Crypto glossary

278 essential terms, each explained in plain words with an example and the risks to know. Free to read.

#

• 51% AttackA 51% attack happens when one actor or group controls most of a blockchain's mining power (or stake) and uses it to rewrite recent blocks, enabling double-spends and blocking transactions. It is not only theoretical: smaller proof-of-work chains have suffered real ones.

A

• Active AddressAn active address is a blockchain address that took part in at least one successful transaction, as sender or receiver, during a specified period such as a day. Counting them is a common way to gauge how much a network is being used.
• Algorithmic StablecoinAn algorithmic stablecoin tries to keep a fixed value, usually 1 dollar, mainly through programmed rules that expand and shrink supply and reward traders for restoring the peg, rather than through full reserves of cash or collateral.
• All-Time High (ATH)An all-time high, or ATH, is the highest price an asset has ever traded at. In crypto, ATH is also used for the distance from that peak, as in a coin trading 60% below its ATH.
• AltseasonAltseason, short for altcoin season, is a market phase in which many altcoins, meaning cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin, clearly outperform Bitcoin over weeks or months. It is a description of relative performance, not an event that arrives on schedule.
• AMLAML, short for anti-money laundering, is the set of laws, rules and processes designed to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. Crypto businesses that handle customer funds must follow AML rules in most countries.
• AMM (Automated Market Maker)An automated market maker, or AMM, is a type of decentralized exchange that prices trades with a mathematical formula against a pool of tokens, instead of matching buyers and sellers in an order book.
• APRAPR (annual percentage rate) is a yearly rate of return or interest that does not account for compounding: it shows what you would earn in a year if earnings were never reinvested.
• APYAPY (annual percentage yield) is a yearly rate of return that assumes your earnings are reinvested and compound, so you earn returns on earlier returns as well as on your original deposit.
• ArbitrageArbitrage means profiting from a price difference for the same asset in two places, by buying where it is cheaper and selling or redeeming where it is more expensive, ideally at the same time so that price moves cannot hurt you.
• AskAn ask, also called an offer, is an offer to sell an asset at a specific price. All open asks form the sell side of an order book, and the lowest one is the best ask.
• AuditAn audit is a structured security review of a smart contract's code, logic and architecture, done by specialists who look for bugs and design flaws before or after the contract goes live.
• Auto-DeleveragingAuto-deleveraging (ADL) is an emergency mechanism on derivatives platforms. When a liquidated position cannot be closed in the market and the insurance fund cannot cover the loss, the platform automatically closes part of profitable positions on the opposite side to balance the books.

B

• Base FeeThe base fee is the minimum price per unit of gas that every Ethereum transaction in a block must pay. The protocol sets it automatically based on demand, and the base fee portion of every transaction is burned rather than paid to validators.
• Basis TradeA basis trade is a strategy that buys an asset on the spot market and sells a futures contract on it at a higher price, aiming to earn the gap between the two, the basis, while staying roughly neutral to price moves.
• Bear MarketA bear market is a sustained period of falling prices and weak sentiment. In stock markets it is usually defined as a decline of 20% or more from a recent high; in crypto, bear markets have often meant far deeper drops lasting a year or longer.
• BidA bid is an offer to buy an asset at a specific price. All open bids together form the buy side of an order book, and the highest one is called the best bid.
• Bid-Ask SpreadThe bid-ask spread is the difference between the highest price a buyer is currently willing to pay (the bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept (the ask). A narrow spread usually signals a liquid market; a wide one signals thin trading.
• BitcoinBitcoin is a decentralized digital money and payment system, described in a 2008 white paper and launched in 2009. It was the first cryptocurrency to work in practice without a central bank or company in charge.
• Bitcoin DominanceBitcoin dominance is Bitcoin's share of the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies, expressed as a percentage. It shows how much of the crypto market's value sits in Bitcoin compared with everything else.
• Bitcoin HalvingThe Bitcoin halving is a scheduled event, roughly every four years, that cuts the block reward paid to miners in half. It slows the rate at which new bitcoin are created until the 21 million cap is reached.
• Blind SigningBlind signing means approving a transaction or signature request without being able to see or understand what it actually does. Your wallet shows only a cryptic hash or raw data, and you confirm anyway.
• Block ConfirmationA block confirmation is reached when a transaction has been included in a valid block. Each additional block added on top counts as another confirmation and makes the transaction harder to reverse.
• Block RewardA block reward is what a miner receives for producing a new valid block: newly created coins (the block subsidy) plus, in most usage, the transaction fees paid by the users in that block.
• BlockchainA blockchain is a digital ledger in which transactions are stored in blocks that are linked together in order. Each block references the one before it, so changing an old entry would break every link that follows.
• Blockchain TrilemmaThe blockchain trilemma is the idea that a blockchain struggles to be fully decentralized, secure and scalable all at once; improving one property usually costs another.
• BreakoutA breakout is a price move out of a recognisable structure, such as a trading range, a chart pattern or a key support or resistance level. Traders watch breakouts because they can mark the start of a new trend.
• BridgeA bridge is a system that makes assets or information from one blockchain usable on another. Since blockchains cannot natively see each other, a bridge acts as the connection between them.
• Bug BountyA bug bounty is a program in which a project pays security researchers, often called white-hat hackers, for privately reporting vulnerabilities so they can be fixed before criminals exploit them.
• Bull MarketA bull market is a sustained period of rising prices, growing optimism and increasing participation in a market. In crypto, bull markets have often been fast and dramatic, with large gains followed by equally sharp corrections.
• BurningBurning is the permanent removal of token units from circulation, either by destroying them in a smart contract or by sending them to an address nobody can spend from. For stablecoins, units are usually burned when they are redeemed.

