The Crypto Dictionary Every Newbie Needs
Trying to understand crypto can be a very difficult task. It has so many “techy” and “businessy” words that any beginner needs to understand in order to increase their chances of success, making getting into crypto harder than it should be. From my personal experience, I know crypto can get even more confusing if someone that’s not very good at explaining things, tries to explain them.
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At the Coin Times, we try our best to simplify the Crypto Universe in order to make it easier for anyone, from the average Joe to the tech geek, to understand.
Here is a list of some everyday crypto terms to the understanding of the tech geek and the everyday guy.
# 1. Blockchain
This is probably the most common word used in crypto. The blockchain is basically a big book (digital ledger) that records all crypto transactions. However the records in this book can not be altered by anyone or organisation, hence the word, “decentralized”.
#2. Mining
Firstly, no, crypto is not mined the same way as gold and other resources, we do not dig for Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, that is why it is referred to as digital. Crypto mining is the process of using a specialised computer called a node or mining rig, which possesses a high computing power to generate bitcoin or any type of cryptocurrency.
#3. Hash and Hash rate
Hash is basically a unique set of numbers that meets the requirements to solve for a blockchain computation. It is possible that if you guess the numbers you can hack into the blockchain although this is near to impossible. Hash rate is simply the speed of mining,
#4. Fiat
No, not the car company. Fiat is simply money that is independent of any commodities and is issued by the government. Fiat for people based in the UK should be the British pound.
#5. DeFi
Defi stands for Decentralized finance. In Defi, financial activities are carried out without the involvement of the government or bank.
#6. Dip
‘Buy the dip’, ‘Do not buy the dip’, ‘sell when it dips’, ‘hold when it dips’. What is this dip they keep talking about? When a coin dips or crashes it means that there has been a reduction in price. “Buying the dip”, is simply buying a coin after the price has reduced.
#7. Altcoin
Any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin is referred to as an ALT coin. Ethereum is the most common and the best Altcoin in the market according to Coimarketcap’s, list of best cryptocurrencies.
#8. Stable coin
A stable coin is any coin pegged to a commodity, a fiat currency for example. An example of a stable coin is the USDT, which is pegged to the US dollar.
#9. NFT
NFTs or Non-fungible tokens are basically digital assets, not digital gold, but things like images, videos, or even music.
#10. Crypto Exchange
A crypto exchange is a digital marketplace, where you can sell and buy crypto, examples of which are Binance Exchange and Coinbase.
