A short, easy-to-read glossary for people who want clear definitions that they can link to in articles or documents. Each term fits in a line or two, and there are gentle cross-references where they are needed.
A
Address: A public identifier that lets you get things (like 0x…, bc1…, or T…). A private key controls it.
Airdrop: Giving away free tokens to wallets as a way to market or reward people who have already used them. Usually, you have to pay taxes on it when you get it.
AMM (Automated Market Maker) is a smart-contract market that uses formulas (like x·y=k) to set the prices of swaps. Look at DEX and liquidity pool.
APR / APY — The return on investment over a year. APY includes compounding, but APR does not.
Arbitrage: Making money by taking advantage of price differences between markets (CEX↔DEX, L1↔L2).
B
Bear / Bull Market — Prices that go down for a long time or up for a long time.
Beacon Chain — The proof-of-stake coordination layer for Ethereum after the Merge (validators, finality).
Block — A group of transactions added to a blockchain. It has a header, a timestamp, and the hash of the previous block.
Block Explorer — A site where you can look up transactions, addresses, and tokens (Etherscan, Blockstream, Tronscan).
Bridge — A way to move data or value between chains. Has both smart-contract and custodial risk.
C
Cold Wallet is a way to store keys offline, either on hardware or in the air. The safest for users.
Consensus is the set of rules and processes that nodes use to agree on the state of the chain (for example, PoW and PoS).
CEX (Centralized Exchange) — A trading platform that keeps track of accounts, KYC, and order books. Check out DEX.
Chain ID: A number that identifies a blockchain network (stops tx replay across EVM chains).
Composability—»Money legos»: protocols work together programmatically (DEX + lending + vaults).
D
DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) — On-chain governance with tokens or «ve» stakes; proposals, quorum, and execution.
DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging) means putting the same amount of money into investments on a set schedule to lower the risk of timing.
DEX (Decentralized Exchange) — Swapping on-chain through AMMs or order books; no one is in charge.
DeFi — Apps that let you trade, lend, and do other financial things on blockchains without going through a middleman.
Derivatives (Perps, Futures, Options) are contracts whose value comes from an asset. They often come with leverage and the risk of losing money.
E
EIP-1559 — Changes to Ethereum fees: base fee burns and priority tip encourages inclusion.
ENS (Ethereum Name Service): Names that people can read (like alice.eth) that point to addresses.
Epoch / Finality: The time windows for validators to do their jobs and when blocks become economically irreversible.
ERC-20 / ERC-721 — Token standards for fungible tokens and NFTs on Ethereum and EVM chains.
Exchange Rate Oracle — A data feed for prices (Chainlink, Pyth) that is very important for lending and liquidations.
F
Fiat On/Off-Ramp — A service that lets you switch between fiat and crypto (bank card, SEPA, ACH).
Finality means being sure that a block won’t be changed back (in PoW, it’s based on chance; in PoS, it’s based on money).
Fork (Soft/Hard) — This is an upgrade to the protocol. Hard may not work with the old rules.
FUD and FOMO stand for «Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt» and «Fear of Missing Out.» These are two things that can lead to bad trades.
Funding Rate: A payment that happens every so often between the long and short sides of perpetual futures to keep the price in line with the spot price.
G
Gas: The cost of computing on EVM chains; the user pays gas price times gas used.
GM / GN — Community greetings («good morning» or «good night») that show how people are feeling.
Gwei is a small amount of ETH used to quote gas prices (1 gwei = 10⁻⁹ ETH).
Gnosis Safe (Safe) is a well-known multisig smart wallet for teams and DAOs.
Governance Token — A token that gives you the right to vote in a DAO or protocol.
H
Halving—The programmed issuance of BTC is cut in half every four years, which affects miner revenue and the speed at which new coins are created.
Hardware Wallet — A device that signs transactions without being connected to the internet.
Hashrate — The total amount of computing power that protects a PoW network; a higher number is usually safer.
HODL—A long-term hold mindset that works even when the market is volatile; a meme that turned into a strategy.
Hot Wallet: A wallet that is connected to the internet (through a browser or mobile device); it’s easy to use but more vulnerable to attacks.
I
Impermanent Loss (IL) — LP does worse than HODL when pool prices go in different directions. Fees may make up for this.
Interoperability means that chains and apps can talk to each other or share state (bridges, IBC, messaging).
IRL / On-chain — In real life vs. on the blockchain.
Intents — User outcome declarations made by off-chain solvers (a new UX primitive).
J
JIT Liquidity — Adding or removing liquidity in a single block to collect fees; this is a topic of debate in v3 AMMs.
JPEG is a slang term for NFTs, especially art that is used as a profile picture.
K
KYC, or «Know Your Customer,» is when many CEXs and fiat ramps check your identity.
Keystore: A password-protected file that stores a private key.
L
L1 / L2 — The base layer is Ethereum and Bitcoin, and the scaling layers are Optimism, Arbitrum, zkSync, and Starknet.
Ledger / Trezor — The best brands of hardware wallets for cold storage.
Leverage means borrowing money to increase your gains or losses. Keep an eye on the liquidation price.
