Glossary

2

2 Factor Authentication (2FA) 2FA is used by many websites to increase the security of users’ information and/or assets. It involves two-step sign-in to the website, where the first step is the password and for added security, the second step involves verifying your identity through another source, usually through email, text or push notification on your phone.

A

Account Abstract Layer The Abstraction Layer in computer sciences refers to the technique of hiding the internal working mechanics in your code through abstraction.

Address Cryptocurrency addresses are used to send or receive transactions on the network. An address usually presents itself as a string of alphanumeric characters.

Airdrops Airdrops involve cryptocurrencies or tokens given usually for free to certain wallet addresses in order to attract users.

Arithmetization Arithmetization is the reduction of computational statements made by a proving algorithm.

ASIC Short form for ‘Application Specific Integrated Circuit’. Often compared to GPUs, ASICs are specially made for mining and may offer significant power savings.

Attack 51% When more than half of the computing power of a cryptocurrency network is controlled by a single entity or group, this entity or group may issue conflicting transactions to harm the network, should they have the malicious intent to do so.

B

Bitcoin Bitcoin is the first decentralised, open source cryptocurrency that runs on a global peer to peer network, without the need for middlemen and a centralised issuer.

Block Blocks are packages of data that carry permanently recorded data on the blockchain network.

Block Explorer Block explorer is an online tool to view all transactions, past and current, on the blockchain. They provide useful information such as network hash rate and transaction growth.

Block Height The number of blocks connected on the blockchain.

Block Reward A form of incentive for the miner who successfully calculated the hash in a block during mining. Verification of transactions on the blockchain generates new coins in the process, and the miner is rewarded a portion of those.

Blockchain A blockchain is a shared ledger where transactions are permanently recorded by appending blocks. The blockchain serves as a historical record of all transactions that ever occurred, from the genesis block to the latest block, hence the name blockchain.

Blockchain Governance

BYOD BYOD is an acronym for Bring Your Own Device.

Byzantine Fault BF is a condition in a decentralized system which involves the functioning of the entire system with the presence of a faulty node, with imperfect knowledge of its functionality spread across the node.

C

Calibra Calibra is a wallet app that will be used in connection with storing and moving around the Libra cryptocurrency.

Capital Gains Capital Gains is the profit earned from the sale or an asset.

Casper Protocol A protocol that is likely to be implemented on the Ethereum blockchain that will shift its consensus mechanism from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, thereby putting an end to mining on the Ethereum blockchain.

cDAI cDAI is a variation of DAI tokens that accrues in value per block.

Central Ledger A ledger maintained by a central agency.

Circulating Supply The circulating supply of a cryptocurrency is the amount of that cryptocurrency in circulation in the market and in peoples’ ownership.

Client Server Architecture A computing model that splits the workload of resources between hosts, called servers, and the requesters of the services, known as the clients.

Coin Burning Model A coin-burning model, such as the one followed by MakerDAO’s makercoin, involves burning coins in order to maintain or appreciate its value by limiting its supply in the market.

Collateralized Debt Position (CDP) In MakerDao, a CDP behaves like a lending structure where a user can lock a certain amount of ether and withdraw DAI up to two-thirds of the amount of the locked-up ether.

Confirmation The successful act of hashing a transaction and adding it to the blockchain.

Consensus Consensus is achieved when all participants of the network agree on the validity of the transactions, ensuring that the ledgers are exact copies of each other.

Crowdfunding A process of collecting small portions of funds from a large number of individuals in order to fund a project.

Cryptocurrency Also known as tokens, cryptocurrencies are representations of digital assets.

D

Daemon A background process that runs on your computer, that is not directly interactable or in your control.

DAO Decentralised Autonomous Organizations can be thought of as corporations that run without any human intervention and surrender all forms of control to an incorruptible set of business rules

Dapp A decentralised application (Dapp) is an application that is open source, operates autonomously, has its data stored on a blockchain, incentivised in the form of cryptographic tokens and operates on a protocol that shows proof of value.

Decentralized Cloud Storage A form of storage where connected computers store data on multiple location, which can be in a disproportionate manner.

Decentralized Exchange (DEX) A cryptocurrency exchange that is decentralized in nature, that is, has no central control authority. Bisq and Airswap are some examples of DEX.