C

• Call OptionA call option gives its buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy an asset at a fixed price, the strike price, until or on a set expiry date. The buyer pays a premium for this right; the seller collects it and takes on the obligation.
• CandlestickA candlestick is a graphical summary of price movement during one period, such as an hour or a day. In a single shape it shows four prices: where the period opened, its high, its low and where it closed.
• Candlestick ChartA candlestick chart is a price chart that shows each time period as a candle, displaying the open, high, low and close prices for that period. It is the default chart on most crypto exchanges and trading platforms.
• CapitulationCapitulation is a phase in which many market participants give up and sell under intense pressure, often at a loss and all at once. It usually shows up as a sharp price drop on very high trading volume.
• Carry TradeA carry trade is a strategy that earns a recurring return, the carry, from a difference in yields or rates, while trying to limit exposure to price moves. The classic version borrows in a low-interest currency to hold a higher-yielding one; in crypto, carry usually comes from futures basis or funding rates.
• Central BankA central bank is the institution that manages monetary policy for a currency area, issuing the currency and steering interest rates, usually with price stability as its main goal.
• CEX (Centralized Exchange)A CEX, or centralized exchange, is a crypto trading platform run by a company that holds custody of users' funds and matches their trades. Binance, Coinbase and Kraken are well-known examples.
• Circulating SupplyCirculating supply is the number of coins or tokens currently available to the market and generally tradable. It is the figure used to calculate market capitalization.
• CliffA cliff is a lockup period at the start of a vesting schedule during which no tokens are released. When it ends, a larger portion becomes available at once, and the rest usually continues to unlock gradually.
• CoinIn crypto, a coin is the native asset of its own blockchain, such as BTC on Bitcoin or ETH on Ethereum. It is built into the protocol rather than created by a smart contract on someone else's chain.
• Cold StorageCold storage means keeping cryptocurrency, or more precisely the private keys that control it, completely offline. It is the standard way to protect larger holdings from online theft, used by individuals, exchanges and funds alike.
• Cold WalletA cold wallet is a wallet whose private keys are kept offline, on a device or medium that is not connected to the internet. Transactions are signed offline, so hackers cannot reach the keys over a network.
• CollateralCollateral is an asset you lock up to secure an obligation, such as a loan, a leveraged trading position or the creation of a stablecoin. If you cannot meet the obligation, the collateral can be sold to cover it.
• Confirmation BiasConfirmation bias is the tendency to seek out, notice and believe information that supports what you already think, while ignoring or dismissing evidence against it. In investing it can keep you in a bad position long after the facts have changed.
• Consensus MechanismA consensus mechanism is the process through which a network's participants agree on which transactions are valid and on the current state of the ledger, without needing a central authority to decide.
• Counterparty RiskCounterparty risk is the risk that the other side of an arrangement, such as an exchange holding your coins, a lending platform, a stablecoin issuer or a trading partner, cannot or will not meet its obligations to you.
• CPI (Consumer Price Index)The Consumer Price Index, or CPI, measures how the prices of a basket of everyday goods and services change over time. The US CPI is published monthly and is one of the most closely watched inflation figures, because it shapes expectations about Federal Reserve interest rates.
• Cross-ChainCross-chain describes any action, application or transfer that involves more than one blockchain, such as moving a token from Ethereum to another network or an app that runs on several chains at once.
• CryptocurrencyA cryptocurrency is a digital asset that is transferred over a network and secured by cryptography. Ownership is recorded on a shared ledger, usually a blockchain, rather than in a single company's database.
• CryptographyCryptography is the set of mathematical methods that make digital security possible. In crypto, it proves who owns what, authorizes transactions and makes the transaction history tamper-evident.
• Custodial WalletA custodial wallet is a wallet where a company, such as an exchange or a payment app, holds the private keys for you. You see a balance and can send or withdraw, but the provider controls the coins on your behalf.

D

• DAOA DAO (decentralized autonomous organization) is a form of organization in which decisions are coordinated by members or token holders, with rules and funds managed partly or fully by smart contracts instead of a traditional management hierarchy.
• dApp (Decentralized Application)A dApp, or decentralized application, is an app whose core logic, its backend, runs on smart contracts on a blockchain rather than on servers controlled by one company. You interact with it through your own wallet.
• DecentralizationDecentralization is a system design principle in which no single central institution has complete control. In crypto, it means power over the network's rules, data and transactions is spread across many independent participants.
• Decentralized IdentityDecentralized identity is a model where you hold your own digital credentials, such as a diploma or proof of age, and prove them cryptographically without a central company controlling your login or data.
• DeFi (Decentralized Finance)DeFi, short for decentralized finance, means financial services such as trading, lending, borrowing and derivatives that run as smart contracts on a blockchain. Anyone with a wallet can use them, without a bank, broker or account approval.
• DeltaDelta measures how much an option's price is expected to change when the price of the underlying asset moves by one unit. A delta of 0.5 means the option gains about 50 cents for each 1 dollar rise in the underlying.
• DepegA depeg is when a stablecoin, or another pegged asset, moves significantly away from its target price, for example a dollar stablecoin trading at 0.95 or 1.05 dollars instead of 1.
• DePINDePIN (decentralized physical infrastructure networks) are projects that use blockchain-based token incentives to coordinate real-world infrastructure or data, such as wireless coverage, data storage, computing power or maps, supplied by many independent participants.
• DEX (Decentralized Exchange)A DEX, or decentralized exchange, is a trading platform built on smart contracts. You trade directly from your own wallet, and no company takes custody of your funds. Uniswap, Curve and Jupiter are examples.
• Diamond HandsDiamond hands is slang for an investor who keeps holding an asset through extreme volatility and heavy losses without selling. It is used as praise in online communities, the opposite of paper hands, who sell at the first sign of trouble.
• DifficultyDifficulty is a measure of how hard it is to find a valid block in a proof-of-work blockchain. It adjusts to the computing power on the network so that blocks keep arriving at a steady pace.
• Digital GoldDigital gold is a nickname for Bitcoin based on the idea that, like gold, it is scarce, hard to produce and independent of any government, so it can serve as a store of value, but in digital form.
• DilutionDilution is the potential loss of value or ownership share for existing token holders when additional tokens enter circulation, because the same project is then split across more tokens.
• Distributed LedgerA distributed ledger is a record of transactions that is stored and verified by multiple network participants, rather than kept by a single central authority. Blockchains are the best-known type of distributed ledger.
• DivergenceDivergence is a mismatch between price and an indicator: price makes a new high or low, but the indicator does not confirm it. It can signal that the strength behind a move is weakening, though it does not say when or whether the price will turn.
• Dollar IndexThe US Dollar Index, often called DXY, measures the value of the US dollar against a basket of six major currencies. A rising index means the dollar is strengthening against them; a falling index means it is weakening.
• Dollar-Cost AveragingDollar-cost averaging (DCA) is a strategy of investing a fixed amount at regular intervals, for example every week or month, regardless of the current market price.
• Double-Spending ProblemThe double-spending problem is the risk that a unit of digital money is spent more than once. Because digital data can be copied, a payment system needs a mechanism that makes sure each unit is only used once.
• DowntrendA downtrend is a market phase in which the price predominantly falls over time. On a chart it typically appears as lower highs and lower lows: each bounce peaks below the previous one, and each drop goes further.
• Due DiligenceDue diligence is a structured review of a project before you decide to invest in it or use it, checking what it does, who is behind it, how its token works and what could go wrong.
• Dusting TokenA dusting token is a tiny, unsolicited amount of crypto or an unknown token sent to your wallet, usually to lure you to a scam website or to help track who owns which addresses.

