When I started my crypto journey

I faced the challenges of following conversations on several social media platforms and leaving in the middle of the conversations to check the meaning of some crypto words I didn’t understand. 

Even while I made efforts to research these new terms, they weren’t explained with simple words for easy understanding. 

In this article, I will mention popular and new crypto terms so you don’t get lost in the midst of crypto conversations.

I also provided the PDF format. Download it here 

Crypto Terminologies.

APY – Annual Percentage Yield

When you put your cryptocurrency in a staking or yield farming platform, especially Decentralized finance, they start earning cryptocurrencies as time goes by. 

The extra money is gotten over a year period. 

Let’s assume you have 100 BTC and the APY is 10%. That means after one year, you will have an extra 10 BTC, making it 110 BTC in total!

But remember, APY can change. Sometimes it can go up or down depending on how the crypto world is doing.

Borrow APR

Borrow APR is a measurement that tells you how much you have to pay for borrowing cryptocurrencies from a DeFi protocol. 

When you want to borrow crypto, the Borrow APR helps you understand how much extra you need to give back after borrowing them for a certain period, usually a year.

For example, let’s say you borrow 100 USDT and the Borrow APR is 5%. That means after one year, you have to give back an extra 5 USDT to the DeFi protocol as payment for borrowing those USDT. 

Stable APR

The Stable APR is called “stable” because it usually stays the same over time, unlike some other rates that may change. It’s like a reliable friend that always keeps their promises.

For example, let’s say you put 100 toy coins into a DeFi protocol with a Stable APR of 3%. 

That means after a specific period, let’s say a year, the DeFi protocol will give you an additional 3 toy coins as promised.

Variable APR

When you put your USDT in a DeFi protocol, and choose the Variable APR, it means that the number of extra USDT you get can change over time. 

For example, let’s say you put 100 USDT in a DeFi protocol, with a variable APR. 

At first, it might give you 5 extra USDT, but later it could give you 7, or maybe even 3. 

The Variable APR can change depending on what’s happening in the crypto world. 

The DeFi protocol is playing along with the ups and downs of the crypto market condition. 

So sometimes you get more extra USDT, and sometimes you get fewer.

ATL – All-Time Low

This is the ATL of Uniswap

ATL is the lowest price ever recorded for a specific cryptocurrency since people started trading it 

For example, let’s assume the price of CoinX has gone as high as $10, but at one point, it reached an All Time Low of $2.

That means that $2 was the cheapest price anyone has ever paid for CoinX.

ATH – All-Time High

 

This is the ATH of Uniswap

ATH is the highest price ever recorded for a specific cryptocurrency since people started trading it. 

For example, let’s assume the price of CoinD has gone as low as $1, but at one point, it reached an ATH of $10. 

That means $10 was the most anyone has ever paid for CoinD

TVL – Total Value Locked 

This is the TVL in Arbitrum.

In crypto, there are platforms called “DeFi platforms” where people can lend, borrow, or invest their cryptocurrency. 

The TVL tells you the total amount of cryptocurrencies that all the people have put into these platforms.

Altcoin

Any cryptocurrency aside Bitcoin is an altcoin.

Altcoins are also known as alternative coins.

Airdrop

An airdrop is when crypto projects give away free coins to their community members as a result of their loyalty to the project. 

The airdrop is either sent to people’s wallets or eligible wallets are allowed to claim them.

Atomic Swap

Atomic swaps allow people to exchange different cryptocurrencies directly with each other without involving any third parties. 

The atomic swap ensures that both people get what they want at the same time, without any tricks or unfairness.

Arbitrage

Arbitrage is taking advantage of the price gap between two marketplaces to make a profit. 

Here is how it works: Let’s say the BTC price is $1,000 on Binance and $1,200 on Bybit Exchange. 

An Arbitrage trader will buy BTC from Binance, Send to Bybit and sell it for a $200 profit. 

People do this quickly and try to make a profit by taking advantage of the price gap. It’s like a game of finding good deals and selling at a higher price.

AMM – Automated Market Maker(AMM)

An AMM is a smart contract that helps people trade and execute trades on a Decentralized exchange.

Normally, when you want to trade one type of cryptocurrency for another, you need to find another person who wants to make the opposite trade. 

But with an Automated Market Maker, you don’t need to find a specific person to trade with. 

The AMM acts as a middleman and makes the trades happen automatically.

The AMM machine uses a special formula to determine the exchange rate between the coins. 

It calculates it based on the supply of each coin in the market.

So, when you put your coins into the AMM, it gives you the corresponding amount of coins based on the current exchange rate. 

Automated Market Makers are designed to make trading easier and faster in the crypto world.

Bag

When people say they have a “bag” in crypto, it means they have a lot of a particular cryptocurrency.

Sometimes people say they have a “big bag” of coins, which means they own a lot of a particular cryptocurrency.

