter or space character.
61. Hedging: The use of two different strategies to reduce the risk involved with one strategy. For example, you could hedge by taking a long position and shorting it simultaneously; this would result in your exposure being less than if you just went long or short on that particular asset/trade alone.
62. HODL: An intentional typo for the word "hold" originally posted by an anonymous user on the Bitcointalk forum, which the crypto community later turned into slang for holding a cryptocurrency long term despite market volatility.
63. Hot wallet: Any cryptocurrency wallet that is connected to the internet and therefore at a higher risk of being hacked; they're not recommended for long-term storage, but rather as a way of sending/receiving funds where necessary.
64. ICC (Inter-Canister Communication): The communication protocol used by canisters to interact with each other on the Internet Computer.
65. ICO: Initial Coin Offering; The very first offering for public purchase and sale of tokens or digital assets for a newly born blockchain project.
66. Internet Computer Network: The decentralized network of nodes that collectively power the Internet Computer, ensuring its security and functionality. It is a general-purpose blockchain that hosts canister smart contracts. It is designed to provide a World Computer that can replace traditional IT and host a new generation of Web 3.0 services and applications that run solely from the blockchain, without the need for traditional IT.
67. ICP Token: The native utility token of the Internet Computer, representing ownership and usage rights within the network.
68. II (Internet Identity): A decentralised identity system used on the Internet Computer. Internet Identity is an authentication service for the Internet Computer. It uses a form of the WebAuthn API to allow users to register and authenticate without passwords. Instead, users can use TouchID, FaceID, and more, to authenticate with an application.
69. IDO: Initial decentralised offering, which is similar to an ICO but lets users interact with the project before it goes live.
70. IEO: Initial Exchange Offering: This is when a coin is sold for the first time via a digital currency exchange.
71. Inflation: An economic condition where the general level of prices for goods and services is rising and the purchasing power of a currency falls.
72. KYC: Know Your Customer, which refers to obtaining and verifying customers' personal identification information for business purposes before allowing them access to services or products.
73. Lambo: A slang term used about a Lamborghini is often an indicator of how quickly someone expects to become rich given the current market conditions.
74. Lightning network: A proposed solution that aims to speed up transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain by moving them off the main chain.
75. Limit order: An instruction an investor gives when placing a buy or sell order on the market; it sets the maximum price they are willing to pay (for buy orders) or the minimum amount for which they will agree to sell.
76. Market capitalisation: The total value of the circulating supply of a cryptocurrency, calculated by multiplying its current price with its total supply.
77. Market order: A kind of limit order that is placed without specifying the price at which it should be executed.
78. Memecoin: A digital currency that doesn't have any inherent value and is used for social media purposes.
79. Miner: An individual or group of people who use their computing power to confirm transactions on the blockchain network, receiving rewards in exchange for this service.
80. Mining: The process of creating new cryptocurrency units by solving complex mathematical problems, which are then verified and added to the blockchain network; miners usually receive a reward for their work in the form of the coins they mine.
81. Mining rigs: Dedicated computers used for mining cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Litecoin etc. These are custom-built machines designed specifically for mining coins by finding solutions to complex mathematical problems so they can be added to public ledgers.
82. Moon: A slang term to describe a crypto price going up spontaneously.
83. Motoko: Motoko is a modern, general-purpose programming language you can use specifically to author Internet Computer canister smart contracts.
84. NFT: Short for non-fungible tokens; digital assets which are unique and can't be replaced by generic items like coins or diamonds.
85. NNS (Neuron Nervous System): A system allowing token holders to participate in the governance of the Internet Computer by staking tokens in neurons.
86. Noob: A person who is inexperienced in a particular sphere or activity, especially computing or gaming.
87. Node: A connected computer that is part of a network, the Blockchain in this case. All nodes are equal and each one can be used to broadcast messages across the entire system.
88. Node Provider: Entities that run nodes on the Internet Computer Network, contributing to its decentralization and security. In most cases, node providers or the data centre operators they partner with are responsible for monitoring and maintaining the compute capacity of the equipment on which the Internet Computer blockchain runs.
