WebThree.wiki: The Ultimate Crypto Dictionary

A-Z Glossary for the Web3 World

Welcome to the WebThree.wiki definitive guide to the language of crypto. Below is a comprehensive, alphabetized glossary of terms to help you understand the core concepts of the Web3 space.

A

51% Attack Also known as a majority attack. It occurs when one or a group of miners controls more than 50% of a network's mining hashrate or computational power.
Absolute Advantage An economics concept where one party has a direct efficiency advantage in producing or providing a specific good or service over another.
Active Management An investment strategy used by fund managers to outperform an index or market and generate profit.
Actively Validated Services (AVS) Systems that are continuously monitored and validated to ensure they function correctly.
Ad Hoc A Latin phrase used in modern English to mean 'for this purpose' or 'specifically for this.'
Address A string of text that specifies a wallet's location on the blockchain. It's often a hashed version of a public key.
Airdrop The distribution of digital assets to the public, either for holding a certain token or simply being an active wallet on a specific blockchain.
Algorithm A sequence of unambiguous instructions used to solve a problem.
All or None Order (AON) An order that must be filled entirely or not at all, preventing any partial completion.
All-Time High (ATH) The highest price an asset has ever reached in its trading history.
Allocation A set amount of tokens or equity that can be earned, purchased, or set aside for an investor, team, or other entity.
Alpha The very first version of a product or software released by a team for an initial look.
Altcoin Any cryptocurrency that is an alternative to Bitcoin.
Angel Investor Wealthy investors who provide funding to entrepreneurs or startups.
Anti Money Laundering (AML) A framework of legal and regulatory procedures designed to minimize and curb the flow of illegally generated funds.
Application Programming Interface (API) A collection of functions and procedures that allow users to interact with the data of an application or service programmatically.
Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) An Integrated Circuit customized for maximum performance in a particular use, rather than for general purposes.
Arbitrage The buying and selling of assets across different markets to take advantage of price differences for the same asset.
ARC-20 A token standard for fungible tokens (colored coins) on the Bitcoin network.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Intelligence displayed by machines or computer systems that simulates human-like cognitive processes.
ASIC-resistant A cryptocurrency with a protocol and mining algorithm configured so that using ASIC machines for mining is either impossible or provides no significant benefit over traditional GPU mining.
Ask Price The lowest price a seller is willing to accept for a sell order on an exchange.
Asset Management A system or method that helps individuals or companies manage assets, either for clients or for themselves.
Assets Under Management (AUM) The market value of financial assets managed by an entity on behalf of clients, indicating the entity's influence and operational scale.
Asynchronous Events in electronic systems that do not happen at the same time or speed, or happen independently of the main program flow.
Atomic Swap Smart contract technology that enables the exchange of one cryptocurrency for another without centralized intermediaries.
Attack Surface Points in a software environment where an attacker can try to enter or extract data from the system.
Auction A live event where assets or services are negotiated through a bidding process.
Automated Market Maker (AMM) A subset of decentralized exchange (DEX) protocols that allows users to trade digital assets without a middleman.