E

• Economic CalendarAn economic calendar is a schedule of upcoming economic data releases, central bank decisions and other planned events that can move markets. Traders use it to know when volatility is likely, not which way prices will go.
• ERC-20ERC-20 is the Ethereum standard for fungible tokens, meaning tokens where every unit is identical and interchangeable. It defines a common set of functions so any wallet or app can hold, send and trade them.
• ERC-721ERC-721 is the Ethereum standard for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), where every token has its own unique ID and is not interchangeable with any other token in the same contract.
• ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)An exchange-traded fund, or ETF, is an investment fund whose shares trade on a stock exchange like a normal stock and whose value tracks an underlying asset or index. A spot Bitcoin ETF holds actual bitcoin, so buying its shares gives you price exposure without holding coins yourself.
• EVM CompatibilityEVM compatibility is a network's ability to run smart contracts and support tools built for the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), so developers and users can reuse Ethereum code, wallets and addresses on that network.
• ExchangeA crypto exchange is a platform where you can buy, sell or swap cryptocurrencies, either against traditional money such as euros or francs, or against other crypto. The two main types are centralized exchanges (CEXs), run by companies, and decentralized exchanges (DEXs), run by smart contracts.
• Exchange InflowExchange inflow is the amount of a coin deposited into known exchange addresses over a given period. Because coins are usually moved to an exchange in order to trade them, rising inflows are often watched as a possible sign of selling interest.
• Exchange NetflowExchange netflow is the difference between coins flowing into and out of exchanges over a given period, for a single exchange or for all tracked exchanges combined. A positive netflow means exchange balances grew; a negative one means they shrank.
• Exchange OutflowExchange outflow is the amount of a coin withdrawn from known exchange addresses over a given period. Large outflows are often read as holders moving coins into their own custody, which reduces the supply readily available to sell.
• Exit ScamAn exit scam is fraud in which the people behind a project or platform build trust, raise money from users or investors, and then disappear with the funds.
• ExploitAn exploit is the deliberate use of a vulnerability in code, logic or system design to make a system do something its creators did not intend, in crypto usually to drain funds from a smart contract, bridge or exchange.
• Exponential Moving AverageAn exponential moving average (EMA) is a moving average that gives more weight to recent prices and progressively less to older ones. As a result it reacts faster to new price moves than a simple moving average of the same length.

F

• False BreakoutA false breakout, often called a fakeout, is a move through a key level or out of a range that fails to continue and quickly returns into the previous structure. Traders who bought or sold the breakout are left on the wrong side.
• Fear & Greed IndexThe Crypto Fear and Greed Index is a score from 0 to 100 that tries to summarise the mood of the crypto market. Low readings mean fear dominates, high readings mean greed, and it is built from data such as volatility, momentum, social media activity and search trends.
• Federal Funds RateThe federal funds rate is the interest rate at which US banks lend reserves to each other overnight. The Federal Reserve sets a target range for it, and it serves as the anchor for interest rates across the US economy and much of the world.
• Fiat MoneyFiat money is currency that is not backed by a commodity such as gold. It works mainly because people accept and trust it and because a government declares it legal tender.
• Fiat-Backed StablecoinA fiat-backed stablecoin is a token meant to hold a steady value, usually 1 US dollar or 1 euro, because the issuer keeps reserves of cash and near-cash assets, such as short-term government bonds, to back every coin in circulation.
• Flash LoanA flash loan is a DeFi loan that is borrowed and repaid within a single blockchain transaction. No collateral is needed, because if the money is not paid back by the end of the transaction, the whole transaction is cancelled as if it never happened.
• FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)FOMO, short for fear of missing out, is the anxious feeling that everyone else is profiting from an opportunity you are about to miss. In crypto it drives emotional buying after a rapid price rise, often close to a short-term peak.
• ForkA fork is a change to the rules a blockchain follows. A soft fork tightens the rules in a backward-compatible way, while a hard fork changes them so that old software no longer accepts new blocks. A hard fork only splits a chain into two when part of the network refuses to upgrade.
• FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)FUD stands for fear, uncertainty and doubt. In crypto it describes negative news, rumours or misinformation that make people worried about an asset, sometimes spread on purpose to push prices down. The label is also often used to dismiss criticism that turns out to be valid.
• Full NodeA full node is a computer running blockchain software that downloads and independently validates every block and transaction against the network's consensus rules, without trusting anyone else's word that they are valid.
• Fully Diluted Valuation (FDV)Fully diluted valuation (FDV) is what a token's market cap would be if every unit that can ever exist were already in circulation: price multiplied by maximum supply, or by total supply when there is no cap.
• Fundamental AnalysisFundamental analysis is the study of the underlying quality and long-term value drivers of a project or asset, using factors such as usage, growth, competition, revenue, network data and economic importance, rather than price charts.
• Funding RateThe funding rate is a periodic payment exchanged between traders holding long and short positions in perpetual futures. It nudges the contract price back towards the spot price: when the perp trades above spot, longs usually pay shorts, and when it trades below, shorts usually pay longs.
• Futures BasisThe futures basis is the difference between a futures contract's price and the current spot price of the same asset. A positive basis means futures trade above spot, a negative one means they trade below.

