Glossary

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0x

1. Ethereum addresses begin with the "0x" prefix in order to specify that the characters should be interpreted as a hexadecimal number by smart contracts and other programs.

2. A decentralized exchange protocol. https://www.0xprotocol.org/

See also: #ZRX

51% Attack

A takeover of more than 50% of the nodes or mining power of a network by a single individual, organization, or entity. Any person or group controlling the majority of the network can exclude valid transactions, include fraudulent transactions, and otherwise manipulate the blockchain history for their own gain.

A

Address

In the context of Cryptocurrency, an address is an alphanumeric string of characters representing the public half of a public/private key pair belonging to a specific user. Much like an email address, this identifier can be shared publicly, embedded in links, and presented as a QR code to other users in order to accept funds or assets on the respective blockchain.

A single user may have multiple addresses and their corresponding private keys across multiple blockchains and wallets. Cryptocurrency wallets in the form of software, browser extensions, apps, or hardware devices allow for the management of and access to addresses under a user’s control.

Services like the Ethereum Name Service (ENS) map human-friendly domain names to Ethereum addresses for a fee, allowing them to be more easily shared and remembered.

See also: #ENS, #Public Address, #Public Key, #Wallet Address

Air Gap

A security measure implemented to isolate a device or system physically, not connecting to other devices or the internet, adding another layer of protection between the sensitive data stored therein and potential hackers or malware.

See also: #Cold Wallet, #Hardware Wallet

Airdrop

A distribution method employed by projects or creators to send coins, tokens, or NFTs directly to users’s wallets. This distribution is often a reward for performing certain actions or meeting certain criteria, like completing simple tasks on social media, participating in community discussions or activities, or holding specific digital items during a certain timeframe.

Allowlist

A pre-approved list of accounts, users, or wallets, usually compiled in preparation for the release of an anticipated project. Limiting participation to a select few might be done to reward early adopters, or as an attempt to avoid bottlenecks created by an overwhelming influx of users trying to complete blockchain transactions simultaneously, which can cause technical issues and drive up transaction costs significantly, resulting in a negative experience for many.

Alpha

Slang

Most likely adopted from the practice of designating the initial phase of software testing "Alpha Testing," where the product is only available to internal users. In the context of web3, ‘’’alpha’’’ refers to information regarding crypto products or organizations that has not yet been divulged publicly. Informally, it can refer to any matter where there might be information not yet widely known: ‘’”What’s the alpha with your new neighbor?”’’

Altcoin

Originally used in reference to any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, this shortened version of “alternative coins” is often now more subjectively used. Many agree that Ethereum has graduated from this category with its widespread use and significant market cap.

See also: #Fork

Alts

Abbreviation - Short for Altcoins, or in the context of social media, alias account profiles.

See also: #Sock Puppet

AML

Acronym - Anti-Money Laundering

Rules, regulations, laws, and practices established and enforced by financial regulatory agencies around the globe to prevent money laundering by criminals. Compliance includes verifying the identity of customers and collecting relevant information from them, as well as monitoring transaction patterns in order to identify and report suspicious activities. AML regulations may vary by country or jurisdiction.

See also: #BitLicense, #KYC

AMM

Acronym - Automated Market Maker

A platform, project, or exchange that eliminates the need for a traditional broker to set the price of an exchange between buyers and sellers by automating the process. This is accomplished by utilizing algorithmic pricing, liquidity pools, and smart contracts.

Decentralized tools that perform tasks related to AMM democratize markets by significantly increasing accessibility to trading cryptocurrencies, tokens, and NFTs. However, issues like insufficient liquidity and deceptive behavior by bad actors can, and often do, result in the loss of funds by participants.

See also: #DEX, #Liquidity, #Slippage, #SushiSwap, #Uniswap

Anchor

Framework for the development of programs or smart contracts on the Solana network.

See also: #Smart Contract, #Solana

Ape

Slang

Possibly inspired by the meteoric rise in the popularity of the BAYC (Bored Ape Yacht Club) NFT project when it launched, “to ape in” describes the act of rushing to purchase a coin or NFT project without taking time to adequately research or investigate.

Since blockchain assets are often very volatile, many traders of web3 digital assets realize that some purchases are more of a gamble than an investment and do not assign much of a negative connotation to this term.

See also: #BAYC, #DYOR, #NFA, #Yuga Labs

API

Acronym - Application Programming Interface

A set of predefined programming standards and protocols that specify how applications communicate with another program. APIs encourage standardization across platforms, blockchains, and tools for a variety of online ecosystems, as well as automation that can provide real-time information to users in friendly formats.

AppChain

Abbreviation - Short for Application-Specific Blockchain.

A secondary or tertiary blockchain built to facilitate the scalability, modularity, and interoperability of a specific application or applications by providing an optimized and tailored environment. This environment is often built atop a primary network in order to take advantage of its security or consensus mechanisms.

See also: #Blockchain Trilemma, #Layer 1, #Layer 2, #Modular Blockchain, #Sidechain

AR

Acronym - Augmented Reality

Arbitrum

An Ethereum layer 2 blockchain network built as a scaling solution to alleviate congestion and reduce transaction fees.