B

B-Tokens A series of fully-collateralized wrapped tokens minted by Binance.
Bags A person's portfolio of coins and tokens, often referring to a poorly performing set of assets that investors refuse to sell.
Beacon Chain Ethereum's proof-of-stake (PoS) layer where consensus is reached. It coordinates the network of Ethereum stakers.
Bear Market A negative price trend in a market. It's a term used in both crypto and traditional markets.
Benchmark A measurement standard used to gauge the performance of a specific asset or investment portfolio.
BEP-1155 A token standard that optimizes the creation and management of digital assets on the BNB Chain.
BEP-20 A token standard on the BNB Smart Chain (BSC).
BEP-721 A technical standard that defines a set of rules for issuing NFTs in the BNB Smart Chain ecosystem.
BEP-95 A Binance Evolution Proposal that introduces a real-time burning mechanism to BNB Smart Chain.
Beta (Coefficient) A tool used to measure an asset's volatility compared to a specific portfolio or market index.
Beta (Release) An early version of a program for users to test and provide feedback. The beta stage follows the alpha stage.
Bid Price In financial markets, it's the value buyers offer for an asset.
Bid-Ask Spread The difference between the lowest asking price and the highest bid price for an asset on the order book.
Binance Ecosystem Fund (BEF) A Binance initiative to collaborate with partners in the blockchain and crypto ecosystem.
Binancian A term for individuals actively involved with or contributing to the Binance cryptocurrency exchange.
Bitcoin A cryptocurrency created by the pseudonymous developer(s) Satoshi Nakamoto, and the first cryptocurrency, initially described as a 'Peer-to-Peer e-cash'.
Bitcoin Core The leading software implementation that allows users to interact with the Bitcoin network.
Bitcoin Dominance The ratio of Bitcoin's market capitalization to the sum of all other cryptocurrencies' market capitalizations.
Bitcoin Maximalists Individuals who believe that Bitcoin is the only valuable cryptocurrency and the future of global finance.
Bitcoin Pizza The first known transaction where Bitcoin was exchanged for a physical good. Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 BTC for two pizzas.
Black Swan Event An event that is often entirely unexpected and deviates from the expected result, causing widespread consequences.
Block A computer file that stores transaction data, which, when arranged in a linear sequence, forms a blockchain.
Block Explorer An online webpage that allows users to browse information about blocks, transactions, balances, and transaction histories.
Block Header A section in a block containing metadata and a summary of the block's transactions.
Block Height The number of blocks in a chain between itself and the first block (genesis block).
Block Reward The sum of coins awarded by a blockchain protocol to miners for each successfully mined and validated block.
Blockchain A decentralized, digitized ledger that records cryptocurrency transaction information in chronological order.
Blockchain Charity Foundation The world's first decentralized charity platform to advocate for 'blockchain for social good'.
Bloom Filter A data structure that can inform a user whether an item is part of a set.
Blue-Chip Token Cryptos that have stood the test of time, are well-established, and are reliably valuable.
BNB Launched by Binance after an Initial Coin Offering that ended on July 3, 2017. It's used for exchange trading fee discounts and other utilities.
BNSOL A liquid staking token that represents staked SOL on Binance.
Bollinger Bands A technical analysis indicator that measures market volatility, consisting of two bands and a simple moving average.
Bond A type of fixed-income investment that represents a loan made to a borrower, typically a business or government.
Bounty A reward offered by a group or individual to incentivize specific work, behavior (like referrals), or development.
BRC-20 Tokens An experimental token standard that enables the minting and transferring of fungible tokens via the Ordinals protocol on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Break-Even Point (BEP) The point where an operation's total costs equal its current value or revenue.
Breakeven Multiple The multiple by which a current price needs to appreciate to reach its previous all-time high.
Breakout When the price of an asset moves out of a defined range or pattern, typically by breaking a support or resistance area.
BscScan A blockchain explorer designed for BNB Smart Chain (BSC) users.
BTC Wallet Address A unique string of letters and numbers used to send and receive BTC transactions.
BUIDL A term derived from HODL, referring to focusing on building your product rather than worrying about price.
Bull Market A positive price trend in a market, used in both crypto and traditional markets.
Burner Wallet A temporary crypto wallet for potentially risky interactions.
Buy Wall A single large buy order or a combination of multiple large buy orders at the same price in a market's order book.

