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account – A pair of cryptographic keys: a public address (shared openly) and a private key (kept secret). The public half lets others identify, send, or receive tokens; the private half gives total control over the account.
account owner – The address of the program that owns the data in a Solana account. Only that program can modify the account.
actively validated services (AVS) – Actively validated services provide additional security layers by continuously verifying data availability, network performance, and compliance in blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
address – A a string of letters and numbers used to identify, send, or receive tokens between different entities.
aggregator – A platform or protocol that combines real‑time pricing and liquidity data from multiple sources so users receive the most efficient execution for their trades or other actions.
air‑gapping – A method for securing computers or digital wallets by physically isolating them from any network connection—there is a “gap made of air” between that device and any other.
airdrop – A token‑distribution method in which cryptocurrency tokens or digital assets are sent to a predetermined set of wallet addresses.
all‑time high (ATH) – The highest price of a cryptocurrency has ever reached in its quoted currency (e.g., USD, BTC, ETH, BNB).
allocation – Percentage distribution of tokens. For example, a project may allocate 40 % of tokens to its team.
alpha – The first look at a product released by a team, usually very early software meant for internal testing.
altcoin – Any cryptocurrency other than Ethereum or Bitcoin.
Base Fee - the minimum, algorithmically determined amount that must be paid per unit of resource (such as gas) for a transaction to be included on blockchains like Ethereum.
bags – A slang term for one’s portfolio of coins and tokens. “Heavy bags” often refer to poorly performing assets an investor is holding.
Beacon Chain – The proof‑of‑stake coordination layer introduced in Ethereum’s transition away from proof‑of‑work (The Merge, completed in September 2022).
beta (release) – An early version of a program released publicly to gather feedback; follows the alpha stage.
block – A discrete set of transactions recorded on a distributed ledger, immutably linked to previous blocks.
block explorer – A website that lets users browse onchain data—blocks, transactions, balances, contracts, etc.
block header – Metadata summarizing a block’s contents
block height – The number of blocks preceding the current one in a blockchain.
Block Proposer - the participant in a blockchain network responsible for assembling and submitting a new block of transactions to be validated and added to the blockchain.
block reward – The coins or tokens minted and awarded to a miner or validator for adding a new block.
block time – The average time it takes a network to produce a new block.
blockchain – A distributed ledger consisting of a chronological chain of blocks, secured with cryptography and consensus mechanisms.
candidate block – A temporary block created by a mining node and broadcast to the network in hopes of becoming part of the chain.
censorship resistance – The property of a network that prevents any entity from altering or banning specific transactions.
(CBDC) Central Bank Digital Currency – A digital form of a nation’s fiat money, issued and backed by its sovereign central bank.
(CPU) Central Processing Unit – The part of a computer responsible for interpreting instructions of computer programs and executing operations.
centralized – A system where decision‑making power is concentrated in a single point.
CEX (centralized exchange) – A custodial marketplace matching buyers and sellers, holding and managing the assets on behalf of its users.
chain ID – A unique identifier representing a blockchain network, ensuring transactions are sent to the correct chain.
cipher – A method for encrypting and decrypting messages.
circulating supply – The approximate number of coins or tokens that are publicly available and circulating in the market.
claim – The action a user takes to finalize ownership of allocated tokens or NFTs.
client – Software that lets a computer interact with a blockchain network (e.g., Ethereum’s Geth or Prysm).
coin – A blockchain’s native digital currency (e.g., BTC, ETH) that pays transaction fees, secures the network, and serves as a transferable store of value.
Danksharding – An upcoming Ethereum scaling design combining blob‑data availability with sharding.
DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) – An organization governed by smart contracts and token‑holder votes instead of traditional management.
dapp (Decentralized Application) – An application that runs on a decentralized network rather than a centralized server.
Data availability - a fundamental concept in blockchain and decentralized networks, ensuring that all data required to verify, validate, and interact with the network is accessible to every participant.
Data Availability Committee (DAC) - a group of selected, often permissioned, nodes or entities responsible for ensuring that blockchain data is correctly stored and made accessible to network participants when needed.
DCA – Acronym for “dollar‑cost averaging,” an investment strategy of purchasing a fixed dollar amount of an asset at regular intervals to mitigate volatility.
DDoS attack – A distributed‑denial‑of‑service assault that overwhelms a network or service with excessive traffic, disrupting normal operation.
decentralization – The distribution of functions, control, or information away from a central authority.
