Trading Index - bittraderx

Cryptocurrency Trading Index Definitions

Arbitrage: The simultaneous buying and selling of an asset in different markets to profit from differing prices.
Altcoin: Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin.
ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit): A hardware device designed specifically to perform the mining of cryptocurrency.
Ask Price: The lowest price a seller is willing to accept for their cryptocurrency.
ATH (All-Time High): The highest price ever reached by a cryptocurrency.

Blockchain: A digital ledger where transactions are recorded chronologically and publicly.
Bitcoin: The first decentralized digital currency, introduced in 2009.
Bear Market: A market characterized by declining prices.
Bull Market: A market characterized by rising prices.
Block Reward: The reward given to a miner after successfully hashing a transaction block.

Crypto Wallet: A digital wallet that allows users to store and manage their cryptocurrency.
Consensus: The process in cryptocurrency networks where nodes agree on the validity of transactions.
Cryptocurrency Pair: Two cryptocurrencies that are traded against each other in a market.
Cold Storage: The storage of cryptocurrencies offline to protect them from hacking.
Contract for Difference (CFD): A contract between two parties to settle the difference between the opening and closing prices of the asset in cash.

Decentralized Application (DApp): An application that runs on a decentralized network, avoiding a single point of failure.
Decentralized Finance (DeFi): Financial services offered on a decentralized network, typically using smart contracts.
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT): A database that is consensually shared and synchronized across multiple sites, institutions, or geographies.
Digital Signature: A mathematical scheme for demonstrating the authenticity of digital messages or documents.
DYOR (Do Your Own Research): Advice in the crypto community urging investors to research before investing.

ERC-20 (Ethereum Request for Comment): A standard for creating and issuing smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.
Exchange: A platform where cryptocurrencies are traded.
Ethereum: A decentralized platform that runs smart contracts: applications that run exactly as programmed without any possibility of downtime, fraud, or third-party interference.
Escrow: A financial arrangement where a third party holds and regulates the payment of the funds required for two parties involved in a given transaction.
Encryption: The process of converting information or data into a code, especially to prevent unauthorized access.

Fork: The creation of an alternative version of the blockchain, resulting in two blockchains that diverge.
Fiat to Crypto Exchange: A platform where fiat currency can be exchanged for cryptocurrency and vice versa.
Futures Contract: An agreement to buy or sell a particular commodity or financial instrument at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): Anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on social media.
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt): A strategy to influence perception by disseminating negative, misleading, or false information.

Gas (Ethereum): A measure of the computational effort required to execute operations on the Ethereum network.
Genesis Block: The first block of data that is processed and validated to form a new blockchain, often referred to as Block 0.
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) Mining: The use of a GPU as a way to compute hashing functions rapidly.
Governance Token: Tokens that are used to vote on decisions that affect the future of a decentralized project.
Gwei: The smallest denomination of ether, the coin used on the Ethereum network.

Halving: A predetermined event in Bitcoin’s protocol where the reward for mining new blocks is halved, occurring every 210,000 blocks.
Hash: A function that converts an input (or ‘message’) into a fixed-size string of bytes. The output is typically a ‘digest’ that uniquely represents the input.
Hot Wallet: A cryptocurrency wallet that is connected to the internet and can facilitate quick transactions.
Hard Fork: A type of fork that renders previously invalid transactions valid, and vice versa. This type of fork requires all nodes to upgrade to the latest version of the protocol software.
HODL (Hold on for Dear Life): Originally a misspelling of “hold,” it’s used in the crypto community to advise holding onto the cryptocurrency rather than selling.

ICO (Initial Coin Offering): A fundraising tool that trades future crypto coins for cryptocurrencies which have an immediate, liquid value.
IEO (Initial Exchange Offering): A fundraising event that is administered by an exchange on behalf of the startup that seeks to raise funds with its newly issued tokens.
Immutable: A characteristic of blockchain technology where once data has been written to a blockchain no one can change it.
Interoperability: The ability of computer systems or software to exchange and make use of information.
IPFS (InterPlanetary File System): A protocol and network designed to create a content-addressable, peer-to-peer method of storing and sharing hypermedia in a distributed file system.

JOMO (Joy of Missing Out): A feeling of contentment with one’s own pursuits and activities, without worrying over the possibility of missing out on what others may be doing.
Jelly Swap: A decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol for cross-chain trading.
JSON-RPC: A stateless, light-weight remote procedure call (RPC) protocol primarily used to specify data types and commands in the Ethereum network.
JIT (Just in Time) Compilation: A form of dynamic compilation that compiles code during execution to optimize performance.
J-curve: In economics, a theory that says a country’s trade deficit will initially worsen after the depreciation of its currency, before it starts to improve.

KYC (Know Your Customer): The process of a business verifying the identity of its clients, typically as a part of anti-money laundering laws.
K-Line: Also known as a candlestick line, it’s used in the visualization of price movements in a chart.
Knot: In networking, a connected node in a system.
Keccak Algorithm: A family of cryptographic hash functions and the core of the SHA-3 standard.
Key Pair: In cryptography, a set of two keys used for secure communication: a public key and a private key.