G

• GammaGamma measures how much an option's delta changes when the underlying price moves by one unit. High gamma means the option's sensitivity to price shifts quickly, so its value can change much faster than delta alone suggests.
• GasGas is the unit a blockchain such as Ethereum uses to measure how much computation a transaction or smart-contract call needs. You pay for that gas in the network's coin, so gas is both a measure of work and the basis of the fee.
• Gas FeeA gas fee is the network fee you pay to have a transaction or smart-contract action processed on Ethereum and similar blockchains. It rises when many people compete for limited block space.
• Gas LimitThe gas limit is the maximum amount of gas a transaction is allowed to consume. It caps how much computation, and therefore how much fee, a transaction can use, and if the work needs more gas than the limit, the transaction fails.
• Genesis BlockThe genesis block is the first block of a blockchain. Bitcoin's genesis block, also called block 0, was created by Satoshi Nakamoto on 3 January 2009 and is the starting point every later block builds on.
• Gold StandardThe gold standard is a monetary system in which a currency is linked, directly or indirectly, to a fixed amount of gold, which limits how much money can be issued.
• Governance TokenA governance token gives its holders voting or participation rights in a crypto project, such as approving changes to a protocol's rules, fees or treasury spending.

H

• Hard ForkA hard fork is a change to a blockchain's rules that is not backward-compatible: blocks valid under the new rules can be rejected by nodes that have not upgraded. If part of the network refuses the change, the chain can split into two.
• Hardware WalletA hardware wallet is a small physical device that generates and stores private keys in isolation and signs transactions internally. The keys never leave the device, so malware on your computer or phone cannot copy them.
• HashA hash is a digital fingerprint of data, produced by a hash function. The same input always gives the same hash, but even a tiny change to the data produces a completely different one.
• HashrateHashrate is the total computing power miners devote to a proof-of-work blockchain, measured as the number of hash guesses made per second across the whole network.
• Health FactorThe health factor is a risk number used by DeFi lending protocols such as Aave to show how far a borrowing position is from liquidation. Above 1 the position is safe from liquidation; at or below 1 it can be liquidated.
• HedgingHedging means taking an offsetting position so that losses on one holding are partly or fully balanced by gains on another. It reduces risk, but it also reduces potential gains and usually costs something.
• HODLHODL means holding a cryptocurrency for the long term instead of selling during price swings. The word began as a typo of hold in a 2013 Bitcoin forum post and became one of crypto's best-known slogans and a common investing approach.
• HoneypotA honeypot is a token or smart-contract setup that allows people to buy but prevents or severely restricts selling. Buyers' money flows in, but only the creators can get it out.
• Hot WalletA hot wallet is a crypto wallet whose private keys live on a device connected to the internet, such as a phone app, a browser extension or an exchange's online server. It is convenient for frequent use but more exposed to attacks.
• HyperinflationHyperinflation is an extreme form of inflation in which prices rise very rapidly and confidence in the currency collapses, so money loses most of its value within months or even days.

I

• Impermanent LossImpermanent loss is the shortfall a liquidity provider can face compared with simply holding the same tokens, caused by the prices of the pooled assets moving apart. The bigger the price divergence, the bigger the loss.
• Implied VolatilityImplied volatility (IV) is the amount of future price movement that the market is pricing into an option. It is worked backwards from the option's price: the more expensive the option, the larger the swings traders expect.
• InflationInflation is a general rise in the price level over time. As prices climb, each unit of money buys less, so its purchasing power falls.
• Initial MarginInitial margin is the collateral you must post to open a futures or other leveraged position. Its size relative to the position sets your leverage: the less initial margin you post, the higher the leverage and the closer your liquidation point.
• Insurance FundAn insurance fund is a reserve that a derivatives platform keeps to absorb losses when a liquidated position cannot be closed at a price that covers it. It protects winning traders from going unpaid when a losing trader's margin is not enough.
• InteroperabilityInteroperability is the ability of different blockchains to communicate, exchange data or value, and support applications that span more than one network.

K

• KYCKYC, short for Know Your Customer, is the identity verification a financial platform uses to confirm who a user is. Regulated crypto exchanges and brokers usually require it before you can deposit, trade or withdraw.

L

• Layer 1 (L1)A Layer 1 (L1) is a base blockchain that does not rely on another network for its security. Its own consensus rules decide which transactions are valid and final. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana are Layer 1s.
• Layer 2 (L2)A layer 2 (L2) is a network built on top of a base blockchain (the layer 1) that processes transactions more cheaply and quickly while relying on the base layer for all or part of its security.
• LendingCrypto lending means supplying assets to a lending protocol or platform so others can borrow them. Lenders earn interest paid by borrowers, who in turn must lock up collateral worth more than they borrow.
• LeverageLeverage means using borrowed capital to open a larger position than your own money alone would allow. It multiplies both gains and losses, and a small price move against you can wipe out your stake.
• Limit OrderA limit order is an instruction to buy or sell an asset only at a price you set, or at a better one. It protects you from a bad price, but it may never be executed.
• Liquid StakingLiquid staking means staking coins through a protocol that gives you a tradeable receipt token in return, such as stETH for ether or jitoSOL for SOL. You keep earning staking rewards while the receipt token can be sold, transferred or used in DeFi.
• Liquid Staking TokenA liquid staking token (LST) is a tradable token you receive when you stake through a liquid staking protocol. It represents a claim on your staked coins plus their rewards, so you keep a usable asset while the original stays staked.
• LiquidationLiquidation is the forced, rule-based sale of a trader's or borrower's collateral when a position becomes too risky, so that the debt or loss can still be covered. It happens automatically, without asking you first.
• Liquidation CascadeA liquidation cascade is a chain reaction in which the forced closing of leveraged positions moves the price, which triggers more liquidations, which move the price further. It turns an ordinary move into a sharp spike or crash.
• Liquidation HeatmapA liquidation heatmap is a chart that estimates at which price levels many leveraged positions could be liquidated. Brighter zones mark areas where models expect clusters of liquidations, which traders watch because forced closures there can speed up price moves.
• Liquidation PriceThe liquidation price is the price level at which a leveraged position's margin falls to the maintenance requirement, so the platform automatically closes or reduces it. The higher your leverage, the closer the liquidation price sits to your entry price.
• LiquidityLiquidity is how quickly and easily an asset can be used to pay or be converted into something else, ideally without pushing its price much in the process.
• Liquidity PoolA liquidity pool is a stock of two or more tokens locked in a smart contract that people trade against on a decentralized exchange. Instead of matching buyers with sellers, the pool itself is the counterparty and a formula sets the price.
• Liquidity ProviderA liquidity provider (LP) is someone who deposits tokens into a liquidity pool so that others can trade against it. In return, the LP earns a share of the pool's trading fees, but also takes on the risk of price changes between the tokens.
• Loan-to-ValueLoan-to-value (LTV) is the size of a loan expressed as a percentage of the value of the collateral behind it. Lenders set a maximum LTV that caps how much you can borrow against a given deposit.
• Long / Short RatioThe long/short ratio compares how many traders, or how much position size, is betting on a price rise (long) versus a price fall (short) in a derivatives market. Extreme readings are sometimes treated as contrarian signals, but the number is easy to misread.
• Long PositionA long position is a position that gains value when the price of an asset rises. The simplest long is buying a coin and holding it; traders can also go long with derivatives such as futures.
• Long SqueezeA long squeeze is a sharp price drop that gets worse because many leveraged long positions are forced to close at once. Their liquidations and stop-losses create extra selling, which pushes the price lower and triggers still more forced selling.
• Lump-Sum InvestmentA lump-sum investment means putting a larger amount of money into an asset in full at one point in time, instead of spreading the purchase over weeks or months.

