Glossary-C
C
Cancel Transaction
- A transaction submitted with the same nonce as a pending transaction but with a greater transaction fee attached, incentivizing miners to process it first, at which point the original transaction becomes invalidated and is dropped.
- See also: #Replacement Transaction, #Stuck Transactions
CC0
- Acronym - Creative Commons 0
- A Creative Commons license to waive copyright or database protections to place works as completely as possible in the public domain.
Censorship
- The act of restricting, suppressing, or manipulating content, often by an authoritarian power.
Censorship Resistant
- The fundamental property of public blockchains that functionally eliminates the ability to reverse transactions or to prohibit specific addresses from participating.
Centralized
- The concentration of power or decision-making abilities for a system under a small group or within a particular geographical location.
- See also: #Centralized Exchange
Centralized Exchange
- An exchange managed by a business, organization, or other entity with limited to no input from the wider ecosystem.
- See also: #Centralized, #Decentralized Exchange
Client
- Software that acts as an interface between users and a blockchain network and usually includes a cryptocurrency wallet. Clients may also host nodes to help support the relevant network.
- See also: #Node
Closed Graph
- A data structure or API requiring permissions or authentication for access, typically controlled by a single organization or entity.
- See also: #Open Graph
Coin
- A fungible token used as a store of value and medium of exchange within a particular blockchain ecosystem. Some may have specific utility, such as paying for transaction fees or participating in governance processes, and some are designed to maintain a stable value, but all of them may succumb to trading volatility or other instabilities. For these, and many other, reasons, anyone wishing to trade or invest is advised to do so only after sufficient research and understanding of the associated risks.
- Sometimes used synonymously with "token."
- See also: #Cryptocurrency, #Token, #Tokenomics, #Due Diligence, #DYOR, #NFA
Cold Wallet
- A cryptocurrency wallet not connected to the internet. These may be hardware devices or any media that can be used to record private keys or seed phrases, like simple pen and paper. Cold wallets are typically used for long-term storage since extra steps are required to broadcast transactions to the network. Physical devices acting as cold wallets are still susceptible to theft, damage, or other types of loss.
- See also: #Brain Wallet, #Hardware Wallet, #Wallet, #Wallet Address
Collateral
- An asset provided as security for a loan in order to mitigate risk for the lender.
Confirmed Transaction
- A transaction that has been validated and permanently added to a blockchain by network participants. Each confirmation increases the difficulty of reversing or changing the transaction details by attempting to submit an alternate block of transactions instead of the original.
Consensus
- The state of agreement by network participants on the validity and version of the synchronized blockchain. Consensus is arguably the most fundamental aspect of blockchain technology, ensuring the integrity and validity of transaction records. (Not to be confused with "Consensys," the software company responsible for MetaMask and Infura.)
- See also: #Consensus Mechanism, #Node
Consensus Mechanism
- The process by which network participants come to an agreement on the validity and integrity of all the transactions contained within a blockchain. #Proof of Work (PoW) and #Proof of Stake (PoS) are two well-known methods of achieving consensus.
- See also: #Consensus, #Node
Consensys
Constantinople Fork
- The hard fork system upgrade of Ethereum which took place in 2019.
- See also: #Ethereum, #Hard Fork
Cross-Chain
- The interoperability or communication between otherwise isolated or independent blockchains. Protocols, applications, or smart contracts that facilitate the transfer of assets or data between chains are known as “bridges.”
- See also: #Bridge
Crypto
- Greek prefix meaning “hidden.” The word “cryptocurrency” is derived from “cryptographic currency” since cryptocurrencies utilize cryptography to secure transactions. However, cryptographers often use this abbreviation to refer to their own field of study.
- See also: #Cryptocurrency, #Cryptography
Cryptocurrency
- A digital or virtual currency that uses cryptographic techniques to secure transactions, control the creation of new units, and verify the transfer of assets. Cryptocurrencies are typically decentralized and operate on blockchain technology, utilizing a distributed and public ledger. Cryptocurrencies are created and secured through cryptographic algorithms that are maintained and confirmed in a process called mining, where a network of devices process and validate the transactions. This decentralized structure allows them to exist outside the control of governments and other central authorities.
Cryptographic Signature
- A method of authenticating content, typically based on public-key cryptography, where a signer uses the private half of a key pair to generate a signature, and the recipient uses the corresponding public key to verify its authenticity.
- See also: #Cryptography
Cryptography
- The practice and study of techniques used to secure communication by encoding information so that it can only be deciphered by authorized recipients.
- See also: #Crypto
Custodial Wallet
- A cryptocurrency wallet in which a third party, such as a cryptocurrency exchange, holds the private keys that authorize and sign transactions. Custodial wallets shift the burden of responsibility and security to the third party, lowering the barrier to entry for many new cryptocurrency users. A certain amount of trust is required, however, since users are reliant on the custodian to take proper security precautions and implement reasonable policies regarding their assets and funds.
- See also: #Non-Custodial Wallet, #Wallet