Decentralized Finance

Decred A truly decentralized form of cryptocurrency that aims to tackle the problem of centralized mining and hard forks by prioritizing decentralized governance.

Delegated Proof of Stake

Deterministic In computer sciences and mathematics, a deterministic process involves no randomness in its outcome in the future.

Difficulty This refers to how easily a data block of transaction information can be mined successfully.

Digital Signature A digital code generated by public key encryption that is attached to an electronically transmitted document to verify its contents and the sender’s identity.

Distributed Ledger Distributed ledgers are ledgers in which data is stored across a network of decentralized nodes. A distributed ledger does not have to have its own currency and may be permissioned and private.

Distributed Ledger Technology A distributed ledger technology or DLT refers to the form of database where the data is stored in multiple locations, as opposed to traditional databases where all data is stored in a single location.

Distributed Network A type of network where processing power and data are spread over the nodes rather than having a centralised data centre.

Docker

Double Spending Double spending occurs when a sum of money is spent more than once.

E

EIPs EIPS are Ethereum Improvement Proposals define standards and protocols related to the Ethereum network.

Elliptic Curve Cryptography ECC ECC is a method of public-key encryption that follows elliptic curve theory to produce faster, smaller yet equally secure key-pairs. The Bitcoin encryption mechanism uses ECC.

Enterprise Ethereum Alliance Enterprise Ethereum Alliance offers hybrid implementations of the Ethereum blockchain that is designed especially for business applications

EOS EOS refers to the native cryptocurrency of EOS.IO blockchain that supports smart contracts with non-existent transaction fee and the delegated proof-of-stake (DPOS) consensus algorithm.

ERC ERC is a set of rules that define the functionality of an Ethereum based token. It stands for Ethereum Request for Comment. Some common ERC compliant token standards are ERC 20 and ERC 721.

Ethereum Ethereum is a blockchain-based decentralised platform for apps that run smart contracts, and is aimed at solving issues associated with censorship, fraud and third party interference.

EVM The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is a Turing complete virtual machine that allows anyone to execute arbitrary EVM Byte Code. Every Ethereum node runs on the EVM to maintain consensus across the blockchain.

F

Federated Voting Federated voting is a crucial part of Stellar blockchain’s consensus mechanism. At a higher level, it is a method of determining whether peers in a network can agree on a suggested proposal.

Fork Forks create an alternate version of the blockchain, leaving two blockchains to run simultaneously on different parts of the network.

Full Node

Futures Futures are similar to options, however, here the concerned parties are obligated to see-through the contract as described.

G

Gas In Ethereum network, gas is a denomination of ETH that is required to execute a smart contract.

Genesis Block The first or first few blocks of a blockchain.

GovTech GovTech or Governance Tech uses emerging technologies like AI, Blockchain, IoT, etc. to enhance government level operations. Government-level use-cases of blockchain fall under the category of GovTech.

H

Hard Fork A type of fork that renders previously invalid transactions valid, and vice versa. This type of fork requires all nodes and users to upgrade to the latest version of the protocol software.

Hybrid Tokens Hybrid tokens combine the features of both a security token and a utility token.

I

Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ICOs are a form of crowdfunding that is done using cryptocurrencies. In an ICOs, a project or startup may release tokens that will fund the project and are likely to appreciate in value over time.

Initial Model Offering A fundraising mechanism similar to ICO. The main difference is that in IMO, the funding is associated with the stages of accomplishments therefore, creating a more robust model for raising capital for projects as well as for investors.

L

Ledger Nano A portable and secure hardware wallet offered by Ledger, a hardware wallet company.

Libra Libra is a permissioned blockchain digital currency introduced by the social media giant, Facebook.

Liquidity Liquidity of an asset refers to its quality where an asset can be readily redeemed for cash.

M

Market Capitalization The market capitalization of a coin refers to the dollar amount of coins in circulation. It is calculated as its current price times the circulated supply

Merged Mining Merged mining allows a miner to mine for different cryptocurrencies that follow the same consensus mechanism, at the same time.

Merkle Tree A merkle tree is a data structure, also known as a hash tree.

MetaMask Metamask is an Ethereum wallet. It acts as an intermediary bridge that allows you to interact with Ethereum-based dapps through your browser.