M

• MACDMACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) is a technical indicator that uses the gap between two exponential moving averages to judge trend direction and momentum. It is shown as two lines and a histogram below the price chart.
• Mainnet LaunchA mainnet launch is the moment a blockchain project starts its production network, the live chain where transactions are final and tokens carry real value, as opposed to a testnet used for trials.
• Maintenance MarginMaintenance margin is the minimum amount of collateral that must remain in a leveraged position for it to stay open. If losses push your margin below this level, the platform liquidates the position.
• Maker FeeA maker fee is the trading fee charged when your order adds liquidity to an order book, typically a limit order that rests in the book instead of filling right away. It is usually lower than the taker fee.
• MarginMargin is the money you put up as collateral to open and keep a leveraged position. It lets you control a position larger than your own capital, but losses are taken from it, and if it runs too low, the position is liquidated.
• Mark PriceThe mark price is a fair-value reference price that derivatives platforms use to calculate unrealized profit and loss and to decide liquidations. It is built from multiple sources, so a brief spike on a single exchange is less likely to liquidate traders unfairly.
• Market CapMarket cap, short for market capitalization, is the total value of a cryptocurrency's circulating coins, calculated as the current price multiplied by the circulating supply. It is the most common way to compare the size of different crypto assets.
• Market CycleA market cycle is a recurring sequence of market phases, usually described as accumulation, expansion (markup), distribution and decline (markdown), driven by changing prices, liquidity and sentiment.
• Market DepthMarket depth describes how much buying and selling interest sits at different price levels around the current price. A deep market can absorb large orders with little price movement; a shallow one moves sharply on small trades.
• Market MakerA market maker is a trader or firm that continuously quotes both a buy price and a sell price for an asset, so other people can trade at any time. By doing this it provides liquidity to the market.
• Market OrderA market order is an instruction to buy or sell immediately at the best prices currently available in the order book. It guarantees that the order executes, but not the exact price you get.
• Market SentimentMarket sentiment is the general mood of a market: whether participants feel optimistic, uncertain or fearful about where prices are heading. It describes how people feel, not what an asset is fundamentally worth.
• Max PainMax pain is the strike price at which the total payout to holders of open options would be smallest if the contracts expired there. It is the price that would cause the greatest combined loss for option buyers, and the smallest payout for option sellers.
• Maximum SupplyMaximum supply, or max supply, is the largest number of coins or tokens that can ever exist under a project's rules, if such a limit is defined. Bitcoin's is 21 million; many other assets have no cap at all.
• Meme CoinA meme coin is a cryptocurrency whose identity comes mainly from internet culture, a joke, a mascot or an online community rather than from a product or cash flow. Its price is driven almost entirely by attention and sentiment.
• MempoolThe mempool, short for memory pool, is a waiting area for valid transactions that have been broadcast but not yet included in a block. Miners or validators pick transactions from it to build the next block.
• MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)Maximal extractable value, or MEV, is the extra profit that can be made by deciding which transactions go into a block and in what order. Specialized bots and block producers capture it through arbitrage, liquidations and, more controversially, by trading around ordinary users.
• MinerA miner is a participant that uses computing power to create new blocks on a proof-of-work blockchain such as Bitcoin. In return, a successful miner collects newly issued coins and the transaction fees in that block.
• MiningMining is the process in which miners use computing power to create new blocks and secure a proof-of-work blockchain such as Bitcoin. It also issues new coins, as a reward to whoever finds the next valid block.
• MintingMinting is the creation of new token units, either by a smart contract following set rules or by an issuer with permission to create them. For fiat-backed stablecoins, new units are usually minted after reserves are deposited with the issuer.
• Money SupplyThe money supply is the total amount of money available in an economy at a given time, usually measured in layers such as M0, M1 and M2 depending on how easily the money can be spent.
• Monolithic BlockchainA monolithic blockchain is a design in which one chain handles all of its core jobs itself: executing transactions, reaching consensus, settling results and keeping transaction data available.
• Moving AverageA moving average is a line on a chart that shows the average price over a fixed number of recent periods, such as the last 20 days. As each new period closes, the oldest one drops out, so the average moves along with the price.
• Multi-SignatureMulti-signature, or multisig, is a security setup in which a transaction needs approval from several private keys instead of one, for example any 2 out of 3 designated keys, so no single key can move the funds alone.

N

• Negative FundingNegative funding is the state of a perpetual futures market in which the funding rate is below zero, so traders holding short positions pay traders holding long positions. It usually means the perp trades below the spot price because demand to short or hedge is strong.
• NFTAn NFT (non-fungible token) is a unique token on a blockchain that can represent a specific item, such as a piece of digital art, a game item, a ticket or a membership, and records who currently holds it.
• NodeA node is a computer that runs a blockchain's software and takes part in its network. A full node independently checks every block and transaction against the rules and relays valid data to other nodes.
• Non-Custodial WalletA non-custodial wallet is a wallet in which you, not a company, control the private keys. Only you can authorize transactions, and nobody can freeze or recover your funds for you.
• NonceA nonce is a variable value in a block header that miners change again and again to produce different hashes, searching for one that meets the network's difficulty target. The name comes from number used once.