C

Candidate Block A temporary block created by a mining node (miner) to add to the blockchain and receive rewards.
Candlestick A graph representing price action that shows the open, close, high, and low points within a specific period.
Capitulation A period of strong selling activity where investors give up and sell their holdings quickly.
Censorship-resistance The property of a cryptocurrency network that prevents any entity from altering its transactions.
Central Bank A financial institution that acts as a monetary authority and manages a state's currency, interest rates, and money supply.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) An officially sanctioned digital tender issued by a sovereign central bank.
Central Processing Unit (CPU) The part of a computer responsible for interpreting and executing instructions.
Centralized When planning and decision-making mechanisms are concentrated at a specific point within a system.
Centralized Exchange A traditional crypto marketplace known for high liquidity, advanced trading tools, and security risks.
ChatGPT A language processing model developed by OpenAI, representing a significant advancement in natural language processing (NLP).
Cipher A method for encrypting and decrypting messages, which can be symmetric or asymmetric.
Circulating Supply The approximate number of cryptocurrency coins or tokens publicly available and circulating in the market.
Cloud In computer science, a shared pool of resources made available to multiple users via the Internet.
Coin A cryptocurrency or digital cash independent of any other platform, used as a medium of exchange.
Cold Storage The practice of storing digital assets offline to mitigate risks.
Collateral Pledging something of value against a loan to guarantee repayment.
Colocation A dedicated space in a stock exchange's data center that is shared with high-frequency traders and other entities.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) A US-based agency responsible for regulating derivatives markets, including options, swaps, and futures.
Compound Interest Interest accumulated on the principal amount in addition to interest from previous periods, allowing earnings to be maximized.
Confirmation Time The time needed for a blockchain transaction to be approved and added to the ledger.
Confluence When multiple investment methods, technical indicators, or trading signals are combined to form a more reliable strategy.
Consensus Algorithm Mechanisms that help computers in a blockchain network agree on the correct state of the ledger.
Consumer Price Index (CPI) A measure used to track the effects of inflation over time.
Contango and Backwardation Terms describing the relationship between a commodity's futures price and its expected future spot price.
Copy Trading The process of emulating the successful trades of experienced investors.
Counterparty Risk The risk that one party in a financial transaction may default or fail to fulfill its obligations, causing financial losses to the other party.
Credentials Personal information, such as a username, password, or email address.
Cross-Chain Bridges Blockchain bridges that connect different blockchain networks, allowing digital assets to move across networks and facilitating interoperability.
Crypto ETFs Investment vehicles that allow investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrency price movements without directly owning the assets.
Crypto Fear and Greed Index A tool that uses several indicators to measure overall crypto market sentiment on a 0-100 scale.
Crypto Protocol A set of rules and procedures that govern behavior in a decentralized network.
Crypto Winter An extended period of declining or stagnant prices and negative sentiment in the cryptocurrency market.
Cryptocurrency A digital currency secured by cryptography to work as a medium of exchange within a peer-to-peer (P2P) economic system.
Cryptography The science of using mathematical theories and computation to encrypt and decrypt information.
Custody The holding of assets on behalf of a client, or the ownership of one's own funds.

D

Daemon A process that runs in the background and waits for a specific event or condition to be activated.
Danksharding A new approach to sharding that plays a crucial role in optimizing data management and transaction processing within the Ethereum network.
Dead Cat Bounce A brief price recovery of a declining asset that is quickly followed by a continuation of the downtrend.
Death Cross A chart pattern that indicates the potential for a market downturn.
Decentralized Application (DApp) Applications that run on a P2P network of computers rather than a central database. Users can connect to DApps using crypto wallets.
Decentralized Autonomous Cooperative (DAC) An organization controlled by shareholders rather than a central authority.
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) A system of hard-coded rules that define the actions a decentralized organization will take.
Decentralized Exchange (DEX) An exchange where users trade directly from their own wallets without needing to deposit funds with an intermediary.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) The ecosystem of decentralized financial applications built on blockchain networks.
Decentralized Indexes A type of investment vehicle that tracks the performance of multiple cryptocurrencies or digital assets traded on DEXs.
Decryption The act of converting unreadable encrypted data (ciphertext) into readable data (plaintext).
Deep Web The part of the web that is not indexed by traditional search engines.
Delisting The removal of an asset from an exchange, either at the project's request or by the exchange's decision.
Depeg When a stablecoin loses its intended peg to the asset it is designed to track.
Depression An extended and severe downturn in economic activity.
Design Flaw Attack An attack where a malicious user creates a smart contract or software with known flaws to trick individuals.
Diamond Hands Holding a financial asset and not selling it, regardless of its volatility.
Difficulty In crypto, it indicates how difficult it is to mine a block.
Difficulty Bomb The term for the programmed increase in Ethereum's mining difficulty as part of its migration to Proof of Stake.
Digital Signature A cryptographic tool to verify the authenticity and integrity of digital data, ensuring the security of data and transactions.
Direct Market Access (DMA) A technology that gives investors direct access to order books without needing a broker.
Divergence When an asset's market price and a technical indicator (e.g., RSI) move in opposite directions.
Diversification Allocating funds across different types of assets and jurisdictions to reduce overall risk.
Do Your Own Research (DYOR) Valuable advice to research a coin or token yourself instead of blindly following others.
Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) Investing a fixed dollar amount at regular intervals, regardless of the asset's price.
Dot Plot A simple chart where each data point is represented as a dot.
Double Spending When a given amount of coins is spent more than once. This can result from a race attack or a 51% attack.

