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THE CRYPTO GLOSSARY

Crypto glossary

202 plain definitions for the market data, chart controls, network terms and source labels you meet on Dextape.

A

Account abstraction Ethereum
Letting wallets be smart contracts with their own rules, such as spending limits, social recovery or someone else paying the gas.
Address Basics
A public identifier that can receive assets on a particular network. It is safe to share; the private key that controls it is not. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, Ethereum staking, without the jargon
Address poisoning Security
A scam that sends you a tiny transfer from an address that looks like one you use, hoping you'll copy it from your history next time. Always check the full address. Read: Self-custody in one page
Airdrop Basics
Tokens sent to wallets for free, usually to reward early users or spread ownership. Unexpected airdrops can also be bait for scams, so never sign anything to claim one you don't recognise.
Algorithmic stablecoin Stablecoins
A stablecoin that tries to hold its peg with supply rules and incentives rather than full reserves. Several have collapsed when confidence broke.
Altcoin Basics
Any cryptocurrency other than bitcoin. The word says nothing about size or quality: it covers large networks and tiny tokens alike.
AML Rules
Anti-money-laundering rules that require financial firms, including crypto exchanges, to monitor transactions and report suspicious activity.
APR DeFi
Annual percentage rate: the yearly return or cost without compounding. In DeFi it is usually a current rate, not a promise.
APY DeFi
Annual percentage yield: the yearly return including compounding, so it reads higher than the same APR.
ATH Markets
All-time high: the highest price recorded by the market-data provider, CoinGecko on Dextape. How far an asset sits below its ATH says nothing about its value.
Automated market maker DeFi
A DEX design (an AMM) where trades go against a pool of two tokens and a formula sets the price, instead of matching buyers with sellers. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, Liquidity, price impact and slippage explained

B

Basis Trading
The gap between a futures price and the spot price. A wide positive basis means buyers are paying up for leveraged exposure.
Bear market Basics
A long stretch of falling prices and gloomy sentiment, commonly described as a drop of 20% or more from a recent high.
Bid / ask Markets
The best price a buyer is offering (bid) and the best price a seller will accept (ask) on a venue’s order book. Mid sits between them. Dextape’s book names the exchange it reads.
Blobs Ethereum
Cheap, temporary data space on Ethereum introduced by EIP-4844, used by rollups to post their batches for less than ordinary transaction data. Read: Layer 2 networks and bridges: what changes?
Block Basics
A batch of transactions added to a blockchain together. Each block references the one before it, which links them into a chain. Read: Ethereum gas fees, explained clearly, Ethereum staking, without the jargon
Block explorer Networks
A website that shows a blockchain's transactions, addresses and blocks, so anyone can check a payment or a contract. Read: How blockchains work: from transaction to confirmation
Block reward Networks
The new coins created for the miner or validator who produces a block, paid on top of transaction fees.
Blockchain Basics
A shared, ordered record of transactions, grouped into blocks, that independent computers check against the same protocol rules. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, How blockchains work: from transaction to confirmation
Bonding curve Tokens
A pricing formula that raises a token's price automatically as more of it is bought. Some launchpads sell on a curve until it fills, then move liquidity to a DEX.
Bridge DeFi
A system that moves assets or messages between blockchains, usually by locking or burning on one side and releasing or minting on the other. It carries its own security risks. Read: Layer 2 networks and bridges: what changes?
Bull market Basics
A long stretch of rising prices and confident sentiment. Neither label predicts what happens next.
Buy and sell tax Tokens
A fee a token's contract takes on every purchase or sale, set by its creator. High or changeable taxes are a common warning sign.