O

• Off-ChainOff-chain refers to data, assets or processes that exist or happen outside a blockchain. They are not recorded in the chain's blocks, so they are not secured or made public by its consensus.
• On-Balance VolumeOn-Balance Volume (OBV) is a running total of volume that adds a period's volume when price closes higher and subtracts it when price closes lower. Its direction is used to judge whether buying or selling pressure is building.
• On-ChainOn-chain describes data, transactions or assets that are recorded or processed directly on a blockchain, where they are visible to anyone and secured by the network's consensus rules.
• On-Chain AnalysisOn-chain analysis is the study of data recorded directly on a blockchain, such as transactions, address balances and fees. Because public blockchains are open, anyone can verify this data, which makes it a kind of market information traditional finance rarely offers.
• Open InterestOpen interest is the total number, or value, of derivatives contracts such as futures and options that are still open and have not been closed or settled. It shows how much money and leverage is committed to a market at a given moment.
• Optimistic RollupAn optimistic rollup is a type of Layer 2 that bundles many transactions, posts them to a base chain like Ethereum, and assumes they are valid unless someone proves otherwise within a set challenge period.
• Options ExpiryOptions expiry is the date and time at which an options contract settles and ceases to exist. At that moment each contract either pays out based on the difference between the market price and its strike price, or expires worthless.
• OracleAn oracle is a system that brings information from outside a blockchain, most often asset prices, onto the chain so that smart contracts can use it. Smart contracts cannot fetch outside data by themselves.
• Order BookAn order book is the live list of all open buy orders (bids) and sell orders (asks) for a trading pair on an exchange, sorted by price. It shows where buyers and sellers are currently willing to trade.
• OverboughtOverbought describes a market that has risen strongly in a short time, so that momentum indicators show extreme readings. With the RSI, the most common example, it usually means a value above 70. It does not mean the price must fall.
• OvercollateralizationOvercollateralization means locking up collateral worth more than the loan or stablecoins issued against it, for example 150 dollars of ETH to borrow or mint 100 dollars of stablecoins. The extra value is a safety buffer against price drops.
• OversoldOversold describes a market that has fallen strongly in a short time, so that momentum indicators show extreme low readings. With the RSI it usually means a value below 30. It does not mean the price has reached its bottom.

P

• Paper HandsPaper hands is slang for an investor who sells quickly when prices drop or fear spreads, often at a loss. It is used as an insult in crypto communities and is the opposite of diamond hands, who hold through volatility.
• Peer-to-PeerPeer-to-peer (P2P) describes a direct connection between participants without a central intermediary. In crypto, it means users and computers exchange data and value with each other rather than through a bank or central server.
• Perpetual Futures (Perps)Perpetual futures, or perps, are futures contracts with no expiry date. Traders can hold them as long as their margin lasts, and a periodic funding payment between longs and shorts keeps the contract price close to the spot price. They are the most widely traded type of crypto derivative.
• PhishingPhishing is fraud that uses fake websites, apps, emails or messages that look genuine to trick you into a harmful action, such as entering your seed phrase, logging in on a copied page or signing a transaction that hands over your funds.
• Position SizePosition size is how much of an asset you hold in a single trade. Traders usually calculate it from the amount they are willing to lose, the entry price and the stop-loss level, so that a losing trade costs a planned amount.
• Positive FundingPositive funding is the state of a perpetual futures market in which the funding rate is above zero, so traders holding long positions pay traders holding short positions. It usually means the perp trades above the spot price because demand for leveraged longs is strong.
• Priority FeeA priority fee, often called a tip, is an extra amount per unit of gas that you offer the validator on top of the base fee, as an incentive to include your transaction in a block sooner.
• Privacy CoinA privacy coin is a cryptocurrency built to hide some or all transaction details, such as who sent funds, who received them and how much, from the public. Monero and Zcash are the best-known examples.
• Private KeyA private key is a secret number that lets its holder authorize transactions and control the crypto linked to it. Whoever has the private key effectively owns the funds, so it must never be shared.
• Proof of HistoryProof of History (PoH) is a cryptographic clock used by Solana. It produces a verifiable sequence of hashes that proves events happened in a particular order and that time passed between them, helping the network order transactions efficiently.
• Proof of ReservesProof of reserves is evidence a crypto platform publishes to show that it holds enough assets to cover customer balances. A good one shows both what the platform owns and what it owes its customers; a weak one shows only half.
• Proof of Stake (PoS)Proof of stake (PoS) is a consensus mechanism in which validators lock up the network's coins as collateral and are chosen to propose and confirm blocks; security comes from that staked capital and the penalties for breaking the rules.
• Proof of Work (PoW)Proof of work (PoW) is a consensus mechanism in which miners compete, using computing power, to find a valid block. The winner adds the next block to the chain, and the cost of that work is what makes rewriting history expensive.
• Proto-DankshardingProto-danksharding, specified in EIP-4844, is an Ethereum upgrade that introduced blob transactions: a cheaper, temporary way for rollups to post their data to Ethereum, which lowered fees on layer 2 networks.
• Public KeyA public key is the shareable half of a wallet's key pair. It is calculated from the private key, is used to verify your signatures, and is the basis from which your receiving addresses are derived.
• Put OptionA put option gives its buyer the right, but not the obligation, to sell an asset at a fixed strike price until or on a set expiry date. Buyers pay a premium and profit if the price falls below the strike; sellers collect the premium and must buy at the strike if assigned.

Q

• Quantitative Easing (QE)Quantitative easing (QE) is when a central bank buys bonds and other assets on a large scale with newly created reserves, to push down longer-term interest rates and ease financial conditions.
• Quantitative Tightening (QT)Quantitative tightening (QT) is the reverse of quantitative easing: a central bank shrinks its balance sheet, for example by letting bonds mature without replacing them or by selling them, which removes liquidity from markets.

