Cryptocurrency | Blockchain Glossary

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Cryptocurrency
A digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions and to control the creation of additional units of the currency.

Example: Bitcoin and altcoins.

Address
A code used to store/send/receive bitcoins and other cryptocurrency consisting of 26-35 alphanumeric characters. It is also the public key in the pair of keys used by bitcoin holders to digitally sign transactions.

Example: 175tWpb8KIS7NmH4Zx6rewF9WQrcZv245W

Altcoin
Any form of digital cryptocurrency that isn't Bitcoin or Ethereum; an alternative coin.
Example: Litecoin, Tron, Zcash

ATH
All Time High - when the value of a cryptocurrency is higher than it has ever previously been.

Bearish
An exception in the market that the price of a cryptocurrency is going to fall.

Blockchain
A full list of all the blocks that have been mined since the creation of Bitcoin.

Block Reward
A reward that is given to a miner after successfully hashing a transaction block.

Bullish
An expectation in the market that the price of a cryptocurrency is going to rise.

Escrow
The act of holding funds or assets in a third-party account to protect them during an asynchronous transaction.

Exchange
Platforms (usually websites) where you can buy, sell, and trade various types of cryptocurrency.

Fiat
Any form of government issued currency; regulated and centralized.

FOMO
Fear of Missing out. Hasty or spontaneous decision making based on emotional reaction to the volatility of a coin's value or expected value (higher or lower).

FUD
Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt.

Faucet
A technique used when first launching an altcoin. A set number of coins are pre-mined, and given away for free, to encourage people to take interest in the coin and begin mining it themselves.

Hardfork
An alteration to the block structure of coin that changes the rules.

Hash
A mathematical process that takes a variable amount of data and produces a shorter, fixed-length output.

Hodl (slang term)
Meaning to keep hold of a cryptocurrency (also sometimes referred to as Holding On for Dear Life!) usually in the face of a market downturn or period of volatility.

ICO
Initial Coin Offering; A way for a new cryptocurrency project to raise money for their project by offering a select amount of coins for sale to the public at base price:

Ex. Bancor ICO, Civic ICO, DCORP ICO

Limit Order/Limit Buy/Limit Sell
These are user-stated limits placed on cryptocurrency that the user wants to buy or sell (or create some other parameter around in a trade) which automatically generates an action based on the limit being reached (i.e.buy at $1.00, sell at $3.00)

Mining
The act of generating new coins by solving cryptographic problems using computing hardware.

Pump and Dump
Inflating the value of a coin that has been produced or acquired cheaply, using aggressive publicity and often misleading statements, then selling to buy at a low price again (cycle).

Proof of work
A system that ties mining capability to computational power.

Proof of Stake
An alternative to proof of work, in which your exiting stake in a currency is used to calculate the amount of that currency that you can mine.

QR Code
A two-dimensional graphical block containing a monochromatic pattern representing a sequence of data.

Shilling
Persistent public acclamation of the positive qualities of a coin, usually with the intention of quickly and dramatically increasing the value.

Shorting
Selling a cryptocurrency in hopes of buying it at a lower price later to gain profit.

Volatility
The measurement of price movements over time for a traded financial.

Wallet
A digital or physical address in which cryptocurrency can be stored/sent/ received. Accessible through a private key.

Whale
Someone who possesses an unusually large amount of a cryptocurrency.

Whitepaper
A document describing a cryptocurrency's protocol in detail.

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Exchanges

A cryptocurrency exchange is a website that allows you to buy and sell cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, etc. There are numerous cryptocurrency exchanges available and regardless of which one(s) you choose, you will be required to create an account. Before you choose an exchange, you need to figure out the following:

• Which cryptocurrencies do you want buy?

• Which exchanges are those coins/currencies available on?

• Do you want to trade, hold or buy/sell cryptocurrency?

• Do you require mobile or desktop interface?

• Does the exchange allow you to "cash out" in your country of residence and in your native currency?

• What methods are available for purchasing cryptocurrency?

The answers to these questions will determine which exchange you decide to use. Take your time to research each exchange before making your decision as the setup and verification process can be complicated so you only want to do it once if possible.

It is advisable to only keep the amount of currency that you wish to trade within an exchange, while keeping currency that you wish to hold in a separate wallet. This makes you less vulnerable to hacking a though the risk will never be removed completely.

While all exchanges have wallets, not all wallets are exchanges.

Types of Exchanges (2)

1. Fiat Exchange

This type of exchange allows users to create an account, link the account to method of payment (credit card or bank account for wire transfer) and then purchase one specific type of cryptocurrency per transaction using fiat currency only. The cryptocurrency can then be moved to a different exchange for trading or can be held and withdrawn using the same transaction method.

2. Trading Exchange

This type of exchange allows you to buy and sell various types of cryptocurrency on one platform, usually using Bitcoin as the default trading currency. Most exchanges of this type do not allow you to buy or sell cryptocurrency directly using fiat currency. Should you wish to ‘cash out’ you would first need to move your cryptocurrency back to an exchange or a wallet that has a fully verified account and a fiat payment method registered.

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