DeFi – Short for “decentralized finance,” a suite of permissionless, smart‑contract‑based financial services that run on public blockchains without traditional intermediaries.
deposit contract - a special-purpose smart contract that securely receives and holds digital assets from users until specific conditions are met, after which those assets can be released or used for their intended protocol function.
developer
EIP (Ethereum Improvement Proposal) – A design document providing information to the Ethereum community about protocol changes.
EIP‑1559 – EIP‑1559 replaces Ethereum’s first‑price gas auction with a predictable per‑block “base fee,” while still letting users attach an optional “priority fee” tip to accelerate inclusion.
EIP‑4844 (Proto-Danksharding) – introduced cheap “blob” transactions that slash rollup fees and lay the groundwork for full danksharding to further scale Ethereum’s throughput.
encryption – The process of transforming readable data into ciphertext using cryptographic keys, ensuring that only authorized parties can decrypt and access the original information.
ENS (Ethereum Name Service) – A decentralized naming system that maps human‑readable names (e.g., vitalik.eth) to Ethereum addresses and other blockchain resources.
Ethereum Foundation – The non‑profit organization that funds research, client development, community grants, and events to support Ethereum’s long‑term growth.
Etherscan – A popular block explorer that lets anyone view Ethereum addresses, transactions, token transfers, and smart‑contract code in real time
epoch – A period during which a blockchain’s validator set is fixed.
ERC (Ethereum Request for Comment) – A standardized proposal format used to define token standards and application‑level improvements on Ethereum (e.g., ERC‑20, ERC‑721).
ERC‑20 – The fungible token standard on Ethereum.
ERC‑721 – The non‑fungible token standard on Ethereum.
fair launch – A token launch with no private allocations; all participants compete equally.
faucet - a tool that gives out small amounts of free cryptocurrency (like testnet ETH) to users, typically for testing, learning, or onboarding purposes.
fault-tolerant – Fault-tolerant refers to the ability of a software system to remain functional even if parts of it fail or malfunction.
fee market – The mechanism by which users outbid one another for block space.
FHE (Fully Homomorphic Encryption) – Encryption allowing computation on ciphertexts.
fiat – Government‑issued currency not backed by a physical commodity (i.e. US Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), etc.)
finality – The guarantee that a block cannot be reverted after a certain number of confirmations.
Flashbots – An organization focused on mitigating the negative externalities of MEV.
flash loan – An unsecured loan borrowed and repaid within a single blockchain transaction.
fork – A change to a blockchain’s protocol creating two separate chains.
front‑running – Exploiting knowledge of pending transactions to profit.
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) – Negative information spread to influence perception of a cryptocurrency.
fungibility – The property of an asset whose individual units are interchangeable.
GameFi – A combination of blockchain technology and gaming, typically offering play-to-earn incentives.
gas – A measure of the computational steps required for a transaction on the Ethereum network.
gas fee – The transaction fee on Ethereum. It is what users pay to get their transaction validated, or completed.
gas limit – The maximum amount of gas a user will spend on a transaction.
gas price – The amount a user is willing to pay per unit of gas.
genesis block – The first block on a blockchain.
GitHub – An online software development platform used for storing, tracking, and collaborating on software projects.
governance token – A token granting holders voting power over protocol decisions.
GPU – Graphics Processing Unit, often used in mining.
Gwei – One billionth of an ETH; used to price gas.
Gnosis Safe – A multi‑signature smart‑contract wallet on Ethereum.
hackathon – A competition where participants build sample applications atop a blockchain ecosystem, typically for cash prizes.
halving – Some cryptocurrencies have a finite supply, which makes them theoretically a scarce digital commodity. For example, the number of bitcoins generated per block is decreased 50% every four years. This is called “halving.”
hard cap – The maximum amount a project intends to raise.
hard fork – A permanent divergence in the blockchain that requires node upgrades.
hardware wallet – A physical device that is used to store cryptographic keys, and generally, sign transactions.
hash – The output of a hash function.
hash rate – The number of hash operations per second by the network.
hex data – Hexadecimal is a base 16, rather than base 10, counting system comprised of the numbers 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 and letters A B C D E F. Used on Ethereum for a variety of things, but most notably wallet addresses.
HODL – Humorous misspelling of “hold,” now meaning “Hold On for Dear Life.”
