Crypto Glossary

Airdrop

A distribution of free tokens sent directly to wallet addresses, often to promote a project or reward early users.

Altcoin

Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin.

Bear Market

A prolonged period of falling prices and negative sentiment.

Blockchain

A distributed, append-only digital ledger shared across many computers.

Bull Market

A prolonged period of rising prices and optimistic sentiment.

Cold Wallet

A crypto wallet that keeps private keys offline for greater security.

DeFi

Decentralised finance: financial services built on public blockchains without traditional intermediaries.

Dollar-Cost Averaging

Investing a fixed amount at regular intervals regardless of price.

Exchange

A platform where people buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies.

Fiat

Government-issued currency, such as the US dollar or euro, that is not backed by a commodity.

Fork

A change to a blockchain's rules that can split it into two separate chains.

Gas Fee

The fee paid to have a transaction processed on a blockchain.

Halving

A scheduled event that cuts a cryptocurrency's block reward in half.

HODL

Crypto slang for holding an asset long term rather than selling.

Liquidity

How easily an asset can be bought or sold without moving its price.

Market Capitalization

The total value of a cryptocurrency, calculated as price times circulating supply.

Mining

Using computing power to validate transactions and earn block rewards.

NFT

A non-fungible token: a unique, indivisible asset recorded on a blockchain.

Private Key

The secret key that controls access to the funds in a crypto wallet.

Proof of Stake

A consensus mechanism where validators lock up coins to secure the network.

Proof of Work

A consensus mechanism where miners solve computational puzzles to add blocks.

Public Key

A shareable address, derived from a private key, used to receive crypto.

Smart Contract

Self-executing code on a blockchain that runs automatically when its conditions are met.

Stablecoin

A cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to a fiat currency.

Staking

Locking up coins to help secure a proof-of-stake network and earn rewards.

Token

A crypto asset created on top of an existing blockchain.

Volatility

The degree to which an asset's price moves up and down over time.

Wallet

Software or hardware that stores the keys used to access your crypto.

Whale

An individual or entity that holds a very large amount of a cryptocurrency.