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 ABI (APPLICATION BINARY
INTERFACE)
An interface between two binary program modules, often
one program is a library and the other is being run by a user.

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 ACCOUNT
A public and private keypair that “holds” your funds.

Your funds are actually stored on the blockchain, not in the

wallet or account. Just like your Reddit account has a
username (public) and password (private), so does your
Ethereum account–the difference being that you are the
custodian of your Ethereum keys, while Reddit holds your
login information for their site. For additional security, you
can use a password to encrypt your private key which
would result in a username (public) and password (private)
and password for that password (private + more secure).
See also ‘keystore file’.

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 ADDRESS / PUBLIC KEY
Used to send and receive transactions on a blockchain
network. An address is an alphanumeric character string,
which can also be represented as a scannable QR code. In
Ethereum, the address begins with 0x. For example:
0x06A85356DCb5b307096726FB86A78c59D38e08ee.

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 AIR-GAPPING
A method for securing computers in which the device does
not connect to the internet or any other open networks.

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 AIRDROP
A token distribution method used to send cryptocurrency or
tokens to wallet addresses. Sometimes airdrops are used
for marketing purposes in exchange for simple tasks like
reshares, referrals, or app downloads.

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 AIRDROP
A token distribution method used to send cryptocurrency or
tokens to wallet addresses. Sometimes airdrops are used
for marketing purposes in exchange for simple tasks like
reshares, referrals, or app downloads.

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 ALTCOIN
Any digital currency alternative to Bitcoin. Many altcoins are
forks of Bitcoin with minor changes (e.g., Litecoin).

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 AML
(ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING)
A set of international laws enacted to diminish the potential
for criminal organizations or individuals to launder money.
These rules and laws are applied to cryptocurrencies with
varying effects in different jurisdictions.

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 API (APPLICATION
PROGRAMMING INTERFACE)
A software intermediary that allows two separate
applications to communicate with one another. APIs define
methods of communication between various components.

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 ASIC (APPLICATION SPECIFIC
INTEGRATED CIRCUIT)
ASICs are silicon chips designed to do a specific task. In
ASIC use for mining cryptocurrencies, the ASIC will perform
a calculation to find values that provide a desired solution
when placed into a hashing algorithm.

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 ATTESTATION
Under the Proof of Stake mechanism (on the Beacon
Chain), every validator other than the one proposing a new
block will provide an attestation, or vote, in favor of a block
with which it agrees, hereby forming consensus and
confirming the block and the transactions it contains. See
also ‘Proof of Stake’.

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 BEACON CHAIN
The Beacon Chain (always capitalized) is one element in the
infrastructure being built to scale Ethereum, and is the
foundation for a transition from a Proof of Work (PoW)
consensus mechanism to Proof of Stake (PoS). For more
information, see this guide.

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 BITCOIN (BTC)
A decentralized blockchain that specifically transacts
tokens between accounts.

Bitcoin is the original blockchain-based cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin uses Unspent Transaction Outputs (UTXOs) to store
data and a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm.

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 BLOCK
Think of a blockchain as consisting of a ledger that is being
constantly updated, and those changes synced between
any number of different nodes (indeed, “distributed ledger
technology” is another phrase used to describe it).

After a certain number of transactions have been added to

the ledger and consensus has been reached among the
nodes that the transactions are valid, then they are
cryptographically locked into a “block” and officially
recorded. This “block” forms the basis for the next one; in
this way, they are all linked together in a chain,
hence–blockchain.

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 BLOCK, CANONICAL
A block that has been included in the primary blockchain
and is directly or indirectly referenced by future blocks.
Blocks that are not canonical may have been valid but were
discarded in favor of the canonical block.

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 BLOCK, GENESIS
The original block in a blockchain. The genesis block has a
block height of zero, and all other blocks are intrinsically
linked to it.

Genesis blocks can be configurable to create a fork of a

chain for purposes such as pre-loading accounts with
tokens for a test network or specifying different block
parameters.

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 BLOCK HEIGHT
The number of blocks connected together in the
blockchain. For example, Height 0 would be the very first
block, which is also called the Genesis Block.

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 BLOCK REWARD
The reward given to a miner after it has successfully hashed
a transaction block. Block rewards can be a mixture of
coins and transaction fees. The composition depends on
the policy used by the cryptocurrency in question, and
whether all of the coins have already been successfully
mined. The current block reward for the Bitcoin network is
12.5 bitcoins per block.

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 BLOCK TIME
When we talk about ‘block time’, we’re referring to how long
it takes for a block of transactions (see ‘block’) to be
confirmed by the network, either by miners under PoW or by
validators under PoS. See also ‘Proof of Work’, ‘Proof of
Stake’.

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 BLOCKCHAIN
A method of storing data in discrete sections (blocks) that
are linked together. Blockchains specify criteria for what
data can be stored in a block and reject invalid data.

The submission of blocks to a decentralized blockchain is

governed by its consensus mechanism.

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 BLOCKCHAIN 1.0
The generation of blockchain technology that focused on
performing simple token transactions. Blockchain 1.0
chains have limited scope and ability, but served to prove
the fundamental technologies of blockchains and show that
a market existed for those technologies.

Bitcoin was the first of the Blockchain

1.0 generation.

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 BLOCKCHAIN 2.0
The generation of blockchain technology that enabled
smart contracts and generalized processing on chain.
Blockchain 2.0 chains are typically built on Turing-complete
programming languages and provide expanded capabilities
beyond simple peer-to-peer (P2P) value exchange.

Ethereum was the first of the Blockchain

2.0 generation.

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 BLOCKCHAIN 3.0
The generation of blockchain technology that focuses on
scalability and interoperability. This generation of
blockchain typically enables the use of smart contracts.

Blockchain 3.0 chains are currently in early

development with no front-runners as of yet.
Two promising Blockchain 3.0 projects are SkyCoin
and EOSIO.

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 BOUNTY / BUG BOUNTY
A reward offered for exposing vulnerabilities and issues in
computer code.

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 BRAIN WALLET
A blockchain account generated from a seed phrase or
password or passphrase of your choosing. Humans are not
capable of generating enough entropy, or randomness, and
therefore the wallets derived from these phrases are
insecure; brain wallets can be brute forced by super fast
computers. For this reason, brain wallet are insecure and
should not be used. See also ‘Seed phrase / Secret
Recovery Phrase’.