C

Candle Markets
The open, high, low and close for a time interval. Availability depends on the exact asset, venue or pool, provider and selected range. Read: How to read a Dextape chart
CBDC Rules
Central bank digital currency: a digital form of a country's money issued by its central bank. It is not a cryptocurrency and is usually not on a public blockchain.
Centralized exchange Basics
A company-run trading venue (a CEX) that holds customers' funds and matches orders on its own order book. You trade on its books, not on a blockchain, until you withdraw. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared
Circulating supply Markets
A provider’s estimate of tokens in public circulation, used to calculate market cap. Check its methodology and observation time. Read: Market cap, volume and dominance, How to read a crypto market table
Coin Basics
A cryptocurrency native to its own blockchain, such as BTC on Bitcoin or ETH on Ethereum, used to pay that network's fees. Read: Stablecoins: the peg, the backing and the risk, What is cryptocurrency? A practical beginner’s guide
Cold storage Wallet safety
Keeping the keys that authorize transfers on a device or medium that stays offline, away from everyday internet use.
Collateral DeFi
Assets pledged to secure a loan or leveraged position. If their value falls too far, they are sold to repay the debt. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon, Stablecoins: the peg, the backing and the risk
Consensus Basics
The process by which a blockchain’s participants agree on which transactions are valid and in what order. Read: How blockchains work: from transaction to confirmation
Crypto-backed stablecoin Stablecoins
A stablecoin backed by more crypto collateral than the coins it issues, managed by smart contracts that liquidate loans if the collateral falls.
Cryptocurrency Basics
A digital asset whose ownership is recorded on a blockchain and moved with cryptographic keys, without a bank keeping the ledger. Read: What is cryptocurrency? A practical beginner’s guide
Custody Wallet safety
Control of the keys or account permissions that authorize transfers. With self-custody you hold them; with a custodian, a company holds them for you.

D

DAO DeFi
Decentralized autonomous organization: a group that manages a treasury or protocol through on-chain votes, usually weighted by token holdings.
Decentralized exchange DeFi
A trading venue run by smart contracts, where people trade from their own wallets and each trade settles on a blockchain. Often shortened to DEX. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared
Delayed The desk
A source has not refreshed for 30 minutes or more, usually because of a provider outage. Dextape shows the last good figure and says when it was read. Read: What Fear & Greed is (and is not)
Depeg DeFi
When a pegged asset, such as a stablecoin, trades away from the value it aims to track. A depeg can be brief or lasting. Read: Stablecoins: the peg, the backing and the risk
DEX aggregator DeFi
A service that splits a swap across several decentralized exchanges to find the best overall price.
Dominance Markets
An asset’s market cap as a share of total crypto market cap, as reported by CoinGecko. A rising bitcoin share can mean bitcoin gained or that other assets fell faster. Read: Market cap, volume and dominance, What Fear & Greed is (and is not)
Double spend Networks
Spending the same coins twice. Preventing it without a central ledger is the core problem blockchains solve.

E

EIP-1559 Ethereum
The Ethereum fee change that introduced a protocol-set base fee, which is burned, plus an optional tip, making fees more predictable. Read: Ethereum gas fees, explained clearly
EMA Trading
Exponential moving average: an average of recent prices that weights the newest ones more, so it reacts faster than a simple moving average.
Emissions Tokens
New tokens created over time, for example as staking or mining rewards. Emissions add supply that someone may sell.
ENS Ethereum
The Ethereum Name Service: readable names such as alice.eth that point to addresses. Always check the address a name resolves to before sending.
ERC-20 Ethereum
The standard interface for fungible tokens on Ethereum and other EVM chains, which is why wallets and exchanges can support new tokens easily. Read: What is cryptocurrency? A practical beginner’s guide
ERC-721 Ethereum
The Ethereum standard for non-fungible tokens, where each token has its own ID and owner.
EVM Ethereum
The Ethereum Virtual Machine: the environment that runs Ethereum's smart contracts. Many other chains copy it so the same contracts and wallets work there.
Excerpt The desk
The short preview Dextape shows for a publisher story: the feed’s own summary, at most 60 words. Follow the publisher link for the full story.
Exploit Security
An attack that abuses a bug or design flaw in a protocol to take funds. Exploited protocols sometimes recover funds; often they don't.

