In recent years, cryptocurrencies have not only disrupted the financial world but have also opened the door to new possibilities for investing, making payments, and driving digital innovation.
For newcomers, the topic can feel overwhelming, filled with unique terminology, advanced technologies, and unfamiliar market dynamics. That’s where we come in.
Our mission is to give you the knowledge and confidence to navigate this new digital landscape, make informed choices, and take advantage of emerging opportunities.
What You’ll Learn
- What cryptocurrencies are – Digital, decentralized money built on blockchain technology.
- How blockchain works – A secure, distributed database that records transactions transparently and cannot be altered.
- Why cryptocurrencies matter – They enable entirely new forms of financial transactions, investment strategies, and digital applications.
- Risks and opportunities – From price volatility and changing regulations to rapid technological progress, understanding the factors shaping the market is key.
- Your first steps – How to create a wallet, buy your first coins safely, and store them securely for the long term.
Cryptocurrency Glossary
The following crypto glossary provides a clear, alphabetical list of key crypto terms, each with a short definition. It’s designed as a quick reference guide to help you cut through the complexity and grasp the fundamentals from A to Z:
A
- Airdrops – Free distribution of tokens to users’ wallets.
- All-Time High (ATH) – The highest price ever reached by an asset.
- All-Time Low (ATL) – The lowest price ever reached by an asset.
- Altcoin – Any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin.
- Altcoin Season – A market phase when altcoins outperform Bitcoin.
- Atomic Swaps – Direct peer-to-peer crypto trades across blockchains without intermediaries.
- Avalanche – A fast, scalable blockchain platform for decentralized apps and finance.
B
- Bear Market – Extended period of falling prices and pessimism.
- Bitcoin Arbitrage – Practice of profiting from price differences of Bitcoin on one exchange at a lower price and selling it on another at a higher price
- Block – A record of transactions added to the blockchain.
- Blockchain – A decentralized digital ledger of transactions.
- Bull Market – Extended period of rising prices and optimism.
C
- Centralized Exchange (CEX) – A crypto trading platform run by a company.
- Cold Wallet – Offline storage for crypto assets, safer from hacks.
- Consensus Mechanism – The method by which a blockchain validates transactions.
- Cryptography – The science of securing data and communications.
D
- dApps – software application that runs on a blockchain or peer-to-peer network without a central authority.
- Decentralized Exchange (DEX) – Peer-to-peer marketplace for trading crypto.
- DeFi (Decentralized Finance) – Financial services built on blockchain without intermediaries.
- Difficulty – Measure of how hard it is to mine or validate blocks.
- Dusting Attack – Small token transactions sent to track wallets.
E
- ERC-20 – Standard for fungible Ethereum-based tokens.
- Escrow – Funds held by a trusted third party until conditions are met.
- Ethereum – A blockchain that supports smart contracts and decentralized apps.
F
- Fiat – Government-issued currency like dollars or euros.
- Fork – A blockchain split, either temporary (soft) or permanent (hard).
- FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – Anxiety of missing a profitable opportunity.
G
- Gas Fee – Transaction cost paid to miners or validators on a blockchain.
- Genesis Block – The first block of a blockchain.
- GPU Mining – Mining using graphics processing units.
H
- Halving – Bitcoin event where mining rewards are cut in half.
- Hash Rate – Computing power used to secure and validate blockchain transactions.
- HODL – Holding crypto long-term instead of selling.
I
- ICO (Initial Coin Offering) – Fundraising event where new tokens are sold.
- Immutable – Data that cannot be altered once added to the blockchain.
- Interoperability – Ability of blockchains to communicate and share data.
J
- JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) – Contentment with not chasing every crypto trend.
- Junk Coin – A cryptocurrency with little or no value or utility.
K
- KYC (Know Your Customer) – Identity verification process on exchanges.
- Key Pair – Combination of public and private keys used in crypto transactions.
L
- Ledger – Record of all blockchain transactions.
- Leverage – Borrowing funds to increase the size of a trade, amplifying both potential gains and losses.
- Liquidity – Ease with which an asset can be bought or sold.
- Lightning Network – Bitcoin’s layer-2 solution for faster, cheaper payments.
M
- Margin Trading – Trading with borrowed money from an exchange or broker, using existing funds as collateral.
- Market Cap – Value of a crypto (price × circulating supply).
- Merkle Tree – Cryptographic structure that verifies blockchain data.
- Mining – Process of validating transactions and creating new coins.
N
- NFTs (Non-Fungible Token) – Unique digital asset on a blockchain.
- Node – A computer that participates in maintaining a blockchain.
- Nonce – A number used once in mining to create valid blocks.
O
- Oracles – Systems that provide real-world data to smart contracts.
- Order Book – List of buy and sell orders on an exchange.
- Open Source – Software with publicly available code.
P
- P2P (Peer-to-Peer) – Direct transactions without intermediaries.
- Private Key – Secret code granting access to crypto funds.
- Public Key – Address used to receive cryptocurrency.
Q
- Quantum Computing Risk – Potential threat quantum computers pose to blockchain security.
- QR Code Wallet – Quick response code for sending or receiving crypto.
R
- Rug Pull – Scam where project creators drain funds and disappear.
- ROI (Return on Investment) – Profit percentage compared to invested capital.
- Rollup – Layer-2 scaling solution that bundles transactions.
- RWAs – physical or traditional financial assets tokenized on a blockchain for digital ownership and trading
S
- Satoshi (SAT) – Smallest unit of Bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC).
- Short (in Crypto) – A trading position that profits when the price of a cryptocurrency falls.
- Smart Contract – Self-executing code on a blockchain.
- Spot vs. Futures (in Crypto) – Spot trading means buying or selling crypto for immediate delivery; futures trading involves contracts to buy or sell crypto at a set price on a future date.
- Stablecoin – Crypto pegged to a stable asset like the US dollar.
T
- Token – A digital unit built on a blockchain, often representing utility or assets.
- Total Supply – Maximum number of tokens that will exist.
- Transaction Fee – Payment made to process blockchain transactions.
U
- Utility Token – Token that provides access to a product or service.
- Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) – Bitcoin transaction model for tracking balances.
V
- Validator – A participant that verifies blockchain transactions.
- Volatility – Degree of variation in asset price over time.
- Virtual Machine (VM) – Software environment that executes smart contracts.
W
- Wallet – Software or device used to store crypto keys.
- Wash Trading – Fake trading activity to inflate volume.
- Whale – An individual or entity holding large amounts of crypto.
X
- XBT – Alternative ticker symbol for Bitcoin.
- XRP – Digital currency used on Ripple’s network for fast payments.
Y
- Yield Farming – Earning rewards by providing liquidity to DeFi platforms.
- YTD (Year-to-Date) – Performance measure from the start of the year until now.
Z
- Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) – Cryptographic method to prove information without revealing it.
- Zk-Rollup – Layer-2 solution combining rollups with zero-knowledge proofs.
- Z-Score – Statistical measure of how far a value is from the mean.