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 BUIDL
Ostensibly coined (see what we did there) by Gitcoin’s Kevin
Owocki. It reflects the Ethereum-focused mindset of not
just investing in a cryptocurrency as a store of value, but
rather investing in it as an ecosystem and a platform for
public goods and software; it complements, in this sense,
the now-infamous HODL.

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 BYTECODE
Bytecode is a “low-level” computer language, that is, meant
to be processed by a computer, rather than a “high-level”,
more human-readable, language. In Ethereum, higher-level
Solidity is compiled into Ethereum bytecode, which is read
by the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).

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 BYZANTIUM FORK
A “hard fork” in the Ethereum network that occurred in
October of 2017. For detailled information, see here; see
also “hard fork”.

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BYZANTINE FAULT TOLERANCE
The ability of a network to properly reach consensus at any
time, assuming that no more than 1/3 of its actors are
malicious.

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CERTIFICATE AUTHORITY (CA)
A centralized authority that correlates identities with a
public/private key pair in a private key infrastructure.

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 CLIENT (ETHEREUM)
An Ethereum client is software that accesses the Ethereum
blockchain via a local computer and helps to process
transactions. A client usually includes a cryptocurrency
software wallet.

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 CLOSED SOURCE
Closed source software is proprietary software with source
code that cannot be accessed by the public. The compiled
binaries may be available in the form of an executable
program (files that end in .exe, .dpkg, etc.) but are not
human-readable or available for modification by anyone but
the original software developer.

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 CODEFI
Derived from “Commerce & Decentralized Finance”, Codefi,
part of ConsenSys, is building a suite of commerce and
financial applications.

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 COIN
A coin, in cryptocurrency, is a representation of digital asset
value that is generated via its own independent blockchain.

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 COLD WALLET / COLD
STORAGE
An offline wallet that is never connected to the internet.
These wallets protect cryptocurrencies from getting hacked
online.

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 COMMAND-LINE INTERFACE
(CLI)
A text-based user interface.

CLIs can provide more core functionality and access to

system resources than a graphical user interface (GUI), but
at the cost of usability. Because of this, CLIs are generally
directed toward developers over the average user. They can
be used to demonstrate the functionality underlying a
program without expending development time building a
more robust user interface.

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 CONFIRMATION
A confirmation happens when the network has verified the
blockchain transaction. Under a Proof of Work (PoW)
consensus mechanism, this happens through a process
known as mining; under Proof of Stake (PoS), the process is
known as validation. Once a transaction is successfully
confirmed it theoretically cannot be reversed or double
spent. The more confirmations a transaction has, the harder
it becomes to perform a double spend attack.

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 CONSENSUS
The process used by a group of peers, or nodes, on a
blockchain network to agree on the validity of transactions
submitted to the network. Dominant consensus
mechanisms are Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake
(PoS).

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 CONSENSYS
Short for Consensus Systems, ConsenSys is the software
engineering leader of the blockchain space. But you’re here,
so you already knew that.

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 CONSORTIUM
A private blockchain network run by a company or a group
of companies. Consortium chains deal with information
that would not be appropriate for public release but still
needs to be immutably communicated between two parties.

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 CRYPTO-
Even though this prefix is originally Greek, our current usage
comes from cryptography. Technologies that are referred to
with the blanket term of “crypto” tech are underlain by
cryptographic tools and processes (such as public/private
key pairs) that enable them, and enable them to be secure.
Of course, “cryptocurrency” often gets shortened to simply
“crypto”, so this emerging field is full of instances where
something “crypto” is being added to or shortened.

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 CRYPTOCURRENCY
Digitally distributed and traded currencies for which proof
of ownership is established via cryptographic methods. For
example, Ether cannot be transferred from an account
without having control of the private key that is associated
with that account.

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 CRYPTOGRAPHY
A method for secure communication using code.
Symmetric-key cryptography is used by various blockchain
networks for transfer of cryptocurrencies. Blockchain
addresses generated for wallets are paired with private keys
that allow transfer of cryptocurrency. Paired public and
private keys allow funds to be unlocked.

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 CURRENCY
A system of abstract representations of the ability to
reconcile debts that is generally accepted or in use. Money
is a currency. In the United States of America, the U.S.
Dollar is the national currency.

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 DAO
A Digital Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO,
pronounced like the Chinese concept) is a powerful and
very flexible organizational structure built on a blockchain.

Alternatively, the first known example of a DAO is referred to

as The DAO. The DAO served as a form of investor-directed
venture capital fund, which sought to provide enterprises
with new decentralized business models. Ethereum-based,
The DAO’s code was open source. The organization set the
record for the most crowdfunded project in 2016. Those
funds were partially stolen by hackers. The hack caused an
Ethereum hard-fork which lead to the creation of Ethereum
Classic.

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 DECENTRALIZATION
The transfer of authority and responsibility from a
centralized organization, government, or party to a
distributed network.

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DECENTRALIZED APPLICATION
(DAPP)
An open source, software application with backend code
running on a decentralized peer-to-peer network rather
than a centralized server. You may see alternate spellings:
dApps, DApps, Dapps, and Đapps.

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 DECENTRALIZED EXCHANGE
(DEX)
A decentralized exchange is a platform for exchanging
cryptocurrencies based on functionality programmed on
the blockchain (i.e., in smart contracts). The trading is
peer-to-peer, or between pools of liquidity. This is in
contrast with a centralized exchange, which is more akin to
a bank or investment firm that specializes in
cryptocurrencies. There are important technical and
regulatory differences between the two which are
constantly evolving.

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 DEPOSIT
Digital property put into a contract involving a different
party such that if certain conditions are not satisfied that
property is automatically forfeited to the identified
counterparty.

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 DERIVE / DERIVATION
To derive something is to obtain it from an original source.
In the context of crypto-technology, we often discuss
“deriving” wallets and accounts from seed phrases / Secret
Recovery Phrases.

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 DECENTRALIZATION
The movement of data, actions, and other interests away
from a single actor in favor of distribution amongst all
actors.

