Crypto-ABC: The complete overview of the most important words in the cryptocurrency world
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A
Accumulation : Accumulation means to buy as many coins as possible at the lowest possible price. It is often claimed that →Whales projects →fudden to accumulate as many coins as possible at a low price.
Airdrop: An Airdrop refers to the distribution of free → coins. New projects sometimes give away some of their coins to promote their product. For some Airdrops you have to actively do tasks to get them. Sites like Airdropking are specialized in finding the latest Airdrops.
All Time High (ATH): When a Coin reaches its all time high, it means that it has reached its highest price level so far.
Altcoin: Alt or Altcoin is a collective term for all →Coins (except →Bitcoin). Since Bitcoin was the first →cryptocurrency, all other coins got the nickname “Altcoin”.
Antminer: An antminer is a popular one, produced by →Bitmain.
Arbitrage: Taking advantage of the fact that →Coin is sometimes offered at different →exchange at the same time at a different price. This is called arbitrage trading.
ASIC: ASIC is short for Application Specific Integrated Circuit. ASICs are → mining devices that work for certain → cryptocurrencies. → Bitcoin and currently → Ethereum can be mined using ASICs. ASICs are often criticized for → centralization, so some projects are trying to make their → Coin ASIC-resistant (not compatible for ASIC devices). An example of such a coin is → Monero.
Ask: The price for which market participants are willing to sell their →Coins. (opposite: →Bid)
Atomic swap: An atomic swap is a token exchange of two coins located on different → blockchains, which takes place → on-chain. The exchange happens at a predetermined rate and does not require an→ exchange
B
B2B: B2B is an abbreviation for business to business, in contrast to →P2P or →Peer to Peer
Bag holder: Bagholder is the derogatory term for owners of → coins who have lost a large part of their value since the owner of the coin bought the coin. Bagholders are often accused of → shilling in order to finally → dump → their heavy bags.
Bear(ish): The bear symbolises falling prices, while the →Bulle bull symbolises rising prices. To be bearish means that someone thinks that prices will fall. A bearish market is a market in which prices fall.
BearWhale: The so-called BearWhale is a user unknown to date, who owned at least 36,000 Bitcoin in the years 2013 / 2014. According to his own account, a large part of his lifelong savings was invested at a price of about $8 per BTC. He HODLed these Bitcoins for a long time until the discussion about reducing the blocksize shook his confidence and he decided to sell. On a memorable day in 2014 (October 5), he finally sold 30,000 BTC in a block! at a price of $300 over Bitstamp. This event became famous in the crypto community as the “Battle of BearWhale”.
Confirmations: The more confirmation a transaction has, the more certain one can be that this transaction will be integrated into →Blockchain in the long term. If the →Transaction is sent to the network in a valid block, then this transaction receives 1 confirmation.
If a second block is published, which builds on this first block, then this transaction now has 2 confirmation. If a transaction only exists in →Mempool, but no block has been published yet that holds the transaction, then this transaction has 0 confirmation. Accepting a transaction with 0 confirmation is often considered insecure, because it is easy to donate 0 confirmation to →Double.
Binance: Binance is one of the largest →cryptocurrency exchanges. Register here.
Bid: The price at which market participants are willing to buy a →Coin. (opposite: →Ask))
Bitcoin (maximalist): Bitcoin (BTC) is the oldest → cryptocurrency. It was developed by → Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin is currently the → cryptocurrency with the highest → market capitalization. A Bitcoin maximalist only accepts Bitcoin as the “one, true” → cryptocurrency
Bitcoin cash: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a → hard fork of Bitcoin, which promises to increase the → transaction speed of Bitcoin and additionally reduce the → mining fees by increasing the → block size. Increasing the block size has advantages and disadvantages, and it remains to be seen whether this approach is a sensible approach for → scaling.
Bitcoin Cash has not activated → Segwit and does not intend to scale with the → Lightning Network. Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin both want to bear the name “Bitcoin” and the ticker symbol BTC, since they both claim that they represent the “real” vision of Bitcoin, created by → Satoshi Nakamoto. One of the most influential Bitcoin Cash supporters is → Roger Ver
Bitcointalk: Bitcointalk is the largest discussion forum for cryptocurrencies.
