🧠 Crypto Glossary

A

Address – Your wallet’s public identifier.
Airdrop – Free tokens sent to wallets, usually to reward early users.
Altcoin – Any crypto that isn’t Bitcoin.

B

Blockchain – A public ledger that records and verifies transactions.
Bridge – A tool for moving assets from one chain to another.
Burn – Permanently removing tokens from supply.

C

CeFi – Centralized Finance (e.g. Binance, Coinbase).
Cold Wallet – Offline wallet. Safer for storage.
Consensus – How blockchains agree on what's true.
Custodial Wallet – Someone else (an exchange) holds your keys.

D

DAO – Community-run project that votes on decisions using tokens.
DeFi – Decentralized Finance: open financial apps on blockchains.
DEX – Decentralized Exchange: swap tokens directly from your wallet.

E

ENS – Ethereum Name Service. Human-readable names like name.eth.
ERC-20 – Standard for fungible Ethereum tokens.
ERC-721 / ERC-1155 – Standards for NFTs.

F

Fiat – Traditional money (CAD, USD, EUR).
Fork – A chain splitting into two versions.
FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out (panic buying).
FUD – Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt — negative pressure on sentiment.

G

Gas – The fee to execute a transaction on a blockchain.
GM – “Good morning.” Crypto slang for “I’m still here.”

H

Halving – Bitcoin event where mining rewards drop ~50%.
Hot Wallet – Wallet connected to the internet (easy to use, less safe).

L

Layer 1 (L1) – Base chain (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana).
Layer 2 (L2) – Built on top of L1 to make it cheaper/faster (Arbitrum, Base).
Liquidity Pool – A pool of tokens that powers trading on a DEX.

M

Mainnet – The “real money” live version of a blockchain.
Maxi – Person who only believes in one coin.
Mint – Create a new NFT or token.

N

NFT – Non-Fungible Token. A unique digital asset (art, collectibles, etc.).
Node – A computer that helps run and verify the network.

P

Private Key – Secret code that lets you control your wallet.
Public Key – Linked to your wallet; others can send funds to it.
Proof of Stake (PoS) – Networks secured by staked tokens.
Proof of Work (PoW) – Networks secured by computing power.

R

Rekt – Slang: lost a lot of money.
Rug Pull – Project drains liquidity and disappears with the funds.

S

Sats / Satoshi – The smallest unit of Bitcoin (1 BTC = 100,000,000 sats).
Seed Phrase – 12–24 words that back up your wallet. If someone gets it, they own your crypto.
Smart Contract – Code that runs automatically on-chain.
Stablecoin – Token that aims to stay at a fixed price (often $1).
Staking – Locking tokens to secure a network and earn yield.

T

Token – A crypto asset built on top of another chain.
TVL – Total Value Locked; how much money is in a DeFi protocol.

W

Wallet – How you hold and sign with your crypto.
Web3 – The idea of an internet where you control identity and assets, not platforms.
Whale – Wallet holding a large amount of crypto.

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