Hoodi – An Ethereum testnet that supplies faucet ETH and a safe sandbox for developers to trial smart contracts, apps, and forthcoming protocol upgrades.
hot wallet – A wallet connected to the internet.
human‑readable address – An alias mapping to a long hexadecimal address.
ICO (Initial Coin Offering) - Occurs when a new token project sells advance tokens in exchange for upfront capital, similar to an IPO (Initial Product Offering) in traditional finance.
immutable – Unable to be changed once recorded.
impermanent loss – Loss incurred when providing liquidity compared to holding the assets.
interoperability – The ability of different blockchain networks to send and receive information and value between one another.
JSON file (JSON-RPC) - The standard method used to move data around computer systems and public blockchain technology.
keypair – A public key and corresponding private key for accessing an account.
KYC (Know Your Customer) – Regulations requiring platforms to verify users’ identities.
latency – In the context of Network latency: refers to the amount of time it takes for a computer on one network to communicate with a computer on another network. Network latency
layer 0 – The social or human coordination layer of a blockchain ecosystem.
layer 1 (L1) – The base blockchain architecture or "Mainnet" on Ethereum.
layer 2 (L2) – A protocol sitting on top of a layer 1 to improve scalability.
leader – The role of a validator when it is appending entries to the ledger.
leader schedule – A sequence of validator public keys mapped to a blockchains transactions slots. Used to determine which validator is the leader at any moment in time.
light client – A client that verifies block headers rather than the full chain.
liquidity – The ease with which an asset can be converted without affecting its price.
liquidity mining – Earning rewards by providing liquidity.
liquid staking – Staking your tokens to help secure a blockchain while still being able to trade and use a token representing your stake in DeFi apps.
liquid staking token (LST) – A token representing staked assets that remain liquid.
Liquidity Provider (LP) – Entities or individuals who supply buy and sell orders to the financial markets to increase market liquidity and ensure a stable and efficient market.
mainnet – The primary public blockchain where real‑value transactions occur.
MEV (maximum extractable value) – Profit a block builder or validator can make by reordering transactions.
Merkle root – A single hash representing all transactions in a block.
Merkle tree – A data structure allowing efficient verification of contents.
metadata – In the context of NFT's, data that provides information about other data.
microtransactions – Making very small payments.
mint – The process of creating new tokens.
miner – A participant who validates transactions in Proof‑of‑Work.
mining pool – A group of miners combining resources.
"money printer go brrrrr" – A meme created in response to the Federal Reserve's plans to print money.
multisig – A wallet requiring multiple signatures.
native token – the main token of a specific blockchain, used for transactions, paying fees, and rewarding network participants on that blockchain. For example, ETH is the native token on the Ethereum Network.
network – Refers to all nodes in the operation of a blockchain at any given moment in time.
network effect – Additional value as more people use a product.
NFT (Non‑Fungible Token) – a unique digital token that proves ownership of a specific item—like art, music, or collectibles—on a blockchain.
NFT floor price – Floor prices represent the lowest value at which you can purchase an NFT within a collection.
node – A computer participating in a blockchain network.
node count – The number of validators participating in a network (i.e. Ethereum).
non‑custodial wallet – A wallet where users control their private keys.
nonce – A number used once; in Ethereum, a counter for transactions.
"Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins." - means you don’t truly own your cryptocurrency unless you control the private keys to your wallet; if someone else holds the keys (like an exchange), they ultimately control your funds.
native token – The primary token of a blockchain (i.e. ETH).
offchain – Data or computation outside the blockchain.
off‑ramp – A service converting cryptocurrency into fiat (i.e. USD).
onchain – any activity, transaction, or data that is directly recorded and verified on a blockchain, making it public, permanent, and secured by the network’s consensus mechanism.
on‑ramp – A service converting fiat money (i.e. USD) into cryptocurrency.
open source – Software whose source code is publicly available.
optimistic rollup – A layer‑2 scaling solution assuming transactions are valid by default.
oracle – A service that delivers real-world data to blockchain smart contracts, letting them respond to events and information from outside the blockchain.
order book – The list of buy and sell orders for an asset.
parallelization – An approach to transaction processing that structures the network to validate multiple transactions simultaneously.
permissioned blockchain – a type of blockchain where only approved participants can join, view, and make changes to the network, unlike public blockchains that anyone can access.
permissionless blockchain – a public blockchain where anyone can join, view, validate, and record transactions without needing prior approval or authorization.
phishing – attempts to obtain sensitive information by deception.