Bitfinex: The Bitfinex is a → cryptocurrency exchange on which → Fiat can be exchanged for → Crypto.
Bitmain: Bitmain is a company that sells hardware for → mining
Bitstamp: The Bitstamp is a → cryptocurrency exchange on which → Fiat can be exchanged for → Crypto.
Block producer: In some → cryptocurrencies, only a few → nodes can publish a → block (for example → EOS). These nodes are called → block producers.
Block Reward: Number of coins →Miner receives for publishing a valid →Blocks if it becomes part of →Blockchain
Blockchain: A block is a collection of → transactions published by a → miner. The goal of every miner is to publish a valid block in order to receive the → Mining Reward and / or the → Mining Fees. The → block size and the average → block time can differ for different cryptocurrencies. Blocks are part of the blockchain.
The concept of blockchain protects cryptocurrencies from hacks and eliminates the possibility of → double spending. The blockchain is so called because the blocks are chained together. If someone wanted to change an old block, he would have to “hack” all new blocks first. This means that the older a block is, the more likely it is that the block will remain a valid and permanent block in the blockchain. Some new → Altcoins do not use the blockchain and secure their network with other mechanisms (→ Nano, → IOTA).
Blockfolio: A popular app to track the current exchange rate of crypto currencies.
Block size: Denotes the size of a → block. Usually the size of a block is between a few kilobytes and a few megabytes. Some cryptocurrencies prefer to have a fixed, small block size (→ Bitcoin), while others prefer to use a larger block size (→ Bitcoin Cash). Some cryptocurrencies use a dynamic block size that can change over time (→ Monero). Still other cryptocurrencies like → IOTA or → Nano don’t have conventional block sizes because they don’t use blockchain technology.
A larger block means that more transactions can be accepted per unit of time, which reduces the → transaction fees and empties the → mempool more quickly. However, large blocks make the → blockchain grow faster, which can lead to → centralization, since fewer people are willing to operate a → full node. Different perspectives on the block size has led to the → hard fork between → Bitcoin and → Bitcoin Cash.
Block Lattice: Block Lattice is an alternative data structure, which promises some advantages over the block chain. For example, a block lattice allows faster →transactions for fewer fees. The block lattice works fundamentally differently than the →Blockchain. This data structure is currently used by the crypto currency →Nano.
Block time: The average time it takes to publish a block. Longer block times result in a lower transaction speed.
Blox: A popular app to track the current exchange rate of cryptocurrencies.
Stock market: A place where you can buy and sell coins for Fiat or other coins. There are → centralized exchanges and → decentralized exchanges.
Bounty: Some →ICOs pay people to find bugs, translate documents and promote the ICO. The payment for these activities is often called bounty
Breakout: A breakout usually refers to a sharp and sudden rise in prices. In rare cases, a breakout can also mean a sharp and sudden fall in prices
BTC: → The most common symbol for the Bitcoin
Bubble: A bubble occurs when the prices of a commodity (here: crypto-currencies) in the market significantly exceed the intrinsic value of this commodity. Bubbles can “burst” at any time within a very short time, which causes a →bear market to be created.
Bull(ish): The bull symbolizes rising prices, whereas the →Bär symbolizes falling prices. Being bullish means that you expect prices to rise. In a bullish market, prices rise.
Burning: Burning crypto-currencies means sending them to an address that is/can’t be controlled by anyone. They are effectively destroyed and removed from circulation forever.
Buywall: A high demand of crypto currencies at a certain price. A buywall graphically appears as a high vertical wall on the bid side in a depth chart.
C
Casper: Casper is an update of the Ethereum Blockchain. It will switch the → Consensus mechanism of the Ethereum Blockchain from → POW to → POS.
Charlie Lee: Also known as Satoshi Lite, is the founder of the crypto currency Litecoin.
CMC: Coinmarketcap
Coinbase: The Coinbase is one of the largest crypto → exchanges. Coinbase accepts → Fiat. Coinbase is one of the most user-friendly exchanges.
