Glossary-H
H
Hackathon
- A portmanteau of “hack” and “marathon.”
- Participants in a hackathon work individually or in teams on software or hardware projects over a relatively short period of time, often competitively.
Halving
- A mechanism implemented in some cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, that controls the total supply, reducing by half the rate at which new coins are created. This event occurs at regular, predetermined intervals - after a certain amount of time has elapsed or after a certain number of blocks have been mined.
Hard Fork
- A significant change to the rules and protocol of a blockchain network which splits the original blockchain into two separate chains, each following a different set of rules and protocols. Transactions and other interactions on one chain after a hard fork are not recognized by the other chain.
- See also: #Fork, #Soft Fork
Hardware Wallet
- A physical device intended to be kept offline in order to securely store the private keys used to access cryptocurrencies and other digital assets.
- See also: #Cold Wallet, #Non-Custodial Wallet, #Wallet, #Wallet Address
Hash
- A cryptographic, algorithmic function that takes a string of data and produces a unique identifier of a fixed size. ‘’’Hash’’’ functions are deterministic, meaning the same input will always produce the same output, allowing verification of data integrity.
- See also: #Transaction Hash
Hash Rate
- The total number of calculations per second performed by mining machines on a blockchain network utilizing Proof of Work.
- See also: #Mining, #Proof of Work
Hexadecimal
- A base 16 counting system using the numbers 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 and the letters A B C D E F.
Hierarchical Deterministic Wallet
- A cryptocurrency wallet that can generate a series of cryptographic key pairs from a single seed, typically represented by a 12 or 24 word mnemonic key phrase. The algorithm used to derive cryptocurrency addresses from the seed is deterministic, meaning it will always generate the same sequence of keys and addresses from the same key phrase, allowing for easy recovery as long as the original phrase is provided.
Hodl
- Slang
- Misspelling of the word "hold" on the bitcointalk.org Bitcoin Forum in 2013. The phrase was adopted by the community to convey a sense of conviction in a digital asset despite any downward movement in price action.
- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=375643.0
- See also: #Diamond Hands
Holding A Bag/Holding Bags
- Slang
- Possessing digital assets, often with the connotation that they have depreciated in value, or at least not increased as much as anticipated.
- See also: #Bags, #Degen, #Diamond Hands, #FOMO, #FUD, #Paper Hands
Hot Wallet
- A cryptocurrency wallet connected to the internet used to manage access to private keys and the digital assets they control. ‘’’Hot wallets’’’ sacrifice some security for convenience since they are more vulnerable to hacks and malware than wallets kept offline.
- See also: #Cold Wallet, #Non-Custodial Wallet, #Wallet
Hyperledger
- An open-source ecosystem of tools, libraries, and products hosted by The Linux Foundation supporting the development of distributed ledger technologies.
- See also: #Blockchain, #Consensus Mechanism