Other times, they might say they have a “small bag” which means they only have a small amount of a particular cryptocurrency

Bear Market

During a bear market, people who own cryptocurrencies might feel a little bit sad or worried because the value of their coins is decreasing.

When the bear market ends, a “bull market” begins. 

Bull Market

A bull market is when the crypto market becomes exciting and the prices of cryptocurrencies are going up. 

People are optimistic that any money they put into the crypto market will bring proceeds.

Blockchain

A blockchain is like a big notebook where people write down all the transactions or activities that occur in their businesses.

Each notebook has a list of transactions or activities, and every notebook is linked to the previous one, creating a chain.

This chain of notebooks is called a blockchain, and it helps keep track of all the trades and activities that happen in the crypto world. 

The blockchain is not just one notebook

But a big collection of notebooks that are all connected together.

However, in a blockchain, once something is written on it, it can’t be changed or erased.

It makes sure everything is transparent, secure, and nobody can cheat or change the records.

People love the blockchain because it brings trust and fairness to the crypto world. 

BTC – Bitcoin 

Bitcoin is a type of digital money that you can’t touch or hold. It only exists on computers and the internet. 

What makes Bitcoin really special is that it’s not controlled by any person or a big company. 

Instead of a regular bank keeping track of how much money you have, with Bitcoin, there’s a technology called the “blockchain” that keeps track of all the Bitcoin transactions. 

BTC Dominance

BTC dominance is a way to measure how much attention and value Bitcoin has compared to all the other cryptocurrencies called altcoins.

BTC dominance helps us understand how much people like and believe in Bitcoin compared to other cryptocurrencies. 

Cold Wallet

Sure! Imagine you have a treasure chest where you keep your most valuable toy coins hidden away. 

A cold wallet is a special, super safe treasure chest that’s not connected to the internet, where people keep their valuable and long-term cryptocurrencies.

Examples of cold wallets are hardware wallets. 

You notice that the clear difference between a hot wallet and a cold wallet is. 

• Hot wallets are steadily connected to the internet. 
• Cold wallets are not connected to the internet.

Consolidation. 

An example of a consolidating chart

Consolidation happens when the prices of coins move closer together. It means that the prices are not changing as much and are staying in a smaller range.

During consolidation, it’s like the coins are taking a little break from going up or down a lot. It’s like a rest time for the prices to settle down and figure out what to do next.

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrency is a type of digital money that people use to buy and sell things online. 

The special thing about cryptocurrency is that it’s not controlled by any government or big company.

People like cryptocurrency because it can be used all around the world. 

It doesn’t matter if you’re in a different country or if you want to buy something from someone far away. 

You can use cryptocurrency to make the trade easily and quickly.

CT – Crypto Twitter

This is a part of Twitter where crypto is often talked about. 

CEX – Centralized Exchange 

CEX is a place where people can go to buy or sell their cryptocurrencies. 

In a CEX, you can think of the store owner as the person who manages everything. 

They make sure that people can safely trade their crypto with each other.

Binance, Kucoin, Bybit, etc are examples of a CEX. If you don’t have an account there, you should get one.

In a CEX, traders don’t have full control of their funds. CEX can lock out a trader out of his account.

Remember the saying “Not your keys, not your crypto”

DEX – Decentralized Exchange 

DEX is an open platform where you, your friends and strangers can trade your digital coins directly with each other, without needing a middleman or central authority to manage everything.

The DEX uses special technology called a “smart contract” to make sure the trade is fair and secure. 

People like DEX because it gives them more control over their trades. 

Examples of DEXes are Uniswap, Sushiswap, Openocean, Syncswap, etc. 

DeFi – Decentralized Finance

In DeFi, you can lend your cryptocurrency to a DeFi protocol to earn some extra coins in return. This is like giving a loan. 

Then the DeFi protocol lends your coin to other people that need to borrow the coins. The DeFi protocol in return earns extra coins. 

But remember, DeFi is different from a regular bank because there’s no centralised authority controlling everything. 

Instead, it is controlled by a set of codes called “smart contracts” to make sure everything is fair and transparent. 

DeFi is popular because it gives people more freedom and control over their cryptocurrency. 

Examples of DeFi are Compound and AAVE. 

Decentralization

Decentralization means that instead of having one person or a group of people in charge, everyone gets to have a say and be part of the game. 

Decentralization is important because it gives power and control to everyone who participates. 

Everyone can see and verify what’s happening, so it’s fair and transparent.

DApps – Decentralized Applications 

In the crypto world, DApps are created by clever people who make fun and applications that run on the blockchain. 

They can be games, social networks, or even tools that help with finance or other activities.

What makes DApps special is that they are not controlled by one person or company. 

They are applications that everyone can use from any part of the world. 

DApps use special technology called “smart contracts” to make sure everything is fair and secure. 

Smart contracts are a set of computer programs that automatically execute the rules and make sure everything works smoothly.

DYOR – Do Your Own Research 

It means taking the time to learn and understand things by yourself before you make a choice or decision, just like figuring out the rules of a game before playing it.