Coinmarketcap: Usually refers to the crypto currency website Coinmarketcap.com. But Coinmarketcap (coin market capitalizations) also means the current price multiplied by the number of all tokens.
Coins: A collective term for all cryptocurrencies.
Cold storage: Usually denotes a →Paper wallet. A cold wallet usually means that the →Private key has never come into contact with the Internet. Cold wallets are not intended for everyday use. Wallets that are intended for everyday use are called →Hot wallets.
Consensus: Consensus
CPU: The Central processing unit, the “processor”, a hardware component of a normal computer.
Craig Wright: Also known by the nickname →Fake Satoshi or →Faketoshi is a well-known →Bitcoin cash advocate. Craig Wright himself says that he is →Satoshi Nakamoto, but he has not been able to prove this beyond doubt until today. Many people, including →Vitalik Buterin doubt very strongly that Craigh Wright is Satoshi.
Crash: A very sharp drop in prices.
Crypto(currency): Cryptocurrency.
Crypto Kitties: Cryptokitties is a popular →dApp on the →Ethereum →Blockchain
D
DAG: Directed acyclic graph
Dan Larimer: Programmer who founded Bitshares, Steemit and →EOS
DAO: Decentralized autonomous organization
dApp: Short for Decentralized Application. Usually this describes an app that is controlled by →Smart contracts.
Darknet: The Darknet is a special part of the “Internet”, which can only be accessed by specialized software. Compared to the normal Internet, Darknet provides higher anonymity, which makes it more difficult for the legislator to control.
Day traders: A person who tries to generate profit through active trading (from → cryptocurrencies). A day trader typically only holds a cryptocurrency for a short time (usually a maximum of a few hours) before selling it for another currency.
Decentralized: In a decentralized system, the users are linked to each other via →P2P. There is no central authority, with special privileges. Anyone can join a decentralized network, it is difficult to take offline and – in the best case – almost impossible to hack. A real decentralized network is →trustless
Decentralized autonomous organization: A decentralised autonomous organisation is an organisation which is regulated by →Smart contracts. The idea of a DAO comes from →Dan Larimer. The hack of the Smart Contracts of the first decentralized autonomous organization ́The DAO ”. Leads to →Hard Fork of the →Ethereum network. The hard fork is now known as →Ethereum, the old block chain where the hack is still present is known as Ethereum Classic.
Decentralized exchange: A →stock exchange, which is regulated by →Smart Contracts. Decentralized exchanges are in theory cheaper and safer than centralized exchanges. Unfortunately they often have less good design and little Trading→Volume
Delegated Proof of Stake: Dan Larimer has proposed delegated proof of stack as an alternative to the energy-intensive →Proof of Work algorithm dPOS is a special type of →Proof of Stake
Delta: A popular crypto currency price tracking gapp
Depth chart: A graphic representation of the →Bid and →Ask offers
DEX: Decentralized Exchange
Difficulty: Difficulty is mostly used in connection with the →Hashrate Difficulty indicates the hashrate needed to mine a block in a given average time span.
Dip: A drop in price.
Directed acyclic graph: A concept that is often used as an alternative to the block chain. Coins that use DAGs are for example: →IOTA, →Nano and Byteball.
Distributed Ledger Technology or DLT: Mostly describes →Blockchain (or blockchain-like) technologies. Distributed ledger means that several participants in the network have a complete copy of all transactions. The ledger is distributed.
Double spent: There are two types of double spents.
Downtrend: Bärischer Trend
Dump: To “dump” means to sell. “To get dumped on” means that someone else is selling so much that it causes a drop in price. If someone dumps and you yourself continue to hold the currency, it can happen that you become →Bagholder.
E
Early adopter: Someone who uses new technology early on. Here is someone who was interested in →Bitcoin (or e.g. →Ethereum) at an early stage. Since crypto currencies have been very →bullisch in the last few years, many early adopters have become very wealthy (→Whales).
