Lingo

For the past few years now Virtual Currency has gained a lot of steam. Since it is relatively new, it tends to be confusing for a lot of people, even for some of those who actively participate in it.
However, what we found is that a lot of times, what is really confiding people is a lack of meaning for this new lingo!

For this reason here is the best vocabulary we were able to find!

• Address – character string for crypto account “home address”
• Airdrop – marketing distribution of token or coin
• Altcoin – any coin not Bitcoin
• Altfi – nonconventional financial channels, processes and instruments
• AML – anti-money laundering is a set of regulations designed to inhibit/trace money laundering
• Bitcoin (BTC) – most famous and popular virtual currency
• Block – digital record of transaction within block chain
• Blockchain explorer – online tool investors use
• Block reward – virtual currency awarded to miner
• Blockchain – series of blocks
• Brain storage or brain wallet – memorizing keys rather than writing them down or storing them online
• Cold storage – storing ownership information independent of an internet connection
• Crypto-assets – umbrella term used internationally to include payment tokens, utility tokens and security tokens utilizing distributed ledger technology and cryptography
• Cryptocurrency – digital currency using cryptographic methods
• Cryptography – making ordinary information unreadable
• Cryptoverse – universe of cryptocurrency
• De-Fi – decentralized finance is finance existing outside the typical banking structure
• DEX – decentralized exchange
• Digital currency – currency existing only in digital form (no coins/bills)
• Distributed ledger – digital system recording/storing data across a network of independent computers
• DLT – stands for distributed ledger technology
• Exchange – online platform to buy, sell and trade currencies
• FATF – Financial Action Task Force
• Fiat – money recognized as legal tender by a government
• FOMO – fear of missing out (a type of buying behavior)
• Forex aka FX – foreign exchange market
• Fork – blockchain split resulting in two separate blockchains
• Hard cap – maximum number of coins that will ever be created
• HODL – slang for holding onto a currency rather than selling it
• Hot storage – a device that stores crypto on the Internet
• Initial Coin Offering (ICO) – raise funds for new venture
• Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) – raise funds for new venture
• Initial Token Offering (ITO) – basically the same as an ICO
• Keys – establish virtual currency ownership
• KYC – know your customer; identifying banking clients to adhere to AML regulations
• Mining – creating blocks by validating transactions
• NFT – non-fungible token
• Peer to peer (or P2P) – a transaction not involving an exchange
• Proof of work – is the original form of mining and is still used by Bitcoin
• Proof of stake – an alternative to proof of work requiring participants to commit tokens to the network in order to gain rewards
• Smart contract – an online contractual agreement based on the Etherium blockchain
• Stablecoins – cryptocurrencies pegged in value to a non-crypto asset
• Staking – committing coins to a proof of stake network
• Tokens – cryptocurrencies riding on another blockchain
• VASP – Virtual Asset Service Provider aka exchange
• Virtual currency – online store of value, not fiat
• Wallet – stores keys, either online or offline
• Wash trade – selling and buying identical coins in order to manipulate the market
• Whale – participants in the Cryptoverse who are able to influence the market