cryptoglossary

Crypto has its own language, and that wall of jargon is one of the most intimidating things for newcomers. This glossary explains the terms you’ll run into most often, in plain English — no assumed knowledge. Bookmark it and refer back whenever a word trips you up.
The absolute basics
Cryptocurrency — digital money that runs on a decentralized network instead of being controlled by a bank or government.
Bitcoin (BTC) — the first and best-known cryptocurrency; digital money on a shared public record.
Ethereum (ETH) — a blockchain that can run programs (not just record payments), which is why so much of crypto is built on it.
Blockchain — a shared record of transactions, copied across thousands of computers, that no single party can secretly change.
Altcoin — any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin (literally “alternative coin”).
Stablecoin — a cryptocurrency designed to hold a steady value, usually pegged to a currency like the US dollar.
Wallets and keys
Wallet — a tool that stores the keys controlling your crypto. It holds your keys, not the coins themselves (those live on the blockchain).
Public key / address — like your account number; you share it so people can send you crypto.
Private key — the secret that controls your crypto. Anyone who has it can take your funds.
Seed phrase — a set of 12–24 recovery words that back up your wallet. Never share it with anyone.
Hot wallet — a wallet connected to the internet; convenient but more exposed.
Cold wallet — a wallet kept offline; more secure, less convenient.
Buying, trading, and fees
Exchange — a platform where you buy, sell, and trade crypto.
Gas fee — the small payment to have your transaction processed on the blockchain.
Spot — buying crypto outright, where you own the actual coins.
Volatility — how much and how fast a price moves up and down. Crypto is known for high volatility.
Liquidity — how easily something can be bought or sold without moving its price much.
Trading slang you’ll see everywhere
HODL — holding onto crypto rather than selling, even through ups and downs (originally a typo of “hold”).
FOMO — “fear of missing out”; the urge to buy because everyone else seems to be.
FUD — “fear, uncertainty, and doubt”; negative talk that may or may not be justified.
Bull market / bullish — when prices are rising or expected to rise.
Bear market / bearish — when prices are falling or expected to fall.
ATH — “all-time high”; the highest price something has ever reached.
Whale — someone holding a very large amount of a cryptocurrency.
More advanced terms you’ll hear
DeFi — “decentralized finance”; apps that let people lend, borrow, or trade without a bank in the middle.
Smart contract — code that runs automatically on a blockchain (“if X, then do Y”) with no middleman.
NFT — a token proving ownership of a unique digital item.
Leverage — borrowing to trade a larger position than your money allows; multiplies both gains and losses, and is very risky for beginners.
Liquidation — when a leveraged position is automatically closed because losses hit a limit, often wiping out the deposit.
Layer 2 — a network built on top of a main blockchain to make transactions faster and cheaper.
Key takeaways
You don’t need to memorize all of these — just knowing they exist and having somewhere to look them up takes most of the intimidation out of crypto. The jargon is a barrier, not a sign that the ideas are too complex for you. Come back to this glossary anytime a term stops you, and the language will start to feel familiar faster than you’d expect.
Want to go deeper on any of these? We have plain-language guides on what Bitcoin is, what a blockchain is, what a crypto wallet does, and how to spot a crypto scam.
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What is it?
Onchain Governance is a system embedded directly in the blockchain protocol that allows token holders (or other participants defined by the rules) to vote on changes to the protocol itself.
Simply put, it is a mechanism where the rules, voting procedures, and decision execution are written in smart contracts and executed automatically at the blockchain level.