POAP (Proof of Attendance Protocol) – creates digital badges to record the attendance of an event.
PoS (Proof‑of‑Stake) – consensus where validators are chosen based on stake (i.e. Ethereum)
PoW (Proof‑of‑Work) – consensus requiring miners to solve complex mathematical puzzles (i.e. Bitcoin).
Priority Fee - an extra amount you add to a blockchain transaction as a tip, encouraging validators to process your transaction faster than others.
private key – a secret key used to sign transactions.
protocol - a set of rules and standards that define how information is exchanged, validated, and agreed upon within a network, ensuring that all participants interact reliably and securely.
proto-danksharding - an upgrade to Ethereum that introduces a new way to handle large amounts of data for rollups by adding "blobs"—special temporary data storage—making transactions cheaper and more efficient, as a first step toward full sharding in the future.
post-quantum system - A system that uses cryptographic methods designed to remain secure even against the enormous processing power of quantum computers, which could break current cryptographic defenses.
quantum computing - A new kind of computing that uses the principles of quantum mechanics (the science that explains how things work at the atomic and subatomic level) to process information in ways that traditional computers cannot.
RaaS (Rollups‑as‑a‑Service) – Turn‑key tooling for launching custom rollups.
RWA's (Real World Assets) - Physical or financial assets—like stocks, bonds, real estate, or gold,—turned into digital tokens on a blockchain.
re-entrancy attack - a critical vulnerability in blockchain smart contracts, when an external contract is able to repeatedly call back into the vulnerable contract before the initial execution is finished, allowing an attacker to exploit the contract’s logic and drain funds.
rekt – Slang for heavy financial loss.
relayer - A service or person that acts as a middleman to help send transactions, messages, or data across different blockchains or between users and smart contracts.
reorg – A chain reorganization replacing some blocks.
restaking - using your already staked tokens again so you can earn extra rewards or help secure more networks, without unstaking your original tokens.
RISC-V - an open-source processor architecture based on a simple, modular instruction set that anyone can use, modify, or extend without licensing fees
roadmap - A public plan or timeline showing the goals, upcoming features, and key development steps for a blockchain project, protocol, or crypto company.
rollup – A layer‑2 scaling solution posting compressed data on layer‑1.
router – A contract directing tokens through different pools for best execution.
RPC (Remote Procedure Call) - in blockchain is a communication method that lets your wallet or app talk to a blockchain node—sending and receiving data like account balances, transaction details, or submitting new transactions—over the internet.
sandwich attack - a type of market manipulation where a trader (usually a bot) sees your planned swap on a decentralized exchange, quickly buys the token before you (raising the price), lets your trade go through at a worse rate for you, then immediately sells the token at the new higher price—profiting off your transaction and leaving you with a worse deal.
Satoshi Nakamoto – A pseudonymous individual who created the Bitcoin protocol, solving the digital currency issue of the “double spend.”
scalability - how well a network can handle growing numbers of transactions quickly and cheaply, without slowing down or becoming too expensive as more people use it.
scalability trilemma – Challenge of optimizing scalability, security, and decentralization simultaneously.
SDK (Software Development Kit) – Tools for building applications.
security audit – Review of codebase for vulnerabilities.
seed phrase – A list of words generating wallet keys.
self‑custody – Managing your own private keys.
sequencer – Entity ordering transactions in rollups.
sharding – Splitting blockchain data into partitions.
sidechain – An independent chain pegged to a main chain.
signing - refers to the process of creating a digital signature for a message, transaction, or document using a private key.
slashing
TA (Technical Analysis) – Evaluating assets based on trading activity trends.
testnet – A sandbox blockchain for testing.
throughput – Transactions processed per second.
ticker - a short code or symbol used to uniquely identify a specific cryptocurrency or token—just like “BTC” for Bitcoin or “ETH” for Ethereum.
timestamp – The time at which a block is produced.
token - a digital asset created and managed on a blockchain. Tokens can represent anything—money, voting rights, collectibles, shares, or even access to a service.
token burn – Permanently removing tokens from circulation.
tokenization - The process of creating digital tokens to represent real-world or digital assets on a blockchain, making them easy to trade, own, or transfer.
token lockup - a mechanism in which newly issued cryptocurrency tokens are temporarily blocked from being traded or transferred for a set period of time.
tokenomics – Economic properties of a token.
token sale - a fundraising method used by crypto projects to distribute new tokens to investors.
token standard - a set of rules and technical specifications that define how digital tokens are created, behave, and interact on a blockchain.