See also: #Ethereum, #Layer 2, #Transaction Fee

Archival Nodes

Nodes that store a complete historical record of a blockchain's data, including all previous states and transactions, but do not necessarily validate blocks.

See also: #Blockchain, #Genesis Block, #Node

ASIC

Acronym - Application-Specific Integrated Circuit

Specialized hardware optimized for performing the calculations required to mine cryptocurrencies utilizing Proof of Work algorithms.

The use of ASICs is considered controversial both in and out of web3 due to their high energy use and potential for centralization when concentrated in mining farms.

ATH

Acronym - All Time High

ATL

Acronym - All Time Low

Avalanche

An open-source platform including several blockchains built for fast transaction finality and high throughput. Networked blockchains are known as subnets and can define their own token economics, security, and execution logic.

AVAX is the native token of Avalanche.

https://docs.avax.network/

See also: #Subnet

AVAX

Ticker Symbol - The native token of Avalanche.

See also: #Avalanche

B

Base Fee

An algorithmically determined dynamic transaction fee, typically referring to Ethereum. This fee is determined by the network itself to prevent sudden spikes and is adjusted based on network activity and congestion. Transaction fees are collected by miners as an incentive to validate and include transactions in each block, as well as secure the network.

See also: #Ethereum, #Gas, #Gas Estimator, #Gas Fees

BAYC

Acronym - Bored Ape Yacht Club

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bored_Ape

See also: #Yuga Labs

Bear Market

Bearish

Slang

See also: #Bear Market

Bid

Bitcoin

Bitcoins

BitLicense

https://www.dfs.ny.gov/virtual_currency_businesses

Block

See also: #Blockchain, #Blockchain Explorer, #Block Reward, #Mining

Block Explorer

See also: #Block, #Blockchain

Block Height

See also: #Block, #Blockchain

Block Reward

See also: #Blockchain, #Mining

Blockchain

See also: #Block, #Block Explorer

Blockchain Explorer

See also: #Blockchain, #Block Height

Blockchain Trilemma

See also: #Blockchain

Blue Chip

See also: #NFT

BNB Smart Chain

See also: #Blockchain

Bored Ape Yacht Club

See BAYC

Brain Wallet

See also: #Cold Wallet, #Non-Custodial Wallet, #Wallet

Bridge

See also: #Blockchain

BTC

Ticker Symbol -

See also: #Bitcoin, #Bitcoins, #Exchange

Bug Bounty

Buidl

Slang

Bull Market

Bullish

Slang

See also: #Bull Market

Burn

See also: #Blockchain

Byzantine Fault Tolerance

See also: #Byzantine Generals Problem

Byzantine Generals Problem

See also: #Byzantine fault tolerance

Byzantium Fork

See also: #Ethereum, #Hard Fork

C

Cancel Transactions

See also: #Replacement Transaction, #Stuck Transactions

CC0

Acronym -

CeFi

Abbreviation -

See also: #DeFi

Censorship

Centralized

See also: #Centralized Exchange

Centralized Exchange

See also: #Centralized, #Decentralized Exchange

CEX

Acronym -

Client

Coin

See also: #Cryptocurrency, #Token, #Tokenomics

Cold Wallet

See also: #Brain Wallet, #Hardware Wallet, #Wallet, #Wallet Address

Collateral

Confirmed Transaction

See also: #Pending Transaction, #Transaction, #Transaction Fee, #Transaction Hash, #Transaction Pool

Consensus

See also: #Consensus Mechanism, #Node

Consensus Mechanism

See also: #Consensus, #Node

ConsenSys

See also: #MetaMask

Constantinople fork

See also: #Ethereum

Contract

See also: #Smart Contract

Cross-Chain

See also: #Bridge

Crypto

Abbreviation -

See also: #Cryptocurrency, #Cryptography

Cryptocurrency

See also: #Coin, #Token

Cryptographic signature

See also: #Cryptography

Cryptography

See also: #Crypto

CryptoKitties

See also: #Ethereum, #NFT, #NFT Marketplace

CryptoPunks

See also: #Blue Chip, #Ethereum, #NFT

Custodial Wallet

See also: #Non-Custodial Wallet, #Wallet

D

DAI

Ticker Symbol -

DAO

Acronym -

See also: #Decentralized

Dapp

Abbreviation -

See also: #Decentralized, #AppChain

Decentralized

Decentralized Exchange

See also: #DeFi, #DEX

DeFi

Abbreviation -

See also: #Decentralized, #DEX, #Degen

Degen

Slang

See also: #DeFi

DEX

Acronym - Decentralized Exchange

Diamond Hands

Slang

See also: #Degen, #Paper Hands

Difficulty

See also: #Block, #Blockchain, #Blockchain Trilemma, #Proof of Work

Difficulty Bomb

See also: #Difficulty

Digital Identity

Digital Signature

See also: #Cryptographic signature, #Cryptography

Discord

Distributed Ledger

See also: #Blockchain

Double Spend

See also: #51% Attack

Dropped Transaction

See also: #Confirmed Transaction, #Failed Transaction, #Pending Transaction, #Stuck Transactions, #Transaction, #Transaction Fee, #Transaction Hash