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 DECENTRALIZATION
The movement of data, actions, and other interests away
from a single actor in favor of distribution amongst all
actors.

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 DECENTRALIZED
AUTONOMOUS ORGANIZATION
(DAO)
A company or group of like-minded entities that operate
based on the rules set forth in a smart contract. DAOs are
used to transform business logic into software logic
recorded on a blockchain.

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 DEVCON
This is shorthand for the Ethereum Developers’ Conference.

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 DIFFICULTY
The concept outlining how hard it is to verify blocks in a
blockchain network during Proof of Work mining. In the
Bitcoin network, the difficulty of mining adjusts every 2016
blocks. This is to keep block verification time at ten
minutes.

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 DIFFICULTY BOMB
The difficulty bomb, along with the Beacon Chain and
others, is an element of Ethereum’s upgrade to Ethereum
2.0 and a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. As
the name indicates, the difficulty bomb is a mechanism that
will increase the block verification difficulty, making it more
expensive and difficult–eventually, prohibitively so–to mine
a new block. The intention is to force the shift to PoS
consensus. See also ‘Proof of Stake’.

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 DIGITAL ASSET
A digital commodity that is scarce, electronically
transferable, and intangible with a market value.

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 DIGITAL IDENTITY
An online or networked identity adopted by an individual,
organization, or electronic device.

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 DIGITAL SIGNATURE
A code generated by public key encryption and attached to
an electronically transmitted document in order to verify the
contents of the document.

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 DIRECTED ACYCLIC GRAPH
(DAG)
A directed graph structure (e.g., flow chart) that has no
recursive routes (i.e., traversing the graph will never go
twice through the same route or branch).

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 DISTRIBUTED DENIAL OF
SERVICE (DDOS) ATTACK
A type of cyber-attack in which the perpetrator
continuously overwhelms the system with requests in order
to prevent service of legitimate requests.

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 DISTRIBUTED LEDGER
A type of database which spreads across multiple sites,
countries, or institutions. Records are stored sequentially in
a continuous ledger. Distributed ledger data can be either
“permissioned” or “unpermissioned” to control who can
view it.

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 DOUBLE SPEND
An event during which someone on the Bitcoin network
tries to send a specific bitcoin transaction to two different
recipients at once. However, as each bitcoin transaction is
confirmed, double spending becomes almost impossible.
The more confirmations that a particular transaction has,
the decreased likelihood of double spending successfully.

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 DOUBLE SPEND ATTACK
A malicious attempt to convince two separate parties that
one of two conflicting transactions is valid. In such a
situation, both transactions appear individually valid, but
their combination is not. Thus, only one is included in the
blockchain.

Due to the nature of blockchain reorganizations (natural

forks), simply showing that a transaction is included in a
block is not enough to verify that it is immutable.
Transactions are only immutable once they have reached a
depth in the chain where a chain reorganization is unlikely
to affect them.

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EIP (ETHEREUM IMPROVEMENT
PROPOSAL)
EIPs describe standards for the Ethereum platform,
including core protocol specifications, client APIs, and
contract standards. They are, precisely, proposals for
modifications to the network and the way it functions.

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ENCRYPTED VS UNENCRYPTED
KEYS
As discussed elsewhere, public and private crypographic
key pairs are one of the technologies that underpins crypto-
currencies and “crypto” tech in general. In MetaMask, an
unencrypted private key is 64 characters long, and it is used
to unlock or restore wallets. An encrypted key is also 64 let-
ters long and is a regular private key that has gone through
the process of encryption.

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 ENUM
Short for ‘enumeration’ - a fixed list of possible values.
The list of US states could be considered an enum.

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 ENCRYPTION
There are many types of encryption, but for our purposes, it
is a process that combines the text to be encrypted
(plaintext) with a shorter string of data referred to as “a key”
in order to produce an output (ciphertext). This output can
be “decrypted” back into the original plaintext by someone
else who has the key.There are many types of encryption,
but for our purposes, it is a process that combines the text
to be encrypted (plaintext) with a shorter string of data
referred to as “a key” in order to produce an output
(ciphertext). This output can be “decrypted” back into the
original plaintext by someone else who has the key.

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 ENTERPRISE ETHEREUM
ALLIANCE (EEA)
A group of Ethereum core developers, startups, and large
companies working together to commercialize and use
Ethereum for different business applications.

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 ENTROPY
In the context of cryptography, ‘entropy’ refers to
‘randomness’; generally, the more random something is
(the more entropy it has), the more secure it is.

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 EOA
Externally Owned Account

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 EOSIO
EOS is a Blockchain 3.0 chain that focuses on transaction
throughput. It uses a Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS)
consensus mechanism and web assembly (WASM) for
smart contracts.

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 EPOCH
An epoch, in general, is a measure of time, or of blockchain
progression, on a given blockchain. For the Ethereum
Beacon Chain, an epoch consists of 32 slots, each lasting
12 seconds, for a total of 6.4 minutes per epoch. There is
additional functionality built upon the epoch measure in the
Beacon Chain to help ensure security and proper operation
of the Chain.

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 ERC-20 TOKEN STANDARD
ERC is the abbreviation for Ethereum Request for Comment
and is followed by the assignment number of the standard.
ERC-20 is a technical standard for smart contracts which is
used to issue the majority of tokens (in particular,
cryptocurrency tokens) extant on Ethereum. This list of
rules states the requirements that a token must fulfill to be
compliant and function within the Ethereum network.

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 ERC-721 TOKEN STANDARD
As stated above, this is another standard for Ethereum
smart contracts, which allows for the issuance of a
non-fungible token, also known as an NFT. This token
standard is used to represent a unique digital asset that is
not interchangeable.

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 ETHER (ETH)
Ether is the native currency of the Ethereum blockchain
network. Ether—also referred to as ETH (pronounced with a
long “e”, like “teeth” without the “t”)—functions as a fuel of
the Ethereum ecosystem by acting as a medium of
incentive and form of payment for network participants to
execute essential operations. The cryptocurrency of
Ethereum has a lowercase e. The plural of ether is just
ether; its abbreviation is ETH, with a space: I have 10 ETH.