TPS (Transactions per second) - Measures how many individual transactions a blockchain network can process each second.
unbonding period – Timeframe in which tokens remain illiquid after unstaking.
UI (user interface) - the visual layout and interactive elements—like buttons, menus, and forms—that allow users to interact with crypto apps or websites, such as wallets, exchanges, and apps.
unstake - to withdraw your crypto tokens that you had previously locked up ("staked") in a blockchain Proof of Stake network.
UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output) – Remaining digital currency after a transaction that defines how ownership and spending of coins are tracked.
upgrade - a planned improvement or update to a network’s protocol or underlying software.
upgradeability – Ability to modify contract logic after deployment via proxies.
UX (user experience) refers to the overall feel, ease, and satisfaction a user has while navigating and using a digital product.
validator – a participant in a blockchain network that helps keep the system secure and running by checking (validating) transactions and blocks.
validity proof - a cryptographic method used in blockchains and zero-knowledge rollups (ZK-rollups) to mathematically prove that transactions or computations are correct—without revealing the underlying data.
validium - a type of Layer 2 scaling solution for blockchains that combines validity proofs (as in ZK-rollups) with off-chain data storage.
Vesting - a mechanism in the cryptocurrency world that controls when certain individuals or groups (such as founders, team members, advisors, or early investors) can access or use their tokens.
vesting schedule – Timeline over which tokens become transferable.
virtual machine (VM) - a specialized software environment that executes smart contracts and decentralized applications (apps) within a blockchain network.
volatility – Degree of price variation over time.
Volume - the total amount of a digital asset traded within a specific period—such as 24 hours—on an exchange or across the whole market.
VRF (Verifiable Random Function) – Function producing random output that can be verified.
WAGMI - stands for "We’re All Gonna Make It". A widely used rallying cry in crypto and online.
wallet – Software or hardware storing keys.
Web 1 - The internet’s first stage, with static, read-only websites where users could only view information but not interact or contribute (1990s–early 2000s).
Web 2: The rise of interactive, social platforms letting users create, share, and engage with content directly, shaping the modern “read-write” web (Mid-2000s–Present).
Web 3: The emerging era of decentralized, blockchain-powered web experiences where users own and control their data, assets, and digital identity (Emerging Era).
whale – Entity holding a large amount of cryptocurrency.
whitepaper – an in-depth document published by a cryptocurrency or blockchain project to explain its purpose, technology, design, and future plans.
wrapped token – Tokenized representation of another asset on a different chain.
WebAssembly (Wasm) – Binary instruction format for a stack‑based VM.
x‑pub (extended public key) – A key allowing the derivation of child public keys in HD wallets.
yield - the earnings or returns you get from holding, lending, staking, or providing liquidity with your digital assets.
yield farming – a strategy where users earn rewards by providing liquidity or lending their cryptocurrency to DeFi protocols.
zero-knowledge proofs (ZK) - a cryptographic method where one party can prove to another that a statement is true, without disclosing any other details about the statement itself.
ZK‑rollup – Layer‑2 solution using zero‑knowledge proofs.
zero address - a special address on a blockchain that consists entirely of zeros. It is often used as a placeholder, to represent the absence of an address, or for certain technical or security purposes.
51 % attack – Attack where one entity controls majority hash power, allowing malicious ledger rewrite.
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AML (Anti‑Money Laundering) – Legal and regulatory frameworks to curb money laundering activities.
Anti Sybil - A set of techniques or mechanisms in crypto designed to prevent one person or entity from abusing a network by creating multiple fake identities or accounts to gain unfair influence or rewards
app – A front‑end application that interacts with one or more smart‑contract back ends.
appchain – A blockchain network custom‑made to run a single application.
API (Application Programming Interface) – A set of rules that lets software programs communicate with each other; often used to pull blockchain data into apps.
Application‑Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) – A custom chip designed for one purpose (e.g., Bitcoin mining) and extremely efficient at that task.
arbitrage – The practice of profiting from price differences of the same asset across multiple markets.