DYOR is essential because there are many different coins, projects, and information available. 

By doing your own research, you can learn about the risks, benefits, and possibilities of different coins and projects before investing your hard-earned money.

DCA – Dollar Cost Average

It’s a way of gradually investing in cryptocurrency by putting in a fixed amount of money regularly. 

By using DCA, you don’t have to worry about whether the price of the cryptocurrency is going up or down at any particular time. 

You’re spreading out your purchases over time.

People often use DCA to buy cryptocurrency when it is on a downtrend and believe that the cryptocurrency will still go up. 

For instance, some people believe Bitcoin will reach $100,000 per bitcoin. 

They are constantly buying Bitcoin at any slightest dip so long as the current price is lower than what they bought previously. 

Derivatives

Derivatives are contracts or agreements that allow people to share or trade the value of a cryptocurrency or even the price of a cryptocurrency, without directly owning it.

Derivatives can be used to do all sorts of interesting things in the crypto world. 

People can make agreements to share the value of cryptocurrency, predict the future prices of coins, or even protect themselves from big changes in prices.

Ethereum

Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and utility.

Ethereum was built to enable developers to build applications on blockchain technology.

Ethereum provided users with a blockchain not only meant to send and receive payment but also to play games, use different applications and use smart contracts.

Ethereum Dominance

Ethereum dominance is how much attention and importance Ethereum has compared to other cryptocurrencies.

There are many different cryptocurrencies. Ethereum dominance is a way to measure how much people like and use Ethereum compared to all the other cryptocurrencies.

Ethereum dominance helps us understand how much people trust and believe in Ethereum compared to other cryptocurrencies. 

ERC-20 – Ethereum Request for Comment 20

ERC-20 is the technical standard for smart contracts token issuance and management on the Ethereum blockchain. 

It is one of the most common ways new cryptocurrencies are created. ERC-20 are used for fungible assets. 

An asset is considered fungible if it can be exchanged with another asset of the same type. 

ERC-721

The ERC-721 smart contract is built to enable digital collectables in the crypto space. It enables developers to create unique digital tokens that represent valuable collectibles. 

Most NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain were created using the ERC-721 smart contract. This is because the smart contract was deliberately created not to create the collectible twice. 

You can’t create the same Cryptopunk, Bored Apes Yacht Club(BAYC), and other NFTs on ERC-721.

ERC-1155 

ERC-1155 is similar to ERC-721 because they both have the ability to create digital assets that are totally unique. 

However, unlike the ERC-721, the ERC-1155 also has the ability to create digital assets that are not unique. 

For example, if I wanted to create a card trading game where I had 10 copies of the card and the goal was to collect all 10 copies, I can easily do this with an ERC-1155. 

ERC-1155 is often used to create sets for the virtual worlds or games because you might not want every gun in the Metaverse to be unique. 

You might want hundreds or thousands of copies. 

ERC-223

Many people have sent coins to the wrong wallet address, to a smart contract, losing those tokens forever. 

ERC-223 provides the possibility of avoiding accidentally lost tokens inside contracts that are not designed to work with said tokens. 

When tokens are sent to a smart contract, a special function of that contract is “token fallback.” This allows the receiving contract to decline the token or trigger further acts. 

ERC-777

When you first initiate a transaction on ERC-20, that first transaction is going to start up the smart contract tied to that token, but it then goes further to require a second transaction to essentially verify that the correct conditions for that smart contract are met. 

What the ERC-777 does is that it does all this in a single transaction which would cut in half the number of transactions on the Ethereum blockchain that involve ERC-20s which would reduce network load, gas fees, transaction occurrence, etc. 

ERC-777 has a security feature that allows users to blacklist certain addresses. For instance, if an address continuously sends you a random token, you can blacklist the address and prevent yourself from receiving a scam token. 

EIP (Ethereum Improvement Proposal)

To create standards for the Ethereum platform, a developer submits an EIP. This includes the protocol specification and contract standards. Once the EIP is approved by the community and finalised, it then becomes an ERC. 

ETF – Exchange Traded Fund

ETF is like a box that holds a bunch of different cryptocurrencies. 

Instead of buying each cryptocurrency separately, you can buy an ETF and get a little bit of each coin in the box.

Here’s how it works: Let’s say you want to buy three different digital coins, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. 

Instead of going to different places to buy each coin, you can buy an ETF that already has a little bit of each coin inside.

It’s like having a treasure chest with different types of cryptocurrency, and you can buy a piece of that treasure chest to own a little bit of each coin.

The cool thing about ETFs is that they make it easier and more convenient for people to invest in different cryptocurrencies without having to buy and manage each coin separately.

Exchange

An exchange is a place where people can trade their cryptocurrencies for other cryptocurrencies or even for fiat money.

Exchanges also show the prices of different cryptocurrencies. This helps people see how much their coins are worth and decide if they want to make a trade.