89. On-chain governance: A system in blockchain technology where token holders vote and make decisions on proposed changes or upgrades to improve the network's performance without compromising its security.
90. Peer-to-peer: A blockchain practice where two parties can conduct financial transactions with each other without involving a third party, like a bank.
91. Permissioned ledger: A distributed ledger where only certain members are allowed access; this is usually determined by a set of rules or an access control layer.
92. Pizza: One of the first Bitcoin transactions to ever take place. In 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz offered to pay 10,000 Bitcoins (valued at around $40 at the time) for two pizzas from Papa John's.
93. Proof of Authority (PoA): A consensus mechanism where validators are required to demonstrate possession of a certain amount or type of stake before being allowed into nodes on the network for verifying transactions.
94. Proof of burn (PoB): A type of consensus algorithm that requires users to "burn" or exchange some tokens by sending them to an unspendable address, thus proving they are real and active participants in the network.
95. Proof of stake (PoS): A type of validation that requires members/nodes to prove ownership over a certain amount of cryptocurrency to guarantee their right to vote on transaction validation.
96. Proof of work (PoW): The consensus algorithm is used to validate transactions on the blockchain, which requires users to solve complex computational puzzles to add new blocks onto the chain.
97. Public key: A cryptographic key that allows a user to receive cryptocurrency from another user, but cannot be used to send funds. They're unique and usually consist of 64 characters to encrypt your wallet or make digital signatures.
98. Pump and dump: The process of buying and selling a coin on the market to raise its price and attract other users, followed by profit-taking.
99. Private key: A cryptographic key that allows users to send cryptocurrency from their wallet, but cannot be used to receive funds. They're unique and usually consist of 64 characters which you use for decrypting your wallet or making digital signatures.
100. Quantum-proof: A blockchain that is resistant to attacks coming from quantum computers. Quantum computers are still not fully functional but they've reached a stage where it's believed they can be implemented in the future.
101. Regulation: Laws created by a government to enforce compliance with laws and standards for certain businesses or industries.
102. Rekt: A slang term used to describe a situation where an investor becomes "wrecked" by losing all their money due to trading or other factors within the market.
103. Return on investment (ROI): The percentage of investment returns over an initial investment. It's often used to measure the performance of a particular cryptocurrency or trading strategy, where higher numbers indicate better results.
104. Rugpull: A fraudulent cryptocurrency strategy in which crypto developers desert a project and flee with investors' money.
105. Satoshi Nakamoto: The name of the creator(s) behind Bitcoin, their true identity remains anonymous until now despite several attempts to solve this ongoing riddle.
106. Scalability: The capability of a system, network or process to handle a growing amount of work, be it products being sold online by an e-commerce store or increased transaction volume on a blockchain network without compromising safety/integrity or performance/speed requirements in any way from its original form when it was first created.
107. Scalping: The process of buying and selling a coin/token multiple times on the same day within short timeframes to profit from small price fluctuations over that period.
108. Sell wall: A large order on an exchange that is meant to push down the price of a cryptocurrency by discouraging others from buying it while also preventing those who want to sell from doing so unless they get a lower price.
109. Sharding: A process that involves splitting a blockchain network into smaller groups of nodes called shards, each responsible for processing transactions in parallel.
110. Shilling: a type of hype where someone heavily promotes a cryptocurrency by using social media or their influence to draw attention towards it, often with no regard for the quality of the said coin.
111. Sidechain: A separate but interoperable blockchain that runs in parallel to the main chain and enables assets to be transferred between them. Usually, it allows for faster transactions with lower costs since they aren't included in the more extensive network.
112. S**t coin: A derogatory term used to describe cryptocurrencies that are poor in value and likely to fail.
113. Smart contract: A piece of code that is executed on the blockchain after certain conditions have been met; this allows developers to create decentralised applications without having to build the blockchain from scratch.
114. Soft fork: An upgrade to a blockchain protocol where only previously valid transactions are made invalid.
115. SPAC: Special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) are a type of security created by fusing multiple different asset classes into one. SPACs can be used for registering an initial public offering (IPO) where the company itself doesn't exist yet but will in the future once it's become profitable enough to go through with its plans and meet all requirements needed before doing so.
