TERMS, ABBREVIATIONS AND BUTTONS

Crypto glossary

Here are the unfamiliar words, abbreviations and labels you meet in guides, on exchanges and in wallets. If you opened a definition from a link, the word you need is highlighted. The “Back” button takes you to the page you came from.

Names are not translated. Lemon, Ripio, Belo, Crixto, Bit2Me, Foxbit, Mercado Bitcoin, CoinDCX and Quidax are names of services; Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and TRON are names of cryptocurrencies or networks; BTC, ETH, SOL, TRX, USDT and USDC are their tickers. Android and iOS are operating systems.

Basics

Cryptocurrency: A digital asset whose ownership and transfers are recorded by a computer network.
Digital asset: Something that exists in digital form and has an owner or value. Cryptocurrency is one kind of digital asset.
Blockchain: The history of confirmed operations. Many copies of it are kept and compared by the network.
Wallet: An app or device for seeing your balance, getting an address and controlling access to your assets. The records of the assets themselves live in the network.
Self-custody wallet: A wallet controlled by its owner rather than by an exchange. The owner keeps the recovery phrase or private key.
Exchange or service: A company through which you can buy, sell, swap or store crypto under that company's rules.
Private key: A secret digital combination that proves you have the right to move the assets. Never share it.
Recovery phrase: A set of words used to restore a self-custody wallet. Anyone who gets this phrase can take control of the funds.
Digital signature: Proof created with the private key. It shows the network that the transfer was approved by the person who controls the asset.
Confirmation: The moment the network accepts and records a transfer. Some services wait for several confirmations before crediting it.
Network fee: The payment for processing a transfer on the network. On some networks it is paid in a different coin, not in the token you send.
Bitcoin, BTC: Bitcoin is the name of a digital asset and of its own network. BTC is the ticker for that asset.
Satoshi: The smallest unit of Bitcoin. One bitcoin is made of 100 million satoshi.
Ethereum, ETH: Ethereum is a network for transfers and apps. ETH is its own coin, which is also used to pay fees.
Coin: A digital asset that has its own network. For example, BTC belongs to the Bitcoin network and ETH to the Ethereum network.
Token: A digital asset created on a network that already exists. For example, USDT is issued on several networks at once.
Smart contract: A program stored and run on the blockchain. It follows the rules written in its code whenever it receives a suitable operation.
Stablecoin: A token whose price is kept close to a chosen regular currency or another asset. For example, USDT aims to stay at about one dollar.
USDT and USDC: Stablecoins designed to be worth about one US dollar. Different companies issue them, and they run on several networks.
Issuer: The company or organization that creates a token and sets the rules for using it.
Reserves: Money and other assets that an issuer says back the stablecoins it has issued.
Supply and demand: The balance between people who want to buy an asset and people who want to sell it. More buyers can push the price up; more sellers can push it down.
Decentralized: Working without one company or institution that keeps all the records and approves operations on its own.
Protocol: The set of technical rules a network follows: how operations are created, checked and recorded.
Contract address: The unique address of the program that manages a token on the network. It helps you tell the real token from another one with a similar name.
Ticker: A short code for an asset, such as BTC, ETH or USDT. Different tokens can use the same code, so a ticker alone is not enough to check a token.
Liquidity: How easily an asset can be bought or sold without a long wait or a sharp price change.
Memecoin: A token whose popularity rests mostly on a joke, a community, advertising or hype rather than on a practical use.
CBDC: Digital money issued by a central bank. It is not a regular decentralized cryptocurrency.
Minimum amount: The smallest amount a service allows for a purchase, deposit or withdrawal.

Buttons and fields

Withdraw: Start sending crypto from an exchange or another service to an outside address.
Send: Create a transfer to another address.
Receive: The screen where a wallet shows the address for receiving crypto.
Deposit: Add money or crypto to your balance on a service.
Buy: Go to the purchase of the chosen cryptocurrency.
Network: The computers and rules that check and carry out transfers. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and TRON are different networks. The sender's and the receiver's network must match.
Address: The details for receiving crypto on a specific network. Before a transfer, check both the address and the network.
Fee: The amount a service or the network keeps for an operation.
Receive amount: How much crypto will arrive after the fee is taken off.
Copy: A button that copies an address or payment details so you do not have to type them.
Backup: Data that lets you restore access to a wallet.
Recovery phrase (on screen): The set of words that gives access to a self-custody wallet. Write it down offline and never type it on a website.
Restore: Open a wallet you created earlier using its backup.
Import: Connect an existing wallet with its key or recovery phrase.
Completed: The service considers the operation sent or processed. Still check in your wallet that it arrived.
Connect: Let an app interact with your wallet, for example see its public address. Connecting alone gives no right to move your tokens.
Sign: Confirm data with your digital signature. A login signature is usually harmless, but some signatures authorize token operations.
Approve: Give an address or smart contract the right to use your tokens up to a set amount. The approval stays active until it is revoked.
Revoke: Cancel a token approval you gave earlier. It is a separate blockchain operation with a network fee and does not reverse transfers already made.
Coming soon: The feature is announced but not available yet.