We have two types of exchanges. 

Centralized and Decentralized exchanges.

Entry

Entry refers to the moment when you decide to participate in buying cryptocurrencies. 

FUD – Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt

FUD is when people say scary things, and spread stories and rumours that make others afraid or unsure about investing or using digital coins.

This FUD can also cause holders of a particular token to sell their token at a loss. 

Some FUD are true while some are false.

When Ripple was sued by the SEC, it affected its token. This caused the price to dip. 

FOMO – Fear of Missing Out

FOMO is feeling worried that you’re missing out on something fun or important.

FOMO is when people feel anxious or worried that they might be missing out on a great opportunity or exciting event, like missing out on an airdrop or a token that has been pumping consistently for several days. 

Fiat 

In the real world, we use fiat money, which is money issued by the government. 

The money we use every day to pay our bills, buy groceries, buy gadgets, buy candies, or ice cream, etc. 

It’s the money that everyone agrees has value and can be used to buy things.

In the crypto world, “fiat” refers to regular money that we use outside of the digital world. 

It can be your local currency, like dollars, euros, or yen. It’s the money you can hold in your hand or put in your piggy bank.

Fiat-pegged Cryptocurrency

Sure! Imagine you have a special type of toy coin that is always equal to the value of a regular coin you know, like a dollar. 

A fiat-pegged cryptocurrency is a cryptocurrency that is always worth the same as a fiat currency. 

For instance, USDT, TUSD, and DIA are fait-pegged cryptocurrencies. They are always worth the same as the US dollar. 

Just like you can exchange your toy for real money in a store, you can exchange fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies for their equivalent value in fiat money. 

Fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies are useful because they allow people to use cryptocurrencies while still having the stability and familiarity of fiat money. 

Flippening

Flippening is a situation where one cryptocurrency becomes more popular or valuable than another.

There are different cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and others. 

The flippening happens when one coin, like Ethereum, becomes more popular or valuable than another coin, like Bitcoin.

The flippening is an exciting event because it shows that the crypto world is always changing and evolving.

Futures Trading

Futures trading is making a promise to trade cryptocurrency with someone in the future at a specific price. 

For example, let’s say you have one cryptocurrency, and your friend has one cryptocurrency too. 

You both agree to trade your digital coins at a price of 10 BTC each, no matter if the coins are worth more or less next week.

Futures trading can be exciting because you can try to predict if the value of the cryptocurrency will go up or down. 

Fractal 

Fractal is an indication in the chart that a trend is about to change. 

Assuming we have been on a downtrend, the fractal indicator indicates the possibility of an uptrend. 

The same is applicable when the market is in an uptrend and the fractal indicator shows the possibility of a downtrend. 

Fork

A “fork” is when people who use a cryptocurrency can’t agree on some important changes, so they split into two different groups, each going their own way.

A fork happens when the people who use a particular cryptocurrency, like “CoinX,” have different ideas about how the coin should work.

Bitcoin Cash forked from Bitcoin because it believed it was the real Bitcoin. 

Ethereum Classic (ETC) forked from Ethereum. 

Gas Fee

A gas fee is the fuel you need to pay to make your digital transactions happen.

When you want to send a cryptocurrency, your transaction needs to be verified and processed by the blockchain.

To make sure your transaction gets processed quickly and smoothly, you need to pay a little bit of a gas fee. 

The amount of gas fee you need to pay depends on how busy the blockchain is. If it’s a busy time with lots of people using the blockchain, the gas fee might be a bit higher. 

Governance Token

A governance token is a token that gives people the power to make decisions about how a crypto community or project works.

Some crypto projects or communities have a  token which is for governance. If you have this token, it means you have a say in how things are done and what changes can be made to the project.

Genesis Block

The genesis block is the first block ever created in the blockchain. 

It is the foundation of the tower you build with your colourful blocks. 

Without the Genesis block, there wouldn’t be any other blocks or anything happening in the blockchain.

The Genesis block has a special message inside, like a secret code, that marks the beginning of the whole blockchain. It’s like a treasure hidden in the very first block.

Gwei

Gwei helps measure how much you need to pay for certain things, like making transactions on the blockchain. 

Gwei is like the tiniest, teeniest amount of your cryptocurrency. 

If you want to send your cryptocurrency to a friend, you might need to pay a tiny amount of gwei to make that happen. 

Hard Cap

A hard cap is a special limit set for the maximum amount of cryptocurrency that can ever be created for a certain crypto project.

Some crypto projects have a “hard cap” on the total number of coins that will ever exist. 

Another instance a hard cap is used is when a project is raising funds. 

They often have soft caps and hard caps. 

Let’s say a project wants to raise $10 million. But if they can raise $6 million, it can do the project. 

Therefore $6 million is their soft cap and $10 million is their hard cap. 

Hot Wallet 

Wallets are used to store cryptocurrencies. 