Liquidity Mining — LPs or lenders get tokens as rewards to help TVL grow.
Liquidity Pool: Shared reserves that let DEX swaps happen; LPs make money and face IL.
M
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) — Value that comes from rearranging or adding transactions in a block (arbitrage, sandwiches).
Memo / Tag — Some chains (XRP, XLM, ATOM, EOS) need this extra field for deposits.
Merkle Tree: A data structure that makes it possible to make small proofs (PoR, state commitments).
Rabby / Metamask — Well-known EVM wallet add-ons that check URLs and signed data.
Multisig—A way for multiple people to sign something (like 2-of-3) to make it safer to keep and use money.
N
NFT (Non-Fungible Token)—An asset on the blockchain that is unique (like art, tickets, or game items) per ERC-721/1155.
Nonce: The transaction sequence number for each account (EVM) or the proof value in mining contexts.
Node: Software that checks and sends blocks and transactions; full nodes keep the whole history.
No-KYC Exchange: A place where you can trade without having to prove your identity (with some limits; regulatory risk).
O
On-Chain — Recorded and verified on a blockchain; transparent and unchangeable.
Optimistic Rollup — L2 that assumes validity by default; challenges allow fraud proofs (withdrawal delay).
Order Book — A list of bids and asks that CEXs and some DEXs (dYdX, Serum) use.
P
Passphrase (25th word)—A secret layer on top of a seed that makes hidden vaults. Don’t let it slip your mind.
Proof-of-Stake chooses validators based on the number of tokens they have staked, while Proof-of-Work chooses miners based on the amount of computing power they have.
Private / Public Key — A secret that signs transactions and makes addresses that can be shared.
Protocol Owned Liquidity (POL) — This is the liquidity that a protocol itself has, which makes it less dependent on mercenary LPs.
Proof-of-Reserves (PoR) — A statement that a custodian has assets; works best with liabilities that users can check.
Q
QR Code — A code that can be scanned for addresses; it cuts down on mistakes when copying and pasting.
Quant (Quantitative Trading) — Using data, signals, and risk rules to make systematic decisions.
R
R/R (Risk/Reward)—Expected profit compared to a set loss; many traders want at least 2:1.
Rebase Token — The supply changes automatically to reach a price or index.
Restaking means using staked assets or security in more than one service (like EigenLayer). This adds new risks.
Rollup — L2 that groups transactions together and sends data/proofs to L1 (Optimistic or ZK).
S
Seed Phrase: 12 to 24 words that can make a wallet work again. Write them down and don’t share them.
Self-Custody means you have the keys and the responsibility. Not custodial.
Slippage is the difference between the price you expected to pay and the price you actually paid because of liquidity, MEV, or volatility.
Smart Contract — A program on a blockchain that keeps track of assets and automatically follows the rules.
Stablecoin: A token that aims to be worth $1 and is backed by either fiat money like USDT/USDC or crypto like DAI.
T
Test Transaction: A small first send to check the address/network before moving size.
Throughput (TPS) — The number of transactions per second; this is often balanced against decentralization and latency.
Tokenomics — The economic design of a token, including its supply, emissions, utility, incentives, and vesting.
TX Hash — A unique number that identifies a transaction; use it on an explorer to check its status.
TVL (Total Value Locked) — The total amount of money that has been put into a protocol, such as a lending platform, a DEX, or a vault.
U
UTXO is the «unspent transaction output» model for Bitcoin. Each time you spend, you use up outputs and make new ones.
UXTO Consolidation (sic → UTXO) means putting together small UTXOs into one to save money in the future when fees are low.
V
Validator is a PoS participant who proposes or attests blocks. They get rewards but also risk being «slashed» for bad behavior.
Address of Vanity — Address with a custom prefix and suffix; be careful with weak key generation tools.
Vesting — A schedule for releasing tokens to teams and investors based on time; watch for unlocks.
W
Wallet — A key manager that signs transactions, whether they are hot, cold, or smart contracts.
Whitelist (Withdraw Allowlist) is a list of addresses that have been pre-approved. It helps prevent withdrawal phishing.
Wrapped Token — An asset on another chain (like WBTC) that is represented. It depends on the bridge or custodian.
X
X-Chain — Interactions across chains (bridges, swaps, and messaging).
XRP Tag — A number tag that many XRP exchanges need for deposits (see Memo/Tag).
Y
Yield is the money you get back from staking, lending, LP fees, or incentives. It always takes extra risks into account.
Yield Aggregator: A contract that moves deposits around to strategies that will give you the highest net APY.
Z
ZK Proof (Zero-Knowledge Proof) — A way to prove that a statement is true without giving away the data that backs it up. It powers zk-rollups and privacy. ZkSync / Starknet / Linea are well-known zk-rollup ecosystems on Ethereum L2.
How to use this glossary
- Link the anchor for each term in your articles so that tooltips show up quickly.
- If your site is for a specific area, add local notes (like tax or regional compliance) under each entry.
- Check back every three months to see how standards are changing (for example, new L2s, fee models, or rules).