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 ETHEREUM
Ethereum is a decentralized Blockchain 2.0 chain. It was
the first major smart contract platform and has widespread
support from Fortune 500 companies through the Ethereum
Enterprise Alliance (EEA).

Ethereum currently uses a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus

algorithm, but future changes to the protocol will update it
to a more scalable algorithm, most likely based on
Proof-of-Stake (PoS).

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 ETHEREUM ENTERPRISE
ALLIANCE (EEA)
A collection of medium- to large-sized companies that have
publicly committed to supporting the development of
Ethereum and the creation of applications for the protocol.

Double spend attacks can be mitigated by waiting to ensure

that a transaction is confirmed by the network and is
acceptably immutable before acting on it.

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 ENS
The Ethereum Name Service is a protocol to assign
human-readable and easy-to-remember addresses to
Ethereum addresses and assets, homologous to the
traditional internet’s DNS.

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 ERC
Ethereum Request for Comment, or ERC, is a bit of a
misnomer, as it is used to refer to suggestions for
modifications that have already made it through the
Ethereum Improvement Protocol (EIP) process and have
been made standard on Ethereum. An ERC is, essentially, a
set of standards for a given operation or topic on the
Ethereum network.

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 EVM (ETHEREUM VIRTUAL
MACHINE)
The EVM is a virtual machine that operates on the Ethereum
network. It is Turing complete and allows anyone, anywhere
to execute arbitrary EVM bytecode. All Ethereum nodes run
on the EVM. It is home for smart contracts based on the
Ethereum blockchain.

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 EWASM
A web assembly (WASM) version implemented by the
Ethereum Virtual Machine that provides additional
functionality for blockchains.

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 EXCHANGE
A place to trade cryptocurrency. Centralized exchanges,
operated by companies like Coinbase and Gemini, function
as intermediaries, while decentralized exchanges do not
have a central authority.

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 EXCHANGE, DECENTRALIZED
A cryptocurrency exchange that is hosted entirely through a
DApp on a blockchain.

Decentralized exchanges typically do not allow the

exchange of cryptocurrency to fiat. Decentralized
exchanges are more difficult than standard exchanges to
regulate or sanction.

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 FAUCET
A faucet is an application, sometimes a very simple
website, other times more complex, that dispenses
cryptocurrency for use on test networks only. These faucets
are used by developers to test out dapps or smart contracts
before deploying them on Ethereum Mainnet, or users who
want to practice an action on the blockchain with no risk.
Tokens dispensed by a test faucet stay on the test networks
and cannot be exchanged for mainnet equivalents.

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 FIAT
A nationally adopted currency with government support,
such as U.S. Dollars or Euros. Fiat currencies are desirable
due to their legal status and traditional use.

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 FINANCIAL CRIMES
ENFORCEMENT NETWORK
(FINCEN)
The U.S. federal agency responsible for investigating and
prosecuting financial crimes, such as money laundering.

FinCEN regulations cover many aspects of cryptocurrency

use.

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 FINAL, FINALITY
A transaction is considered “final” once it can no longer be
changed. In a sense, this happens once there are sufficient
confirmations of the transaction, but for all intents and
purposes, a transaction is final once the block that contains
it is mined or validated. Keep in mind that this reflects a
fundamental rule of blockchains: unlike traditional financial
systems where charges can be “reversed”, there is no
“undoing” a transaction on the blockchain. Once finality is
reached, the transaction is immutable.

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 FINNEY
A denomination of ether.

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 FORK
A fork creates an alternative version of a blockchain, and
are often enacted intentionally to apply upgrades to a
network. Soft Forks render two chains with some
compatibility, while Hard Forks create a new version of the
chain that must be adopted to continue participation. In the
instance of a contentious Hard Fork, this can create two
versions of a blockchain network.

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 FORK, HARD
A fork that is permanently incompatible with the original
network.

Hard forks typically change transaction data structures,

consensus algorithms, or add/remove blocks that would
not have otherwise been included.

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 FORK, SOFT
A fork that is compatible with the data on the original chain.

Blocks created on the original chain after a soft fork would

be valid on the forked chain; however the reverse does not
have to be true.

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 GAS
A measure of the computational steps required for a
transaction on the Ethereum network. This then equates to
a fee for network users paid in small units of ETH specified
as Gwei. See also “ether (denominations)”.

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 GAS LIMIT
The gas limit is the maximum amount you’re willing to pay
for any given transaction to go through the Ethereum
network. Another way of looking at it is as a “rough
estimate” of how much computing power your transaction
will take.

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 GAS PRICE
The gas price is what it sounds like: the cost the network is
paid for the computational work being performed in a given
transaction. It is paid in units of ETH called Gwei.
Depending on network congestion, the gas price may vary
significantly.

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 GENESIS BLOCK
The initial block of data computed in the history of a
blockchain network.

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 GOSSIP PROTOCOL
A process by which actors in a network exchange
information with all other members.

When an actor receives new information, it relays it to every

other actor it's connected to that does not already have that
information. Since all actors are cumulatively connected,
eventually they all receive the information.

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 GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE
(GUI)
A way of displaying information to the user through stylized,
on-screen elements, such as windows and taskbars.

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 GWEI
A minuscule and common denomination of ETH, and the
unit in which gas prices are often specified. See ‘ether
(denominations)’ entry for more information.

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 HALVING
Many cryptocurrencies have a finite supply, which makes
them a scarce digital commodity. For example, the total
amount of Bitcoin that will ever be issued is 21 million. The
number of bitcoins generated per block is decreased 50%
every four years. This is called “halving.” The final halving
will take place in the year 2140.

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 HARD FORK
A hard fork occurs when there is a change in the blockchain
that is not backward compatible (not compatible with older
versions), thus requiring all participants to upgrade to the
new version in order to be able to continue participating on
the network. See also “fork”.

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 HARDWARE WALLET
A physical device that can be connected to the web and
interact with online exchanges, but can also be used as cold
storage (not connected to the internet).

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 HASH
The output of a cryptographic function that maps inputs to
specific, but seemingly arbitrary, outputs. Hashes are used
to efficiently identify data.

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 HASH COLLISION
Two inputs that map to the same output hash.