A “hot wallet” is like a wallet that’s always connected to the internet, so you can quickly and easily use your cryptocurrency whenever you need them.

It’s like having a piggy bank that you can carry around with you on your computer or phone, so you can buy things, play games, or do fun stuff with your cryptocurrencies right away.

Examples of wallets that are hot wallets are centralized exchanges. 

Interoperability

Interoperability allows people to move their coins or data from one blockchain to another different blockchain.

For instance, if you have ETH in BNB Chain and want to move it to Arbitrum, to buy a presale, interoperability allows you to move it to Arbitrum easily.

Immutable 

Immutable means that once something is recorded or written on the magical computer network called the blockchain, it stays that way forever. 

It’s like writing your name on a special piece of paper that can’t be torn or erased, no matter what!

This immutability is important because it helps make things fair and transparent. 

Impermanent Loss

Impermanent loss in crypto is like a situation where you provide liquidity with your cryptocurrency to DeFi Finance, but when you get them back, their value has changed negatively. 

Let’s say you provided liquidity on AAVE using a 5 UNISWAP ($UNI) and 0.2 ETHEREUM ($ETH) pair. Uni/ETH. 

When you withdraw your token from the liquidity pool, you may have 4 UNI and 0.15 ETH. 

It is said that your token has seen an impermanent loss, which is caused by arbitrage traders. 

ICO – Initial Coin Offering

An ICO is a sales event where a new crypto project invites people to be part of their team by giving them some of their money.

This crypto project gives retail investors equity in the project by raising funds from retailers. 

They raise funds to create something exciting like a new game or an app. 

Crypto projects conduct ICO because they often do not have funds to build the project(paying salaries, paying contractors, conducting marketing and various other things a crypto project needs to be successful. 

KYC – Know Your Customer 

KYC refers to when a crypto project or platform asks for your name, age, and other information to make sure you’re a real person and keep everyone safe while playing in the crypto space.

When you want to join some crypto projects or platforms, like Binance to trade cryptocurrency, they will ask you to do a simple KYC where you show them some basic information about yourself, like your name and age.

Ledger

A ledger is like a notebook where all the transactions or movements of cryptocurrencies are recorded so everyone knows who has what coins.

Whenever someone gives or receives digital coins, it’s recorded in the ledger. So, everyone can see who has what coins and make sure everything is fair and honest.

Leverage

Leverage is like a booster that helps you make your cryptocurrencies grow faster or shrink faster. 

Let’s say you have 10 BTC, and you want to use leverage. With leverage, you might borrow 5 more BTC, so you have a total of 15 BTC to work with.

When the value of your BTC goes up, you get even more BTC because you borrowed some extra. But if the value goes down, you also lose more coins because you have to give back the extra ones you borrowed. 

Limit Order

A limit order is when you tell a special computer program, also called a helper, to buy some cryptocurrency for you, but only if they reach a specific price or go lower.

It’s like telling your helper, “Hey, if BTC goes costs or less, buy it for me, okay?” 

Your helper will keep an eye on the toy’s price and buy it for you at the best price possible!

So, with a limited order, you don’t have to watch the price all the time or worry about paying too much for the cryptocurrency. Your helper will do the work for you and make sure you get the best deal.

Once the price reaches the amount you set, the helper will do the buying. 

Liquidity

Assuming you and your friends are playing with lots of different toys in a big toy box. 

The liquidity is having plenty of different toys available in that toy box for everyone to play with.

Liquidity refers to how many cryptocurrencies there are available for people to buy and sell. 

When there’s good liquidity, it means there are plenty of cryptocurrencies available for people to buy or sell at any time. 

All crypto exchanges need liquidity to be able to support traders. 

If there is no liquidity for a cryptocurrency or exchange, people will not trade there because it will be difficult for trades to complete. 

Liquidity Pool

A liquidity pool is a treasure chest where people put their cryptocurrencies, and then they can trade and exchange them with other people in the pool. 

The liquidity pool helps make sure there are enough cryptocurrency pairs available for people to trade. 

Liquidity Provider

A liquidity provider is someone who puts their cryptocurrencies into the liquidity pool so that others can easily trade and exchange coins.

Liquidation

If someone borrowed cryptocurrency and the coins they borrowed lose a lot of value, the system might need to take away some of their other coins to make sure they can still pay back what they borrowed.

Liquidation is like a safety measure to make sure everyone plays fair and keeps their promises. It helps prevent people from borrowing too many coins and not being able to give them back.

Long

Long is being optimistic and patient, hoping that the cryptocurrency you have will grow in value and bring you more coins in the future!

Long is often used when trading futures. 

Margin Trading 

Margin trading is borrowing extra cryptocurrencies, so you can have more to play with and trade.

But remember, you need to be careful and use the borrowed coins wisely. 

If the value of the cryptocurrency you bought goes down a lot, you might need to give back the borrowed coins and some of your own coins too.

Mainnet

Mainnet is the official and fully working version of any crypto project. 

