Reference
Crypto
The language of markets, defined plainly — the terms our coverage uses and what they actually mean.
A
- Audit
- A review of a smart contract's code by a specialist firm, looking for vulnerabilities before or after deployment.
B
- Bitcoin
- The first cryptocurrency, launched in 2009, running on a proof-of-work blockchain with a supply capped at 21 million coins and issuance that halves roughly every four years.
- Blockchain
- A shared record of transactions maintained by many independent computers, where each block of entries is cryptographically linked to the one before it. Rewriting history therefore requires redoing everything after the change.
- Bridge
- A system for moving value between blockchains, typically locking an asset on one chain and issuing a representation on another.
C
- Circulating Supply
- The number of tokens currently available to trade, excluding those locked, reserved or not yet issued.
D
- DeFi
- Financial services — lending, trading, derivatives — built from smart contracts rather than intermediaries, with users retaining custody of their assets.
E
- Ethereum
- A blockchain designed to run programs — smart contracts — as well as move value. It moved from proof of work to proof of stake in 2022, and most DeFi and token activity has…
- Exchange
- A venue for trading assets. A centralised exchange holds customer funds and matches orders on its own systems; a decentralised exchange settles trades through smart contracts with users keeping custody.
G
- Gas Fee
- The payment for the computation a blockchain transaction consumes, paid in the network's own currency and set by demand for limited block space.
L
- Layer 2
- A network built on top of a base blockchain that processes transactions separately and posts results back, reducing cost and congestion on the main chain.
- Liquidity Pool
- A pot of two or more tokens locked in a contract that traders swap against, with prices set by a formula rather than an order book. Depositors earn a share of the trading fees.
N
P
- Private Key
- The secret number that authorises transactions from an address. Possession of the key is possession of the assets.
- Proof of Work
- A consensus method in which participants compete to solve a computational puzzle to add the next block, making rewriting history expensive. Bitcoin uses it.
S
- Self-Custody
- Holding your own keys rather than leaving assets with an exchange or custodian.
- Smart Contract
- A program stored on a blockchain that runs automatically when its conditions are met, without an intermediary holding the assets.
- Stablecoin
- A token designed to hold a steady value against a reference, usually the US dollar. Most are backed by reserves of cash and short-term government debt; some instead rely on algorithms or crypto collateral.
- Staking
- Committing tokens to help secure a proof-of-stake network, earning newly issued tokens and fees in return. Misbehaving validators can have part of their stake destroyed.
T
- Token
- A digital asset issued on an existing blockchain rather than having its own. Tokens can represent governance rights, access to a service, a claim on something, or nothing in particular.