E

Eclipse Attack When a majority of peers on a network are malicious and monopolize it to prevent specific nodes from receiving information from honest nodes.
Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) An economic theory that states financial markets reflect all available information on an asset's price at any time.
EigenLayer A blockchain protocol that introduced the concept of "restaking collective" for Ethereum.
EIP Ethereum Improvement Proposals that describe suggested upgrades and new features.
EIP-1559 A 2021 upgrade that changed Ethereum’s fee system.
EIP-3074 An improvement proposal for Ethereum aimed at enhancing transaction authorization processes.
EIP-4844 Also known as proto-danksharding, this proposed upgrade focuses on reducing Ethereum's fees and increasing transaction throughput.
EIP-7251 A proposal to modify Ethereum's staking by increasing the Maximum Effective Balance.
EIP-7702 A proposal designed to enhance Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) on Ethereum.
Elasticity A measure of how responsive one variable is to changes in another.
Encryption The conversion of data into a secure code to prevent unauthorized access.
Endogenous Variable A variable in an economic model that is directly related to other variables within the same model.
Enterprise Ethereum Alliance (EEA) The first global standards organization to deliver an open, standards-based architecture to accelerate the adoption of Enterprise Ethereum.
ERC-1155 A token standard ideal for gaming, digital collectibles, and managing multiple token types efficiently.
ERC-20 A technical standard used to issue and implement tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.
ERC-404 An experimental token standard that blends fungibility and non-fungibility.
ERC-721 An Ethereum-based non-fungible token, meaning each token is unique and not interchangeable.
ETF An exchange-traded fund.
Ethereum Classic A cryptocurrency that emerged from the Ethereum hard fork in 2016. Unlike ETH, ETC still uses Proof of Work.
Ethereum Foundation A non-profit organization dedicated to the development and promotion of the Ethereum blockchain.
Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) A Turing-complete programmable machine that executes smart contracts, typically coded in Solidity.
Exchange A marketplace where users can buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Exogenous Variable A variable in an economic model that impacts the model as an outside factor.
Exponential Moving Average (EMA) A moving average used in trading that gives more weight to recent data points.
Externally Owned Account (EOA) A type of account on the Ethereum blockchain controlled by a private key.

F

Fakeout A situation where a trader enters a position betting on a price movement that quickly reverses.
Falling Knife The act of buying an asset while its price is rapidly declining, expecting it to bounce.
Fan Tokens Digital assets created by sports teams or brands to increase fan engagement and create new revenue streams.
Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) The anxiety that you might miss a potentially profitable opportunity.
Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) A strategy used to spread fear and insecurity among investors.
Fiat Money that a government has declared legal tender.
Fibonacci Retracement A technical analysis tool used by traders to find support and resistance levels.
Fill Or Kill Order (FOK) A buy or sell order that must be executed immediately in its entirety or be canceled.
Finality The assurance that completed cryptocurrency transactions cannot be altered or reversed.
First-Mover Advantage (FMA) The competitive advantage of the first project to bring a service or product into a new market.
Fiscal Policy How a government adjusts tax rates and public spending to influence the economy.
Flappening The name used to describe when Litecoin's (LTC) market capitalization surpassed Bitcoin Cash's (BCH).
Flashbots A research and development organization focused on refining MEV-related blockchain solutions on Ethereum.
Flippening The name for the moment when/if Ethereum's (ETH) market capitalization surpasses Bitcoin's (BTC).
Flow Variable A measurement of something over a specific period.
Forced Liquidation When a trader's leveraged position is forcibly closed because it no longer meets the necessary margin requirements.
Forex (FX) Short for Foreign Exchange Markets, a global market for trading fiat currencies.
Fork A divergence in a blockchain network that creates a split in its transaction history. Forks can be soft or hard.
Formal Verification Using mathematically rigorous proofs to ensure certain properties of cryptographic algorithms and blockchain mechanisms.
Fraud Proof Cryptographical evidence that a verifier submits to challenge a transaction's validity, often used for blockchain scalability.
Fren Online slang used to address someone in a friendly way within the crypto community.
Full Node A computer that fully implements a blockchain network's rules and validates all transactions and blocks.
Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV) Tells us what a project’s market value could be in the future.
Fundamental Analysis (FA) Evaluating an asset based on its underlying characteristics to determine its intrinsic value.
Funding Fees Periodic payments between long and short traders in perpetual futures markets.
Fungibility The property of an asset where individual units are indistinguishable in value and function.
Futures Contract A legal agreement to buy or sell an asset at a future date for an agreed-upon price.

