Learn all of the most important blockchain and cryptocurrency terms and jargon before you start investing in crypto or playing and betting on your favourite games. In this Crypto Glossary, we’ll demystify the jargon, providing you with a clear understanding of key terms and how they relate to the thrilling landscape of crypto gambling.
0x
The 0x protocol enables developers to build decentralised exchanges (DEXs) on the Ethereum blockchain. It was launched in 2018 and enables developers to incorporate peer-to-peer (P2P) digital asset exchange into platforms and decentralised apps (dApps).
Altcoin
The term alternative coin refers to any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, and for some, altcoins are considered all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH).
Airdrop
Free cryptocurrency tokens are distributed to promote new projects or encourage community adoption of blockchain-based projects.
Bitcoin
The world’s first, largest and most famous cryptocurrency by market capitalisation. It was launched in 2009 by a pseudonymous creator known as “Satoshi Nakamoto.”
Black Swan Event
Black swan events are large-scale, unpredicted, and usually severely detrimental to the global economy, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Markets can take a long time to recover from black swan events.
Blockchain
A blockchain is a distributed database or ledger shared among a computer network’s nodes. The blocks of a chain contain a cryptographic hash of the previous block, timestamp, and transaction data. Blockchain offers cryptocurrency systems as they maintain a secure and decentralised record of transactions, although they are not limited to cryptocurrency uses.
Bear market
A bear market is when prices decline for an extended period of time, and usually, securities prices fall 20% or more amid negative investor sentiment and widespread pessimism.
Bull market
Bull markets are financial markets, usually stock markets, in which prices are rising or are expected to rise.
Cardano
Cardano is a blockchain platform designed as an alternative to Ethereum and can facilitate peer-to-peer transactions with its internal cryptocurrency, ADA.
Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
A digital version of a government-issued fiat currency that’s managed by a central bank.
Crypto Games
Crypto games refer to online games, often including casino-style games, where players can wager and win using cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other digital assets. These games leverage blockchain technology to provide transparent and secure transactions, offering players a decentralised and potentially more anonymous gaming experience compared to traditional online casinos.
Cryptography
The scientific study and practice of encoding and decoding data so that only the person a message was intended for can read it.
DeFi
Short for “decentralised finance,” a collective term for all finance-based DApps created on public blockchains that offer peer-to-peer (P2P) financial services and technologies built on protocols such as Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot, and Solana. As a result of DeFI’s interoperability, we have innovations such as yield farming and liquidity tokens.
Decentralised Exchange (DEX) Protocol
DEX provides peer-to-peer cryptocurrency trading without the need for intermediaries to facilitate money transfers.
Double Spending
Double-spending is the risk that a cryptocurrency can be used twice or more. All transactions on the Bitcoin network are recorded publicly using a distributed ledger, making it very hard and time-consuming for someone to create a fake transaction.
Digital currency
Digital money is money that exists only in a digital format and is sent electronically over the Internet. It is best known as electronic money, electronic currency, or cybercash.
Dogecoin
The native cryptocurrency of the Dogecoin blockchain. It is an open-source, peer-to-peer digital currency inspired by a viral internet meme of a Shiba Inu dog.
Ethereum
The blockchain supports the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation. Ethereum is the platform that directly incorporates smart contracts, as well as decentralised apps (DApps), non-fungible tokens (NFT), and decentralised finance (DeFi).
Fiat
Fiat or fiat money is a term used to describe any government-issued currency, such as the U.S. dollar or the Chinese yuan.
FUD
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt – in short, FUD – is a manipulative tactic used in sales, marketing, public relations, politics, polling, and cults. The term is frequently used in the crypto space as a label for spreading negative information or news.
Gas
The term refers to the ether that must be spent as a fee in order to execute a transaction or contract on the Ethereum network. Fees are priced in tiny fractions of ether (ETH)-denominations called gwei (10-9 ETH).
Halving
The Bitcoin network uses the halving feature to reduce inflationary pressure on the cryptocurrency and will reduce rewards for successfully mining a Bitcoin block by half. It makes it difficult to obtain or mine new Bitcoins – a phenomenon that has historically preceded bull markets.
HODL
An intentional misspelling of “hold”. This crypto slang term describes the idea of never selling crypto even amid extreme price changes in the market. Retroactively designated an initialism for “hold on for dear life.”
Liquidity
Liquidity, as it relates to cryptocurrency exchanges describes how easily cryptocurrencies can be converted into other assets or fiat currencies without substantially affecting their price.
Market cap
The term refers to the total value of a project, company or other entity. Cryptomarket cap is calculated by multiplying the current price of a project’s token by its total circulating supply.
Mining
Bitcoin mining is the process of adding new Bitcoins to circulation by using computer equipment that solves extremely complicated math problems that verify transactions in the currency.
NFTs
Short for “non-fungible tokens.” NFTs are digital tokens that are recorded on a blockchain and are used as a unique digital identifier that proves ownership and authenticity. It can be sold and traded but cannot be copied or subdivided.
Private Key
This code is used to prove a person’s ownership of a crypto wallet and allows that person to access the funds.
Proof-of-Stake
Proof-of-stake is a method of confirming transactions on a blockchain. A random validator who has staked tokens is chosen to validate transactions and gets rewarded for it.
Proof-of-Work
Proof-of-work was the original blockchain verification method used by Bitcoin. Using this method, miners compete to be the first to add new transaction data by solving a complex puzzle.
Public Key
This code is used to create an address so that a crypto wallet can be operational and process transactions.
Public ledger
A distributed, transparent digital record of transactions that can be downloaded anywhere in the world.
Sharding
Sharding a blockchain into several identical chains, or shards, allows a network to be more efficient and scalable because each shard executes smart contracts in parallel.
Smart contract
This is a type of computer program that automatically executes a transaction when a predetermined input is received.
Stablecoin
The term refers to a digital asset whose value is tied to another asset, such as gold or the dollar.
Tether
Tether is a company that has brought multiple stablecoins to market.
Tezos (XTZ)
Tezos is an open-source blockchain on which developers can build decentralised applications (DApps). It has smart contract functionality and uses a variation of proof-of-stake technology called liquid proof-of-stake.
Theta
It is a peer-to-peer network in which users share bandwidth and processing power. It aims to disrupt the video streaming industry, which is characterised by centralised architecture, inefficiency, and high costs.
Token
Token is just another word for cryptocurrency. They are units of value built on top of an existing blockchain network.
To the Moon
The slang term “to the moon” describes a crypto asset in an upward bullish trend.
Volatility
The term is used to denote the degree to which a crypto token’s price deviates from the average of a given period.
Wallet
A crypto wallet stores the private keys to keep crypto safe and accessible and allows users to send, receive, and spend cryptocurrencies.
Whale
A crypto whale is a term of the crypto community that refers to individuals or entities that hold large amounts of cryptocurrency.
Yield farming
Yield farming is a method of earning interest from crypto trading fees. It is a high-risk strategy that involves depositing tokens into a liquidity pool on a DeFi protocol to earn rewards, typically paid out in the protocol’s governance token. There are different ways of yield farming, but the most common types involve depositing crypto assets in either a decentralised lending or trading pool to provide liquidity.
Start playing with crypto today!
Whether you’re a seasoned crypto enthusiast or just beginning your journey, grasping these terms will undoubtedly empower you to make more informed decisions and fully immerse yourself in the thrilling world of online casino gaming.
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