Crypto & Finance Glossary

Debt securities issued by the US government.

Systems that work without requiring trust in any single party.

A cross-chain bridge that relies on cryptographic proofs rather than trusted intermediaries to verify transactions.

The total value of assets deposited in a DeFi protocol.

An order execution strategy that breaks a large trade into smaller chunks spread over a set time period to minimize price impact.

A valid block that was mined at the same time as another block but didn't make it into the main chain.

DeFi lending where borrowers put up less collateral than they borrow, similar to traditional unsecured loans.

The percentage of the labor force that's jobless and actively seeking work.

The largest decentralized exchange on Ethereum that pioneered the automated market maker model.

The profit or loss on a position that you haven't closed yet.

A stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar, issued by Circle (co-founded with Coinbase under the Centre Consortium).

The largest stablecoin by market cap, pegged to the US dollar.

A token that provides access to a product or service rather than representing ownership.

Unspent Transaction Output.

A node operator who validates transactions and creates blocks on a proof-of-stake network.

A scaling solution that processes transactions off-chain and uses validity proofs (like ZK proofs) but stores data off-chain instead of on Ethereum.

An estimate of what an asset or company is worth.

When a new protocol launches by offering better incentives to steal users and liquidity from an existing protocol.

A smart contract that automates a yield-generating strategy by depositing and managing funds on behalf of users.

A token model where you lock tokens for a period to receive vote-escrowed (ve) tokens that grant governance power and boosted rewards.

Investment firms that fund early-stage crypto projects in exchange for tokens at discounted prices with vesting schedules.

A data structure that will replace Ethereum's current Merkle Patricia trie for state storage.

A schedule that gradually releases tokens to team members or investors over time.

How much an asset's price fluctuates over time.

The total amount of an asset traded in a given period.

A chart indicator that shows trading activity at different price levels over a specified time period.

A tokenomics design where users lock tokens for a period to receive voting power and boosted rewards.

An indicator that shows the average price an asset has traded at, weighted by volume.

A Python-like programming language for Ethereum smart contracts, designed as a safer alternative to Solidity.

We're All Gonna Make It.

Software or hardware that stores your cryptocurrency private keys and lets you send and receive tokens.

Buying and selling the same asset simultaneously to artificially inflate trading volume.

The vision of a decentralized internet built on blockchain technology where users own their data and assets.

The average price of an asset weighted by the volume traded at each price level.

Someone who holds a large amount of cryptocurrency, enough to move markets with their trades.

Tracking large wallet holders' on-chain activity to anticipate market moves.

A technical document explaining a crypto project's technology, goals, and tokenomics.

A cross-chain messaging protocol that connects multiple blockchains including Ethereum, Solana, and Cosmos.

An ERC-20 token on Ethereum that's backed 1:1 by Bitcoin held in custody.

A token representing another asset on a different blockchain.

A century-old trading framework that identifies four market phases: accumulation, markup, distribution, and markdown.

A broad category of crypto apps that reward users with tokens for doing specific activities.

A yield aggregator that automatically moves your funds between DeFi protocols to maximize returns.

The income earned on an investment, expressed as a percentage.

A DeFi protocol that automatically moves your funds between different yield opportunities to maximize returns.

A graph showing interest rates across different bond maturities.

Strategically moving capital between DeFi protocols to maximize returns.

Separating an interest-bearing asset into its principal and yield components so each can be traded independently.

A stablecoin that automatically earns yield for holders, usually from Treasury bills or DeFi strategies.

A previously unknown vulnerability that attackers discover and exploit before developers know it exists or can patch it.