F

Fear & Greed Markets
A daily sentiment index from 0 to 100 published by alternative.me. Dextape shows it with a source stamp; it is not a Dextape forecast. Read: What Fear & Greed is (and is not)
Fiat currency Basics
Government-issued money such as dollars, euros or yen, not backed by a commodity. Crypto prices on Dextape are quoted in US dollars.
Fiat-backed stablecoin Stablecoins
A stablecoin backed by cash and short-term government debt held by its issuer. It is only as safe as those reserves and the issuer's ability to redeem.
Finality Basics
The point at which a transaction can no longer be reversed, either under the protocol’s rules or because reversing it would be prohibitively costly. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon, How blockchains work: from transaction to confirmation
Flash loan DeFi
A loan borrowed and repaid within a single transaction, with no collateral. It is used for arbitrage, and also in many exploits.
FOMO Slang
Fear of missing out: buying because a price is rising fast and others seem to be profiting, rather than because of a plan.
Freeze authority Tokens
On Solana, the key allowed to freeze token accounts so holders can't move their tokens. Stablecoin issuers keep it for compliance; on most other tokens, an active freeze authority is a warning sign.
Front-running DeFi
Placing a transaction just ahead of one you've seen coming, to profit from the price move it will cause.
FUD Slang
Fear, uncertainty and doubt: negative claims spread to push a price down. Sometimes the criticism is fair, so check the source.
Full article The desk
The publisher’s complete story. It stays on the publisher’s site; Dextape shows a preview with attribution and links to it.
Fully diluted valuation Markets
The current price multiplied by maximum or total supply. It shows what market cap would be if every token were circulating; it is not a forecast. Read: How to read a crypto market table
Funding rate Trading
The periodic payment between long and short holders of perpetual futures. When it is positive, longs pay shorts, a sign that leveraged buyers are crowded in.
Futures contract Trading
An agreement to buy or sell an asset at a set price on a future date. Most crypto futures are settled in cash rather than coins.

G

Gas Basics
The unit that measures the computational work a transaction uses on Ethereum and similar networks. The fee is the gas used multiplied by the gas price.
Gas limit Ethereum
The most gas a transaction is allowed to use. If it runs out, the transaction fails but the gas spent is still paid. Read: Ethereum gas fees, explained clearly
Genesis block Networks
The first block of a blockchain, which every later block traces back to.
Governance DeFi
The process for deciding changes to a protocol and its settings, whether through token-holder votes, a foundation or core developers. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon
Governance token Tokens
A token that gives holders votes on a protocol's decisions, such as fees or upgrades. Voting power usually follows token balance.

H

Halving Bitcoin
The cut in Bitcoin's block reward by half every 210,000 blocks, roughly every four years, which slows the creation of new coins. Read: How Bitcoin works
Hard fork Networks
A rule change that older software won't accept. If not everyone upgrades, the chain can split in two.
Hardware wallet Wallet safety
A dedicated device that keeps private keys offline and signs transactions internally. You still need to check what you approve on its screen. Read: How Bitcoin works
Hash Networks
A fixed-length fingerprint of data. Change one character of the input and the hash changes completely, which is how blocks are chained together. Read: How Bitcoin works, How blockchains work: from transaction to confirmation
Hash rate Networks
The total computing power securing a proof-of-work network. A higher hash rate makes the chain more expensive to attack.
Health factor DeFi
A lending protocol's measure of how safe a loan is. When it falls below 1, the position can be liquidated.
HODL Slang
Crypto slang for holding an asset through price swings instead of trading it. It started as a typo of 'hold'.
Holder concentration Tokens
How much of a token's supply sits in its largest wallets. When a few wallets hold most of it, their sales can sink the price.
Honeypot Tokens
A token whose contract lets people buy but blocks or heavily taxes selling, trapping the buyers' money.
Hot wallet Basics
A wallet whose keys sit on an internet-connected device, such as a phone app or browser extension. Convenient for daily use, more exposed to malware and phishing.
Howey test Rules
The US Supreme Court test, from a 1946 case, for whether something is an investment contract and therefore a security: money invested in a common enterprise with profits expected from others' efforts.

I

ICO Tokens
Initial coin offering: selling a new token directly to the public to raise money. Many ICOs were unregistered securities offerings or outright scams.
Impermanent loss DeFi
The shortfall a liquidity provider suffers versus simply holding the two tokens, when their prices drift apart. It becomes permanent if you withdraw at that point.
Implied volatility Trading
The size of future price swings that options prices are paying for. It reflects what traders expect, not what will happen.

K

Kline Markets
A term used by exchanges for a candlestick bar: open, high, low, close and, where available, traded volume.
KYC Rules
Know your customer: the identity checks regulated exchanges must run before letting someone trade or withdraw.