Liquidity: The ease with which an asset, or security, can be converted into ready cash without affecting its market price.
Layer 2 Solutions: Proposed solutions built on top of a blockchain to improve its scalability and efficiency, such as Lightning Network for Bitcoin.
Ledger: The principal book or computer file for recording and totaling economic transactions measured in terms of a monetary unit of account by account type.
Leverage: The use of various financial instruments or borrowed capital—such as margin—to increase the potential return of an investment.
Lightning Network: A “second layer” payment protocol that operates on top of a blockchain (most commonly Bitcoin). It enables fast transactions between participating nodes and has been touted as a solution to the Bitcoin scalability problem.

Mining: The process by which new cryptocurrency tokens are generated and transactions are verified and added to the blockchain.
Market Cap: The total value of all a company’s shares of stock. In cryptocurrency, it refers to the total value of all mined coins.
Maker/Taker Fees: Fees charged by a cryptocurrency exchange for trading funds. ‘Makers’ provide liquidity to the order book by placing a limit order under the ticker price for a buy and above the ticker price for a sell. ‘Takers’ remove liquidity by placing an order that matches immediately with an existing order on the book.
Multi-Signature: A type of digital signature that allows a group of users to sign a single document. Often used to add an extra layer of security for cryptocurrency transactions.
Mnemonic Phrase: A group of words used to access or recover a cryptocurrency wallet. This seed phrase is intended to be easier to remember than traditional methods of accessing a digital wallet.

Node: A point of intersection/connection within a network. In cryptocurrency, it refers to a computer connected to the network that supports it by maintaining a copy of the blockchain and, in some cases, processes transactions.
Non-Fungible Token (NFT): A type of digital asset which represents a wide range of unique tangible and intangible items, from collectible sports cards to virtual real estate and even digital sneakers.
Nonce: A number added to a hashed, or encrypted block, that, when rehashed, meets the difficulty level restrictions. It is used in Proof of Work systems to vary the input to a cryptographic hash function so as to obtain a hash for a data set that satisfies certain conditions.
Network Fee: A fee that is paid to miners or validators who are responsible for creating new blocks and validating transactions on the blockchain.
Nakamoto Consensus: A consensus mechanism involving solving cryptographic puzzles to validate transactions and create new blocks, named after Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto.

Oracles: Third-party services that fetch data from outside a blockchain to within, as blockchains cannot access external data.
Over-the-Counter (OTC): Trading done directly between two parties without the supervision of an exchange.
Open/Close Price: The price at which a cryptocurrency first trades upon the opening of an exchange on a given day; similar for close price but at the end of the trading day.
On-Chain Governance: A governance system for blockchain in which rules are hardcoded into protocol.
Order Book: A ledger containing all outstanding orders – instructions from traders to buy or sell cryptocurrency.

Private Key: A private code that allows a user to prove their ownership of their wallet, which holds their cryptocurrency. It is essential to keep the private key secure because if lost, it cannot be recovered and the funds contained in the wallet are effectively inaccessible.
Proof of Work (PoW): A consensus distribution algorithm that requires an active participant to prove that the work done and submitted by them qualifies them to receive the right to add new transactions to the blockchain. It is used by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
Proof of Stake (PoS): A type of algorithm by which a cryptocurrency blockchain network aims to achieve distributed consensus. Unlike the Proof of Work, where the algorithm rewards participants who solve mathematical problems with the goal of validating transactions and creating new blocks, in Proof of Stake, the creator of a new block is chosen in a deterministic way, depending on the user’s wealth, also defined as stake.
Public Key: The publicly disclosable part of a keypair which can be used to encrypt messages or verify a signature associated with a private key.
Pump and Dump: A manipulation scheme involving inflating the price of an owned cryptocurrency to sell at an artificially high price, once other traders are drawn into the inflated price, the inflators sell their holdings, which causes the price to drop dramatically.

Quantum Resistance: Refers to the resilience of cryptocurrencies against attacks from quantum computers, which could theoretically break the cryptographic security that protects most traditional blockchain networks.
Quorum: The minimum number of members required to be present to make the proceedings of that meeting valid. In blockchain, it is often referred to the number of nodes required to verify a transaction.
QR Code: A machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to which it is attached, often used in the context of Bitcoin to share public keys for transactions.
QuadrigaCX: An infamous Canadian cryptocurrency exchange that ceased operations following the mysterious death of its founder, resulting in substantial loss of funds due to inaccessible crypto wallets.
Qtum: A hybrid blockchain platform that combines the strength of Bitcoin’s security with Ethereum’s programmability.

Ripple: A digital payment protocol that also acts as a cryptocurrency and is used for secure global financial transactions.
Rekt: Slang in the crypto community for being completely ruined and losing everything on a bad trade or investment.
ROI (Return on Investment): A measure used to evaluate the efficiency or profitability of an investment, calculated by dividing net profit by the cost of investments.
Ring Signatures: A type of digital signature that can be performed by any member of a group of users that each have keys. Therefore, a message signed with a ring signature is endorsed by someone in a particular group of people.
Ransomware: A type of malicious software designed to block access to a computer system or data, often by encrypting it until the victim pays a ransom fee to the attacker.