EOS: EOS is the name of a crypto currency that uses →Dan Larimer’s →dPOS. It is a direct competitor of the →Ethereum network. EOS promises free and fast transactions and →Smart contract functions.
ERC-20 token: ERC – 20 Token (Ethereum Request for Comment) is a set of standard program code often used to create personalized →Token on →Ethereum →Blockchain as part of a →Smart contract. This functionality is often used by →ICOs. All these tokens can be used in Ethereum compatible →Wallets. Since these →Token use the Ethereum blockchain, you need Ethereum to pay the →Transactions fees for sending the tokens.
Escrow: Escrow payment means that the coins are held by a third party until both the buyer and the seller signal that the purchase/sale has gone smoothly. If there are any problems with the transaction, the third party will decide whether the buyer or the seller will get the money back.
ETF: ETF is short for Exchange-Traded Fund (A fund traded on an exchange)
Eth(ereum): ETH is the →Tickersymbol of Ethereum. Ethereum is the second largest crypto currency. The founder of Ethereum is →Vitalik Buterin. Ethereum is the largest platform. Most →ICOs are launched on the Ethereum Blockchain.
The Ethereum Blockchain hosts many →dApps and →Smart contracts. →Smart Contracts must be written on the Ethereum Blockchain in the programming language →Solidity. The consensus algorithm is →POW and not →ASIC resistant.
However, the →Casper update will cause an →Hardfork of the Ethereum network and then make Ethereum a →POS block chain. The →Blockzeit is faster than the block time of →Bitcoin. The currency of the Ethereum block chain is Ether.
Etherscan: Etherscan is a popular →Ethereum →Blockchain explorer. A software that allows you to search the Ethereum block grove for transactions
Exit scam: Exit scamming (= cheating by running away). Exit scammers get people to give them money. Mostly they promise the money lenders fantastic profit expectations. However, these profit expectations are not fulfilled. On the contrary, the exit scammer runs away – goes abroad – and steals the whole investment. Many →ICOs were exit scams.
F
Fake Satoshi: This “nickname” refers to →Craig Wright.
Faucet: A crypto-currency faucet issues →Coins for free (until the faucet is empty). Usually you have to solve easy tasks (for example a captcha) before using the faucet. For example, the crypto currency → Nano was completely distributed by a captcha faucet.
Fairy: (Small) number of coins that must be paid to trigger an action on the block chain. Miners earn the fees in addition to the →Block
Fiat: Government issued money (Euro, Dollar, Yen,…)
Flash crash: A very sharp drop in price that lasts only a few minutes before the price returns to the previous price level.
Flippening: A flippening is when one coin manages to overtake another coin in terms of →Marketcap. “The flippening ” refers to the (not yet occurred) event when a coin manages to flip →Bitcoin itself.
Fluffyponny: The pseudonym of Riccardo Spagni, a well-known →Monero developer.
FOMO: Fear of missing out (= fear of missing something). You are afraid of missing → Gains. Generating FOMO is often the goal of a → shill.
Fork: A fork is a rule change in the → Node software. There are → hardforks and → softforks.
FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt. FUD creates doubt in people’s minds whether a project is legitimate. Often people sell their coins because of FUD. Someone who spreads FUD is called FUDster. Often FUD turns out to be a targeted “fake news”.
Fungibility: Fungibility. The property that coins cannot be assigned to a previous owner and are therefore 1:1 interchangeable. →Monero has this property.
Fullnode: Node, which has downloaded and recalculated the whole blockchain.
G
Gains: Profit (in cryptocurrencies)
Gas: Gas is the name of a cryptocurrency that is needed to send tokens on the NEO platform. Gas is generated by holding NEO in a compatible → wallet.
Gas also refers to the → transaction fees in → Ethereum. Gas is paid in → Gwei. Before you can make a transaction you have to decide how high the gas limit for the transaction should be. Gas limit is the maximum number of Gwei that you want to spend on the transaction. Complicated calculations require a higher gas limit. Increasing the gas limit will not make the Ethereum transaction faster.
Genesis Block/Account: The Genesis block is the name of the first →Block of a →Blockchain. Genesis accounts are the accounts of the first owner of a coin.
