Crypto Glossary
35 of the most important crypto terms. Each entry has its own page with an extended definition and related terms.
Updated: Updated in 2026
A
- AML
- Anti-Money Laundering – procedures to prevent money laundering. read more →
- AMM
- Automated Market Maker – the pricing mechanism used by DEXs, based on liquidity pools. read more →
- Altcoin
- Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. read more →
B
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- The first and largest cryptocurrency, launched in 2009. read more →
C
- CASP
- Crypto-Asset Service Provider – the licensing status for exchanges under MiCA. read more →
- CEX
- Centralized Exchange – a crypto exchange run by a company. read more →
- Cold wallet
- An offline wallet – the safest way to store crypto. read more →
- Crypto tax
- How profits from selling or using cryptocurrency are taxed. read more →
D
- DAC8
- An EU directive on the automatic exchange of tax information for crypto. read more →
- DCA
- Dollar-Cost Averaging – a strategy of buying a fixed amount at regular intervals. read more →
- DeFi
- Decentralized Finance – financial services without intermediaries. read more →
- DEX
- Decentralized Exchange – a peer-to-peer exchange on the blockchain. read more →
E
- Ethereum (ETH)
- The second-largest blockchain network – home to smart contracts and DeFi. read more →
F
- Funding rate
- A periodic fee exchanged between longs and shorts in perpetual contracts. read more →
G
- Gas fee
- A transaction fee on EVM networks (Ethereum and compatible chains). read more →
H
- HODL
- A strategy of holding crypto long-term without selling. read more →
- Hot wallet
- An online wallet – convenient, but more exposed to attacks. read more →
K
- KYC
- Know Your Customer – mandatory identity verification on exchanges. read more →
L
- Liquidation
- The forced closing of a futures position due to insufficient margin. read more →
M
- Maker fee
- The fee charged on a limit order that adds liquidity to the order book. read more →
- MiCA
- Markets in Crypto-Assets – the EU regulation governing the crypto market. read more →
N
- NFT
- Non-Fungible Token – a unique token representing digital ownership. read more →
P
- Perpetual futures
- A leveraged futures contract with no expiration date. read more →
- Proof of Reserves
- A public audit of an exchange's reserves using a Merkle tree. read more →
- PoS (Proof of Stake)
- A blockchain consensus mechanism based on staking. read more →
S
- Seed phrase
- 12 or 24 words that serve as a backup for a wallet. read more →
- SAFU
- Secure Asset Fund for Users – Binance's insurance fund. read more →
- Spot
- The straightforward purchase of crypto with fiat or stablecoin – no leverage. read more →
- Spread
- The difference between the best bid and ask price. read more →
- Stablecoin
- A token designed to hold a stable value (usually $1 or €1). read more →
- Staking
- Locking up crypto on a PoS network in exchange for rewards. read more →
T
- Taker fee
- The fee charged on a market order that removes liquidity from the order book. read more →
U
- USDT / USDC
- The two largest dollar-pegged stablecoins on the market. read more →
W
- Wash trading
- Artificially inflating an exchange's reported trading volume. read more →
- Whitelisting
- A list of trusted withdrawal addresses – a key account security feature. read more →