Smart Contract: Self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into lines of code, stored and replicated on the blockchain, and supervised by the network of computers that run the blockchain.
Stablecoin: A type of cryptocurrency that is designed to offer stability and is backed by a reserve asset, typically a fiat currency like the US dollar.
Satoshi: The smallest unit of the bitcoin currency recorded on the blockchain, one hundred millionth of a single bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC).
SHA-256: A cryptographic hash function that generates a 256-bit signature for a text, used in Bitcoin blockchain.
Sharding: A scaling approach that enables the splitting of a blockchain into several smaller component networks capable of processing transactions in parallel, thereby increasing the overall capacity of the blockchain.

Token: Represents a unit of value issued by a project or company and typically offers a functional use such as a means of payment within an ecosystem.
Tether (USDT): A blockchain-based cryptocurrency whose cryptocoins in circulation are backed by an equivalent amount of traditional fiat currencies like the dollar, the euro, or the Japanese yen.
Transaction Fee: The fee that is paid to the miners or validators (in blockchain networks that use Proof of Stake) to include a transaction in the block.
Testnet: An alternative Bitcoin blockchain, to be used for testing. Testnet coins are separate and distinct from actual bitcoins, and are never supposed to have any value. This allows application developers or bitcoin testers to experiment without having to use real bitcoins or worrying about breaking the main bitcoin chain.
Tokenization: The process of converting rights to an asset into a digital token on a blockchain. This can include real estate, art, or other assets.

Uniswap: A decentralized exchange protocol built on Ethereum that allows for the automatic trading of decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens.
UTXO (Unspent Transaction Output): Describes an output of a blockchain transaction that has not been spent, and can be used as an input in a new transaction.
Upbit: A Korean digital asset exchange that offers the trading of various cryptocurrencies.
Utility Token: A type of token that represents future access to a company’s product or service.
USDT: Tether, a cryptocurrency with tokens issued by Tether Limited. It formerly claimed that each token was backed by one United States dollar, but on 14 March 2019 changed the backing to include loans to affiliate companies.

Validator: A participant on a blockchain network tasked with verifying transactions and maintaining the ledger’s integrity, particularly in proof of stake (PoS) systems.
Volatility: Common in the cryptocurrency markets, it refers to the frequent and significant price changes within short periods, often seen in the pricing of digital assets like Bitcoin.
Vitalik Buterin: A programmer known for co-founding Ethereum, one of the leading cryptocurrencies next to Bitcoin.
Vanity Address: A personalized cryptocurrency address, created by repeatedly generating addresses until one matching the desired pattern is found.
Verge: A privacy-focused cryptocurrency that aims to offer anonymous transactions by obscuring the IP address of users involved.

Wallet: A place where cryptocurrency users keep their digital coins.
Whale: A term used to describe individuals or entities that hold large amounts of cryptocurrency, capable of influencing the market.
Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC): An ERC-20 token that represents Bitcoin on the Ethereum blockchain. Each WBTC is backed by an equivalent amount of Bitcoin.
Web 3.0: A term used to describe a new paradigm in the web’s evolution, representing decentralized apps that run on blockchain technology.
Wei: The smallest denomination of ether, the coin used on the Ethereum network.

XRP: The currency of the Ripple network, designed to work effectively and efficiently across borders.
XMR (Monero): A privacy-focused cryptocurrency that obscures the sender, recipient, and amount of every transaction.
XLM (Stellar Lumens): A cryptocurrency used by the Stellar payment network, designed to facilitate multi-currency and asset transactions.
XBT: Another ticker symbol for bitcoin, used by some exchanges.
X-Chain: The exchange chain, used in platforms like Avalanche for creating and trading digital assets.

Yield Farming: An investment strategy in cryptocurrencies where holders put their assets to work by staking or locking them in a blockchain protocol to earn more cryptocurrency.
YFI (Yearn.finance): A decentralized finance (DeFi) cryptocurrency that operates on the Ethereum platform, known for its yield farming capabilities.
Yobit: A cryptocurrency exchange platform.
Yield: The earnings generated and realized on an investment over a particular period of time.
YottaHash: A unit of measure for the hash rate of a cryptographic function, indicating the number of attempts at solving a block the machine can make per second, expressed in quintillions of hashes (10^24).

Zero-Knowledge Proof: A method in cryptography where one party can prove to another party that they know a value (e.g., a secret key), without conveying any information apart from the fact that they know the value.
Zcash: A cryptocurrency focused on enhancing privacy for its users compared to other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
Zk-SNARKs: Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Argument of Knowledge, a form of zero-knowledge cryptography that allows one party to prove it possesses certain information without revealing that information.
ZRX (0x): An open protocol that enables the peer-to-peer exchange of assets on the Ethereum blockchain.
Zeppelin: A company that audits blockchain projects and is well-known for developing the OpenZeppelin smart contracts library, which is widely used for secure blockchain development.