L

Launchpad Tokens
A platform that lets anyone create and sell a new token, often in minutes. Low effort to launch also means low effort to scam.
Layer 1 Networks
A base blockchain that settles its own transactions and secures itself, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum or Solana.
Layer 2 Networks
A network built on top of a layer 1 that processes transactions more cheaply and posts the results back to the base chain for security. Read: Layer 2 networks and bridges: what changes?, Ethereum gas fees, explained clearly
Lending protocol DeFi
A smart contract market where people deposit crypto to earn interest and others borrow against collateral, with rates set by supply and demand.
Leverage Trading
Trading with borrowed money so a position is larger than your own funds. Gains and losses are both multiplied, and small moves can wipe out the position.
Lightning Network Bitcoin
A layer-2 payment network for Bitcoin that opens payment channels between users, allowing fast, cheap payments that settle on-chain later.
Limit order Trading
An order to buy or sell only at a set price or better. It may never fill if the market doesn't reach that price. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared
Liquid staking DeFi
Staking through a protocol that hands back a token representing the staked coins, so they can still be traded or used elsewhere. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon
Liquidation Trading
The forced closing of a leveraged position or loan when its collateral no longer covers the risk. Waves of liquidations can push prices further in the same direction.
Liquidity Markets
How easily an amount can be bought or sold without moving the price much. It depends on order-book depth or pool size, not on trading volume alone. Read: Liquidity, price impact and slippage explained, Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared
Liquidity lock Tokens
Locking a pool's LP tokens in a time-lock contract so the creator can't withdraw the liquidity before a set date. It doesn't stop them selling their own tokens.
Liquidity pool DeFi
Tokens locked in a smart contract that traders swap against. People who supply the tokens earn a share of the trading fees.
Log scale Markets
A price axis where equal percent moves take equal space. Use it when comparing long histories. Read: How to read a Dextape chart
Long / short Trading
Going long means profiting if a price rises; going short means profiting if it falls, usually by borrowing or using derivatives.
LP token DeFi
A receipt token showing your share of a liquidity pool. Whoever holds it can withdraw that share.

M

MACD Trading
Moving average convergence divergence: the gap between a fast and a slow moving average, plotted with a signal line to show when momentum is changing.
Mainnet Networks
A blockchain's live network, where coins have real value.
Maker and taker Trading
A maker adds an order to the book that doesn't fill straight away; a taker fills an existing one. Exchanges usually charge takers higher fees. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared
Margin Trading
The collateral you post to open or keep a leveraged position. If losses eat into it, the exchange asks for more or closes the position.
Market cap Markets
Price multiplied by circulating supply, from the market-data provider. A way to rank assets by size, not a measure of money invested. Read: Market cap, volume and dominance, What Fear & Greed is (and is not)
Market depth Trading
How much of an asset can be bought or sold near the current price. A shallow book means even modest orders move the price.
Market maker Trading
A firm or program that keeps buy and sell orders on both sides of the book and earns the spread, making it easier for others to trade. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, Liquidity, price impact and slippage explained
Market order Trading
An order to buy or sell immediately at the best available price. It always fills on a liquid market, but the price can be worse than the last trade. Read: How to read the Terminal book
Max supply Tokens
The hard limit on how many units of a token can ever exist, if the code sets one. Bitcoin's is 21 million; many tokens have none.
Memecoin Tokens
A token built around a joke, meme or community rather than a product. Prices are driven almost entirely by attention and can collapse quickly.
Mempool Networks
The waiting room of transactions that have been broadcast but not yet included in a block. Read: How Bitcoin works
MEV DeFi
Maximal extractable value: profit taken by choosing, ordering or inserting transactions in a block, often at ordinary users' expense.
MiCA Rules
The European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, which sets licensing, disclosure and reserve rules for crypto firms and stablecoin issuers. Read: Stablecoins: the peg, the backing and the risk
Mining Networks
Securing a proof-of-work blockchain by spending computing power to find valid blocks, in return for new coins and fees. Read: How blockchains work: from transaction to confirmation
Mint authority Tokens
On Solana, the key allowed to create new units of a token. If it hasn't been revoked, the supply can still be increased at will.
MPC wallet Security
A wallet whose key is split into shares held by different parties or devices, which sign together without the full key ever existing in one place.
Multisig Security
A wallet that needs several keys to approve a transaction, for example 2 of 3, so one lost or stolen key isn't enough to move funds.