Github: A popular website for uploading computer code and working together on it.
GPU: Graphics processing unit is a hardware part in a normal computer. GPUs are usually more powerful than CPUs and are therefore sometimes still used for →Mining, especially in coins that are →ASIC-resistant.
Gwei: 1 Gwei denotes 0,000 000 001 (1×10^-9) ether. 1 Gwei is therefore 10^9 Wei. The →Gas price is paid in Gwei and increasing it enhances the speed of a →Ethereum transaction.
H
Halving: The → Bitcoin → block reward is halved every 4 years, which leads to decreasing inflation. This event is known as “The Halvening”. The time until the next halvening can be seen here.
Hardcap: Hardcap usually refers to the maximum number of coins that an ICO will create/sell. Once an ICO project has reached its hardcap it will not sell any more tokens. Sometimes hard cap also refers to the maximum number of coins that can ever be put into circulation. For example, the hardcap for →Bitcoin is approximately 21 million BTC.
Hardfork: A hardfork is a →Fork where not all nodes accept the new software and some nodes continue to use the old software. A hard fork creates a “new ” active network, the old network can remain active but is no longer compatible with the new network. This effectively creates a new coin. Known hardforks are Bitcoin Cash (from →Bitcoin), and →Ethereum from (Ethereum Classic).
Hardware wallet: A hardware wallet is an electronic device that can create and store keys offline →Private . This method of storage is one of the most secure. Only using a →Paperwallets can be considered more secure. However, hardware wallets are much easier to use.
Therefore, unlike paper wallets, they can also be used in everyday life. Paper wallets are more suitable only for →cold storage. The two best known hardware wallets are the Trezor and the Ledger Nano S. There are also e.g. Keepkey and CoolWallet S.
Hash(rate): A hash function is a mathematical function which can be solved easily in one direction, but cannot (yet) be solved (analytically) in the other direction. This property of a hash function is used by →Bitcoin and others Proof of Work Coins to create a kind of block chain lottery for publishing a valid block. The number of hashes that can be calculated per second is called the hashrate.
High: The price is at a (local) maximum
HODL: A typo of the word “hold”, which means to keep a coin (not to sell). This typo occurred in the following →Bitcointalk thread, where a drunk shared his investment strategy with the world. The word HODL has become a meme in the crypto scene.
Hot wallet: A wallet that is easy to use. Hot Wallets are suitable for daily use. The →Private keys are not permanently separated from the Internet.
Huobi: The Huobi is one of the largest crypto exchanges.
I
ICO: Short for Initial Coin Offering. This is the crypto currency equivalent of a →IPO. Instead of shares in a company, you receive coins in an ICO.
Institutional money: This is the money of industrial investors (= investment funds, large banks, other large companies)
Interoperability: Refers to the ability to perform certain functions across different →Blockchains.
IOTA: IOTA is a cryptocurrency that wants to penetrate the Internet of Things market. IOTA does not use a → blockchain, but a → tangle.
Iron Hands: Iron Hands” = A person who, even if a coin loses value, does not sell it.
IPO: Short for Initial Public Offering. It’s the stock market equivalent of a →ICO. In an IPO you do not receive coins but shares of the company. IPOs are highly regulated and only a few people have enough financial resources to participate in an IPO as an investor.
J
John McAfee: John McAfee, is one of the greatest known →Shills. His investment tips are therefore highly questionable.
K
Kraken: The Kraken is a crypto currency exchange, which allows the trading of crypto with →Fiat.
L
Lambo: To buy a Lambo(rghini) after getting rich through crypto is the “meme-goal” of every investor. Instead of asking when the price of a currency will rise again, people often ask jokingly “When Lambo?
Ledger (Wallet): Ledger is the name of the manufacturer of →Hardware wallets “Ledger Nano S”, you can buy it here.
Lightning Network: The Lightning Network is an → off-chain → scaling solution for → Bitcoin
Liquidity: The more liquid a market is, the less effect a purchase or sale will have on the price. A high trading volume usually also leads to high liquidity.
