Reference
Crypto Glossary
Every term you need to make sense of crypto news, explained without jargon. From blockchain basics to MEV and liquidity pools.
20 terms
Airdrop
A free distribution of tokens to addresses meeting some eligibility criterion — typically past protocol users.
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Blockchain
A distributed ledger of transactions grouped into cryptographically-linked blocks, maintained by a network of independent nodes.
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Bridge
Infrastructure that moves value between separate blockchains — a historical source of crypto's biggest exploits.
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CEX (centralized exchange)
A traditional custodial crypto exchange operated by a single company — Coinbase, Binance, Kraken.
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DAO (decentralized autonomous organization)
An organization governed by token-holder voting via smart contracts, not by executives or a board.
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DEX (decentralized exchange)
An exchange running as smart contracts on a blockchain — users trade peer-to-peer without a custodial operator.
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Gas fee
The transaction fee paid to the blockchain network to execute an operation. Varies with demand.
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Halving
Bitcoin's scheduled 50% reduction in block rewards every ~4 years.
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KYC (know your customer)
Identity-verification process exchanges and regulated crypto services must perform on their users.
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Liquidity pool
A smart contract holding paired tokens that power decentralized-exchange trading. LPs deposit, traders swap.
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MEV (maximum extractable value)
Value extractable from transaction ordering within a block — the shadow economy of DeFi.
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Mining
The process by which proof-of-work networks create new blocks and distribute newly-issued coins.
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NFT (non-fungible token)
A unique, non-interchangeable token representing ownership of a specific digital or physical item.
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Private key
The secret number that proves ownership of a crypto address. Whoever holds it controls the funds.
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Rollup
A Layer 2 scaling solution that batches transactions off-chain and posts compressed state back to Ethereum.
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Seed phrase
A sequence of 12 or 24 English words that deterministically regenerate a wallet's private keys.
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Smart contract
Self-executing code deployed on a blockchain that runs when predefined conditions are met.
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Stablecoin
Cryptocurrency pegged to the value of a fiat currency or asset, typically the US dollar.
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Staking
Locking cryptocurrency to participate in a proof-of-stake network's consensus and earn rewards.
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Validator
A node operator in a proof-of-stake network that proposes and verifies blocks, earning rewards for honest behavior.
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