G

GameFi A section of DeFi that merges blockchain and gaming, offering play-to-earn incentives through NFTs and cryptocurrencies.
Gas A pricing mechanism that calculates the costs of smart contract operations and transaction fees.
Gas Limit The maximum fee a user is willing to pay for a transaction or smart contract function.
GDP Deflator A measure that shows how much prices have increased in a country over time.
General Public License A license that allows users to copy and modify software but requires the works to be distributed under the same license.
Genesis Block The very first block recorded on a blockchain network, also known as Block 0 or Block 1.
GitHub A system where a team can share, collaborate on, and save their open-source or proprietary code.
GM (Good Morning) A term used in the crypto community to reflect its inclusive and collaborative nature.
Golden Cross A bullish chart pattern where a shorter-term moving average crosses above a longer-term moving average.
Golden Ratio A number that represents a special proportion found in nature, art, architecture, and financial markets.
Goldilocks An optimal state in economics where conditions are neither too hot nor too cold.
Gossip Protocol A method of asynchronous peer-to-peer communication between nodes in a distributed system.
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) A measure of the value of all goods and services produced in a country during a specific time.
Gwei A small denomination of ether, widely used to measure gas prices.

H

Hackathon A competition where participants build sample applications on top of a blockchain ecosystem.
Hacker An individual with an advanced understanding of computer systems and networks.
Haha Money Printer Go Brrrrr A meme created in response to the Federal Reserve's 2020 plan to print money.
Halving A process that cuts the block reward of a Proof-of-Work crypto like Bitcoin in half.
Hard Cap The maximum amount of funds a project intends to raise during its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) or other fundraising event.
Hard Landing A situation where an economy rapidly transitions from growth to slow growth or recession.
Hash The output produced by a hash function after a piece of data is mapped.
Hash Rate The speed at which a computer or mining hardware can calculate new hashes, usually measured in hashes per second.
Hashed TimeLock Contract (HTLC) A special feature used to create smart contracts that can modify payment channels.
Herd Instinct The tendency of some traders to follow the actions of the majority.
High-Frequency Trading (HFT) A type of algorithmic trading that involves executing many orders in fractions of a second.
HODL A typo of 'Hold' that originated on Bitcointalk and has been retrofitted to mean "Hold On for Dear Life."
Honeypot A computer security mechanism used to detect or counteract unauthorized access to information systems.

I

Iceberg Order A conditional order to buy or sell a large amount of assets in smaller, predetermined quantities to hide the total order size.
Immutability The inability to be changed. This is a core feature of Bitcoin and blockchain technology.
Index A financial instrument used to track the price value of a given asset or a basket of assets.
Index Funds A type of investment fund designed to replicate the performance of a specific market index.
Initial Coin Offering (ICO) A fundraising method where new projects sell their cryptocurrency to investors.
Initial DEX Offering (IDO) A type of blockchain fundraising where a public token sale is conducted directly on a decentralized exchange (DEX).
Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) A fundraising method where a trusted intermediary (an exchange) is introduced between the project and the user to reduce risk.
Initial Public Offering (IPO) The moment a private company offers its shares to the public for the first time.
Inscription A piece of data attached to individual units of cryptocurrency.
Integrated Circuit (IC) A small silicon chip that holds electronic parts like transistors, resistors, or capacitors.
Interest Rates The cost of borrowing money or the return on an investment, usually expressed as a percentage of the principal.
Interoperability The concept of allowing blockchains to be compatible with each other and build upon each other's features.
InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) An open-source project building a protocol for distributed content storage and access.
IOU An acronym for "I owe you," referring to an informal document that acknowledges a debt.
Isolated Margin The margin balance allocated to a specific position. Traders can manage risk by restricting the amount allocated to each position.
Issuance The generation of a new cryptocurrency.

K

Keccak A versatile cryptographic function.
Know Your Customer (KYC) A standard financial procedure that allows companies to identify their customers and comply with anti-money laundering laws.

L

Laspeyres Index A tool used to track changes in the cost of a basket of goods over time.
Latency The time between submitting a transaction and the first confirmation of its acceptance by the network.
Law of Demand Relates to consumers' willingness to buy a specific amount of goods or services at a particular price.
Layer 2 A secondary framework or protocol built on top of an existing blockchain system (Layer 1).