ASIC (Application‑Specific Integrated Circuit) - A custom-built chip designed to perform a specific task or application with high speed and efficiency.
asynchronous – Events in electronic systems that do not occur at the same time or speed, or that happen independent of the main program flow.
atomic swap – A technique for peer‑to‑peer cryptocurrency exchange between two parties, executed without intermediaries via smart contracts.
attestation – The process of verifying the authenticity or validity of data, identity, or a transaction on a distributed ledger.
blue‑chip token – Blue‑chip cryptos are coins that are established and considered reliably valuable.
bot – An automated program (algorithmic trading bot, airdrop bot, etc.) that performs on‑chain actions without human input.
bounty – A reward that a project offers to individuals for completing designated tasks such as bug hunting, feature development, or community contributions.
bridge – A protocol that lets assets or data move between separate blockchains.
buidl – Slang encouraging builders to focus on building rather than price speculation.
burner wallet – A disposable crypto wallet used for short‑term purposes.
bytecode – Low‑level code that can be executed by a virtual machine (e.g., EVM).
Byzantine fault tolerance – A property of a consensus mechanism that can reach agreement even if some participants are malicious.
compile – The act of converting human‑readable source code into machine‑readable bytecode so it can execute on a blockchain’s virtual machine.
composability – The ability for different blockchain applications to interact and build on top of one another.
confirmation – Occurs when a block containing a transaction is accepted by the network and built upon.
confirmation time – The interval needed for a transaction to receive sufficient confirmations and be considered final.
consensus – The process by which a group of nodes agree on the state of a blockchain.
consensus layer - a core component of blockchain architecture responsible for ensuring that all participants agree on the current state of the distributed ledger.
consensus algorithm – The specific method used to achieve consensus (e.g., Proof‑of‑Work, Proof‑of‑Stake).
consensus client – Software that validates blocks and ensures consensus rules are followed.
counterparty risk – The possibility that the other party in a financial or contractual agreement will default on their obligations, exposing you to potential loss.
crosschain bridge – A tool built to move assets or data between separate blockchains.
crypto – A shorthand umbrella term for the cryptography‑powered ecosystem of blockchains, digital assets, and decentralized applications.
cryptocurrency – A digital or virtual currency secured by cryptography, often decentralized and operating on a blockchain.
Cryptography - the science and practice of securing information through mathematical techniques that encode, decode, and validate data to protect privacy, ensure integrity, and confirm identity.
crypto wallet – Software or hardware used to store the private keys giving access to cryptocurrency assets.
crypto winter – A prolonged period of stagnant prices and negative sentiment in the cryptocurrency market.
crypto asset – A blanket term covering cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and other blockchain‑based assets.
cryptography – The practice and study of secure communication in the presence of third parties.
custody – The responsibility for holding and safeguarding assets on behalf of another party.
dev – Informal shorthand for “developer,” commonly used in crypto communities to refer to protocol or app builders.
Devcon – The Ethereum Foundation’s flagship developer conference where the global Ethereum community convenes for technical talks, workshops, and collaboration.
(DEX) decentralized exchange – A non‑custodial exchange enabling peer‑to‑peer trading via smart contracts.
(DPoS) Delegated Proof‑of‑Stake – A consensus mechanism where token‑holders vote for delegates to validate transactions.
depeg – A breakdown of a pegged asset—such as a stablecoin—where its market price diverges significantly from its intended reference value.
derivative – A contract whose value is derived from an underlying asset.
deterministic wallet – A wallet generated from a single seed phrase, allowing predictable key generation.
diamond hands – Slang describing an investor who stubbornly holds onto crypto positions despite sharp price swings or market downturns.
digital signature – A mathematical scheme for verifying the authenticity of digital messages.
distributed ledger – A database consensually shared and synchronized across multiple sites or institutions.
double spend – An attempted exploit in which the same cryptocurrency units are fraudulently spent more than once by taking advantage of delayed transaction finality.
DYOR (Do Your Own Research) – Advice to investors to investigate projects themselves before investing.
dust – A very small amount of cryptocurrency, often too tiny to trade.
Dutch auction- a type of auction where the price starts high and gradually drops until someone accepts it. The first person to accept the current price gets the item.
ETH – The native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum network, used to pay gas fees, secure the chain via staking, and serve as a unit of account.
Ethereum – A decentralized, open‑source blockchain platform featuring smart‑contract functionality and secured by a proof‑of‑stake consensus mechanism.