N

NFT Tokens
Non-fungible token: a token with a unique identity, used for art, collectibles, tickets or in-game items. Owning one doesn't necessarily mean owning the image's copyright.
Node Networks
A computer running a blockchain's software. Full nodes check every block against the rules, which is what keeps the network honest. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon, How Bitcoin works
Nonce Networks
A number used once. In Ethereum accounts it counts transactions so each can be processed only once and in order; in mining it is the value miners vary. Read: Ethereum gas fees, explained clearly, How blockchains work: from transaction to confirmation

O

Off-ramp Basics
A service that turns crypto back into fiat money and pays it out to a bank account or card.
On-ramp Basics
A service that turns fiat money into crypto, such as an exchange deposit or a card purchase inside a wallet app.
Open interest Trading
The total value of derivative contracts still open. Rising open interest means more money is positioned; it doesn't say in which direction.
Optimistic rollup Networks
A rollup that assumes its batches are valid unless someone proves fraud during a challenge window, which is why withdrawals to the base chain can take days.
Options Trading
Contracts giving the right, not the duty, to buy (a call) or sell (a put) at a set price before a date. The buyer pays a premium for that right. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared
Oracle DeFi
A service that brings outside information, such as asset prices, onto a blockchain for smart contracts to use. A faulty oracle can break the applications that rely on it. Read: What prediction market odds actually tell you, Stablecoins: the peg, the backing and the risk
Order book Trading
The live list of buy and sell orders waiting on an exchange, sorted by price. Its shape shows how much can trade before the price moves. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, How to read the Terminal book
Ordinals Bitcoin
A way of numbering individual satoshis and attaching data to them, called inscriptions, used to create NFT-like assets on Bitcoin.
OTC trade Trading
A large trade arranged directly between two parties or through a desk, off the public order book, so it doesn't move the visible price.
Overcollateralization DeFi
Borrowing less than the value of what you pledge, for example borrowing 60 after depositing 100, so price drops don't leave the loan uncovered.

P

Perpetual futures Trading
Futures with no expiry date, the most traded crypto derivative. A funding payment between longs and shorts keeps their price close to spot.
Phishing Security
Fake sites, messages or support agents that trick you into revealing a seed phrase or signing a malicious transaction. Real support never asks for your phrase. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, Self-custody in one page
Polymarket price The desk
The price of an outcome share on Polymarket, read as an implied probability under that market’s resolution rules. Dextape shows these odds for information; they are not Dextape forecasts.
Price impact Trading
How far your own trade moves the price, because it uses up the liquidity at each level. Large orders in thin markets pay the most. Read: Liquidity, price impact and slippage explained, Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared
Priority fee Ethereum
The tip a user adds on Ethereum to get a transaction included sooner. It goes to the validator, while the base fee is burned. Read: Ethereum gas fees, explained clearly
Private key Wallet safety
The secret number that signs transactions for an address. Anyone who has it controls the funds, and it cannot be reset. Read: How Bitcoin works
Proof of reserves Stablecoins
Evidence an exchange or issuer publishes to show it holds the assets it owes customers, often wallet balances plus an audit. It rarely shows liabilities in full.
Proof of stake Basics
A consensus method in which validators lock up the network’s native asset as collateral to propose and confirm blocks, and can lose part of it for misbehavior. Ethereum uses it. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon, How Bitcoin works
Proof of work Basics
A consensus method in which miners spend computing power to find valid blocks, which makes past blocks costly to rewrite. Bitcoin uses it. Read: How Bitcoin works
Public key Basics
The shareable half of a key pair. Addresses are derived from public keys, so people can send you funds without learning anything that would let them spend. Read: How Bitcoin works
Pump and dump Tokens
Hyping an asset to push its price up, then selling into the buyers who arrive late. The price usually collapses once the sellers are out.