While hash collisions are possible, providing two sets of

meaningful data whose hashes collide is nearly impossible.
Hashes are one-way streets; they can be constructed from
data, but data cannot be reconstructed from hashes.

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 HASHGRAPH
A decentralized ledger that uses a gossip protocol to
communicate transactions and a tangle-style consensus
mechanism.

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 HASHRATE
The rate at which a particular machine can perform a
specific hashing function.

Hashrate is similar to general CPU speed, but where

processor speed is measured based on the number of
arbitrary instructions a machine can carry out per second,
hashrate is measured based on the number of times a
machine can perform that specific function per second,
allowing application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) to
have a much higher hashrate than a processor with the
same clock speed.

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 HASH FUNCTION
A cryptographic function that maps inputs to specific, but
seemingly arbitrary, outputs.

Hash functions and their qualitative differences are an

incredibly important field of research in cryptography.

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 HD WALLET
Hierarchical Deterministic wallets were first created for
Bitcoin, and enable the creation of a very large number of
accounts based on an initial seed phrase. This technology
was later adopted in Ethereum wallets; when restoring a
MetaMask wallet from the Secret Recovery Phrase, for
example, if you “create” accounts, they will be the same
accounts as previously created from that same phrase; they
are derived from it.

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 HEXADECIMAL
Hexadecimal is a base 16, rather than base 10, counting
system. Used all over Ethereum for a variety of things, a
hexadecimal string is comprised of the numbers 0 1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 and letters A B C D E F.

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 HOT WALLET / HOT STORAGE
A wallet that is directly connected to the internet at all
times, for example one that is held on a centralized
exchange. Hot wallets are considered to have lower security
than cold storage systems or hardware wallets.

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 HYPERLEDGER
Hyperledger is an ecosystem of open-system tools,
libraries, and products designed to enable and support
enterprise-grade blockchain technology. In general, the
products focus on creating solutions for permissioned
blockchains–that is, non-public blockchains, with
alternative consensus mechanisms other than Proof of
Work (PoW) or Proof of Stake (PoS).

That said, there are use cases where such institutions

would want to integrate with public blockchains, and for
that reason Hyperledger Besu and Hyperledger Burrow are
actively developed projects, the former being a Java-based
Ethereum client, the latter being a smart contract platform
which supports EVM bytecode.

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 IDENTICON /
ADDRESSIDENTICON /
ADDRESSICON
The colorful blob of colors that corresponds to your
address. It is an easy way to see if your address is correct.
More specifically, you can choose between jazzicons
(created by the MetaMask team!) or blockies.

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 INITIAL COIN OFFERING (ICO)
Much like an initial public offering of stock, an initial coin
offering is a way for a tokenized business to generate
investment from the public.

ICOs are regulated by the Securities and Exchange

Commission (SEC), even if the tokens are not specifically
securities because the language used in promoting a sale
can serve to classify tokens as a security offering.

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 IMMUTABILITY
The inability to be altered or changed. This is a key element
of blockchain networks: once written onto a blockchain
ledger, data cannot be altered. This immutability provides
the basis for commerce and trade to take place on
blockchain networks.

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 INSTANTIATE(D)
To provide an instance of or concrete evidence in support of
(a theory, concept, claim, or the like).

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 INVARIANT
A function, quantity, or property that remains unchanged
when a specified transformation is applied.

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 INITIAL COIN OFFERING (ICO)
Much like an initial public offering of stock, an initial coin
offering is a way for a tokenized business to generate
investment from the public.

ICOs are regulated by the Securities and Exchange

Commission (SEC), even if the tokens are not specifically
securities because the language used in promoting a sale
can serve to classify tokens as a security offering.

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INTERPLANETARY FILE SYSTEM
(IPFS)
A decentralized file storage and referencing system for the
Ethereum blockchain. IFPS is an open source protocol that
enables storing and sharing hypermedia (text, audio, visual)
in a distributed manner without relying on a single point of
failure. This distributed file system enables applications to
run faster, safer and more transparently.

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 IPFS
Inter Planetary File System

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 KEYSTORE FILE
A keystore file is a special, encrypted version of a private
key in JSON format. See also ‘private key’.

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KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER (KYC)
A process in which a business must verify the identity and
background information (address, financials, etc) of their
customers. For example, current regulations and laws
require banks and other financial institutions to keep and
report customers’ personal information and transactions.

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 LAYER 2
Layer 2 is a set of upcoming scaling solutions for Ethereum.

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 LIGHT CLIENT
A client that downloads only a small part of the blockchain,
allowing users of low-power or low-storage hardware like
smartphones and laptops to maintain almost the same
guarantee of security by sometimes selectively
downloading small parts of the state.

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 LIQUID DEMOCRACY
(DELEGATIVE DEMOCRACY)
A government system where votes can be delegated or
proxied to other individuals such as friends, politicians, or
subject matter experts. For example, in a liquid democracy,
Bernadette could give Ahmad her vote and Ahmad would
then vote for both himself and Bernadette. A liquid
democracy has been explored as a governance mechanism
for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations where every
participant is able to vote or delegate their vote to another
individual.

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 LIQUIDITY
The availability of liquid assets to a company or market. An
asset is considered more liquid if it can easily be converted
into cash. The harder the ability to turn an asset into cash
the more illiquid the asset. For example, stocks are
considered relatively liquid assets as they can be easily
converted to cash while real estate is considered an illiquid
asset. The liquidity of an asset affects its risk potential and
market price.

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 MAINNET
The primary network where actual transactions take place
on a specific distributed ledger. For example, The Ethereum
mainnet is the public blockchain where network validation
and transactions take place.

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 MAINNET
The primary network where actual transactions take place
on a specific distributed ledger. For example, The Ethereum
mainnet is the public blockchain where network validation
and transactions take place.

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 MARKET CAP
Short for Market Capitalization, this term refers to the total
value held in a particular industry, market, company, or
asset. For a publicly traded company, the market cap is the
total dollar market value of a company’s outstanding
shares. For Bitcoin or Ethereum, the total market cap is a
reflection of the current existing supply times the market
price.

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 MERKLE TREE
A tree in which every leaf node is labelled with the hash of a
data block and every non-leaf node is labelled with the
cryptographic hash of the labels of its child nodes.