(EVM) Ethereum Virtual Machine – The runtime environment for smart contracts in Ethereum.
event – In Solidity, a way for smart contracts to log data observable by off‑chain applications.
execution client – Software (e.g., Geth, Nethermind, Erigon) that runs the execution layer, handles transactions, and communicates with a separate consensus client.
execution layer – The post‑Merge component of Ethereum responsible for processing transactions, executing smart‑contract logic, and maintaining state (formerly “Eth1”).
exit scam – When a project’s creators disappear with investors’ funds.
Externally Owned Account (EOA) – A standard Ethereum wallet controlled by a private key, as opposed to a smart‑contract account, able to sign transactions and pay gas.
external signer – A hardware wallet or separate device that signs transactions offline.
floor price – The lowest price for an NFT in a collection.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – Anxiety that an exciting event is happening elsewhere.
fork choice rule – The algorithm a client uses to select the canonical chain.
fractional NFT – An NFT split into fungible shards representing partial ownership.
fraud proof – A security model for certain layer 2 solutions where, to increase speed, transactions are rolled up.
fungible token – A token interchangeable with any other token of the same type.
L2BEAT – An analytics platform tracking Ethereum layer‑2 projects.
public key – A publicly shared key to receive transactions.
public address is like your blockchain “account number” — it’s a string of letters and numbers that you share with others so they can send you cryptocurrency or tokens.
public goods - digital resources in crypto that everyone can use and are usually funded by the community.
pump and dump – Coordinated buying to inflate price followed by aggressive selling.
P2P (peer‑to‑peer) – Direct interaction between two parties without intermediaries.
RPC provider - A service that runs and maintains blockchain nodes so that wallets, apps, and other tools can interact with a blockchain network without running their own infrastructure.
rug pull – Developers draining liquidity and disappearing.
slippage is the difference between the price you expect to pay (or receive) for a cryptocurrency trade, and the actual price at which the trade is executed
slot - a fixed time window during which certain actions (like proposing or validating a block) can happen.
smart contract – a self-executing program on a blockchain that automatically enforces and carries out the terms of an agreement when predefined conditions are met.
smart contract wallet - a type of crypto wallet built on programmable smart contracts. Unlike traditional wallets, which are tied to a single private key, smart contract wallets introduce advanced security, automation, and user-friendly features by letting blockchain code, not just keys, control your funds.
SNARK (Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge) — a cryptographic proof system enabling one party (the prover) to demonstrate to another (the verifier) that they know a specific piece of information or that a statement is true, without revealing the information itself.
STARK (Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge) — a modern cryptographic proof system used in blockchain and privacy technology to verify the validity of computations without revealing underlying data.
soft fork – A backward‑compatible protocol change.
Solidity is the leading programming language for building smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain and other EVM-compatible networks.
stablecoin – A cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset.
stake - locking up your tokens in a Proof of State blockchain to help secure the network and, in return, earn rewards.
staking – Locking tokens to secure a PoS network.
swap – Exchanging one cryptocurrency for another.
Sybil attack – An attack using multiple identities.
synthetic asset – A token representing exposure to another asset.
snapshot – A record of balances at a specific block height.
soulbound token (SBT) – A non‑transferable token representing attributes or achievements.
state - refers to all the current stored data—such as account balances, contract variables, and transactions—at a particular moment on the network.
store of value - something that can safely hold its worth over time, so you can save or invest in it now and expect it to still have value in the future.
supermajority - a voting requirement that sets a higher threshold than a simple majority for a decision to be approved, typically requiring agreement from a significant portion of participants.
supply shock – A sudden decrease in available token supply.
swap - A trade of one cryptocurrency or token for another directly.
Sybil Attack - a security exploit in which a single entity creates multiple fake identities (or nodes) to gain disproportionate influence or control over a decentralized network, such as a blockchain or peer-to-peer system.
transfer – The onchain transaction that moves tokens from one wallet address to another, updating account balances on the blockchain.
trust assumptions - the explicit or implicit expectations about the honesty, reliability, or possible faults within a system, such as in a blockchain, cryptography, and decentralized networks.
trustless – Participants need not trust each other.
turing complete – A system that can perform any computation that a general-purpose computer can, given enough time and resources.
TVL (total value locked) – Total assets deposited in a blockchain protocol.
two‑factor authentication (2FA) – A security layer requiring two verification steps.
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