At this stage, the project is ready to onboard users to use their platform and onboard developers to build on their platform. 

This is often the stage where a lot of activities are performed and the governance token is needed for users to pay for gas fees while using the project and to vote for or against improvement on the crypto project.

Moon

When someone says a cryptocurrency is going to the “moon,” they mean the value of the coin is increasing a lot, and it’s becoming more and more valuable. 

The increment can move as high as 10x+ from the initial price. 

Maxi – Maximalist

A Maxi is someone that is very loyal to their favourite cryptocurrency and might not like or want to play with other cryptocurrencies. 

We have a lot of Maxis in crypto, but the most common ones are Bitcoin Maxis and Ethereum Maxis. 

Market Capitalization 

Market capitalization is a way to see how much cryptocurrencies are worth when you add up their values.

Again, market capitalization is a way to see how much a particular cryptocurrency is worth when you add up its values. 

Max supply – Maximum Supply 

Max supply tells us the highest number of tokens that will ever be available for a specific cryptocurrency. 

In the same way, max supply tells us the highest number of tokens that will ever exist for a specific cryptocurrency.

Once that number is reached, no more new coins will be made.

Bitcoin’s max supply is 21 million. Nothing more will be added. 

Mining

Mining is a way to create new tokens and keep the crypto network running smoothly. 

Miners confirm transactions and get a part of the gas fee paid by users. 

They also get rewarded by the crypto projects too. 

For instance, bitcoin miners are given some part of the existing bitcoin. 

NFT – Non-fungible Token

An NFT is a digital certificate that shows something is unique and cannot be replaced with anything else. 

NFTs are used to represent digital items, like digital art, music, or virtual toys, that can’t be copied or replaced with anything else. 

People collect NFTs because they like owning a piece of digital history or having something very rare that others don’t have. 

Non-custodial

Non-custodial means that you are in full control of your cryptocurrencies and you don’t have to give them to anyone else to keep them safe. 

When you have non-custodial control over your cryptocurrencies, it means you use a  wallet where you have the private keys to open and close it. 

NGMI – Not Gonna Make It

When a crypto user is not doing what he’s supposed to do to make money in the crypto space, other users can tell him “NGMI.”

Again, when a crypto user has a piece of wrong information about an instruction, yet he keeps being adamant, you can tell him “NGMI.”

Network Confirmation

When someone sends or receives cryptocurrency, the network needs to confirm that the transaction is real and not fake. 

The network participants check and make sure everything is okay before the transaction is completed.

The more confirmations a transaction gets from different parts of the network, the more sure everyone is that the transaction is real and accurate.

Node

A node helps all the computers in the blockchain stay connected and communicate with each other. 

It listens to and helps share all the messages and information between different computers in the blockchain.

Oracles

Oracles are like bridges that connect the digital world to the real world, so everyone can make better decisions and play more fun games in the digital world of cryptocurrencies. 

Orderbook

Order book is a list that keeps track of what people want to buy or sell. 

When you want to make a trade, you can look at the order book to see who wants to trade the cryptocurrency you like. 

It helps you find the perfect trading partner, just like how you use a map to find the best way to your friend’s house.

OTC – Over The Counter.

OTC means trading cryptocurrencies directly between friends or trusted parties, without using a public marketplace.

In OTC trading, people can make private deals and exchange cryptocurrencies without everyone else knowing. 

POF – Proof of Stake

POF is a way to decide who gets to be in charge of confirming transactions and adding them to the crypto network. 

Instead of using computers and solving tricky math puzzles like in “Proof of Work,” in “Proof of Stake,” people can become leaders by showing they have a lot of cryptocurrencies and are willing to “stake” them.

It’s like saying, “Hey, I have a lot of cryptocurrencies, and I promise to play nicely and follow the rules. Let me be the leader!”

When someone with a lot of digital coins becomes the leader, they can add new transactions to the network and make sure everything is fair and secure.

Ethereum runs on a POS. To become a leader you need to stake a minimum of 32 ETH. 

POW – Proof of Work

POW is a way for miners to compete and show they worked hard to confirm transactions. 

Miners are required to solve a puzzle. 

The first person to solve the puzzle gets to add new transactions to the network and is rewarded with new cryptocurrency. 

This way, everyone in the network can trust that the transactions are real and secure because they were confirmed by the person who worked the hardest.

Bitcoin uses POW, it requires a lot of upfront capital to set up a POW station. 

Pump and Dump

Pump and dump are when some people try to create a lot of excitement and attention around a cryptocurrency to make its price go up fast. 

Then, when the price is high, they quickly sell their coins to make a lot of money, leaving others with coins that are not worth as much anymore.

At that point of selling, they are dumping their cryptocurrency on new people who are buying the cryptocurrency. 

Presale

Presales are a way for the creators of the cryptocurrency to get some early support and gather some funds to make their project even better.

