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Cryptocurrency glossary: ​​50 terms you need to know

octubre 1, 2022
Cryptocurrency glossary: ​​50 terms you need to know

Do you want to learn how to trade or invest in crypto-currencies? Before you begin, you should know the meaning of many words and acronyms that you will see repeated many times.

In this glossary, you will find 50 essential terms related to cryptocurrency trading and investing.

altcoins

The term Altcoin refers to all cryptocurrencies or tokens other than Bitcoin.

drop of air

Method of promoting a crypto-currency which consists in giving free assets to the community in exchange, generally, for actions making it possible to make the project known as soon as it is launched to the greatest number.

The sink

Leverage is about increasing the money we are going to invest by adding more capital above the limit we have. In this way, the profits of the investment increase, but also the losses if the crypto-asset moves against us.

In exchanges like Binance, we can choose the leverage we want to use if, for example, we are trading Bitcoin futures. In this case, if we buy €2,000 worth of BTC with a capital of €1,000, we would have 2x leverage.

Arbitration

Arbitrage trading is a way to make a profit by buying a cryptocurrency at a low price and then reselling it in another market where it has a higher value.

OFFER DEMAND

The OFFER is the maximum price a buyer is willing to pay for a cryptocurrency, while Ask This is the lowest value at which the seller is willing to sell. The difference between them is called Spreador the price difference.

ATH

The ATH (All-Time High) is the highest historical price that has been recorded in a particular asset.

Accumulation

Accumulation is the process by which an investor or trader builds a position in a financial asset and usually occurs after a significant drop in price.

mean down

This strategy involves buying more cryptocurrency when its price drops to lower the average purchase price.

bull trap

A bull trap is a technique used by market makers that involves quickly buying a large amount of an asset, causing the price to rise sharply for a short period of time.

This leads everyone to believe that this is a breakout to the upside, producing strong buys. Market makers then sell large amounts, driving the price down and forcing other traders and investors to liquidate their purchases.

bear trap

This is an opposite strategy to a bull trap, but in this case in the opposite direction, possibly driving prices up.

bull, bear

Bull refers to people or investors who believe the price will rise, while Bears believe the price will fall.

bull market

Bull Market is a term used to talk about markets that are in an uptrend where new highs are being created. This tends to happen more when new investors enter the market.

bear market

Bear Market is a way of referring to bear markets, i.e. those in which the price is in a long-term downtrend.

bubble

A financial bubble, a term used by some experts to refer to Bitcoin, occurs in the markets when an asset it reaches irrationally high values ​​compared to the real value of the asset.

Market capitalization

Market cap is one of the ways to measure the size of a cryptocurrency or token and is the total value of the cryptocurrencies that have been mined. It is calculated by multiplying the number of units in circulation by the current price of each of them.

Consolidation

Consolidation is a period of time when price is in a fairly definite sideways movement. These are periods of indecision and usually lead to strong movements in any direction.

smart contract

A smart contract is a computer code or a protocol with a series of instructions (the terms of the contract between 2 or more parties) that will be automatically executed in the blockchain when a series of conditions are met without third parties being involved.

CAD

A DAO is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization, that is, an organization that is governed by codes and programs without the need for a central authority.

PLR

A DAPP is an application that runs on a decentralized network.

DCA (dollar cost average)

Dollar Cost Averaging, or DCA, is a strategy based on investing the same amount of money over time, regardless of market conditions, to reduce the impact of volatility on price. average purchase.

of challenge

Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is the set of digital assets, protocols, smart contracts, and dApps built on the blockchain that aims to be an alternative to traditional financial services.

Distribution

Process in which the price of an asset is in a sideways movement and investors who bought in the accumulation or growth phase start selling their positions at a profit.

DYOR

DYWHERERwhich translated means «do your own research», refers to the fact that it is always advisable to collect information yourself before investing.