R

Recovery phrase Wallet safety
A list of words, usually 12 or 24, that can restore a wallet and everything it controls. Anyone who has it can take the funds, so keep it offline and never share it. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, How Bitcoin works
Reentrancy Security
A bug class where a contract calls out to another before updating its own records, letting the attacker call back in and withdraw repeatedly.
Renounced ownership Tokens
A contract whose owner has given up its admin rights, so those settings can't be changed later. Check for other roles or an upgradeable proxy before relying on it.
Reorg Networks
A chain reorganization: recent blocks are replaced by a competing version of the chain, undoing the transactions in them. That is why exchanges wait for confirmations.
Restaking DeFi
Reusing already-staked coins to secure additional services for extra rewards, which also adds extra ways to be penalised.
Revoking approvals Security
Cancelling a token allowance you gave a contract earlier, so it can no longer move those tokens. Old approvals to exploited contracts are a common way funds are lost.
Rollup Networks
A layer 2 that bundles many transactions and posts their data to a layer 1, inheriting much of its security. Read: Layer 2 networks and bridges: what changes?
RSI Trading
Relative Strength Index: a 0 to 100 gauge of how strong recent gains are against recent losses. Readings above 70 or below 30 are conventionally called overbought or oversold.
Rug pull Tokens
A scam where the creators drain a token's liquidity or dump their holdings, leaving buyers with tokens nobody will buy.

S

Sandwich attack DeFi
An MEV trade that buys just before your swap and sells just after it, leaving you with a worse price. Tight slippage settings limit it.
Satoshi Bitcoin
The smallest unit of bitcoin: one hundred-millionth of a coin, or 0.00000001 BTC. Named after Bitcoin's pseudonymous creator. Read: How Bitcoin works, What is cryptocurrency? A practical beginner’s guide
Seed phrase Basics
Another name for a recovery phrase: the 12 or 24 words that can rebuild every key in a wallet. Anyone who sees it can take the funds.
Self-custody Basics
Holding your own keys rather than leaving coins with an exchange. Nobody can freeze your funds, and nobody can recover them if you lose the keys. Read: Self-custody in one page, Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared
Sequencer Networks
The operator that orders transactions on a rollup. Many rollups still run a single sequencer, which can pause or reorder activity. Read: Layer 2 networks and bridges: what changes?
Sharding Networks
Splitting a blockchain's work across parallel groups of nodes so the network can handle more activity.
Sidechain Networks
A separate blockchain connected to another by a bridge, with its own security rather than the main chain's.
Slashing Networks
The penalty that destroys part of a validator's stake for breaking protocol rules, such as signing two conflicting blocks. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon
Slippage Markets
The difference between the price you expected and the price your trade actually received, often because the market moved before execution. Read: Liquidity, price impact and slippage explained, Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared
SMA Markets
Simple moving average: the average close over the last few bars on the chart. Dextape’s defaults are 7 and 25 bars. It smooths past prices and is not a signal.
Smart contract DeFi
A program stored on a blockchain that runs when called, under the network’s rules. Its code can contain bugs, and some contracts can be changed by whoever controls their upgrade keys. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon, How blockchains work: from transaction to confirmation
Smart contract audit Security
A review of a contract's code by a security firm. It lowers the odds of bugs but doesn't prove a project is safe or honest.
Sniper bot Tokens
A bot that buys a new token in the first seconds after liquidity is added, often to sell to later buyers at a higher price.
Soft fork Networks
A rule change that tightens the rules, so older nodes still accept the new blocks.
Sparkline Markets
A small 7-day CoinGecko price line used on tapes and the homepage. It is not the series drawn in Terminal.
Spot ETF Basics
An exchange-traded fund that holds the asset itself, so investors can get price exposure through a brokerage account without holding coins directly.
Spread Markets
The gap between the best ask and the best bid. Terminal shows it as (best ask − best bid) ÷ best bid. A wide spread with little size means trading is expensive. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, How to read the Terminal book
Stablecoin DeFi
A token designed to track a reference value, usually the US dollar, through reserves, crypto collateral or an algorithm. Stability is a design goal, not a promise. Read: Market cap, volume and dominance, Stablecoins: the peg, the backing and the risk
Staking DeFi
Locking a proof-of-stake network’s native asset to help secure it in return for rewards, directly or through a service. Staked assets can be penalized. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon, How blockchains work: from transaction to confirmation
Stop-loss order Trading
An order that turns into a sale once the price falls to a chosen level, meant to cap a loss. In a fast market it can fill well below that level.
Support and resistance Trading
Price levels where buying (support) or selling (resistance) has repeatedly appeared before. They are habits of the chart, not rules.
Sybil attack Networks
One actor creating many fake identities to gain influence, for example to farm an airdrop or sway a vote.

