50 Crypto Jargons and What They Mean

It can feel intimidating when you first step into an industry and see the insane number of words you have to Google, and still not know what it means after that. Finance, law, business, and, of course, the crypto industry are infamous for their hard-to-understand language. 

Sometimes, the jargon used is done on purpose, other times, there just may not be another word to replace it. Regardless, this article will break down 50 of the most common crypto jargon and what they mean in understandable language. A glossary, if you may. 

1. 51% Attack: 
   • Also known as a majority attack, it happens when an individual or group controls more than 50% of the mining power on a blockchain. It is often accomplished by renting mining power from a third party.
2. Address:
   • An address on the blockchain is a string of text used to identify a location or person, just like an address in the real world or a website. The text string specifies the site of a particular wallet on the blockchain, from which digital assets may be sent or received.
3. Airdrop:
   • A marketing ploy in which money or tokens are sent to wallet addresses to raise awareness of a new cryptocurrency.
4. All-time high:
   • It refers to the highest price that an asset has ever reached.
5. All-time low: 
   • The exact opposite of an All-time high. Referring to the lowest price that an asset has ever reached. 
6. Altcoin: 
   • Alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin. For example Ethereum, Litecoins, or Monero. 
7. AML (Anti-Money Laundering): 
   • AML is a combination of processes and regulatory rules designed to detect and prohibit unlawful activities. This includes illegal trading, tax evasion, market manipulation, and the laundering of soiled gains.
8. Arbitrage: 
   • An act of purchasing a digital asset on one exchange and selling it simultaneously for a profit.
9. Ark: 
   • A decentralised ecosystem aimed at increasing blockchain adoption among users.
10. ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit): 
    • In contrast to general-purpose circuits like the CPUs that power our computers and mobile devices, ASICs are integrated circuits that have been built to fulfil a specific use case.
11. Atomic Swap: 
    • An automated technology that permits one cryptocurrency trading for another without centralised middlemen, such as exchanges.
12. Augur: 
    • A software program that intends to motivate a worldwide network of computers to keep an Ethereum-based (ETH) prediction market platform running.
13. Bear Market:
    • When supply exceeds demand, confidence is low, and prices decrease.
14. Block Explorer: 
    • A blockchain search engine that allows you to search the blockchain for a specific piece of data.
15. Block Height: 
    • It indicates a particular place in a blockchain determined by the number of verified blocks that came before it.
16. Block Reward: 
    • The number of cryptocurrencies you will receive if you successfully mine a cryptocurrency block.
17. Blockchain: 
    • A decentralised database shared across computer network nodes.
18. Bull Market: 
19. • Refers to a strong market upswing with substantial price growths.
20. Burn: 
    • When a cryptocurrency token is removed from circulation.
21. Chainlink:
    • A decentralised network of nodes that connects off-blockchain data and information to on-blockchain smart contracts via oracles.
22. Cipher: 
    • An algorithm for encrypting or decrypting data.
23. Circulating Supply:
    • It refers to the best estimate of the number of coins circulating in the market.
24. Cold Storage: 
    • An offline wallet that allows one to store the crypto coin’s private keys away from the internet. Also known as a hardware wallet. 
25. Decred:
    • A community-driven cryptocurrency that provides a fully decentralised, unbiased, and sovereign cryptocurrency option to traditional cash.
26. DeFi (Decentralised Finance): 
    • A financial system based on blockchain technology that reimagines financial transactions by removing intermediaries.
27. Double Spend: 
28. • It happens when someone alters a blockchain network and inserts a special unit of currency to reclaim a coin.
29. Dump: 
    • A sudden reduction in the price of a coin caused by unusual selling activity.
30. Dust Transaction: 
    • Transactions of tiny amounts of bitcoin.
31. ERC (Ethereum Request for Comment): 
    • An application-level standard for Ethereum.
32. Escrow: 
    • A typical financial arrangement used to make transactions more unassailable.
33. Fiat: 
    • A currency established as a recognized form of money. Usually with the support of a government regulation declaring it legal tender.
34. FOMO: 
    • Fear Of Missing Out.
35. Fork:
    • A fork occurs whenever a community changes the blockchain’s protocol or fundamental rules.
36. FUD: 
    • “Fear, uncertainty, and doubt” — indicates a general pessimism about a specific asset or market.
37. Gas: 
    • The unit of measurement for the amount of computing effort necessary to perform various activities on the Ethereum network.
38. Gwei:
    • Stands for “gigaWei”, the smallest unit of the Ethereum network. 
39. Halving:
    • Refers to a method of declining the pace at which new coins are issued.
40. Hashrate:
    • A measure of the computational capacity per second used when mining.
41. Liquidity:
    • How easy it is to turn cryptocurrency into cash.
42. Mining:
    • The procedure of validating a cryptocurrency transaction.
43. Minting:
    • A decentralised technique for creating a new coin.
44. Monero:
    • A digital currency that offers a high level of obscurity for users and their transactions.
45. Pump:
    • The exact opposite of “dump”. Indicates the manipulation to drive the demand and price of respective currencies up.
46. Ripple:
    • A technology that performs as both a cryptocurrency and a digital payment network for financial commerce.
47. Sharding:
    • A method examined by developers to increase transactional throughput.
48. Staking:
    • A method of accumulating rewards for holding specific cryptocurrencies. 
49. Token:
    • It is a tradable asset or utility that exists on its blockchain and can be used for investment or economic purposes by the holder.
50. Wallet:
    • An app that permits cryptocurrency users to store their digital assets.
51. Waves:
    • A blockchain system that allows developers to create decentralised applications (DApps) and smart contracts.
52. Whale:
    • An account with a large amount of a coin and the ability to impact the market.