Glossary
All the terms from the world of Cryptocurrencies that help you understand the topics better and allow you to start trading with confidence.
A
AML
Anti-money laundering regulations prevent illegal activities on centralised exchanges.
AMM
Automated Market Makers are smart contracts adopted by decentralised exchanges to automatically execute orders.
API
Tools that simplify the development of apps and web services.
APR
The annual percentage rate you receive for an investment or loan.
APY
A metric often used in DeFi, it indicates the percentage return per year you receive on an investment or loan.
ASIC
Devices dedicated to mining certain cryptocurrencies.
ATH and ATL
Acronyms used to indicate the maximum and minimum price of a cryptocurrency.
Aggregator
An online collector of similar content or services from different sources for easy access. An example is Yearn Finance
Airdrop
A way of distributing a new cryptocurrency on the market
Algorithm
The procedure applied to solve a problem.
Altcoin
Cryptocurrencies that followed Bitcoin as alternative solutions.
Arbitrage
Buying and selling in different markets in order to take advantage of the disparity in prices.
Audit
A verification process that ensures the correct functioning of software.
B
Bear Market
A market phase characterised by price lows.
Benchmark
A standard for measuring the performance of a financial instrument or market.
Bid and Ask
Supply and demand on a cryptocurrency exchange.
Bitcoin
The longest-lived cryptocurrency on the market and the first application of blockchain.
Black Swan Event
An unexpected event that has a significant effect.
Block
The set of encrypted transactions that, connected to other blocks, makes up a blockchain.
Block Explorer
It allows you to consult any transaction made on a blockchain online
Block Height
The number of blocks in a blockchain starting from the genesis block.
Blockchain
A technology based on cryptography that enables decentralised and uncensored execution of any type of transaction.
Bonding
A process in which cryptocurrencies are blocked as a form of commitment to obtain benefits or the right to perform certain activities in a network.
Break-Even point
The balance point between losses and gains, income and expenditure.
Bridge
In blockchain technology, it is a connection that allows interaction between different blockchains.
Bull Market
A market where there is an upward price trend
Buy Wall and Sell Wall
High number of purchases or sales demanded at a certain price.
C
CeFi
Centralised finance is the centralised counterpart of DeFi, but should not be confused with traditional finance.
Circulating Supply
The number of units of a cryptocurrency available on the market.
Coin
A cryptocurrency that is natively based on its blockchain
Coin Burning
A way to remove cryptocurrency units from the circulating supply.
Cold Staking
Type of staking that requires the use of a cold wallet
Cold Wallet
Wallets that are not connected to the internet.
Consensus Mechanism
A decentralised way to validate transactions on blockchain.
Crowdfunding
Online fundraising open to anyone.
Crypto Lending
A financial service that allows lending and borrowing cryptocurrencies on a centralised or decentralised platform
Cryptocurrency
Virtual currency based on cryptography and blockchain.
Cryptography
The branch of computer science that studies secure communication methods.
Custody
Managing one's wallet by knowing its private key
D
DAO
The Decentralised Autonomous Organisation is a form of automated blockchain governance.
DApp
Decentralised application allowing the use of a blockchain-based service.
DEX
A Decentralised Exchange allows cryptocurrency trading without intermediaries and directly on the blockchain.
DLT
Distributed Ledger Technologies are technologies based on an immutable ledger of transactions, the control of which is distributed.
DYOR
Do Your Own Research, don't just take any information from one source at face value.
DeFi
Decentralised Finance includes all blockchain-based and decentralised financial solutions.
Decentralised
It is said of a system governed by the consensus of its participants and without a central authority or hierarchy.
Delegated Proof-of-Stake
A variant of Proof-of-Stake in which the stake is transferred to delegates who act as validators.Â
Delisting
Removing a cryptocurrency from an exchange's offering.
DoS
A Denial of Service is a computer attack that aims to make a network or service inaccessible.
Double Spending
The possibility for an attacker to spend the same amount twice if the payment system does not have a mechanism to prevent this.
F
FOMO
Fear Of Missing Out is an expression often used in the context of trading and cryptocurrencies.
FUD
Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt refers to a negative market sentiment
Fee
Commission paid for the execution of transactions.
Fiat Currency
Legal tender, i.e. the official currency adopted by a government.
FinTech
A sector that combines finance and technology, where companies develop technologically innovative financial services.
Financial Bubble
Increase in the value of an asset, in an excessive way, given its intrinsic value.