T

Taproot Bitcoin
A 2021 Bitcoin upgrade that made complex transactions cheaper and more private by letting them look like ordinary ones.
Testnet Networks
A copy of a blockchain used for testing, whose coins have no value.
The Merge Ethereum
Ethereum's 2022 switch from proof of work to proof of stake, which ended mining on the network. Read: Ethereum staking, without the jargon
Timelock Security
A delay built into a contract so admin changes only take effect after a waiting period, giving users time to react.
Token Basics
A digital asset issued by a smart contract on an existing blockchain rather than by its own network, for example an ERC-20 token on Ethereum or an SPL token on Solana. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, Ethereum gas fees, explained clearly
Token approval Wallet safety
Permission for a smart contract to spend a set amount of your tokens. Approvals can stay active until you revoke them.
Token burn Tokens
Sending tokens to an address nobody controls so they can never be used again, which shrinks the supply.
Token generation event Tokens
The moment a project's token is first created and distributed, often shortened to TGE. Trading usually starts soon after.
Token unlock Tokens
The moment locked tokens held by a team, investors or a treasury become transferable. Large unlocks add supply that can be sold.
Tokenized real-world assets Basics
Traditional assets such as government bonds, funds or property represented as tokens on a blockchain, often called RWAs. The token is only as good as the legal claim and custodian behind it.
Tokenomics Tokens
How a token's supply works: how many exist, who holds them, how new ones are issued or burned, and when locked tokens unlock.
Total supply Tokens
All units that exist right now, including locked and unvested tokens that aren't circulating yet. Read: How Bitcoin works, How to read a crypto market table
Total value locked DeFi
The value of assets deposited in a protocol or group of protocols. Methods differ, and the same assets can be counted more than once.
Travel Rule Rules
A requirement for crypto service providers to pass sender and recipient details along with transfers, as banks do for wires. Some countries apply it only above a threshold; the EU applies it to every transfer.

U

Upgradeable contract Security
A contract behind a proxy whose code can be swapped by an admin key. Upgrades fix bugs but also let the admin change the rules.
USDT pair Markets
A market quoting an asset in USDT. Terminal’s Binance order book requires a verified pair; other supported providers or DEX pools can supply charts independently. Read: How to read the Terminal book
UTXO Bitcoin
Unspent transaction output: Bitcoin tracks coins as discrete pieces left over from earlier transactions rather than as account balances.

V

Validator Networks
A node that proposes and attests to blocks on a proof-of-stake chain, with staked coins at risk if it misbehaves. Read: Ethereum gas fees, explained clearly, Ethereum staking, without the jargon
Vesting Tokens
A schedule that releases tokens to insiders gradually, often after a waiting period, so they can't sell everything at launch.
Volatility Trading
How much and how fast a price swings. High volatility means larger moves in both directions, not a direction. Read: What Fear & Greed is (and is not)
Volume Markets
Reported 24-hour turnover. It varies by venue and can be inflated, and it is not the same as liquidity. Read: Market cap, volume and dominance, What Fear & Greed is (and is not)

W

Wallet Basics
Software or a device that stores the keys controlling your addresses. A wallet doesn't hold coins; it holds the keys that move them on the blockchain. Read: Centralized and decentralized exchanges compared, Ethereum gas fees, explained clearly
Wallet drainer Security
Malicious code behind a fake mint, airdrop or login page that asks for signatures which hand over your tokens.
Wash trading Trading
Trading with yourself, or with a partner, to inflate volume and make a market look busier than it is. It distorts volume figures on some venues.
Wei and gwei Ethereum
Ether's small units: one wei is 10^-18 ETH, and one gwei is a billion wei. Gas prices are quoted in gwei.
Whale Slang
A wallet or entity holding enough of an asset that its trades can move the price.
Wire The desk
Dextape’s automated feed of publisher stories. The news page, search, beat pages and Terminal’s news rail all read the same attributed items. Read: How the Dextape wire works
Wrapped token Tokens
A token that represents another asset one-for-one on a different chain or standard, such as wrapped bitcoin on Ethereum. It depends on whoever holds the original.

Y

Yield farming DeFi
Moving funds between DeFi protocols to collect fees and reward tokens. Advertised yields often come from new token emissions and can vanish quickly.

Z

Zero-knowledge proof Networks
Cryptography that proves a statement is true without revealing the data behind it. ZK rollups use it to prove their batches are valid.

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51% attack Networks
Control of most of a network's mining power or stake, enough to rewrite recent history and double-spend coins. It is costly on large networks.