Blockchain

Letter - A

Airdrops: represent the free receipt of a cryptocurrency, usually due to a fork, or use of a specific protocol or product.

Altcoin: Every coin that's not Bitcoin.

Letter - B

Blockchain Fees: For every transaction you make on the blockchain, you'll have to pay fees. The amount of fees varies from blockchain to blockchain. Also know has "Gas", it is essential to the network. It is the fuel that allows it to operate, in the same way that a car needs gasoline to run.

Blockchain Data: Data that can be taken from blocks, transactions and nodes, e.g. hash rate, total transactions, value of transactions, etc.

Bridge: A tool that gives possibility to transfer digital assets and information from one blockchain to another.

Burn: Burn or Burning means removing tokens from the overall supply, decreasing the number in circulation. This typically involves sending the tokens to a wallet with no known private keys. This wallet can only receive assets, thus effectively making them inaccessible.

Blocks: Blocks are the basic containers of information in a blockchain.

Block Reward: Cryptocurrencies that are paid out to users for maintaining the cryptocurrencies blockchain networw, by determining which new blocks are valid and adding them to the blockchain.

Block Explorer: A platform that allows you to visualize the blokchain, blocks, transactions, tokens, NFTs, smart contracts, and other digital assets created on a given blockchain.

Letter - C

CEX: Centralized crypto exchanges operated by a company (intermediary). Examples os CEX: Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, etc.

Contract Address: A unique address composed by a long series of numbers and characters, that is allocated when a smart contract is deployed.

Cryptocoin: A digital asset created on a public blockchain.

Closed Network: A network controlled by a limited set of nodes, permissioned, and where rules are imposed from the top down.

Centralized: Description of a node structure that has a central node or server, which controls access, permissions, and where nodes may not have access to the same information.

Letter - D

DeFi: DeFi stands for decentralized finance, and it represents all protocols that compose the financial layer of blockchain technology. Some examples are stablecoins, pegged to fiat-currencies such as the U.S. dollar; borrow and lending, such as Compound or Aave; finally, derivatives and indexes are also part of the DeFi ecosystem.

DEX: Decentralized crypto exchanges that offer access to digital assets without an intermediary. Examples of DEX: Pancakeswap, Sushiwap, 1inch, etc.

Decentrilized: Description of a node structure in which a set of nodes have privileged access, which controls access and permissions, but are usually distributed across at least two different regions of the globe.

Distributed: Fully distributed node structure where each peer has the same access and privileges.

Letter - E

Exchange: A platform (Centralized or Decentralized) on which one can buy and sell cryptocurrency.

Encryption: Encryption of a data string into another data string that can only be decrypted with the right private key.

Letter - F

Fork: When there is a split in the consensus of a network and there is a split in the miners. Often a single network splits into two during hardforks, or contentious forks.

Letter - G

GameFi: The intersection of gaming and finance (DeFi) in an environment driven by use of blockchain, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and smart contracts.

GWEI: GWEI is short for gigawei, or 1,000,000,000 wei. Wei, as the smallest (base) unit of ether, just like what cents are to the dollar and satoshi are to Bitcoin.

Letter - H

Hack: A theft or unwanted access to a protocol or project, where the attacker takes cryptocurrencies from a wallet or pool without permission.

Halving: An incentive system inherent in the bitcoin protocol that reduces coin issuance per block by half every 210,000 blocks.

Hashing: Transformation of a data string into another data string.

Hash Power: The Hash Power (or hash rate) represents the computational power of the machines that are mining. The higher the hash power, the more secure the network.

Hardfork: When a protocol splits into two due to a failure in the consensus of miners or validators. Usually a new coin and blockchain are created.

Letter - I

IDO: An initial decentralized exchange offering (IDO) is a way of raising financing for a blockchain project by launching a token sale on a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange.

Incentive: Mechanic of a protocol to support its operations in an autonomous and decentralized way.

Letter - L

Layer 0: A Layer 0 blockchain is the initial stage of blockchain that allows various networks to function, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many more.

Layer 1: A Layer 1 network is a network that acts as infrastructure for other applications, protocols, and networks to build on top of, such as BNB Chain and Avalanche.

Layer 2: Layer 2 networks extend the functionality of their layer 1 counterpart. This can be to increase the layer 1 network’s performance, reduce transaction fees, or increase programmability. For example, Polygon decreases user’s fees and transaction latency.

Liquidity: Liquidity is a fundamental part of both the crypto and financial markets. It is the manner in which assets are converted to cash quickly and efficiently, avoiding drastic price swings.

Letter - M

Marketmaker: An individual or institution that provides currencies for other users to buy and sell (swaps)

MetaMask: An interface (Wallet) that allows you to easily communicate with multiple blockchains.

Letter - N

Network: A network of nodes that can be centralized, decentralized or distributed, and open or closed.

Letter - O

Open Network: A permissive node network that has the same set of rules for all participants, and from which participants can only exclude themselves.

Letter - P

Proof-Of-Work: PoW is a consensus algorithm based on Adam Back's protocol, hashcash, which guarantees randomness in the search for each block. PoW forces miners to spend more and more energy the greater the number of participants.

Proof-Of-Stake: PoS is a consensus algorithm distinct from PoW in the sense that there are no miners, only validators, made up of participants who stake their coins to create blocks.

Protocole: The rules that participants must follow to interact with a blockchain/cryptocurrency.

Public Keys: The public-keys are derived from the private-keys of each wallet.

Private Keys: Private keys are derived from Seeds and can never be shared. Private-keys originate from public-keys.

Private Blockchain: A private blockchain that does not necessarily require a token. When a DLT uses the blockchain format - a chain of blocks - it is called a private blockchain.

Public Blockchain: A public network based on a cryptocurrency and a decentralized, open and permissive infrastructure.

PGP: "Pretty-Good-Privacy" is a protocol for sending and receiving data in an encrypted and secure manner on a public network.

P2P: Peer-to-peer, or P2P, describes a data or network system that is distributed among all participants. In these protocols users communicate directly with each other.

Letter - S

Swap: A tool that gives the possibility to instantly trade one cryptocurrency for another, with no crypto-to-fiat exchange required.

Seed: Seeds originate private keys and should never be shared or stored online.

Softfork: Unlike hardforks, during a softfork (or upgrade), the network consensus algorithm is updated. (New updates are backwards compatible with all previous versions of the protocol)

Smart Contract: An application built on a decentralized blockchain that is autonomous and can only be interacted with through transactions on the network.

Stablecoin: A type of cryptocurrency whose value is tied to an asset such as the U.S. dollar or gold to maintain a stable price.

Letter - T

Token: A token is a cryptocurrency that allows users to use a certain network or product. Tokens can have multiple use-cases; while some work like currencies, others perform the function of utility tokens.

Tokenomics: A term that combines the terms "Token" and "Economics" to describe how tokens are managed within a blockchain project to achieve financial goals.

Treasury: Treasury involves the management of money and financial risks in a business. The priority is to ensure the business has the money it needs to manage its day-to-day business obligations. It also aims to ensure there is enough cash available to meet future liabilities.

Transactions: Currency exchanges or operations carried out on a blockchain.

Letter - W

Wallet: A software or hardware that enables users to store and use cryptocurrency.

Wallet Address: A unique string of letters and numbers that represents a wallet, exchange, or blockchain address.

Web3: Web3 is the transition to a “read-write-own” decentralized version of the Internet that allows users to keep ownership of their data through blockchain technology.