People who participate in the presale get the chance to buy the new cryptocurrency early, and it can be exciting because they will get them at a lower price or with some special bonuses.

P2p – Peer-to-Peer

P2p means you can trade cryptocurrencies directly with someone else. 

Instead of going through an escrow or third party, you and your friend can exchange cryptocurrencies with each other.

An example of a P2p is Binance P2p

Just like Binance P2p. Traders trade their crypto with each other. 

Private Key

Private key is a secret and special key that only you know, and it’s used to keep your cryptocurrencies safe in your wallet!

The private key is so important because it’s a secret password that makes sure only you can access and use your cryptocurrencies. 

On the other hand, if you lose your private key, you can’t have access to your wallet anymore, forever, 

Position Size

Position size is about deciding how much of a specific cryptocurrency you want to buy or sell. 

For example, if you want to buy some Bitcoin, the position size would be how many of those coins you would get. 

It’s like saying, “I want to buy 5 cookies to put on my plate.”

Or if you already have some Ethereum and want to sell them, the position size would be how many of those coins you want to sell. 

It’s like saying, “I want to take 3 cookies off my plate and give them to my friend.

Deciding the position size is important because it helps you know how much of a cryptocurrency you want to trade and how much you’ll have left in your wallet.

ROI – Return on Investment 

ROI is checking how much your cryptocurrencies have grown in your wallet over time. 

ROI is often used to understand if a cryptocurrency is doing well or not and to make decisions about buying or selling more. 

Resistance Levels 

Resistance levels are obstacles that stop the cryptocurrency’s price from going higher easily.

When the cryptocurrency’s price reaches a resistance level, it may find it a little difficult to keep going higher because there are lots of people who want to sell their cryptocurrency at that price.

Rugpull

Rugpull happens when some people create a cryptocurrency and invite others to invest in it. They promise that everyone will make a lot of money and have fun together.

SAT – Satoshi

In the crypto world, a “Satoshi” is the smallest unit of the cryptocurrency called “Bitcoin.”

Just like how you have pennies that are smaller than fiat money, a Satoshi is smaller than a whole Bitcoin. 

1 satoshi = 0.00000001 BTC

 SAFU – Secure Asset Fund for Users

SAFU is an important promise that gives people confidence and trust in using a particular crypto platform or exchange because they know their cryptocurrency is safe and secure. 

Seed Words or Seed Phrase

Seed words (also called mnemonic or recovery phrases) are a set of about 12 to 24 special words that act like a secret password to access and protect your cryptocurrency

When you create a new wallet or want to back it up, the wallet gives you these special seed words. 

You write them down and keep them safe so that only you can use them to access your crypto wallet.

Shilling

Shilling is when someone is talking a lot about a specific cryptocurrency and saying it’s the best thing ever, even if they might not be honest about it.

However, it’s essential to be cautious and do your own research before buying any cryptocurrency. 

Smart Contract. 

A smart contract is a kind of computer program that follows specific rules and instructions.

Smart contracts are the reason why can build applications on the blockchain and leave them to run on autopilot. 

This is because developers have created a series of instructions the smart contracts should follow whenever a particular request is made. 

Slippage

Slippage can happen in crypto when the prices change quickly.

Slippage happens when you want to trade one cryptocurrency for another, but the price of the coins can change slightly while the trade is happening.

To avoid slippage, some people use a special feature that sets a maximum difference in the prices before the trade happens. 

Staking

Staking means you can put your cryptocurrencies in a wallet, and that wallet helps the crypto network to keep it safe and secure. 

In return for helping the crypto network, you get more cryptocurrency as a reward.

Ticker/Symbol 

Ticker is a short code or abbreviation used to represent each cryptocurrency.

For example, instead of saying bitcoin, you say BTC. Instead of saying Ethereum, you say ETH. Instead of saying Cardano, you will say ADA. 

Short

Short is the opposite of long. 

Short is when someone thinks the price of a cryptocurrency will go down, so they try to make money if it goes down!

Shitcoin

Shitcoin is a term used to describe a cryptocurrency that doesn’t have utility or trustworthiness. 

We can classify meme coins as shitcoins because they don’t have utility. 

Stablecoins

Some cryptocurrencies can go up and down in value, but a stablecoin is different. 

A stablecoin is a type of digital coin that is designed to have a stable or steady value.

Examples of Stablecoins are USDT, TUSD, and DAI. 

Support 

Support is the opposite of resistance. 

Support refers to a price level where people believe a cryptocurrency won’t go down much further because there are many buyers waiting to buy it at that price.

TA – Technical Analysis

TA is using charts with lines and colours to try and guess if the price of a cryptocurrency will go up or down.

Traders look at the patterns in a chart and try to find clues about what might happen next. 

Tether

Tether (often written as USDT) is a type of digital coin called a stablecoin. 

It is linked to the value of one real dollar.

$1 = 1 USDT

If you have one Tether coin, you know it will always be worth the same as one real dollar. 

