Thirty terms, defined the way we use them on this site. Where a term is marketing rather than a fact, it says so.
The basics
- Address
- The public account number you give someone to pay you. It proves nothing and controls nothing.
- Blockchain
- A list shared by many computers that nobody may quietly edit. How it works.
- Private key
- The secret that proves ownership. Whoever has it can move the funds. Keep it safe.
- Recovery phrase
- Twelve or twenty-four words that restore your keys. It is the wallet, not a backup of it.
- Wallet
- Something that holds keys, not coins. The full explanation.
- Stablecoin
- A token designed to hold one currency's value. And its risks.
- Gas fee
- What a network charges to include your transaction. It rises when the network is busy.
- Block
- A batch of transactions, linked to the one before it.
- Node
- A computer that holds a copy of the chain and checks new blocks against it.
- Consensus
- The rule by which thousands of separate computers agree on what is true.
- Mining / validating
- The work that earns the right to write the next block. Layer 2 reduces how much of it is needed.
Money and markets
- Volatility
- How far and how fast a price moves. Why it is high here.
- Liquidity
- How easily an asset can be turned into cash without moving its price.
- Spread
- The gap between the buy and sell price. A quiet cost on every trade.
- Slippage
- The extra you pay because the price moved while your order was waiting.
- Custody
- Who holds the keys. Choosing a custodian.
- Custodial / self-custodial
- Someone else holds your keys, or you do.
- On-ramp / off-ramp
- Getting in and out of crypto with ordinary money.
- Custody risk
- The risk that the holder fails you. It is an operator risk, not a technology risk.
- APY / APR
- An annualised figure for a return. Always check the rate you are actually paid, and the cap on it — the terms.
- Halving
- A programmed reduction in new supply. Known in advance, so partly priced in.
- ETF
- Exposure through a brokerage account. The trade-offs.
Reading a plan
- Cycle
- The period a position runs for. How it works.
- Cap
- The maximum a plan is designed to credit. A ceiling, not a promise of an amount.
- Payout
- What the programme credits at the end of an interval, within the cap.
- Direct / level 1
- Someone who joined with your link. The three levels.
- Upline
- The person who referred you, and the one above them.
- Downline
- Your network, directly or further out.
- YMYL
- Google's label for "your money or your life" — pages that get reviewed hardest. Everything on this site falls under it, which is why we do not make claims we cannot support.
Something missing, or a term used differently here? Tell us — the Help Center carries the site's own answers.