Swap

A cryptocurrency exchange is a platform that allows you to exchange cryptocurrency for fiat currency or other cryptocurrencies.

FOMO

FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is a type of emotion that investors feel when they rush en masse to buy an asset, for no other reason than fear of missing out on a potential opportunity.

FORK

A fork, or fork, occurs when a non-official project is created from the main source code of a cryptocurrency or token.

FUD

Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, also known as FUD, is the act of spreading fear or misinformation, usually discrediting a cryptocurrency, so that it lowers its price and makes a profit.

reduce by half

Halvings are events whose purpose is to halve the emissions of a cryptocurrency at certain times.

HODL

Hodl refers to the act of investing in cryptocurrencies and holding them for long periods of time.

the order book

An order book is the record of all buying and selling intentions for a particular asset, and there is one for every cryptocurrency that accepts a exceptAng.

Placement

Liquidation occurs when a position is closed because a trade went in the opposite direction and the capital was not large enough to maintain the holding margin required by the broker or exchange.

Liquidity

Liquidity is the way to measure the activity of an asset in the market. A very liquid cryptocurrency means that it has a large number of buyers and sellers at the same time, which makes it easier to open or close positions.

margin

Margin is the amount required to open a leveraged trade.

For example, if you want to open a position of €10,000 with 10x leverage, the margin required to trade would be €1,000.

Fiat money

Fiat currency, or fiat currency, is currency that has the legal backing of the state. Its value is determined by the economic stability of the government and the country. In other words, it is the type of currency that we regularly use (euro, dollar, pound, yen…)

Wallet

Wallets, also known as wallets, are programs or devices that allow you to send, receive, and store crypto assets.

NFT (tokens not fungible)

An NFT is a cryptographic token that uniquely defines an asset, proving both ownership and authenticity, representing both an image and a digital or physical good – a house, a car or a song.

a long position

In the long position, the objective is to buy an asset at a certain price and then sell it at a higher price and thus make a profit.

short position

Going short means selling an asset (usually borrowed from the stock market) at a high price, then waiting for the price to drop, buying it back and returning the borrowed asset, making a difference in your favor.

Simplifying the idea as much as possible, we could say that going short means opening a lucrative trade once the price of a financial asset drops.

Rally

A rally is a period when an asset is in a strong uptrend that causes the price to rise.

FRAUD

Scam is a term used to refer to scams by electronic or digital means. In cryptocurrencies, they usually happen when someone promises exponential returns for investing in a certain crypto-related token or project, knowing that it will never pay off.

sale

It refers to the massive sale of a cryptoasset by many merchants and investors, thus generating a drop in its price. This usually happens when the market panics, for example due to very negative news.

support and resistance

A support is an area where we can expect the price to come back higher, while a resistance is an area where we can expect the price to come back lower.

Spread

The spread is the difference between the highest buy price and the lowest sell price for the same asset at which market participants are willing to buy and sell.

stable currencies

A stablecoin It is a crypto-asset associated with the value of a fiat currency or other asset.

For example, a stablecoin pegged to the dollar has an equivalent value to the latter:

1 dollar = 1 Stablecoin (USDT, USDC, BUSD…)

stop loss

The stop-loss is an order that automatically puts an asset on sale when its price falls to a level previously chosen by the trader, thus avoiding greater losses.

optimistic trend

A trend is up when the price forms higher highs and higher lows.

bear trend

The trend is down when the price forms lower lows and lower highs.

Volatility

Volatility is the percentage movement of an asset’s price over a period of time. In other words, it is a way of measuring price fluctuations.

whale

This is called a whale or a whale, for people who have a large amount of cryptocurrencies or tokens, so they have the ability to move the market, especially if said market does not have much of cash.

white paper

In a white paper, the person(s) involved in the creation of a cryptocurrency explains in detail the data related to it, such as the technology used to create it, its purpose or the distribution of tokens.

If you found this article helpful and want to learn more, check out our free guide on how to trade cryptocurrencies.