Due Diligence

See also: #DYOR, #NFA, #Rug/Rug pull

DYOR

Acronym -

See also: #Due Diligence, #NFA, #Rug/Rug pull

E

EIP

Acronym -

EIP-1559

ENS

Acronym -

EOA Transaction

Epoch

ERC

Acronym -

ERC-1155

ERC-20

ERC-721

Escrow

ETH

Ticker Symbol -

Ethereum

Etherscan

EVM

Acronym -

Exchange

F

Failed Transaction

Fantom

Faucet

Fiat

Flippening

Slang

FOMO

Acronym -

Fork

Fractionalize

Frens

Slang

Front-running

FUD

Acronym -

Full Node

Fungible

Fungible Token

G

GameFi

Abbreviation -

Gas

Gas Estimator

Gas Fees

Gas Limit

Gas Price

Generative Art

Genesis Block

GM

Acronym -

GMI

Acronym -

Gnosis

Goerli

Gwei

H

Hackathon

Halving

Hard Fork

Hardware Wallet

Hash

Hash Rate

Hashing

HD Wallet

Abbreviation -

Hexadecimal

Hierarchical Deterministic wallet

HODL

Slang

Holding a bag

Hot Wallet

Hyperledger

I

ICO

Acronym -

IDO

Acronym -

IEO

Acronym -

Immutability

Infura

Internal transaction

InterPlanetary File System

'See #IPFS

IP

Acronym -

IPFS

Acronym -

K

Key

Know Your Customer

KYC

Acronym -

L

L1

Abbreviation -

L2

Abbreviation -

Lambo

Slang

Lamport

Layer 1

Layer 2

Light Client

Light Node

Liquidations

Liquidity

Liquidity Pool

Liquidity Provider

Locking

Loop Ring

M

Mainnet

Market Cap

Master Node

Max Fee Per Gas

Max Priority Fee

Maximal Extractable Value

Mempool

Mempool Explorer

Merge, The

Merkle Patricia trie

Merkle Root

Merkle Tree

Merkle trie

Mesh

MetaMask

Metaverse

MEV

Acronym -

Miner Extractable Value

Mining

Mint/Minting

Mnemonic Phrase

Modular Blockchain

Monolithic Blockchain

Moon

Slang

Multi-Sig Wallet

N

New York BitLicense

NFA

Acronym -

NFT

Acronym -

NFT Aggregator

NFT Marketplace

NGMI

Acronym -

Nocoiner

Slang

Node

Non-Custodial Wallet

Non-fungible

Nonce

O

Off-Chain

On-Chain

On-Ramp/Off-Ramp

Optimism

Optimistic Rollups

Oracle

Orphan Block

P

P2E

Acronym -

P2P

Acronym -

Paper Hands

Slang

Peer-To-Peer

Pending Transaction

PFP

Acronym -

PoA

Acronym -

PoAP

Acronym -

PoH

Acronym -

Polygon

PoS

Acronym -

PoW

Acronym -

Private Blockchain

Private Key

Proof of Attendance Protocol

Proof of Authority

Proof of History

Proof of Stake

Proof of Work

Protocol

Public Key

Public Key Encryption

Pump and Dump

R

Rekt

Replacement Transaction

Rinkeby

Rollup

Ropsten

Rug/Rug pull

Slang

S

Satoshi Nakamoto

Satoshis

Secret Recovery Phrase

Seed Phrase

Ser

Slang

SHA

Acronym -

SHA-256

Sharding

Shill

Shitcoin

Sidechain

Slashing

Slippage

Smart Contract

Smart Contract Wallet

Sock Puppet

Slang

Soft Fork

SOL

Ticker Symbol -

Solana

Solidity

Speed Up Transactions

SPL

Acronym -

Stablecoin

Staking

Stale Block

Stuck Transactions

Subnet

Swap

T

Testnet

Ticker Symbol

A unique combination of letters representing assets, stock, or cryptocurrencies on various exchanges. Often limited to three letters, but may be longer.

Token

Tokenomics

Total Value Locked

TPS

Acronym -

Transaction

Transaction Fee

Transaction Hash

Transaction Pool

Trilemma

TVL

Acronym -

Txn

Abbreviation -

U

Up Only

Slang

Utility

UX

Acronym -

V

Validator

Vaporware

Slang

VR

Acronym -

W

WAGMI

Acronym -

Wallet

Wallet Address

Web1

Web2

Web3

Web3 Domains

Wei

Wen

Slang

WETH

Ticker Symbol - See #Wrapped Ethereum'

Whale

Slang

Whitelist

Deprecated. See #Allowlist

Wrapped Ethereum

Wrapped Token

X

xDAI Chain

Y

Yuga Labs

Z

Zero-Knowledge Proof

ZK-Rollup

zk-SNARK

zkSync

ZRX

Ticker Symbol -