Account and security

KYC: “Know your customer”, an identity check. A service may ask for a passport or ID card, a photo of your face and proof of address.
ID card: An identity document in the form of a plastic card. A service may accept it instead of a passport, but the list of accepted documents depends on the country and the service.
2FA: An extra confirmation for logging in or approving an operation, such as a code from an app after you enter your password.
Google Authenticator: An app that creates one-time codes to confirm logins and withdrawals. The code changes about every 30 seconds.
Verification Required: In a P2P offer, a note that the seller wants extra details from you before the deal.
Advanced: The name of an account verification level on some services.
Need Help: A button for contacting support or opening a dispute.
Funding Account: An account inside an exchange that receives funds after a P2P deal and from which you can move them on.
AML: “Anti-money laundering”, the checks a service runs on incoming money. It looks at where the funds came from and may hold a transfer until you confirm their source.
Phishing: A scam that uses a fake site, email or message posing as a real service to get your recovery phrase, password or signature.
Address poisoning: A scheme where a scammer plants an address that looks like a familiar one in your wallet history, hoping you copy it for the next transfer.
IP address: The network address of a device or internet connection. A site and its hosting provider can see it when a page loads.
Cookie: A small record a site saves in your browser, for example to remember settings or count visits.
VPN: A service that routes your connection through another server and can change your visible IP address. Do not use it to get around a service's restrictions.

Payments and transfers

P2P: A deal between users through a platform. The seller receives the regular money, and the platform controls the crypto under the order's rules.
Fiat: Regular government money, such as dollars, euros, rupees or naira. This guide usually just says “regular money”.
ARS: The international code for the Argentine peso.
VES: The international code for the Venezuelan bolívar.
EUR: The international code for the euro.
BRL: The international code for the Brazilian real.
INR: The international code for the Indian rupee.
NGN: The international code for the Nigerian naira.
SEPA: The system for bank transfers in euros across the Single Euro Payments Area.
IBAN: The international bank account number. Copy it from the recipient's details without changes.
Pix: The instant payment system of the Central Bank of Brazil. A transfer goes through in seconds using a Pix key, such as a CPF, phone number or email.
Pago Móvil: A Venezuelan system for instant transfers between bank accounts using a phone number, an ID number and a bank code.
UPI: India's system for instant payments between bank accounts through an app, using a UPI ID or a QR code.
BVN: Bank Verification Number, the identity number every bank customer in Nigeria has. Services may ask for it during verification.
CVU: A virtual payment account number in Argentina. It is different from the bank account number, CBU.
CBU: A bank account number in Argentina.
CPF: The individual tax number in Brazil. On its own it does not replace an identity document.
Spread: The difference between the market price and the price at which a service offers to buy or sell crypto.
QR code: A square code that a camera reads as an address, payment details or a link.
Travel Rule: A rule for passing on data about a crypto transfer. A service may ask you to name the sender and receiver, the wallet type and confirm who owns the address. It is not a fee and not a separate network.
Spot trading: A regular purchase or sale of crypto at the current market price, without a loan or leverage. After the purchase the asset appears on your account balance.

Blockchain and network

TxID: The unique number of an operation on the blockchain. You use it to check a transfer's status in a block explorer.
Mainnet: The main, working network of a cryptocurrency, where real transfers happen.
TRC-20: The token standard on the TRON network. “USDT TRC-20” means USDT on TRON.
ERC-20: The token standard on the Ethereum network. “USDT ERC-20” means USDT on Ethereum.
Permit and Permit2: Mechanisms where a token approval is granted by a signature, with no separate transaction and no network fee. Scammers disguise such requests as a routine wallet check.
Lightning: A separate payment network for fast Bitcoin transfers. A Lightning address cannot be used as a regular address on the main Bitcoin network.
Liquid: A separate network for moving assets linked to Bitcoin. A Liquid address does not work with a main Bitcoin network address.

Regulation

MiCA / MiCAR: The European Union regulation on crypto asset markets. It sets the rules for companies that provide crypto services in the EU.
CASP: Crypto asset service provider, the status used in the EU's MiCA rules.
CNMV: Spain's securities market regulator. It supervises crypto service providers in Spain under MiCA.
ESMA: The European Securities and Markets Authority. It keeps the EU-wide register of crypto asset service providers.
CNV: Argentina's National Securities Commission. It keeps the register of virtual asset service providers.
PSAV: Virtual asset service provider in Argentina. Being registered with the CNV is not a licence and does not approve the assets.
SUNACRIP: Venezuela's national authority for crypto assets. It issues licences to crypto exchanges in the country.
BCB: The Central Bank of Brazil. It authorizes and supervises virtual asset service providers in the country.
FIU-IND: Financial Intelligence Unit India. Crypto services working in India must register with it.
SEC Nigeria: Nigeria's Securities and Exchange Commission. It regulates digital asset operators.
ARIP: The Accelerated Regulatory Incubation Program of SEC Nigeria. Taking part in it is a step toward registration, not a final licence.