Crypto & Finance Glossary
Your guide to understanding cryptocurrency and finance terminology. From Bitcoin basics to advanced DeFi concepts.
Showing 151–200 of 605 terms
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D
DEX (Decentralized Exchange)
defiA cryptocurrency exchange that operates without a central authority, using smart contracts to facilitate trades.
DEX Aggregator
defiA tool that searches across multiple decentralized exchanges to find you the best price for a token swap.
Diamond Hands
tradingHolding an investment through extreme volatility without selling.
Difficulty Adjustment
blockchainAn automatic recalibration of how hard it is to mine a new block, ensuring consistent block times regardless of how much mining power joins or leaves the network.
Distribution Phase
tradingWhen smart money sells their holdings to retail investors at high prices after a big run-up.
Diversification
traditional-financeSpreading investments across different assets to reduce risk.
Dividend
traditional-financeA portion of a company's profits distributed to shareholders.
DNS Hijacking
cryptocurrencyAn attack where hackers redirect a legitimate website's domain to a malicious server.
Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA)
tradingInvesting a fixed amount at regular intervals regardless of price.
Dollar Index (DXY)
macroA measure of the U.
Double Spend
blockchainAn attack where someone spends the same cryptocurrency twice.
Dump
tradingA sudden, significant price drop usually caused by large sell-offs.
Dusting Attack
cryptocurrencySending tiny amounts of crypto (dust) to many wallet addresses to track and de-anonymize them.
Dutch Auction
cryptocurrencyA sale where the price starts high and gradually decreases until someone buys.
dYdX
defiA decentralized exchange focused on perpetual futures trading.
DYOR
cryptocurrencyDo Your Own Research.
E
Earnings
traditional-financeA company's profits, typically reported quarterly.
EigenLayer
defiAn Ethereum protocol that lets you restake your staked ETH to secure additional services and earn extra yield.
EIP (Ethereum Improvement Proposal)
blockchainA design document proposing new features or changes to Ethereum.
EIP-4844
blockchainThe Ethereum Improvement Proposal that introduced blob transactions (proto-danksharding) in the Dencun upgrade of March 2024.
Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)
blockchainThe mathematical foundation behind Bitcoin and Ethereum's key generation system.
Embedded Wallet
cryptocurrencyA crypto wallet integrated directly into an application so users don't need to install a separate wallet app or browser extension.
Emission Schedule
cryptocurrencyThe plan for how new tokens are released into circulation over time.
ENS (Ethereum Name Service)
blockchainA naming system on Ethereum that lets you replace your long wallet address with a human-readable name like 'yourname.
Epoch
blockchainA fixed period of time in a blockchain's operation, typically used in proof-of-stake networks.
Equity
traditional-financeOwnership stake in a company, represented as shares of stock.
ERC-1155
blockchainA multi-token Ethereum standard that can handle both fungible and non-fungible tokens in a single contract.
ERC-20
blockchainThe technical standard for tokens on Ethereum.
ERC-4337
blockchainThe Ethereum standard for account abstraction without changing the core protocol.
ERC-6551
blockchainA token standard that gives NFTs their own smart contract wallets (token-bound accounts).
ERC-721
blockchainThe Ethereum token standard for non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
Escape Hatch
blockchainA mechanism that lets users withdraw their funds from a Layer 2 rollup directly through the Layer 1 chain, even if the rollup operators go offline or censor transactions.
ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)
traditional-financeAn investment fund that trades on stock exchanges like a regular stock.
ETF Flows
traditional-financeThe net amount of money entering or leaving exchange-traded funds, closely watched in crypto since spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024.
Ethena
defiA DeFi protocol that creates USDe, a synthetic dollar backed by staked ETH and a corresponding short futures position.
Ethena
defiThe protocol behind USDe, a synthetic dollar that maintains its peg through delta-neutral hedging.
Ethereum
cryptocurrencyA blockchain platform that enabled smart contracts and decentralized applications.
Event Log
blockchainData emitted by smart contracts during execution that gets stored in transaction receipts.
EVM
blockchainEthereum Virtual Machine.
Exchange
cryptocurrencyA marketplace where cryptocurrencies are bought and sold.
Execution Layer
blockchainThe part of a blockchain that processes transactions and runs smart contracts.
Exit Liquidity
tradingThe people who buy when insiders or early investors are selling.
Exit Scam
cryptocurrencyWhen project developers abandon a project after raising money, disappearing with investors' funds.
Exponential Moving Average (EMA)
tradingA type of moving average that gives more weight to recent prices, making it react faster to new information than a simple moving average.
F
Fair Launch
cryptocurrencyA token launch where everyone has equal opportunity to buy, with no pre-mine, team allocation, or insider advantages.
Fantom
blockchainA Layer 1 blockchain using a DAG-based consensus mechanism called Lachesis for high speed and low fees.
FDV to Market Cap Ratio
tradingThe ratio between a token's fully diluted valuation and its current market cap.
Fear & Greed Index
tradingA metric that measures market sentiment on a scale from extreme fear to extreme greed.
Federal Reserve (Fed)
macroThe central bank of the United States that sets monetary policy.
Few Understand
cryptocurrencyA phrase used after sharing an insight or take that the speaker believes is deeply important but not widely recognized.
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