R

• Real YieldReal yield is the return left after accounting for token inflation, dilution and costs. In DeFi the term usually means yield paid out of a protocol's actual revenue, such as trading fees, rather than out of newly issued tokens.
• RebalancingRebalancing means periodically adjusting a portfolio back to its target allocation, selling some of what has grown beyond its share and adding to what has fallen below it.
• Rebasing TokenA rebasing token is a token whose balance in your wallet changes automatically, without any transfer, to reflect rewards earned or a deliberate adjustment of the total supply.
• ResistanceResistance is a price area where sellers may become more active and temporarily halt a rising price. It is usually identified from places on the chart where earlier rallies stalled and turned back down.
• RevokeTo revoke means to cancel a token approval you gave a smart contract, setting its allowance to zero so it can no longer move those tokens out of your wallet.
• Risk ManagementRisk management is the process of limiting losses, protecting capital and controlling risk on purpose. Its core habit is deciding, before a trade or investment, the maximum amount you are willing to lose if your idea turns out to be wrong.
• Risk-OffRisk-off describes a market phase in which investors reduce risk and move money into more defensive assets, such as cash, high-quality government bonds or the US dollar. Riskier assets, including crypto, often fall in these periods.
• Risk-OnRisk-on describes a market phase in which investors are more willing to buy riskier assets, such as growth stocks, emerging markets and crypto, because they feel confident about the economy and expect returns to outweigh the risks.
• Risk-Reward RatioThe risk-reward ratio compares how much a trade could lose with how much it could gain, usually measured from the entry price to the stop loss and to the profit target.
• RoadmapA roadmap is a project's development plan that shows which goals it intends to reach and in what order, such as a testnet, a mainnet launch, new features or partnerships.
• RollupA rollup is a scaling solution that executes many transactions outside the base blockchain, then posts them in compressed batches, together with the resulting state, back to the base layer so anyone can verify or reconstruct them.
• RSIThe RSI (Relative Strength Index) is a technical indicator that measures momentum on a scale from 0 to 100. It compares the size of recent gains with recent losses to show how strongly price has been moving in one direction.
• Rug PullA rug pull is a scam or abuse in which a project's creators or other insiders suddenly withdraw the liquidity or capital that holds a token up, leaving buyers with tokens that can no longer be sold for much, or at all.

S

• Sandwich AttackA sandwich attack is a form of MEV in which a bot spots your pending swap on a decentralized exchange, trades just before it to move the price against you, and trades just after it to lock in a profit. Your trade ends up in the middle, at a worse price.
• SatoshiA satoshi, or sat, is the smallest unit of Bitcoin recorded on the blockchain: one satoshi equals 0.00000001 BTC, so one bitcoin is 100 million sats.
• Satoshi NakamotoSatoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym of the person or group who published the Bitcoin white paper in 2008 and launched the Bitcoin network in 2009. Their real identity has never been confirmed.
• ScalabilityScalability is a blockchain's ability to handle more users and transactions without becoming much slower, more expensive or harder to use.
• Security TokenA security token is a blockchain token that represents a financial claim, such as a share in a company, a bond, or a right to profits, and is therefore treated as a security under financial law.
• Seed PhraseA seed phrase, also called a recovery phrase, is a list of usually 12 or 24 words that encodes the master secret of a crypto wallet. With it, the wallet and all its keys and addresses can be restored on any compatible device.
• Self-CustodySelf-custody means controlling your own private keys, for example by holding coins in a personal wallet, instead of letting a bank, exchange or other central party hold them for you.
• SequencerA sequencer is the component of many Layer 2 networks that collects users' transactions, puts them in order, executes them quickly and prepares them to be posted to the base chain in batches.
• ShardingSharding is a scaling approach that splits a blockchain's data or workload into separate segments, called shards, so that no single participant has to process everything.
• Short PositionA short position is a position that gains value when the price of an asset falls. Traders short by selling borrowed coins or by opening a short contract on a derivatives market.
• Short SqueezeA short squeeze is a sharp price rise that accelerates because many short positions are forced to close at once. Closing a short means buying, so liquidations and stop-losses add buying pressure that pushes the price higher and forces even more shorts out.
• Simple Moving AverageA simple moving average (SMA) is the plain arithmetic average of the last N closing prices, where every price in the period counts equally. It is the most basic and most widely used type of moving average.
• SlashingSlashing is a penalty in proof-of-stake networks that destroys part of a validator's staked coins and usually removes it from the validator set when it provably breaks the protocol's rules.
• SlippageSlippage is the difference between the price you expected for a trade and the price at which it actually executed. It usually works against you, especially with large orders or in thin, fast-moving markets.
• Smart ContractA smart contract is a program that runs on a blockchain and automatically executes its defined rules when the conditions are met. Once deployed, it runs exactly as written, without a company operating it.
• Smart Contract RiskSmart contract risk is the risk that errors or vulnerabilities in a smart contract's code or design cause it to behave incorrectly, often resulting in lost or frozen funds. It applies to every DeFi app, bridge and token.
• Smart Money WalletA smart money wallet is a blockchain address whose past on-chain behavior suggests an experienced, profitable or strategically strong owner, such as a fund, an early investor or a consistently successful trader.
• Social EngineeringSocial engineering is fraud that targets people rather than technology. Instead of breaking encryption, the scammer uses deception, pressure or built-up trust to get you to send funds, reveal a seed phrase or approve a harmful transaction yourself.
• Soft ForkA soft fork is a change to a blockchain's rules that makes them stricter, so blocks valid under the new rules are still valid under the old ones. Nodes that do not upgrade keep following the chain, provided most block producers enforce the new rules.
• SpoofingSpoofing is placing large buy or sell orders you never intend to execute, then cancelling them quickly, to mislead other traders about supply and demand. It is a form of market manipulation and is illegal in regulated markets.
• StablecoinA stablecoin is a crypto asset designed to keep a stable value relative to a reference such as the US dollar, usually by holding reserves, posting collateral or using an algorithm.
• StakingStaking means locking up coins to help run a proof-of-stake blockchain, either by running a validator or by delegating to one, and earning rewards in return.
• Staking PoolA staking pool combines coins from many holders so they can take part in proof-of-stake staking together, with an operator running the validators and sharing out the rewards minus a fee.
• Stop LossA stop loss is an order that closes a position automatically once the price moves a set amount against you. It caps how much you lose on one trade, as long as the market can actually fill it near your price.
• Stop-Limit OrderA stop-limit order is an order with two prices: a stop price that activates it and a limit price that sets the worst price you will accept. Once the stop price is reached, it becomes a normal limit order.
• Store of ValueA store of value is money, or any asset held for that purpose, that keeps its purchasing power over time, so what you save today can still buy roughly as much later.
• Strategic Bitcoin ReserveA Strategic Bitcoin Reserve is a stock of bitcoin held and managed by a government as a long-term strategic asset, similar in spirit to gold or oil reserves, rather than coins it intends to sell soon.
• Strike PriceThe strike price is the fixed price, set when an option is created, at which its holder can buy (with a call) or sell (with a put) the underlying asset. Where the market price ends relative to the strike decides whether the option is worth anything at expiry.
• SupportSupport is a price area where buyers may become more active and temporarily halt a falling price. It is usually identified from places on the chart where price stopped falling and bounced before.