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 MESH
ConsenSys Mesh is a network of loosely coupled, tightly
aligned teams, products, and investments advancing the
Ethereum ecosystem and the arrival of Web 3.0.

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 METAMASK
MetaMask, either in its mobile app form on iOS and Android,
or in its browser extension form, is a tool to access and
interact with blockchains and the decentralized web. Its
functions include that of a wallet, a dapp permissions
manager, and token swap platform.

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 MINING
The process by which blocks or transactions are verified
and added to a blockchain using a Proof of Work (PoW)
consensus mechanism. In order to verify a block a miner
must use a computer to solve a cryptographic problem.
Once the computer has solved the problem, the block is
considered “mined” or verified. In the Bitcoin or Ethereum
PoW blockchains, the first computer to mine or verify the
block receives bitcoin or ether as a reward.

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 MINING POOL
A collection of miners who come together to share their
processing power over a network and agree to split the
rewards of a new block found within the pool.

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 MIST
Browser for installing and using Dapps.

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 MNEMONIC PHRASE
See ‘seed phrase / secret recovery phrase’.

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 MSP (MEMBERSHIP SERVICE
PROVIDER)
A Hyperledger Fabric blockchain network can be governed
by one or more MSPs.

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 MULTI SIGNATURE (MULTISIG)
A crypto-asset wallet that requires multiple keys to access.
Typically, a specified number of individuals are required to
approve or “sign” a transaction before they are able to

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 NFT
When discussing Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), “fungibility”
refers to an object’s ability to be exchanged for another. For
example, an individual dollar is considered fungible as we
can trade dollars with one another. Artwork is usually
deemed non-fungible as paintings, sculptures, or
masterpieces are likely to be unequal in quality or value. A
non-fungible token is a type of token that is a unique digital
asset and has no equal token. This is in contrast to
cryptocurrencies like ether that are fungible in nature.

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 NODE (FULL NODE)
Any computer connected to the blockchain network is
referred to as a node. A full node is a computer that can
fully validate transactions and download the entire data of a
specific blockchain. In contrast, a “lightweight” or “light”
node does not download all pieces of a blockchain’s data
and uses a different validation process.

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 NONCE
The word ‘nonce’ has a few different meanings, and in
different contexts, it ends up getting used a lot of different
ways. Originally formed from a contraction of a phrase
meaning “not more than once”, on the Ethereum mainnet,
“nonce” refers to a unique transaction identification number
that increases in value with each successive transaction in
order to ensure various safety features (such as preventing
a double-spend). Note that due to its broader use in
cryptography, you may encounter ‘nonce’ being used
differently on other sidechains or decentralized projects.

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 NOTHING AT STAKE PROBLEM’
This is caused by validator nodes approving all transactions
on old and new software after a hard fork occurs.

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 NPM (NODE PACKAGE
MANAGER)
Default package manager runtime environment node.js.

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 OAUTH PROTOCOL
Open Authorization is a standard that is used by third party
services to keep and distribute users information without
exposing their password.

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 OMMER BLOCK
Under the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism,
miners received rewards for being the first to mine a new
block. However, at times a block would be mined just after,
and in competition with, the last block; this block, known as
an ommer and previously as an uncle, could get rolled into
subsequent blocks and the miner of the original ommer
would get a partial block reward. All of this functionality is
deprecated as of the Beacon Chain.

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 ON-CHAIN GOVERNANCE
A system for managing and implementing changes to a
cryptocurrency blockchain.

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 OPTIMISTIC ROLLUP
A rollup that assumes the validity and good faith of
transactions, and only runs a fraud proof in the case of
fraud being alleged.

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 ORACLE
Typically, an oracle is any entity or person that is relied on to
report the outcome of an event. In a blockchain network an
oracle (human or machine) helps communicate data to a
smart contract which can then be used to verify an event or
specific outcome.

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 ORDERER NETWORK
A computer network that allows nodes to share resources.

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 P2P (PEER-TO-PEER)
P2P refers to interactions that happen between two parties,
usually two separate individuals. A P2P network can be any
number of individuals. In regards to a blockchain network,
individuals are able to transact or interact with each other
without relying on an intermediary or single point of failure.

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 PARITY
Parity Technologies is the name of a blockchain technology
company that is developing a number of significant projects
in the Ethereum space; however, one of its first projects was
an Ethereum client, now known as Parity Ethereum; often
this client is simply referred to as ‘Parity’.

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 PERMISSIONED LEDGER
A blockchain network in which access to ledger or network
requires permission from an individual or group of
individuals, as opposed to a public blockchain.
Permissioned ledgers may have one or many owners.
Consensus on a permissioned ledger is conducted by the
trusted actors, such as government departments, banks, or
other known entities. Permissioned blockchains or ledgers
contain highly-verifiable data sets because the consensus
process creates a digital signature, which can be seen by all
parties. A permissioned ledger is much easier to maintain
and considerably faster than a public blockchain. For
example, Quorum or Hyperledger Besu are permissioned
ledgers that can be more easily set up for large enterprises.
In contrast, the public Ethereum blockchain is a
permissionless ledger which anyone can access.

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 PKI (PUBLIC KEY
INFRASTRUCTURE)
A set of roles, policies, and procedures needed to create,
manage, distribute, use, store, and revoke digital certificates
and manage public-key encryption.

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 PLASMA
Plasma is a term that is used to refer to one of the scaling
solutions being deployed to create Layer 2 of the Ethereum
network. A Plasma network functions similarly to an
Optimistic rollup, inasmuch as it relies on Layer 1 Ethereum
mainnet to maintain the record of transactions, and as the
source for arbitration or fraud resolution. However, a
Plasma network differs in other important technical ways
from rollups, and is currently limited to simple operations,
such as swaps and token transfers.

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 POA, POS, POW
Acronyms standing for Proof of X consensus mechanisms:
Assignment, Stake, Work. The “o” is lowercase since you
wouldn’t capitalize “of” when writing out the phrase. See
also ‘consensus’, ‘Proof of Authority’, ‘Proof of Stake’,
‘Proof of Work’.

