Crypto glossary

Short definitions for the terms you meet in calculators and DeFi — each page links to the matching CryptonicTools utility. 25 terms.

• Address checksumExtra encoded data in an address (for example EIP-55 mixed-case Ethereum) that helps detect typos.
• APRAnnual Percentage Rate — a simple yearly rate that does not fold intra-year compounding into the headline number.
• APYAnnual Percentage Yield — the effective yearly return assuming rewards are compounded at a stated frequency.
• BIP39A Bitcoin Improvement Proposal defining mnemonic seed phrases (usually 12 or 24 words) that encode wallet entropy.
• Bitcoin halvingThe scheduled event that cuts BTC block subsidies roughly in half about every 210,000 blocks (~4 years).
• Break-even priceThe exit price that recovers your invested capital after fees (and other costs you include).
• DCA (dollar-cost averaging)Investing a fixed amount on a schedule instead of trying to time a single perfect entry.
• FDV (fully diluted valuation)Price × total/max supply — what market cap would be if all tokens were circulating at today’s price.
• Fear & Greed IndexA 0–100 crypto market sentiment score (Alternative.me) blending volatility, volume, social, surveys, dominance, and trends.
• Funding rateA periodic payment between long and short traders on perpetual futures that keeps the contract near spot.
• Gas (blockchain)The fee paid to process a transaction or smart-contract call on networks like Ethereum, usually priced in gwei.
• GweiA denomination of ether equal to 1 billion wei (10^9 wei). Wallets and gas oracles usually quote gas prices in gwei.
• Impermanent lossThe difference in value between providing liquidity to an AMM pool versus simply holding the same assets, when relative prices diverge.
• LeverageControlling a larger notional position than your posted margin. Amplifies both gains and losses.
• LiquidationForced closure of a leveraged position when equity falls below the venue’s maintenance requirements.
• LiquidityHow easily you can buy or sell size without moving the price much. Thin books and shallow AMM pools mean higher slippage.
• LTV (loan-to-value)The ratio of borrowed value to collateral value. Higher LTV means less buffer before liquidation risk rises.
• MarginCollateral posted to open and maintain a leveraged trade. Isolated margin risks only that allocation; cross margin shares balances across positions.
• Market capitalizationPrice × circulating supply — a rough size gauge for a cryptoasset, not a guarantee of liquidity or quality.
• ROIReturn on investment — profit or loss divided by capital invested, usually expressed as a percentage.
• SatoshiThe smallest bitcoin unit. 1 BTC = 100,000,000 satoshis (sats).
• SlippageThe difference between the expected price of a trade and the price you actually receive, often worse on thin or volatile markets.
• Stablecoin pegThe target price a stablecoin aims to hold (often $1). Deviation from the peg is called depeg risk.
• StakingLocking or bonding tokens to help secure a network (or a protocol) in exchange for rewards, usually quoted as APR/APY.
• WeiThe smallest unit of ether. Smart contracts and many APIs expect amounts in wei (1 ETH = 10^18 wei).

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