Long: If a position is “long”, then it makes a profit when the price rises.
Low: The price is at a relative low
M
Mainnet: Projects that start as →Token on other blockchains often decide to migrate to their own blockchain at a later time. These blockchains are usually completely new developed and often a →Testnet of the network is created first to check the functionality of the network. After the testnet has proven itself, the mainnet (main network) is started.
Market capitalization: Coin market cap (coin market capitalizations) means the current price multiplied by the number of all tokens
Masternode: Master nodes are a special type of →Full nodes. They usually have more functions than a normal full node. Master nodes often receive block rewards or fees. However, in order to operate a master node, certain conditions must be met. Not every crypto currency has master nodes.
Mempool: Short for memory pool. In effect, the mempool is a list of all (→Bitcoin) transactions that have been sent to the network but are not yet included in any block
Merkle Tree: A Merkle Tree (also Hash Tree) is a concept from computer science, which is used in (some) crypto currencies. The root (the value from which the tree or graph extends) is also called the Merkle root or top hash.
Metamask: Metamask is a browser extension which can be used as →Ethereum →Wallet. Metamask also makes it easier to interact with →Smart Contracts within the browser.
Mining (pool): Mining is the process of finding a correct solution of the →Hash(function) in a →POW network. People who actively participate in guessing an accepted solution of the hash function are called miners. If a miner is successful, he can publish a valid →Block.
In return he (or she) receives in compensation and the miner reward (a certain number of newly created coins). In principle, anyone can become a Miner, but for most people it will not be financially rewarding. In →POW currencies, mining secures the network from attacks. A Mining Pool is a collection of miners who work together and share the reward among themselves.
Mining fee: Transaction fee
Mineable: A coin that is distributed and/or secured by →Mining
Monero: Monero is a crypto-currency which allows anonymous transactions.
Moon: When Moon ” – is the question that asks how long you have to keep your investment →hodlen until you can buy →Lambos.
Multisignature: A multisignature →Wallet needs more than one →Private key to send/sign outgoing →Transaction
Myetherwallet: It is the name of a very popular website that provides a simple interface to the Ethereum Blockchain. There you can easily create your own private key online and use the website as a wallet. →ERC20 tokens are also supported by myetherwallet. Myetherwallet is one of the most popular →Ethereum wallets.
N
Nano: Nano is the name of a cryptocurrency that uses → Block Lattice technology to enable free, fast and environmentally friendly transactions.
Nano ledger : Nano Ledger” is the name of a → hardware wallet “Nano Ledger.
Node: Every computer that participates in the network represents a node. A → full node is a special type of node.
O
Offchain: If a transaction is not recorded on the blockchain, it takes place offchain
OkEX: OkEX is one of the largest crypto currency exchanges.
OTC: Over the counter.is a purchase / sale of a (usually large amount) of coins that does not take place on a public exchange. This type of buying / selling can be one of the best ways to trade a large amount of coins if there is no liquidity. An over the counter deal usually leaves the price untouched.
Onchain: When a transaction is written to →Blockchain it is called an onchain.
P
P2P: Peer 2/to Peer
Paper wallet: Denotes a piece of paper (or a piece of steel) on which the → Private key or the → Seed words that are needed to derive the private key are written. Paper wallets can be incredibly secure, but are very unsuitable for everyday use. Paper wallets are understood as → cold wallets.
PND: Pump and Dump
Ponzi scheme: A fraudulent system in which victims are encouraged to invest in an → ICO or company that does not conduct a legitimate business, but only by making a profit to find more and more lenders. So the system builds on exponential growth and will implode over time and will not be able to pay off many investors.
POS: Proof-of-Stake (POS)
POW: Proof-of-Work (POW)
Premine: A premine (pre-mining) takes place if a developer sends a certain number of coins to his own address before the blockchain is made public. Premine can be fraudulent, but it can also be seen as a means of paying for development and listing on exchanges.
Privacy (coin): Privacy coins usually use a → bitcoin-like ledger system, but add technology that obscures the path of the transaction. → Monero and ZCash are popular examples.