Move Programming Language Move Programming Language was introduced by Facebook for working with the Libra Blockchain.

Multicurrency Wallet A multicurrency wallet in the crypto space refers to the wallet that can keep track of multiple cryptocurrencies in your ownership at the same time.

N

Nakamoto Consensus A set of rules enacted by Satoshi Nakamoto, along with the consensus algorithm of PoW, that governs the trustless nature of bitcoin blockchain.

Nothing at Stake Problem The nothing-at-stake problem is a theory speculated by the crypto-community in the Proof of Stake space.

O

Off-chain and On-chain Governance Off-chain governance occurs when the code-related decisions of a blockchain occur off the blockchain, for instance, through community forums, social meetups, etc. It is similar to conventional politics in structure.

Omni Layer Protocol A protocol layer (rebranded from mastercoin) that is built on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that enables complex financial functionalities and smart contract capabilities right on the bitcoin platform.

OPCode

Open Lending Platforms Open lending platforms in the blockchain-space offer decentralized and automated lending structure which behave as financial institutions, where you can obtain loans from. MakerDao is an example of Open Lending Platforms.

Options A financial instrument that gives one party the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a commodity or asset, under a previously agreed upon price.

P

Privacy Coin Privacy coins are a solution to truly anonymized form of transacting on the blockchain platform by masking the transaction and addresses via multiple layers of encryption. Monero and ZCash are examples of privacy coins.

Q

QTUM A cryptocurrency that combines the best of both worlds (Bitcoin and Ethereum). It takes the UTXO model from the Bitcoin blockchainl and the smart contract functionality from Ethereum network. The resultant coin is appropriate for large organizations looking to adopt a more flexible yet secure solution through blockchain technology.

R

Rootstock

S

SegWit Segregated Witness or SegWit is a protocol that is implemented through a soft-fork of Bitcoin blockchain. The aim of SegWit is to reduce the amount of information stored in the blocks by storing the signature data in a sidechain.

SHA-256 SHA-256 is a cryptographic algorithm used by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

SiaCoin A siacoin is a blockchain-based solution for decentralized data storage. It aims to monetize underutilized storage space in a secure manner.

Sidechain

Single Point of Failure A single point of failure exists in centralized structure where an attacker or hacker may be able to target a centralized storage system, eventually compromising the entire system or network by a single attack.

Smart Contracts Smart contracts encode business rules in a programmable language onto the blockchain and are enforced by the participants of the network.

Soft Fork A soft fork differs from a hard fork in that only previously valid transactions are made invalid.

Solidity Solidity is Ethereum’s programming language for developing smart contracts.

Spear Phishing Attack A form of hacking attempt which involves electronic communication (emails, etc) to steal a user’s data.

SPV Proof An SPV, or simplified payment verification, is a mechanism that lets you validate your own transactions without having to validate others, thereby saving users the hassle of hosting the entire full node on their ends.

Stellar Stellar is a payment network created by Jed McCaleb. Its decentralized system allows for cross-border payments.

Swaps Swap is a complex financial instrument. In a swap, two parties sign a contract where they agree to “swap” payment streams from a purchase or loan locally, thereby, reducing the requirement of actually moving the funds around.

T

Testnet A test blockchain used by developers to prevent expending assets on the main chain.

Transaction Block A collection of transactions gathered into a block that can then be hashed and added to the blockchain.

Transaction Fee All cryptocurrency transactions involve a small transaction fee.

Turing Complete Turing complete refers to the ability of a machine to perform calculations that any other programmable computer is capable of.

U

UTXO The Unspent Transaction Output or UTXO is a model used by Bitcoin blockchain to keep track of ownership and transactions.

V

Value Added Tax (VAT) VAT is the tax that is applied to the product along its supply chain, from its manufacturing to the point of sale.

Virtual Financial Asset (VFA) VFA is defined by law as a digital medium used for various purposes including store of value, unit of account or medium of exchange.

W

Wallets A wallet is a software that stores your public and private key, allowing you to store, send and receive digital currencies.

Wrapped Ether (WETH) Wrapped Ether is an ERC-20 token that tracks the value of Ether at 1:1 ratio.

X

XLM XLM or Lumen is the native asset of the Stellar Blockchain Network.

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