We know that the crypto universe can be tricky, especially with all the words that come with the package.
That’s why we made a dictionary with terms, meanings, and all you need to know about this theme that sometimes seems from another world.
If you already know most of what we’re talking about you should take a look at our whitepaper
Without further ado, let’s get to the words!
Altcoins: here the etymology of the word says a lot! “Alternative coins” are all cryptocurrencies that aren’t bitcoin. Even though many emerged from bitcoin’s code, altcoins have independent blockchain networks.
ATH (All Time High): Chill, that’s not what you’re thinking! ATH is the maximum value reached by a cryptocurrency in its entire history. Bitcoin, for example, reached its peak in 2021, with an ATH of $67K.
ASICs: the acronym stands for Application-specific integrated circuit. They are computers designed for complex calculations, designed for cryptocurrency mining.
Assets: any item that makes up one’s possessions. Your money in the bank, for example, is your bank assets. When we talk about cryptocurrencies, we call them “Virtual Assets”.
Bear: is an investor who is pessimistic about the market and expects prices to decline in the near- to medium-term. An investor with a bear profile tends to sell assets fast before they drop off.
Bear Market: is when a market experiences prolonged price declines, encouraging selling
Bid: an offer of the maximum price at which buyers are willing to buy crypto.
Bitcoin/bitcoin: when starting with a lowercase letter, it refers to the currency (BTC) of the Bitcoin protocol. When capitalized, it represents the protocol created by Satoshi Nakamoto.
Blockchain: a technology that aims to decentralize records and transactions for security measures. Sometimes referred to as “trust protocol”, is seen as the main technological innovation of Bitcoin, as it stores all transactions made on the network.
Bull: the antonym of Bear Market. A “bull” investor always bets on the rise of an asset. When somebody has a good feeling about a cryptocurrency they call it a “bullish trend”.
Candlestick: is a chart that allows you to view the price history of an asset. The chart shows open, high, and close prices within a specific period.
Cold wallet / Cold storage: is a wallet that is not connected to the internet. Private keys for these wallets can also be printed or saved on offline devices such as a flash drive.
Crypto Assets: are purely digital assets that use public ledgers over the internet to prove ownership and are protected by cryptography. Almost everything that has an economic value in the real world can be digitally represented.
Cryptocurrency: like crypto assets, it is mostly based on blockchain technology. A possession that can be traded, transferred, and even used as a store of value, all 100% safe.
Crypto custody: can be done by both companies and individuals. Having the private keys of crypto assets and being responsible for protecting them is the same as having custody.
DAO: stands for Decentralised autonomous organization. It’s a project or business built in blockchain and run by smart contracts (learn more about it on the letter “S”) to enable participants to collectively make decisions about governance, operations, and leadership. It’s what Ribon is working to be.
DeFi: stands for “Decentralized Finance”, blockchain applications that provide financial services and products within the crypto-assets environment and work through smart contracts.
Ethereum: is the best known of the altcoins (remember?). It’s also an open-source network that uses blockchain technology but offers additional layers for executing smart contracts and creating crypto assets that rely on their public ledger to exist.
ETH: is the symbol of the Ethereum currency
Ether: is the Ethereum currency unit, used to pay your blockchain fees.
Exchanges: are the brokers responsible for making the transactions of cryptocurrencies and other assets. It works just like an exchange house, with the difference that it is virtual and that it enables exchanges between fiat currencies and crypto.
Faucet: is an app or website that distributes small amounts of cryptocurrencies as a reward for completing an easy task like answering a form. If you want to have this type of experience, be careful with the sites that ask for your personal information, bank data, or credit card numbers. Faucets can also be use for scams.
Fiat: all currency that isn’t crypto and has an institution that regulates it (central bank), for example, the United States Dollar (USD) and Brazilian Real (BRL).
Fork: when a currency’s encryption code is updated it generates a fork so that new currencies arise from an existing one. Bitcoin Gold for example is a Bitcoin fork.
Gas: the transaction cost of running a smart contract function on the Ethereum network.