116. Stablecoin: A cryptocurrency designed to minimise price volatility, usually by pegging its value or supply against a physical asset such as fiat currencies like the US dollar or metals like silver and gold.
117. Staking: When you stake coins, you effectively lock them away in a digital wallet to maintain the network. You are rewarded with more coins/tokens when your wallet is staking, but it also means that you cannot trade these coins while they're locked up.
118. Stop order: An instruction is given by an investor when placing a buy or sell order on the market; it sets a condition where they will automatically close their position if this condition is met (when the market reaches a certain rate).
119. Subnet: A subdivision of the Internet Computer Network that helps distribute the workload and maintain network efficiency.
120. SNS: Service Nervous Systems (SNSs) are decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs) that allow developers to hand over their Dapps to decentralised, token-based governance systems.
121. Tokenless ledger: Also known as "pure" or "transaction-only" blockchain, a type of distributed ledger that doesn't require native currency to operate.
122. Tokenomics: The study of how different variables within an economy impact each other and affect the decision-making process. It is a branch of economics that looks at how different classes of assets, which have a monetary value attached to them, affect the dynamics within an economy.
123. Tokens: A unit of value used for various purposes within a crypto ecosystem. Tokens can represent any asset, from commodities like gold or real estate, or even other cryptocurrencies.
124. Token sale: The process of selling digital tokens or coins to raise funds for a blockchain project before it goes live and generates revenue.
125. Total value locked (TVL): The total value of coins locked in a masternode divided by the number of existing master nodes at that point. Since there is no way to know how many will be created or destroyed, TVL provides an estimate for this figure and can give some indication as to which projects are undervalued and overvalued.
126. Transaction fee: The sum of money paid to miners to confirm transactions into blocks and add them to the Blockchain network. It isn't part of the amount being transferred but rather an additional charge set by users sending tokens via smart contracts (which send tokens automatically).
127. Transaction malleability: The ability to slightly modify a transaction before propagating it across the network to make it easily detectable; this can lead miners/validators to see different versions of the said transaction depending on their location within the blockchain. Transaction pool: The central component of nodes within a blockchain where all pending/unconfirmed transactions are stored until they're mined into blocks. This is usually done one at a time but can happen concurrently depending on whether there are multiple available or not.
128. Trustless: A term used to describe a system that doesn't require trust in any party because it uses encryption and consensus mechanisms for security.
129. Two-factor authentication (2FA): A method of confirming a user's claimed identity in which two separate components are required. Usually, something they know (password) and possess (security token).
130. Virtual Automated Market Makers (vAMMs): A variant of programmable smart contracts which are designed to automatically create their market for cryptocurrencies. They do this by placing limited orders to buy or sell tokens at specific prices, thus providing liquidity in the market during times when there are no active buyers/sellers.
131. Volatile market: A market where prices fluctuate rapidly, so it's harder to predict what will happen next.
132. Wallet: A digital location used to store crypto funds by storing private and public keys that provide access to your cryptocurrency holdings.
133. Wallet address: The public key of a cryptocurrency wallet that is used to receive funds.
134. Wallet seed phrase: This is a list of words used to generate deterministic keys for wallets; it can be thought of as a private password or PIN for your crypto funds. It's vitally important you keep them safe since if someone has access, then they could easily withdraw all your tokens.
135. Wasm (WebAssembly): A binary instruction format that serves as a portable compilation target for programming languages, used in the execution of smart contracts on the Internet Computer.
136. Whale: Slang term used about an investor who has a substantial amount of capital to invest, typically one looking to make significant investments.
137. 51% attack: A hypothetical situation where more than half of the computing power on a blockchain network is controlled by one person or group, thus allowing them to dictate which transactions are verified. This would allow them to prevent other users from completing confirmed transactions cause havoc within the system, and double-spend coins.
138. 51% attack protection: A protection mechanism implemented by several cryptocurrencies that require more than 50% of their total hashing power working together as one entity (which would make it difficult for attackers since they'd need even more resources and time) or if this threshold is below 100%, having an additional safeguard feature where at least 66% must agree with every transaction before sending, making them unable to double-spend anything without others noticing until these changes are made on the chain permanently.