Private key: A private key is a character string, the possession of which is necessary to sign transactions and consequently to make transactions and thus send coins, for example. The owner of a private key owns the associated coins and can freely dispose of them.
If you lose your private key, you can no longer access your coins and orphan them. If you reveal your private key to another person, they now have full access to the coins in this address and can steal the coins.
Proof of stake: Proof-of-stake (POS) is a consensus algorithm in which the amount of coins you have is directly related to the probability that you can publish a block. Proof of Stake is very environmentally friendly compared to Proof of Work. There is no mining at Proof of Stake.
Proof of work: Proof of Work is a consensus algorithm to achieve global → consensus. This algorithm is used by → Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. With proof of work, → miners calculate various → hashes with high energy consumption.
Public key: A public key is a cryptographic key that can be shared publicly without any problems. Transactions are often sent to the public key. It is important never to confuse the private key with the public key. The public key can be thought of as the address of a mailbox for which the private key is the key to unlocking it.
Pump: With a pump, a few → Whales (a less liquid) coin ask very strongly in a short time, which results in an immense price increase.
Pump and dump: A → pump and → dump is a scam that requires a group of investors to buy a certain (less liquid coin) at the same time. As soon as uninitiated investors start to develop → FOMO and invest in the coin due to the price increase, all the initiated investors start selling off their previously purchased coins. This sale in turn leads to a drop in prices. The portfolio of uninitiated investors often lose a large amount of value in a very short time.
R
reddit: Reddit is a popular American social media platform. It serves as a news aggregator, but also hosts some popular cryptocurrency discussion forums, such as: / r / cryptocurrency and / r / bitcoin.
Rekt: Someone is destroyed when their investment is (almost) completely gone.
Return on investment: Return on Investment (ROI) measures the percentage of profit made in relation to the start investment.
Ripple: Ripple is the → cryptocurrency of the Ripple network. It is currently the third largest cryptocurrency according to → Coinmarketcap
Roadmap: A roadmap is a strategic plan that defines goals, specifies a sequence of goals and shows a rough schedule until the goals are reached.
Roger Ver: Roger Ver is the CEO of Bitcoin.com. He is one of the 5 founding members of the Bitcoin Foundation and a strong supporter of the → Bitcoin Cash → fork.
S
Satoshi (unit): 1 Satoshi = 0.00000001 BTC
Satoshi (Nakamoto): Satoshi Nakamoto is the anonymous founder of Bitcoin. Until today it is not known which person or which collective is behind the nickname Satoshi Nakamoto. The smallest unit in Bitcoin is called Satoshi → Satoshi (unit).
Satoshi Lite: Nickname of Charlie Lee, founder of Litecoin. (→ Charlie Lee)
Sat (s): 0.00000001 BTC is 1 Sat (oshi), the smallest unit of Bitcoin
Scaling: Scaling. Many → cryptocurrencies have problems supporting many transactions within a short time and keeping them cheap. Many different cryptocurrencies try to solve this problem in the most intelligent way possible.
Scam: Scam for fraud or rip-off.
SEC: SEC stands for the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC is an American (stock exchange supervisory) authority that is responsible, among other things, for protecting investors from fraudsters
Seed words: A set of (semi-) random words with which you can derive your private key. Seed words, like private keys, must be kept secret as they can give full access to the account.
Segwit: Segregated witness, or SegWit, is an update of the Bitcoin network, which creates more space in blocks and simplifies the compatibility of Bitcoin with the Lightning Network
Sell wall: A “sale wall” means that many sales orders have been placed at a specific price.
SHA-256: SHA-256 is the hash function used in Bitcoin
Sharding: Sharding means dividing a chain into several separate chains.
Shill: A shill is someone who (often paid) advertises a cryptocurrency. The goal of a shill is to trigger FOMO. He is thus the “antagonist” to the Fudster, whose goal is to trigger FUD.
Shitcoin: Shitcoin is a derogatory (but sometimes sarcastic / lovingly-meant) collective term for all “useless” coins. Bitcoin maximalists often unironically refer to all coins, except Bitcoin, as Shitcoin.
