THE CRYPTO GLOSSARY

Crypto glossary

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

A

Address Basics
A destination identifier used to receive assets on a particular network.
ATH Markets
All-time high printed by the market source (CoinGecko on Dextape). Distance from ATH is not a valuation.

B

Bid / ask Markets
Best buy and sell prices on the venue’s book. Mid sits between them. Dextape’s book is Binance public depth.
Block Basics
A batch of transactions or state changes accepted under a blockchain's rules.
Blockchain Basics
An ordered record of blocks that participants verify using shared protocol rules.
Bridge DeFi
A mechanism for moving value or messages between networks, with its own trust assumptions.

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.
Circulating supply Markets
A provider’s estimate of tokens in public circulation, used to calculate market cap. Check its methodology and observation time.
Cold storage Wallet safety
A method of keeping signing keys away from routine internet-connected use.
Consensus Basics
The process by which a network agrees on a valid history or state.
Custody Wallet safety
Control of the keys or account permissions that authorize asset transfers.

D

Decentralized exchange DeFi
A trading system whose execution relies on blockchain-based protocols.
Depeg DeFi
A deviation from the reference value a pegged asset aims to track.
Dominance Markets
An asset’s cap as a share of CoinGecko’s total crypto cap. A rising BTC share can be bitcoin bid or altcoin bleed.

E

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.

F

Fear & Greed Markets
alternative.me’s composite index. Reprinted here with a source stamp. Not a Dextape forecast.
Finality Basics
The point at which reversing an accepted transaction is ruled out or becomes sufficiently unlikely under a network's assumptions.
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
Current token price multiplied by a broader supply measure, often maximum or total supply.

G

Gas DeFi
A unit used to meter computational work on a blockchain, distinct from the price paid per unit.
Governance DeFi
Processes for making or coordinating changes to a protocol and its parameters.

H

Hardware wallet Wallet safety
A dedicated device designed to keep signing keys isolated and authorize transactions.

K

Kline Markets
A term used by exchanges for a candlestick bar: open, high, low, close and, where available, traded volume.

L

Liquidity Markets
The ability to transact an amount with limited cost and price impact.
Log scale Markets
A price axis where equal percent moves take equal space. Use it when comparing long histories.

M

Market cap Markets
Price × circulating supply from CoinGecko. A ranking device, not a cash pile.

O

Oracle DeFi
A mechanism that makes external information available to a blockchain application.

P

Polymarket price The desk
A bid on that venue’s resolution rule. Odds pages are not Dextape forecasts.
Private key Wallet safety
Secret cryptographic material that can authorize transactions for associated assets.
Proof of stake Basics
A family of consensus mechanisms in which validators commit assets to participate.
Proof of work Basics
A family of consensus mechanisms that uses computational work to make history costly to rewrite.

R

Recovery phrase Wallet safety
A sequence of words that can encode material needed to recover a wallet. It must remain private.

S

Slippage Markets
The difference between an expected execution price and the price actually received.
SMA Markets
Simple moving average of closes already on the chart. Default windows are 7 and 25. Not a signal.
Smart contract DeFi
Program logic executed by a blockchain under the network's rules.
Sparkline Markets
A 7-day CoinGecko price path used on tapes and the homepage. It is not the Terminal series.
Spread Markets
(Best ask − best bid) / best bid. Wide spread plus thin size means expensive to trade, not “bullish.”
Stablecoin DeFi
A token designed to track a reference value, such as a currency, using a particular mechanism.
Staking DeFi
Committing assets in a proof-of-stake system, directly or through a service.
Stale The desk
A source was fetched earlier and CoinGecko or a feed is rate-limiting or down. The number is old; we label it.

T

Token approval Wallet safety
Permission for a specified smart contract to spend tokens under defined conditions.
Total value locked DeFi
The value of assets counted as deposited in a set of protocols; methodology and double counting matter.

U

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.

V

Volume Markets
Reported 24h turnover. Venue-specific and inflatable. Compare it to cap before treating it as interest.

W

Wire The desk
The automated RSS tape. Search, beats, and Terminal’s news rail all read the same attributed items.