Crypto & Markets Glossary

An altcoin is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. The term covers thousands of digital assets that vary widely in purpose, technology, and market size.

A bear market is a prolonged period of declining asset prices, typically marked by widespread negative sentiment, reduced trading activity, and falling valuations across most assets in a market.

Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency, created in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto. It operates on a peer-to-peer network without a central bank or single administrator.

A Bitcoin halving is a programmed event that occurs approximately every four years, cutting the reward miners receive for adding a new block to the blockchain by 50 percent. It…

A blockchain is a distributed digital ledger that records transactions in chronological, tamper-resistant blocks linked together in a chain. Each block is verified by network participants before being permanently added.

A blockchain fork is a change to a network's protocol rules, resulting in either a temporary or permanent divergence in the chain. Forks can be planned upgrades or the result…

A bull market is a sustained period in which asset prices rise broadly across a market, typically driven by positive investor sentiment, economic conditions, or improving fundamentals.

Cold storage refers to keeping cryptocurrency private keys on a device or medium that is entirely disconnected from the internet, making the stored assets inaccessible to online attacks.

Crypto mining is the process by which certain blockchain networks validate transactions and create new coins, requiring participants to use computing power to solve complex mathematical puzzles in exchange for…

A crypto wallet is a tool — software or hardware — that stores the cryptographic keys needed to access and manage cryptocurrency holdings on a blockchain. It does not store…

DeFi, short for decentralized finance, refers to financial services built on public blockchains that operate through smart contracts rather than traditional intermediaries such as banks or brokers.

Dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is an investment strategy in which a fixed dollar amount is invested in an asset at regular intervals regardless of its current price, reducing the impact of…

Fiat currency is government-issued money that is not backed by a physical commodity such as gold but derives its value from government decree and public trust. Most national currencies in…

A gas fee is the transaction cost paid to validators on a blockchain network — most commonly Ethereum — to compensate for the computational resources required to process and record…

HODL is a crypto community term for holding cryptocurrency long-term rather than selling in response to price drops or market volatility. It originated from a 2013 internet forum typo of…

A Layer 2 is a secondary network or protocol built on top of an existing blockchain — the Layer 1 — that processes transactions off the main chain to increase…

Leverage is the use of borrowed funds to increase the size of a trading position beyond what a trader's own capital would allow, amplifying both potential gains and potential losses…

Liquidity describes how easily an asset can be bought or sold in the market without significantly moving its price. High liquidity means large orders can be filled quickly and at…

Market capitalization, or market cap, is the total market value of a cryptocurrency calculated by multiplying the current price of one unit by the total number of coins or tokens…

An NFT, or non-fungible token, is a unique digital asset recorded on a blockchain that represents ownership of a specific item — such as digital art, music, or virtual goods.…

A pip, short for "percentage in point" or "price interest point," is the smallest standardized unit of price movement for a currency pair in the foreign exchange market, typically equal…

A private key is a secret alphanumeric code generated by a crypto wallet that authorizes the transfer of digital assets from a specific blockchain address. It must be kept confidential…

Proof of Stake is a blockchain consensus mechanism in which validators are chosen to create new blocks based on the amount of cryptocurrency they lock up as collateral, rather than…

Proof of Work is a blockchain consensus mechanism in which participants — called miners — compete to solve computationally intensive puzzles to validate transactions and earn the right to add…

A smart contract is a self-executing program stored on a blockchain that automatically enforces the terms of an agreement when predefined conditions are met, without requiring a trusted intermediary.

A spot ETF is an exchange-traded fund that holds the underlying asset directly — such as actual bitcoin — giving investors exposure to real-time price movements through a traditional brokerage…

A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency designed to maintain a steady value by pegging it to an external reference, such as a fiat currency, commodity, or algorithmic mechanism. Most major stablecoins…

Staking is the process of locking up cryptocurrency in a Proof of Stake network to help validate transactions and secure the blockchain, in exchange for earning periodic rewards denominated in…

Tokenomics is a portmanteau of "token" and "economics" referring to the design and structure of a cryptocurrency's supply, distribution, and incentive mechanisms that govern how the token is created, allocated,…

Total Value Locked, or TVL, is the aggregate value of cryptocurrency assets deposited and actively held within a decentralized finance protocol or ecosystem at a given point in time. It…

Volatility measures the degree to which the price of an asset fluctuates over a given period. High volatility means prices move sharply and unpredictably in either direction; low volatility means…

In crypto markets, a whale is an individual or entity that holds a sufficiently large amount of a cryptocurrency that their buying or selling activity can noticeably influence its market…