18 terms
Crypto — 18 terms defined
Every crypto term in the StockTools glossary, in plain language with a worked example — and connected to the free calculator that puts it to work.
AltcoinAn altcoin is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin — the term is short for alternative coin. It sweeps in everything from Ethereum, the second-largest asset, to thousands of tiny tokens with almost no trading volume.CryptoBitcoin (BTC)Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, launched in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto as digital cash that settles without a bank in the middle. Its supply is capped at 21 million coins by code, and new coins enter circulation only as a reward to the miners who secure the network.CryptoBitcoin DominanceBitcoin dominance is Bitcoin's share of the total crypto market cap. If all crypto is worth $2.5 trillion and Bitcoin is $1.3 trillion of that, dominance is 52%.CryptoBitcoin HalvingThe halving is a scheduled event, roughly every four years, where the reward miners receive for adding a block to the Bitcoin blockchain is cut in half. It is how Bitcoin throttles new supply down toward its 21 million cap.CryptoBlockchainA blockchain is a shared ledger that thousands of independent computers keep identical copies of, with new entries bundled into blocks and chained to the block before them. Once a block is buried under enough later blocks, rewriting it would mean out-computing the whole network, which is what makes the history practically tamper-proof.CryptoCirculating SupplyCirculating supply is the number of coins currently available and trading in the market, as opposed to coins that are locked, reserved, or not yet issued. It is the figure that matters for market cap, because market cap equals price times circulating supply.CryptoCrypto WalletA crypto wallet stores the private keys that let you spend your coins — it does not hold the coins themselves, which live on the blockchain. A hot wallet stays connected to the internet for convenience; a cold wallet keeps the keys offline on a device or paper for safety.CryptoDeFi (Decentralized Finance)DeFi is financial services — lending, borrowing, trading, earning yield — run by smart contracts on a blockchain instead of by a bank or broker. There is no account to open and no institution approving you; you connect a wallet and interact with the code directly.CryptoEthereum (ETH)Ethereum is the largest smart-contract blockchain: where Bitcoin mainly moves coins, Ethereum runs programs. Developers deploy code called smart contracts that execute automatically, which is what powers most of decentralized finance, stablecoins, and NFTs.CryptoGas FeesA gas fee is what you pay to have a blockchain process your transaction. It compensates the validators who run the computation and, crucially, it is priced by live demand for limited block space — not by the size of what you are sending.CryptoMax SupplyMax supply is the hard ceiling on how many coins can ever exist, written into the protocol's code. Bitcoin's is 21 million; many coins have a cap, and some — like Ethereum — have no fixed maximum at all.CryptoProof of StakeProof of stake replaces mining with collateral. Instead of burning electricity to win the right to add a block, validators lock up coins as a stake, and the protocol picks who validates in rough proportion to how much they have staked. Cheat, and the network slashes your stake.CryptoProof of WorkProof of work is the method Bitcoin uses to agree on its ledger: miners race to solve a hard math puzzle, and the winner adds the next block and collects the reward. The puzzle is deliberately expensive to solve and trivial to check, which is what makes cheating uneconomic.CryptoSeed PhraseA seed phrase is the list of 12 or 24 ordinary words that a wallet generates as the master backup of your private keys. Enter that exact word list into any compatible wallet and you recover full control of the coins, on any device.CryptoSmart ContractA smart contract is a program stored on a blockchain that runs exactly as written when its conditions are met, with no one able to stop or alter it mid-flight. It is what lets a blockchain do more than move coins: it can hold funds, enforce rules, and pay out automatically.CryptoStablecoinA stablecoin is a crypto token designed to hold a fixed value, almost always $1, so people can move money on a blockchain without riding Bitcoin's volatility. The largest ones, like USDC and USDT, claim to back each token with a dollar or equivalent reserves held off-chain.CryptoStakingStaking is locking up coins to help secure a proof-of-stake blockchain, and earning a reward for doing it. Your stake acts as collateral: validate honestly and you earn yield, act maliciously and the network can slash part of your stake.CryptoTokenomicsTokenomics is the economic design of a coin: how many exist, how new ones are created or burned, who holds them, and on what schedule locked tokens unlock. It is the supply-and-incentive blueprint behind the price.Crypto