What You’ll Learn

• What cryptocurrencies are – Digital, decentralized money built on blockchain technology.
• How blockchain works – A secure, distributed database that records transactions transparently and cannot be altered.
• Why cryptocurrencies matter – They enable entirely new forms of financial transactions, investment strategies, and digital applications.
• Risks and opportunities – From price volatility and changing regulations to rapid technological progress, understanding the factors shaping the market is key.
• Your first steps – How to create a wallet, buy your first coins safely, and store them securely for the long term.

A

• Airdrops – Free distribution of tokens to users’ wallets.
• All-Time High (ATH) – The highest price ever reached by an asset.
• All-Time Low (ATL) – The lowest price ever reached by an asset.
• Altcoin – Any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin.
• Altcoin Season – A market phase when altcoins outperform Bitcoin.
• Atomic Swaps – Direct peer-to-peer crypto trades across blockchains without intermediaries.
• Avalanche – A fast, scalable blockchain platform for decentralized apps and finance.

B

• Bear Market – Extended period of falling prices and pessimism.
• Bitcoin Arbitrage – Practice of profiting from price differences of Bitcoin on one exchange at a lower price and selling it on another at a higher price
• Block – A record of transactions added to the blockchain.
• Blockchain – A decentralized digital ledger of transactions.
• Bull Market – Extended period of rising prices and optimism.

C

• Centralized Exchange (CEX) – A crypto trading platform run by a company.
• Cold Wallet – Offline storage for crypto assets, safer from hacks.
• Consensus Mechanism – The method by which a blockchain validates transactions.
• Cryptography – The science of securing data and communications.

D

• dApps – software application that runs on a blockchain or peer-to-peer network without a central authority.
• Decentralized Exchange (DEX) – Peer-to-peer marketplace for trading crypto.
• DeFi (Decentralized Finance) – Financial services built on blockchain without intermediaries.
• Difficulty – Measure of how hard it is to mine or validate blocks.
• Dusting Attack – Small token transactions sent to track wallets.

E

• ERC-20 – Standard for fungible Ethereum-based tokens.
• Escrow – Funds held by a trusted third party until conditions are met.
• Ethereum – A blockchain that supports smart contracts and decentralized apps.

F

• Fiat – Government-issued currency like dollars or euros.
• Fork – A blockchain split, either temporary (soft) or permanent (hard).
• FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) – Anxiety of missing a profitable opportunity.

G

• Gas Fee – Transaction cost paid to miners or validators on a blockchain.
• Genesis Block – The first block of a blockchain.
• GPU Mining – Mining using graphics processing units.

H

• Halving – Bitcoin event where mining rewards are cut in half.
• Hash Rate – Computing power used to secure and validate blockchain transactions.
• HODL – Holding crypto long-term instead of selling.

I

• ICO (Initial Coin Offering) – Fundraising event where new tokens are sold.
• Immutable – Data that cannot be altered once added to the blockchain.
• Interoperability – Ability of blockchains to communicate and share data.

J

• JOMO (Joy of Missing Out) – Contentment with not chasing every crypto trend.
• Junk Coin – A cryptocurrency with little or no value or utility.

K

• KYC (Know Your Customer) – Identity verification process on exchanges.
• Key Pair – Combination of public and private keys used in crypto transactions.

L

• Ledger – Record of all blockchain transactions.
• Leverage – Borrowing funds to increase the size of a trade, amplifying both potential gains and losses.
• Liquidity – Ease with which an asset can be bought or sold.
• Lightning Network – Bitcoin’s layer-2 solution for faster, cheaper payments.

M

• Margin Trading – Trading with borrowed money from an exchange or broker, using existing funds as collateral.
• Market Cap – Value of a crypto (price × circulating supply).
• Merkle Tree – Cryptographic structure that verifies blockchain data.
• Mining – Process of validating transactions and creating new coins.

N

• NFTs (Non-Fungible Token) – Unique digital asset on a blockchain.
• Node – A computer that participates in maintaining a blockchain.
• Nonce – A number used once in mining to create valid blocks.

O

• Oracles – Systems that provide real-world data to smart contracts.
• Order Book – List of buy and sell orders on an exchange.
• Open Source – Software with publicly available code.

P

• P2P (Peer-to-Peer) – Direct transactions without intermediaries.
• Private Key – Secret code granting access to crypto funds.
• Public Key – Address used to receive cryptocurrency.

Q

• Quantum Computing Risk – Potential threat quantum computers pose to blockchain security.
• QR Code Wallet – Quick response code for sending or receiving crypto.

R

• Rug Pull – Scam where project creators drain funds and disappear.
• ROI (Return on Investment) – Profit percentage compared to invested capital.
• Rollup – Layer-2 scaling solution that bundles transactions.
• RWAs – physical or traditional financial assets tokenized on a blockchain for digital ownership and trading

S

• Satoshi (SAT) – Smallest unit of Bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC).
• Short (in Crypto) – A trading position that profits when the price of a cryptocurrency falls.
• Smart Contract – Self-executing code on a blockchain.
• Spot vs. Futures (in Crypto) – Spot trading means buying or selling crypto for immediate delivery; futures trading involves contracts to buy or sell crypto at a set price on a future date.
• Stablecoin – Crypto pegged to a stable asset like the US dollar.

T

• Token – A digital unit built on a blockchain, often representing utility or assets.
• Total Supply – Maximum number of tokens that will exist.
• Transaction Fee – Payment made to process blockchain transactions.

U

• Utility Token – Token that provides access to a product or service.
• Unspent Transaction Output (UTXO) – Bitcoin transaction model for tracking balances.

V

• Validator – A participant that verifies blockchain transactions.
• Volatility – Degree of variation in asset price over time.
• Virtual Machine (VM) – Software environment that executes smart contracts.

W

• Wallet – Software or device used to store crypto keys.
• Wash Trading – Fake trading activity to inflate volume.
• Whale – An individual or entity holding large amounts of crypto.

X

• XBT – Alternative ticker symbol for Bitcoin.
• XRP – Digital currency used on Ripple’s network for fast payments.

Y

• Yield Farming – Earning rewards by providing liquidity to DeFi platforms.
• YTD (Year-to-Date) – Performance measure from the start of the year until now.

Z

• Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZKP) – Cryptographic method to prove information without revealing it.
• Zk-Rollup – Layer-2 solution combining rollups with zero-knowledge proofs.
• Z-Score – Statistical measure of how far a value is from the mean.