T

• Take ProfitA take-profit order automatically closes an open position once the price reaches a target you set, locking in the gain without you having to watch the market. It is the counterpart of a stop-loss, which limits losses.
• Taker FeeA taker fee is the trading fee charged when your order fills immediately against orders already in the order book, removing liquidity. Market orders are always takers, and taker fees are usually higher than maker fees.
• Theta DecayTheta decay is the loss in an option's value that comes purely from the passage of time, assuming the price and volatility stay the same. Theta, one of the option Greeks, measures how much value an option loses per day.
• TimeframeA timeframe is the chart setting that decides how much time each candle represents, for example 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day or 1 week. Changing it changes how much detail and noise you see.
• TokenA token is a digital asset created on top of an existing blockchain, usually by a smart contract, rather than being the blockchain's own native coin.
• Token AllowanceA token allowance is the amount of a specific token you have authorized a smart contract to move from your wallet on your behalf, set by signing an approval transaction.
• Token StandardA token standard is a shared technical rulebook that defines which functions a token's smart contract must offer, so that wallets, exchanges and apps can work with any token that follows it.
• TokenizationTokenization means representing an asset or a right, such as a bond, a gold bar, a fund share or a piece of property, as a token on a blockchain, so ownership can be recorded and transferred digitally.
• TokenomicsTokenomics is the economic design of a token: how many exist and will exist, who received them, how new ones are issued or burned, what the token is used for, and what incentives that creates.
• Total SupplyTotal supply is the number of token units that currently exist, including tokens that are locked or not yet tradable, but excluding units that have been verifiably burned.
• Trading JournalA trading journal is a structured record of every trade you make, including why you entered, how you managed it and what happened. It turns your results, habits and mistakes into something you can measure and improve.
• Trading PairA trading pair is two assets that can be traded directly against each other on an exchange, written like BTC/USDT or ETH/BTC. The price tells you how much of the second asset you pay for one unit of the first.
• Trading VolumeTrading volume is the quantity of an asset bought and sold within a specified period, such as an hour or a day. It shows how much activity sits behind a price move and is usually displayed as bars under a chart.
• TVL (Total Value Locked)Total value locked, or TVL, is the combined value of crypto assets deposited in a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol or on a blockchain, usually measured in US dollars. It is the most common way to compare the size of DeFi projects.

U

• UnlockA token unlock is the moment, or process, in which previously locked tokens are released and can be moved or sold, adding to the circulating supply.
• UptrendAn uptrend is a market phase in which the price predominantly rises over time. On a chart it usually shows up as a series of higher highs and higher lows: each rally goes further than the last, and each pullback stops above the previous low.
• Utility TokenA utility token is a token designed to have a practical function inside a project, such as granting access to a service, paying fees or unlocking features, rather than representing ownership or a claim on profits.
• UTXOA UTXO (unspent transaction output) is a piece of bitcoin created by an earlier transaction that has not been spent yet. Your wallet balance is the sum of all UTXOs your keys can unlock, and new transactions spend them as inputs.

V

• ValidatorA validator is a participant in a proof-of-stake network that locks up coins as collateral, checks transactions, proposes or votes on new blocks, and earns rewards for doing this correctly.
• VestingVesting is a time-based lock-and-release arrangement in which tokens become available gradually over a defined period instead of all at once, typically for team members, early investors and advisors.
• VolatilityVolatility is the degree to which an asset's price moves up and down over time. The bigger and faster the swings, the higher the volatility. Crypto assets are among the most volatile assets that ordinary investors can buy.
• Volume (24h)24-hour volume is the total value of a cryptocurrency traded over the past 24 hours, usually shown in US dollars and summed across the exchanges a data provider tracks. It indicates how actively an asset is being traded.

W

• WalletA crypto wallet is software or hardware that manages your private keys. Your coins are not stored inside the wallet; they live on the blockchain, and the wallet holds the keys that let you prove ownership and sign transactions.
• Wallet DrainerA wallet drainer is malicious code, usually hidden on a fake website, that tricks you into signing transactions or approvals that let attackers move your tokens and NFTs out of your wallet.
• Wash TradingWash trading is buying and selling the same asset with yourself, or with a partner acting in concert, to create the appearance of trading activity and volume without any real change in ownership or genuine market interest.
• WhaleA whale is a market participant, address or wallet that holds or moves an unusually large amount of a cryptocurrency. Their trades can be big enough to move the price on their own.
• Whale TrackingWhale tracking is the practice of monitoring large wallets, holdings and on-chain transactions to better understand what big market participants are doing. Because public blockchains are transparent, anyone can follow these movements, often through alert services and analytics dashboards.
• WickA wick is the thin line above or below a candlestick's body. The tip of the upper wick shows the highest price of the period, and the tip of the lower wick shows the lowest price.
• Wrapped TokenA wrapped token is a token that represents another asset one-to-one in a different format, often on a different blockchain. Wrapped bitcoin (WBTC) on Ethereum and wrapped ether (WETH) are common examples.

X

• XRP LedgerThe XRP Ledger (XRPL) is the public, open-source blockchain on which XRP natively exists and on which XRP and other assets are transferred and traded. It has run since 2012 and reaches agreement through its own consensus protocol rather than mining or staking.

Y

• Yield FarmingYield farming is an active DeFi strategy in which you deploy capital across protocols, and regularly move or adjust it, to earn returns from several sources such as trading fees, interest and token rewards.

Z

• Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZK)A zero-knowledge proof (ZK proof) is a cryptographic method that lets one party convince another that a statement is true, for example that a transaction is valid or that they know a password, without revealing anything beyond that fact.
• Zero-Knowledge RollupA zero-knowledge (ZK) rollup is a Layer 2 that bundles transactions and posts a cryptographic proof to the base chain showing that the whole batch was executed correctly. The base chain checks the proof instead of re-running every transaction.
• zk-STARKA zk-STARK is a type of zero-knowledge proof that lets one party prove a computation was done correctly without a trusted setup, relying only on hash functions and public randomness.
• zkEVMA zkEVM is a virtual machine that runs Ethereum-style smart contracts and produces a zero-knowledge proof that every step was executed correctly, so developers can reuse familiar code on a proof-based network.

Educational reference only — not investment, legal, tax or financial advice.