Testnet

Testnet is a safe and separate place where developers and users can play and experiment with new crypto projects or applications. 

The purpose of testnet is to allow developers and users to test a new crypto project and give the founders feedback. 

This feedback is used to improve the crypto projects before launching them for the public to use. 

Testnets often come at no cost. Developers and users don’t have to pay real money for gas fees on the network. 

The gas fee is free

Trade Volume

Trade volume is the measurement of how many cryptocurrencies are exchanged or traded between different people or on different crypto platforms daily.

Similarly, trade volume helps us see how active and busy the network is. 

It shows how many cryptocurrencies are moving around and being exchanged.

High trade volume means there are lots of cryptocurrencies being traded, and people are actively swapping coins with each other. 

Low trade volume means there are fewer cryptocurrencies being traded, and there might not be as much activity on the network that day.

There are two types of trade volume.

The entire crypto market trade volume 

And the specific cryptocurrency’s trade volume

Trading Pair

Trading pair is when two different cryptocurrencies are matched together so that people can exchange one for the other.

For example, if you have a Bitcoin and your friend has an Ethereum, they can be a trading pair – BTC/ETH. 

This means you can trade some of your Bitcoin to get some Ethereum, and vice versa. 

Trading pairs make it easier for people to exchange different digital coins with each other. 

TS – Total Supply

TS refers to the total number of cryptocurrencies that have been created for a particular cryptocurrency.

Knowing the total supply is essential because it helps people understand how many digital coins are available in the crypto space. 

Some cryptocurrencies have a fixed total supply, which means there will never be more or less of them.

An example of such crypto is BTC

Other cryptocurrencies might have a changing total supply, which means more coins can be created over time.

An example of this is ETH. 

TXN – Transaction

A transaction is when someone sends or receives cryptocurrency from one wallet to another. 

People also use transactions to buy things and trade with others. 

Transactions in crypto happen very quickly compared to traditional bank transfers. 

Transaction fee

Transaction fee is a small payment you make to the network every time you want to trade or exchange your cryptocurrency with someone else.

TPS – Transaction Per Second 

TPS helps us see how quickly the crypto network can process crypto trades. 

The higher the TPS, the faster and more efficient the network is at handling trades.

The lower the TPS the slower and less efficient the network is at handling trades. 

uPNL – Unrealized Profit and Loss

uPNL is a way to see if the value of your cryptocurrency has gone up or down since you bought them.

It is unrealized because you’ve not closed the trades yet. 

Someone that bought BTC at $300 per one and didn’t sell until the current price, has an unrealized profit. 

The individual is on profit but he has closed the trade. 

Volatility

Volatility is how much and fast the prices of cryptocurrencies can change. 

If the price of a cryptocurrency goes up a lot one day and then goes down a lot the next day, that means it’s very volatile. 

On the other hand, if the price of a cryptocurrency stays almost the same for a long time, that means it’s not very volatile. 

Wallet

A wallet is like a digital container or a special app where you can keep your cryptocurrencies. 

WAGMI – We All Gonna Make It. 

It’s a phrase people use to show optimism and confidence that they believe the value of a certain cryptocurrency or the entire crypto market will increase in the future.

Wallet Address

A wallet address is a long and unique string of letters and numbers, where people can send you cryptocurrency. 

It’s important to keep your wallet address private and only share it with trusted friends or people you know. 

Browser Wallet

A browser wallet is an application you can use on a web browser to play with cryptocurrencies on the computer or the Internet. 

Inside the wallet, you can see and manage your cryptocurrency and use them to do different things. 

A browser wallet is very convenient because you can access it from anywhere with an internet connection. 

But just like you always take good care of your property, you should also be careful and keep your browser wallet safe by using strong passwords and not sharing it with anyone you don’t trust.

Whale 

A whale is a term used for someone who owns a massive amount of cryptocurrency. 

These whales have a lot of power because they can move the market cap of some cryptocurrencies either upward or downward.

For instance, if a whale decides to buy a lot of a particular cryptocurrency, the price of that coin might go up because the whale’s big purchase is so significant.

Similarly, if a whale decides to sell a lot of cryptocurrencies, the price might go down because the big sale affects the market.

Whitepaper

A whitepaper is a document that explains everything about a new cryptocurrency or project.

It’s like a storybook that tells people how the cryptocurrency works, what it will be used for, and how it will be created, just like the Bitcoin whitepaper. 

People who want to learn about the new cryptocurrency or project will read the whitepaper to understand how it works and decide if they want to support it or use it.

Yield Farming

Yield farming is a way to earn more cryptocurrency by lending or staking your existing cryptocurrency on a special farm. 

Here’s how it works: You take some of your cryptocurrency and put them on the farm. 

The farm uses your crypto to support new projects, lend to borrowers and provide liquidity on the network.

In return for letting the farm use cryptocurrency, the farm rewards you with more cryptocurrency. 

Learn How to Make Money in Crypto Investing $0.