Genesis block: there’s nothing biblical about it. Is the very first block on any blockchain.
Halving: miners are rewarded with the same currency of the blockchain they mine. When it comes to bitcoins so to create scarcity and control total supply, this reward decreases every 4 years. This reduction is called halving. Fun fact: the reward for bitcoin miners per block mined was once 50 bitcoins, today it is around 6.
Hash: miners need to link one block to another to build a chain in the blockchain, the hash is the fit between the blocks. An algorithm that transforms info into a hexadecimal numerical sequence, like an identification number of this data.
Hot wallet: any cryptocurrency wallet that is connected to the internet and therefore at a higher risk of being hacked; they’re faster than other ways to send and receive funds, but not recommended for long-term storage.
ICO: Initial Coin Offering is like a “pre-sale” of a particular cryptocurrency. In general, it’s a method used to raise funds for companies. But beware, there are a lot of scam possibilities in this practice.
Input: is the source address of a transaction made with bitcoin. A transaction can have more than one input.
KYC: Know Your Customer, which refers to Exchanges that obtain and verify personal identification information from customers for business purposes before allowing them access to services or products.
Liquidity: is how fast an asset can be bought or sold without affecting its stability.
Market cap: is the value per unit of an asset multiplied by its quantity on the market.
Mining: the process of processing on-chain transactions by solving complex mathematical problems. Only miners with mega-powerful computers can do it, and when they do, they are rewarded.
NFT: is an acronym for “Not fungible tokens”, are digital versions of things that exist in the real world, only on a blockchain network. An NFT is a code that guarantees that the record is yours and yours alone. Works of art and real estate are the most common items in this format.
Output: is the opposite of input, the destination address of a bitcoin transaction.
Phishing: is a technique to steal information that consists of the circulation of fake emails filled with links and files that modify the victim’s router settings.
Pool: miners who team up to collectively mine a block and share the reward.
Private key: a cryptographic unique key with 64 characters that you use to send cryptocurrency from your wallet.
Proof of stake (PoS): is the name given to a consensus algorithm, used in the network validation process of certain cryptocurrencies, which prevents double-spending. Through proof of stake, users become validators of operations and are rewarded for it, which ends up encouraging the purchase and trading of cryptocurrencies that use this algorithm.
Proof of Work (PoW): is using cryptography to prove that a certain amount of computational effort was spent for a specific transaction.
Public key: a cryptographic key that allows a user to receive cryptocurrency from another user, but cannot be used to send funds. It’s like your address in the blockchain.
Rekt: A slang term avoided by everyone. Is used to describe a situation where an investor becomes “wrecked” by losing all their money.
Satoshi: the smallest division of a Bitcoin = 0.00000001 BTC. Each bitcoin is made up of 100 million satoshis so when someone says they have 10 satoshis, it means they have 0.0.00000010 BTC.
Satoshi Nakamoto: pseudonym that signed the “manual” that originated bitcoin in 2008. To this day, it is unknown whether Satoshi represents a single person or a group.
Scam: remember this one? It is a slang term that refers to fraudulent websites and scams in general.
Smart contracts: a technology, created by the Ethereum network, which allows agreements to be carried out automatically. A self-executing and irreversible code that ensures that operations are solved digitally, completely secured on blockchain, and without the need for agencies or the government.
Stablecoin: a type of cryptocurrency that has its value linked to a fiat currency, usually the dollar. The idea is to provide greater price stability, hence the name.
Tokens: assets that represent a future right for those who own them, it can be a specific asset, service, or product. Not to be confused with cryptocurrencies, their function is closer to stock in a company than money.
Wallet: just like the physical version of the object, it’s where you can keep your assets…the virtual ones!
Web3: is the new “phase” of the internet, built from blockchains. At this new level, everything is decentralized and without mediators, even social networks, games, and services.
Whale: slang for individuals, investment funds, or banks, with a substantial amount of a particular cryptocurrency. A value that is as big as the largest mammal in the world.