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 POS/POW HYBRID
A hybrid consensus model that utilizes a combination of
Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of Work (PoW) consensus.
Using this Hybrid consensus mechanism, blocks are
validated from not only miners, but also voters
(stakeholders) to form a balanced network governance.

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 PRIVATE BLOCKCHAIN
A blockchain or distributed ledger that has a closed network
where participants are controlled by a single entity. A
private blockchain requires a verification process for new
participants. A private blockchain may also limit which
individuals are able to participate in consensus of the
blockchain network. See also ‘permissioned ledger’.

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 PRIVATE CURRENCY
A currency or token issued by a private individual or firm.
Typically, the token or currency is limited to use within the
network of that particular firm or individual. This is not to be
confused with a “privacy cryptocurrency” which are
cryptocurrency with specific privacy features, such as
hidden user identities.

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 PRIVATE KEY
A private key is an alphanumeric string of data that, in
MetaMask, corresponds to a single specific account in a
wallet. Private keys can be thought of as a password that
enables an individual to access their crypto account. Never
reveal your private key to anyone, as whoever controls the
private key controls the account funds. If you lose your
private key, then you lose access to that account.

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PRAGMA(S) OR PRAGMA-LINE
Defines which compiler version the smart contract uses.

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PRAGMA(S) OR PRAGMA-LINE
Defines which compiler version the smart contract uses.

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 PRIVATE BLOCKCHAIN
Blockchain that can control who has access to it. Contrary
to a public blockchain a Private Blockchain does not use
consensus algorithms like POW or POS, instead they use a
system known as byzantine fault tolerant(BFT). BFT is not a
trustless system which makes a BFT system less secure.

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 PROOF OF ACTIVITY
Active Stakeholders who maintain a full node are rewarded.

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 PROOF OF BURN
Miners send coins to an inactive address essentially
burning them. The burns are then recorded on the
blockchain and the user is rewarded.

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 PROOF OF BURN
Miners send coins to an inactive address essentially
burning them. The burns are then recorded on the
blockchain and the user is rewarded.

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 PROOF OF CAPACITY
Plotting your hard drive (storing solutions on a hard drive
before the mining begins). A hard drive with the fastest
solution wins the block.

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 PROOF OF ELAPSED TIME
Consensus algorithm in which nodes must wait for a
randomly chosen time period and the first node to complete
the time period is rewarded.

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 PROOF OF STAKE (POS)
A consensus mechanism in which an individual or
“validator” validates transactions or blocks. Validators
“stake” their cryptocurrency, such as ether, on whichever
transactions they choose to validate. If the individual
validates a block (group of transactions) correctly then the
individual receives a reward. Typically, if a validator verifies
an incorrect transaction then they lose the cryptocurrency
that they staked. PoS requires a negligible amount of
computing power compared to Proof of Work consensus.

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 PROOF OF WORK (POW)
A consensus algorithm which requires a user to “mine” or
solve a complex mathematical puzzle in order to verify a
transaction. “Miners” are rewarded with Cryptocurrencies
based on computational power.

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 PROTOCOL
A set of rules that dictate how data is exchanged and
transmitted. This pertains to cryptocurrency in blockchain
when referring to the formal rules that outline how these
actions are performed across a specific network.

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 PUBLIC BLOCKCHAIN
A globally open network where anyone can participate in
transactions, execute the consensus protocol to help
determine which blocks get added to the chain, and main-
tain the shared ledger.

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 PUB/SUB
Publish/Subscribe

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 PUBLIC KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY
Encryption that uses two mathematically related keys. A
public and private key. It is impossible to derive the private
key based on the public key.

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 PUBLIC KEY
In cryptography, you have a keypair: the public and private
key. You can derive a public key from a private key, but
cannot derive a private key from a public key. The public
key, therefore, is obtained and used by anyone to encrypt
messages before they are sent to a known recipient with a
matching private key for decryption. By pairing a public key
with a private key, transactions not dependent on trusting
involved parties or intermediaries. The public key encrypts a
message into an unreadable format and the corresponding
private key makes it readable again for the intended party,
and the intended party only.

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 RELAYER
Any party or entity which hosts an off-chain orderbook.
Relayers help traders discover counter-parties and
cryptographically move orders between them. 0x is an
example of a popular Ethereum relayer protocol.

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 RELAYER
Any party or entity which hosts an off-chain orderbook.
Relayers help traders discover counter-parties and
cryptographically move orders between them. 0x is an
example of a popular Ethereum relayer protocol.

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REST API (REPRESENTATIONAL
STATE TRANSFER API)
Defines restraints based on http.

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 ROLLUPS
Rollups (pronounced “roll ups”) are one element in the set
of tools and infrastructure being built as Layer 2, the scaling
solutions for the Ethereum network. They consist, in
general, of solutions in which the transaction data is still
kept on Layer 1, the original Ethereum network, while
transaction computation occurs on a side network, freeing
up computational power on Layer. There are different ways
of approaching this problem from a technical point of view,
namely Zero Knowledge, or ZK, rollups, and Optimistic
rollups.

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 RPC
(REMOTE PROCEDURE CALLS)
A protocol that is used from one program to request a
service on another program located on a network.

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 RUG PULL
Similar to the traditional financial scam of a pyramid
scheme, a ‘rug pull’ is a cryptocurrency or crypto-token
based scam in which the creators of the token create hype,
through injecting liquidity into their token, airdropping, and
other schemes, and once investors pile in and boost the
price of the token up to a certain point, the creators
liquidate their share of the tokens, leaving their investors
with next to nothing.

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 SATOSHI NAKAMOTO
A pseudonymous individual or entity who created the
Bitcoin protocol, solving the digital currency issue of the
“double spend.” Nakamoto first published their white paper
describing the project in 2008 and the first Bitcoin software
was released one year later.

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 SCALABILITY
A change in size or scale to handle a network’s demands.
This word is used to refer to a blockchain project’s ability to
handle network traffic, future growth, and capacity in its
intended application.

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 SDK
A software development kit provides the necessary tools for
a developer to create software on a specific platform.