Forex
The Foreign Exchange Market allows fiat currency trading.
Fungibility
It is the property of a means of payment to be divisible into equal parts to facilitate the exchange of goods.
Futures Contract
A contract that regulates the execution of a transaction at a predetermined price on a specific date.
H
Halving
The halving of the reward given to miners for each validation, every 4 years.
Hard Fork
A division of the blockchain due to the incompatibility of the new version of the protocol with the previous one.
Hash
A cryptographic function that serves to identify each block of the blockchain.
Hot Wallet
A cryptocurrency wallet connected to the internet.
I
ICO
An event where a newly created cryptocurrency is sold to distribute it on the market and promote it.
IEO
An event hosted by an exchange where a newly created cryptocurrency is sold to distribute it on the market and promote it.
Inflation
The gradual increase in the prices of a market or currency.
Interoperability
The ability to exchange data with other platforms, including those based on different types of blockchain, as well as with the off-chain world.
M
Market Cap
The total value of all the coins or tokens of a cryptocurrency in circulation.
Market Maker
Companies or organised entities that, in partnership with an exchange, are always willing to buy and sell a cryptocurrency.
Market Order
Instant buy or sell at the next best price available on the market.
Market Trend
A perceived tendency of financial markets to move in a particular direction over time.
Mining
The process of adding new blocks to the blockchain and creating new bitcoins by miners.
Mining Pool
A company that bases its business on mining, by collecting a large number of powerful mining devices.
Moon
When the price of a cryptocurrency rises very fast, they say it soars 'to the moon'.
O
Off-chain
Transaction that is not performed on the blockchain.
On-chain
Any process performed on the blockchain.
Open-source
Open-source software is public and available for anyone to reuse.
Oracle
A service that collects data not available on blockchain, verifies it and provides it to smart contracts
Order Book
The list of all the prices at which traders are willing to trade a certain amount of cryptocurrency on an exchange.
P
P2P
Una rete peer-to-peer permette agli utenti di scambiare dati senza intermediari.
Prediction Market
Exchange-traded markets created for the purpose of trading the outcome of events.
Private Key
Cryptographic code that gives access to a wallet.
Proof-of-Stake
A consensus mechanism based on putting cryptocurrencies at stake in order to contribute to the blockchain.
Proof-of-Work
A consensus mechanism based on computational power to contribute to the blockchain.
Public Key
Cryptographic code that identifies a wallet on the blockchain.
Pump&Dump
A strategy that inflates the price of a cryptocurrency to generate profits only for those who implement it.
Pure Proof-of-Stake
It is a type of Proof-of-Stake in which validators are chosen randomly and anonymously thanks to the VRF function.
S
S&R
Strumenti di analisi tecnica che permettono di interpretare l'andamento del mercato.
Satoshi Nakamoto
The pseudonym used by the creator or group of developers of Bitcoin.
Scarcity
How much an asset is available and consequently how much value it has.
Shard
Fragments' of blockchain operating in parallel.
Slippage
The difference between the execution price of an order and the price entered in the order.
Smart Contract
An agreement in digital form that allows actions to be triggered automatically if certain conditions are met.
Stablecoin
Cryptocurrencies pegged to the price of a stable asset such as a fiat currency or precious metal.
Stake
Total amount of cryptocurrency being staked
Staking
Depositing and holding cryptocurrencies on certain blockchains to obtain cryptocurrency incentives.
Staking Derivative
Derivatives of staking systems whose value depends on the performance of the staked native tokens and the amount of rewards issued by the network
Staking Pool
The joint staking of several people's cryptocurrencies with the aim to increase the rewards
Stop Order
A trading order that allows you to set a price at which another order is triggered.
Swap
The conversion of tokens into other tokens on a decentralised exchange.
T
Token
Digital unit of value based on a third-party protocol.
Tokenomics
An economic model that regulates the distribution and use of a project's cryptocurrency.
Trading
Buying and selling cryptocurrencies on the basis of a study aimed at making money.
Transaction
Exchange of value, property or data between two parties.
Transactions per second (TPS)
Literally 'transactions per second', it is a measure of the speed of a blockchain.
W
Wallet
Software that allows you to send, receive and store your cryptocurrencies.
Wallet address
The string of characters that identifies a cryptocurrency wallet.
Web3
Third historical phase of the web, during which the economic and technological system of the internet changes, thanks to the tools offered by blockchain.
White Paper
Technical and informative document used by cryptocurrency projects to present their technological proposal.