Atomic Swaps
A medium to perform direct, peer to peer cross chain exchanges from one blockchain to another, without an intermediate trusted…
Crypto Glossary: 250+ Terms Explained
From Airdrops to Zero-Knowledge proofs, explore concise explanations and key insights for the terms that shape the digital asset economy.
Find a term
Search the complete glossary or browse alphabetically or by popularity.
70 terms available
Topic Networks & Infrastructure
A
1 definitionB
11 definitionsBEP-2
Short for “Binance Chain Evolution Proposal 2.” It defines a set of technical rules and specifications to create a new…
BEP-20
It is a token standard to use when transferring crypto assets from other chains to the Binance Smart Chain. It…
BEP-721
The technical standard to create non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Binance Smart Chain. It is an extension of Ethereum ERC-721,…
BEP-95
A Binance Evolution Proposal that introduces a real-time burning mechanism to Binance Smart Chain.
Block
Blocks are linearly arranged data structures that permanently record the transaction data on a blockchain.
Block Explorer
Similar to the File Explorer of a computer’s operating system. It allows users to browse blockchain data such as addresses,…
Block Header
The section exists in each block that contains the information hashed when the block is mined. It is used to…
Block Height
The number of blocks in the chain between the current block being minted and the genesis block.
Block Time
The average time it takes for the network to find a solution to the block hash.
Blockchain
A system of recording information in chronological order on a decentralized distributed ledger.
Byzantine fault tolerance
A consensus mechanism that offers secure validation across a distributed set of data, stemming from information propagation theory labelled as…
C
5 definitionsCandidate Block
A block that a miner is trying to mine when it's not yet verified or added to the blockchain.
Censorship-resistance
A characteristic of a cryptocurrency network that prevents any entity to control transactions on it.
Colocation
A separate space in a data center of stock exchanges that is shared with other entities such as high-frequency traders.
Confirmation Time
Refers to the time between the moment a transaction is submitted to the network and the moment it got recorded…
Consensus algorithm
Ensures that all users taking part in the minting process maintain the same version the chain, whilst preventing any single…
D
5 definitionsDAG
Directed Acyclical Graph. A data structure that flows in one direct, it allows for chains to sprawl out into multi-threaded…
dApp
Stands for Decentralised Application. Where in part or all of the applications software stack is hosted, stored and processed on…
DDoS
Distributed Denial of Service. A malicious attack that prevents users from communicating with the network by flooding the provider with…
Difficulty Bomb
A term used specifically for Ethereum blockchain, referring to increasing mining difficulty due to its migration to proof of stake.
Distributed Ledger
A digital record of transactions that is maintained by a group of clients where changes and additions are verified across…
E
7 definitionsEclipse Attack
Occurs when the majority of nodes are malicious and collectively prevent specific nodes from receiving information from the honest nodes.
EEA
Short for “Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.” EEA is a member-led organization that aims at driving the use of the Ethereum blockchain…
ENS
Similar to a DNS within internet infrastructure, it allows user to obtain a “custom domain” .eth address, instead of using…
ERC-721
An Ethereum-based non-fungible token.
ERC20
A protocol that outlines the specific functions and events that allow blockchains to interact with other via the Ethereum Blockchain.…
Ethereum
An open source blockchain that acts as a distributed computing platform and operating system, allowing decentralized applications and smart contracts…
EVM
Ethereum Virtual Machine. An Ethereum runtime environment for smart contracts, Isolated from the rest of the networks, allowing new software…
F
1 definitionG
5 definitionsGas
A measurement given to functions on the Ethereum blockchain to denote how computationally expensive they will be, this is offered…
Gas Price
The maximum a user is willing to reward a miner in order to have their transaction processed, higher prices ensure…
Genesis Block
The first block of a blockchain, almost always hardcoded into the software clients — the only block in the chain…
Gossip Protocol
A procedure for peer-to-peer communication where nodes share the “gossip” of a transaction to their connected nodes.
Gwei
The denomination in which gas prices are paid for on the Ethereum blockchain.
H
1 definitionI
3 definitionsInteroperobility
Refers to the ability of different blockchains to be compatible with each other, transfer data from one another and build…
IoT
Internet of Things. Used to describe one of landmark stages of the internet in where non-human web traffic, in the…
IPFS
Short for “InterPlanetary File System,” an open-source, distributed peer-to-peer network to store and share data.
L
6 definitionsLatency
The time delay between submitting a transaction to a network and the first confirmation of the transaction.
Layer 0
The first layer of a blockchain which includes the necessary elements to build the chain itself, such as hardware for…
Layer 1
Refers to an operating blockchain.
Layer 2
Refers to a solution protocol built on the layer 1 blockchain. Layer 2 solutions usually aim at providing scalability and…
Ledger
A record-keeping system where the monetary and identity details of transactions are recorded anonymously.
Lightning Network
A blockchain scalability model that greatly expands throughput, speed, cost effectiveness and compatibility.
M
3 definitionsN
1 definitionO
2 definitionsP
3 definitionsP2P
Stands for Peer to Peer. Denoting the ability for two computers to communicate across a network without a server or…
Peer-to-Peer (P2P)
A type of decentralized communication model created by two or more nodes who come together to share the workload and…
Polkadot Crowdloan
Projects who compete to reserve a spot on the Polkadot chain ask their supporters to stake Polkadots (DOT) to support…
R
2 definitionsS
4 definitionsSegWit
Short for “Segregated Witness.” This refers to separating transaction signatures from Bitcoin transactions to increase the number of transactions recorded…
Sharding
A scalability solution for the Ethereum blockchain that validates the blockchain in a parallelised manner.
Sidechain
A separate blockchain, attached to a parent blockchain that allows assets to be interchangeable, in turn increasing the scope, throughput…
Soft fork
A change to the software or protocol that allows for backwards compatible with previous versions.
T
5 definitionsTangle
IOTA’s DAG based alternative to the blockchain data structure, aimed predominantly at the IoT sector. It provides high throughput and…
TestNet
An alternative blockchain running separate to the main chain used for developers to prototype software and updates to ensure stability…
TOR
The Onion Router. An anonymous communications network that encrypts data with multiple layers of security as it passes through nodes,…
TPS
Short for “Transaction per Second.” Shows the number of transactions a blockchain is able to issue per second.
Transaction ID (TXID)
A set of characters unique to each verified transaction on the blockchain.
U
1 definitionW
3 definitionsWeak Subjectivity
Concept created by Vitalik Buterin to refer to a requirement of PoS blockchains where certain nodes have to rely on…
Wei
The smallest denomination of ETH. One ETH is equal to 1018 wei.
Wrapped Token
Wrapped tokens represent the original token at a 1:1 ratio and allow users to trade from the main chain to…
#
1 definitionNo matching terms
Try another search, clear the active letter, or suggest a term for the glossary.
