Crypto Glossary

A crypto trading service managed by a central operator. Many hold customer funds and match buy and sell orders. When the service holds the signing keys, the customer relies on its custody and withdrawal arrangements; check the actual service model.

Example: Leaving an item in a company's storage facility gives that company control over release. An exchange balance similarly depends on the company allowing withdrawals; it is different from holding the signing keys yourself.

• Read in context: Choose an Exchange Service by What It Does

The data provider's best estimate of how many tokens are available to the public and trading now. Locked tokens, unvested team and investor allocations and project treasuries are usually excluded.

Example: A bakery has made 1,000 vouchers but keeps 300 locked for staff. A public supply estimate may exclude those 300. Check the data provider's rule rather than assuming every voucher is available.

• Read in context: Supply, Market Capitalisation and Fully Diluted Value

Malware that monitors copied information and may replace a recognised crypto address with an attacker-controlled address before you paste it.

Example: You copy your cousin's delivery address, but a malicious program replaces it before you paste. Compare the full destination with a trusted source before confirming a crypto transfer.

• Read in context: Check a Transfer Before You Send

A recurring tendency in how people select, remember or interpret information, which can push a decision away from what the evidence supports without the person intending to be careless.

Example: You remember the two occasions when a shortcut saved time but forget the five when it delayed you. Keeping a dated record helps you test the impression against the whole sample.

• Read in context: Emotions, Biases and Attention in Crypto Markets

The native asset of a blockchain, built into its rules. It usually pays transaction fees and rewards the people who secure the network. Bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) are coins.

Example: BTC is native to Bitcoin and ETH is native to Ethereum. A token using Ethereum is different from ETH, just as a shop voucher differs from the national currency used to pay fees.

• Read in context: Altcoins, Utility, Governance and Hype

A wallet arrangement that keeps private signing keys offline. A hardware wallet can sign inside its device while connected to an online computer, without exposing those keys to that computer.

Example: A signing device can approve a transaction internally while a connected laptop broadcasts it. The secret stays in the device, but a misleading request or compromised backup can still cause loss.

• Read in context: What a Wallet Controls and Who Holds the Keys

The share of your total holdings that depends on a single asset, provider or risk. High concentration means one failure can cause most of your loss.

Example: If every saved holiday booking is with one company, that company's failure affects the entire trip. Holding different tokens at the same provider can still leave one shared dependency.

• Read in context: Concentration, Correlation and Shared Dependencies

Searching for, preferring and remembering information that supports what you already believe, while giving less weight to information that contradicts it.

Example: You want a used car to be a bargain, so you read only its good reviews. A careful token review also records evidence that could contradict your initial opinion.

• Read in context: Emotions, Biases and Attention in Crypto Markets

The rules and incentives that let a network of independent computers agree on which blocks are valid and in what order, even when some participants are faulty or dishonest.

Example: A club agrees how members will accept new entries in its shared record. A blockchain has technical rules for agreement; those rules do not automatically prove that an asset is valuable.

• Read in context: Consensus, Network Security and Cross-Chain Dependencies

A number from −1 to +1 that summarises how closely two price series moved together over a stated past period. Near +1 means they tended to move the same way; near 0 means little straight-line relationship. It describes the sample, not the future.

Example: An Australian learner compares weekly changes in two assets in AUD. They moved together in one sample, but a different period or currency can give a different result.

Keep in mind: The minus one to plus one description refers to a defined correlation coefficient, commonly Pearson correlation. Name the data and period.

• Read in context: Concentration, Correlation and Shared Dependencies

What you paid to acquire an asset, usually including the fees of buying it, recorded in your home currency. It is the starting point for working out a gain or loss when you later sell or swap.

Example: A Canadian learner records CAD 100 paid for an asset and CAD 2 in acquisition fees. The record supports later calculations, but the permitted tax treatment depends on the applicable rules.

Keep in mind: Tax calculations can use jurisdiction specific valuation, fee and disposal rules. Retain dates, quantities and records.

• Read in context: DCA, Rebalancing, Exits and Useful Records

The risk that the person or company you rely on, such as an exchange holding your crypto, cannot or will not do what it promised.

Example: You pay for furniture before delivery. If the seller cannot supply it or refund you, its failure creates a loss even if the furniture's market price has not changed.

• Read in context: Deposits, Withdrawals and Exchange Failure

A system that carries instructions or data, not only tokens, from a smart contract on one blockchain to a smart contract on another.

Example: A shop's ordering system sends instructions to a separate warehouse system. Blockchain messaging similarly carries data between systems and depends on how the message is checked.

• Read in context: Consensus, Network Security and Cross-Chain Dependencies

An asset recorded and transferred using a blockchain or a related distributed ledger. It may be a network's native coin or a token whose rules are implemented by a contract. Different assets can have very different issuers, administrators, rights and risks.

Example: A learner compares a native coin, a governance token and a token linked to a bond. Their common crypto label does not mean they grant the same ownership rights or face the same risks.

• Read in context: Start Here and Understand Cryptocurrency

An application or device used to view balances and manage interactions with blockchain accounts. A signing wallet uses private keys; a watch only wallet uses public information, while a custodial service controls keys for its customers.

Example: A banking app displays money rather than physically containing it. A wallet similarly reads blockchain records; control depends on the keys and account rules, not the displayed balance alone.

• Read in context: What a Wallet Controls and Who Holds the Keys