The most comprehensive crypto glossary for Intermediate level
The most comprehensive crypto glossary out there.
Proof of work (PoW)
A decentralized consensus mechanism that requires computing effort and thus energy to solve unpredictable mathematical puzzles. The collective computing power consumed in the network forms a blanket of security, which prevents a single entity from gaining control of the entire network. Bitcoin constitutes the most popular PoW consensus network.
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Level: Intermediate
Proof of stake (PoS)
A decentralized consensus mechanism that rewards block validators according to the number of native coins that they invested in the network. Block validators are selected based on the number of coins they are committing to the network. PoS was invented as an alternative to the Proof-of-work (PoW) of Bitcoin and Ethereum 1.0.
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Level: Intermediate
ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)
ETFs are marketable securities that track an index, a commodity, bonds or a basket of assets, such as an index fund. Unlike mutual funds, ETFs trade on stock exchanges like common stocks.
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Level: Intermediate
Proof of authority (PoA)
A consensus mechanism that merits identity and reputation, instead of cryptographic assets and computational power. In contrast to a proof of stake mechanism, PoA relies on a small number of nodes to verify transactions. At the cost of decentralization, PoA networks have exceptional scalability and transaction speeds compared to other consensus mechanisms.
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Level: Intermediate
Privacy coin
A type of cryptocurrency that seeks to preserve the privacy of its users and its network protocol. A privacy coin conceals the identity and transaction information of its users as they exchange crypto assets. This is made possible with the use of zero-knowledge proofs (zk-SNARKs), which are a type of immutable and tamper-proof cryptographic proof. Monero and Zcash are the two most popular privacy coins.
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Level: Intermediate
Price discovery
Price discovery happens when the price of a traded asset makes a new all-time high or all-time low price. In such a circumstance, market players try to establish an equilibrium price by frequently trading the asset back and forth.
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Level: Intermediate
Pre-mine
The instance in which all or a portion of a network's coins are mined before they are sold to the public and added into circulation.
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Level: Intermediate
ERC-721
On the Ethereum blockchain, this is the standard used to issue and implement tokens. Tokens based on the ERC-721 standard are non-fungible, as opposed to those based on the ERC-20 standard.
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Level: Intermediate
Ponzi scheme
A fraudulent investment or scam, which usually promises unrealistically high rates of return with a minimal risk for investors. In a typical Ponzi scheme, profits are given to earlier investors from funds received from later investors.
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Level: Intermediate
Play to earn (P2E)
A gaming concept in which an online game platform incentivizes its users to play games. In return for playing, players are able to earn from in-game assets that can be exchanged in the real, physical world as a valuable resource.
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Level: Intermediate
ERC-20
On the Ethereum blockchain, this is the standard used to issue and implement tokens. The standard specifies a common set of rules for tokens in the Ethereum ecosystem that should be followed.
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Level: Intermediate
Phishing
A computer-based attack which steals sensitive personal information like email addresses, private keys, and credit card information from an unknowing victim. Phishing attacks are made by malicious parties that impersonate trustworthy entities like official customer services.
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Level: Intermediate
Perpetual futures contract
A derivative contract similar to futures, albeit one without an expiration date.
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Level: Intermediate
Parent chain
The main chain on a blockchain network ecosystem. Parent chains are usually Layer-1 blockchains that maintain the consensus of the network and run subnetworks or side chains on top of the parent chain.
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Level: Intermediate
Empty block
A block with one transaction: the coinbase reward that allocates 12.5 bitcoins to the miner. The community views empty blocks as a waste of resources, since those blocks could have contained multiple bitcoin transactions.
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Level: Intermediate