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Crypto glossary

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Short, plain-English definitions of the terms you will see most often in crypto news.

Altcoin
Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin.
Airdrop
Free tokens sent to wallet holders, usually to reward early users or promote a project.
ATH
All-time high: the highest price an asset has ever traded at.
Blockchain
A shared ledger of transactions recorded in linked blocks and copied across many computers.
Cold wallet
A wallet whose keys are kept offline, such as a hardware device.
DeFi
Financial services such as lending and trading built on smart contracts, without banks.
DEX
Decentralized exchange: trading directly from your wallet through smart contracts.
ETF
Exchange-traded fund: a stock-market product that tracks an asset such as Bitcoin.
Gas
The fee paid to process a transaction on Ethereum and similar networks.
Halving
The event that cuts Bitcoin's block reward in half, roughly every four years.
Hashrate
Total computing power securing a proof-of-work network.
Layer 2
A network built on top of a blockchain to make transactions faster and cheaper.
Liquidation
The forced closing of a leveraged position when losses exceed the margin.
Market cap
Price multiplied by circulating supply.
Memecoin
A token driven mainly by internet culture and community rather than utility.
NFT
Non-fungible token: a unique token that proves ownership of a digital item.
Private key
The secret that controls a wallet. Anyone with it can move the funds.
Proof of stake
A consensus method where validators lock up coins to secure the network.
Proof of work
A consensus method where miners spend computing power to secure the network.
Seed phrase
A list of 12 or 24 words that can restore a wallet. Never share it.
Smart contract
Code on a blockchain that runs automatically when its conditions are met.
Stablecoin
A token designed to hold a fixed value, usually one US dollar.
Staking
Locking coins to help run a proof-of-stake network in exchange for rewards.
TVL
Total value locked: the value of assets deposited in DeFi protocols.
Wallet
Software or hardware that stores the keys to your crypto.
Whale
A holder with a very large amount of a cryptocurrency.