Short: If a position is “short”, it makes profit when the price drops
Short squeeze: A short squeeze is a rapid rise in price that occurs when there is a shortage of supply and excess demand triggered by people who have an open short and are forced to buy back the coins to minimize their losses, which is what Price keeps going higher and higher.
Side Chain: A sidechain is a separate blockchain that is linked to a mainchain.
Sign: Before you can send a → transaction you have to sign it with the → Private key. In wallets, this often happens automatically in the background.
Smart contract: Smart contracts are self-executing contracts in which the conditions are stored as snippets of code on the blockchain. Smart contracts, once published, cannot be changed again. Bugs in smart contracts can therefore have devastating consequences.
Softcap: Softcap is the minimum amount of capital that an ICO would like to collect to start the project
Softfork: A soft fork is a rule change (update) of the node software. A “soft fork” will not create “new” coins, since a soft fork is fully backward compatible
Solidity: Solidity is a contract-oriented programming language used to write smart contracts.
Spooning: Spooning means that a → token is copied to another blockchain.
Spread: The spread is the difference between the supply and demand price.
Stablecoin: Stable coin” refers to cryptocurrencies that are supposed to maintain a “stable value”, for example because they are covered with collateral. One of the most famous “stable coins” is the → “tether” that is covered with the US dollar.
Staking: Analogous to mining, there is the term staking in → Proof of Stake currencies. By holding coins, “staked”, you get part of the block guard.
Supply: Offer, the number of coins circulating in the market
Support: Denotes a price level that has not fallen below several times.
T
Tangle: Tangle is the alternative to blockchain used by IOTA.
Telegram: Telegram is a communication app similar to Whatsapp that is popular in the cryptocurrency world.
Testnet: A testnet is a test network to be able to test new functions for the → mainnet in a secure environment.
Tether: Tether (USDT) is a cryptocurrency whose value tries to mirror that of the US dollar. It is the best known → “stable coin”.
Ticker symbol: Ticker symbols are the, usually three-digit abbreviations, of the individual cryptocurrencies with which they are listed on the → exchanges. Examples: BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, …
Token: Coins → Smart Contract generated coins that do not have their own blockchain are usually referred to as tokens.
Trade (s / r): A trade is a trade. Someone who trades is a trader.
Transaction (fee): Transaction fees are fees that can be used to give your transaction a higher priority. The higher the transaction fee, the faster (relatively speaking) a transaction is processed by the network.
Transaction speed: The speed at which a transaction is carried out.
Trezor: Trezor is the name of a popular → hardware wallet. You can buy it here
Trustless: Cryptocurrencies are trustless if you don’t have to trust anyone that the system works
U
Uptrend: An uptrend is a → bullish phase.
V
Vitalik Buterin: Vitalik Buterin is a programmer and co-founder of → Ethereum. He published the Ethereum → white paper at the age of only 19. He is also known for his very special fashion taste.
Volume: The amount of trade that is done.
W
Wallet: A wallet is an interface for interacting with a blockchain. With a wallet, you can “log in” to your “account” by entering the → private key and then send coins and sign transactions in a convenient manner. Wallets come in all shapes and colors. There are browser plugins, websites, USB sticks, desktop programs, apps, hardware wallets.
Weak hands: Investors who sell immediately when the price drops and thus push the price slump further. Weak hands are not → hodlers.
Whale: A whale is someone who has a lot of money to trade and can generate massive price increases or price drops.
White Paper: In the crypto world, a white paper is a document that explains the intentions and strategies as well as the technical aspects of a project in detail.
X
XRP: XRP is the → ticker symbol of the cryptocurrency Ripple.
- Someone sends coins to a person and receives a benefit in return. However, it later turns out that this transaction was invalid (for example, because it had too few confirmation and was not recorded in the block chain at the end). The person who has received the service can now send the same money to another address. So he can use the same money to pay two different sellers. But in the end only one of the sellers gets his payment.
- It could happen that someone, who should not be authorized to do so, can print an infinite amount of money for himself because of a bug. This possibility is also known as double spent.