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 SEED (PHRASE) / SECRET
RECOVERY PHRASE
The seed phrase, mnemonic, or Secret Recovery Phrase is a
crucial part of public blockchain technology, originally
created for Bitcoin, and goes by many names. However,
they all refer to a set of ordered words which correspond to
determined values. These values never change, and
therefore the same string of words in the same order will
always produce the same number–this is the underlying
functionality that allows seed phrases to back up wallets.

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 SELF-EXECUTING
Functioning by itself, not controlled by any other party other
than itself. Self-executing smart contracts cut costs/
overhead by removing the need for an arbitrator and trust
toward a third party.

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 SERIALIZATION
The process of converting a data structure into a sequence
of bytes. Ethereum internally uses an encoding format
called recursive-length prefix encoding (RLP).

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 SHARDING
Sharding refers to splitting the entire network into multiple
portions called “shards.” Each shard would contain its own
independent state, meaning a unique set of account
balances and smart contracts. Usually, shards must be
tightly coupled and side-chains must be loosely coupled.

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 SIDECHAINS
A sidechain is what it sounds like — it is a separate
blockchain that is Ethereum-compatible. While a sidechain
is a sort of scaling tool, as a class they aren’t part of Layer
2; they simply represent a way in which developers can
build and enable cheaper transactions for the user (on the
sidechain, in sidechain-native tokens or currencies) while
maintaining compatibility with the Ethereum network. This
often requires routing tokens through a special portal or
bridge, as sending tokens from a sidechain to Ethereum
mainnet or vice versa would result in token loss.

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 SLASHING CONDITION
Under a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, a
slashing condition is one that causes the validator’s deposit
to be destroyed when they trigger it.

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 SLOT
A slot, on the Ethereum Beacon Chain, is a 12-second
period of time during which a new block may (or may not)
be proposed. Every 32 slots composes an epoch.

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 SMART CONTRACT
Self executing contract with the terms of agreement written
into the code.

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 SOFT FORK
A change to the software protocol where only previously
valid blocks/transactions are made invalid. Since old nodes
will recognize the new blocks as valid, a soft fork is
backward-compatible. However, this can result in a
potential divide in the blockchain, as the old software
generates blocks that read as invalid according to the new
rules.

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 SOLIDITY
The programming language developers use to write smart
contracts on the Ethereum network. Try it out on Remix.

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 STABLECOIN
Any cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset, like fiat
currency or gold. It theoretically remains stable in price as it
is measured against a known amount of an asset less
subject to fluctuation. Always spelled as one word.

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 STATE
The set of data that a blockchain network strictly needs to
keep track of, and that represents data currently relevant to
applications on the chain.

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 STATE CHANNELS
State channels are part of the set of tools and platforms
involved in scaling Ethereum and enabling Layer 2. While a
complex topic, state channels are essentially methods
through which the current ‘state’ of the blockchain can be
exported, and based on that any given number of
transactions can take place off-chain, and then be moved
back onto the main Ethereum chain.

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 SZABO
A denomination of ETH.

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 TESTNET
An alternative blockchain developers use to test
applications in a near-live environment.

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 TESTNET KOVEN
Ethereum testnet that uses Proof of Authority consensus,
available through MetaMask.

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 TESTNET RINKEBY
Ethereum testnet that uses Proof of Authority consensus,
available through MetaMask.

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 TESTNET ROPSTEN
Ethereum testnet that uses Proof of Work consensus and is
available through MetaMask.

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 TOKEN
A token represents an asset built on an existing blockchain.
There are many types; see also ‘ERC-20’ and ‘ERC-721’
entries.

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 TRANSACTION BLOCK
A collection of transactions on a blockchain network,
gathered into a set or a block that can then be hashed and
added to the blockchain.

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 TRANSACTION FEE
A small fee imposed on some transactions sent across a
blockchain network. The transaction fee is awarded to the
miner that successfully hashes the block containing the
relevant transaction.

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 TRUSTLESS
‘Trustless’ is a term that gets used a lot in the decentralized
web, and it deserves some explanation. Traditionally, to call
something ‘trustless’ would sound like a negative thing. In
the context of decentralized technology, it has a more
technical meaning: since everyone has a copy of the ledger
of all transactions ever executed, there is no need for a
third-party repository of ‘truth’ in whom trust resides. We
don’t rely on some centralized server somewhere that could
be hacked or changed arbitrarily; anyone can verify the
transactions themselves. In a way, the rules and assurances
built into the blockchain provide the basis for greater trust,
because the system works the same for everyone.

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 TURING COMPLETE
Any machine that can calculate on a level equal to a
programmable computer is Turing Complete, or
computationally universal. The EVM, despite not existing on
a single physical computer, is Turing Complete.

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 VALIDATOR
A participant in Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus. On the
Beacon Chain, validators need to stake 32 ETH, that is to
submit a sort of security deposit, in order to get included in
the validator set.

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 VALIDITY PROOF
The proof submitted along with certain types of rollups to
prove that the transactions are valid.

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 VALIDIUM
One of the technologies developed for Layer 2 scaling of the
Ethereum network.

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 VIPER
A programming language created to be a formal
introduction to smart contracts.

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 WALLET
A designated storage location for digital assets
(cryptocurrency) that has an address for sending and
receiving funds. The wallet can be online, offline, or on a
physical device.

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 WEB3 / WEB 3.0
Web3, or Web 3.0, are terms used synonymously with
“the decentralized web” and are often used to refer, broadly,
to the blockchain and decentralized technology ecosystems
as a whole.

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ZEPPELIN (OR OPEN ZEPPELIN)
Community of like minded Smart Contract developers.

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 ZK-SNARK
Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-interactive ARguments of
Knowledge are an incredible technology, and vital to the
scaling of blockchain technology and the decentralized
web. They are mathematically complex and can be
daunting; this explanation from the Ethereum Foundation is
a good primer.

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 ZERO ADDRESS
The Zero Address is an address on the Ethereum network
that is the recipient of a special transaction used to register
the creation of a new smart contract on the network.

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 51% ATTACK
If more than half the computer power or mining hash rate
on a network is run by a single person or a single group of
people, then a 51% attack is in operation. This means that
this entity has full control of the network and can negatively
affect a cryptocurrency by taking over mining operations,
stopping or changing transactions, and double-spending
coins.

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www.cyber-gear.io