Altcoins are coins that are considered an alternative to bitcoin. These include, for example, ether and lightcoin.

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency that appeared in 2009. It was created by a person or group of people under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. As of September 2021, bitcoin accounts for 42% of the entire crypto market.

Block - a list of verified transactions that is added to the blockchain as a result of mining. It is the basic element of the blockchain structure. It consists of two parts - Head and Payload - the actual record of transactions.

Block Height - The number of a block in the blockchain.

Blockchain

Blockchain is a distributed ledger consisting of a chain of blocks of financial transactions in which each subsequent block is cryptographically linked to the previous one. Includes peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, distributed data storage, and cryptography.

There are three types of blockchains: public or open (Public), private or closed (Private), and exclusive (Permissioned).

Block Reward

A reward paid to a miner for successfully solving a cryptographic problem and attaching a block to the blockchain.

Genesis Block

The genesis block is the very first block in the blockchain. It is not even the first block, but the zero block. Any cryptocurrency starts mining from the zero block.

Confirmation

Confirmation - the transaction is included in the block, it can be trusted.

Crypto unicorns are startups whose capitalization has exceeded $1 billion in a short period of time. The term unicorns is also used for companies that are not involved in crypto, but fit the capitalization parameter.

Mining is the process of mining cryptocurrencies by solving complex cryptographic problems.

Node - a node (server) of the Bitcoin network - a computer that stores the full up-to-date version of the blockchain.

Peer to Peer

A peer-to-peer computer network in which all participants (nodes) are equal and can interact with each other, being a client and a server at the same time.

Stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that is usually pegged to fiat at a 1:1 ratio. Such coins can also be pegged to gold or other assets. By design, they are more stable and are not subject to the kind of volatility that characterizes the crypto market.

Satoshi

Satoshi is the smallest and most commonly used bitcoin fraction = 1/100,000,000,000 (0.000,000,000 01 BTC) , which is named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the inventor of bitcoin.

Address

A bitcoin address is used to send and receive transactions. It consists of alphanumeric characters, but can also be represented as a scannable QR code. The bitcoin address is also the public key used by bitcoin holders to digitally sign transactions.

A token is a digital asset that is related to a specific project and is issued based on a cryptocurrency. A token itself is not a cryptocurrency. We can say that it is a security in the world of digital assets.

Fork is a situation in which an alternative blockchain is split off from an existing blockchain. There are softfork and hardfork. In the former, changes are made to the main network, while in the latter, the original chain is split into two. For example, after bitcoin's hardfork Bitcoin Cash appeared.

Shitcoin is a coin that was released by fraudsters. Shitcoins are also called dubious and unpromising cryptocurrencies.

Ether (Ethereum) is the second most capitalized cryptocurrency. Its creator is Vitalik Buterin. The ether blockchain is considered the alma mater for DApps.

DeFi is decentralized finance. That is, an alternative to traditional financial services that are publicly available and open source.

Exchange

Exchange for other electronic monetary units.

Wallet

Wallet is a software application that allows you to make a transaction from a given address and view its balance.

Dust Transaction

Dust Transaction - A transaction for an exceptionally small amount of bitcoins that has no real financial value, but at the same time takes up space on the blockchain.

Hard Fork

A Hard Fork is a software update that introduces a new rule into the network that becomes incompatible with the old software.

Soft Fork

A soft fork is any change that is backwards compatible.

Private Key

A private (private) key is a code string that is used to access a wallet or bitcoin address. Necessary for transactions.

Public Key

Public (public) key - a code string paired with the corresponding private key, to which public access is available. It is used along with the secret private key to send transactions. The public key corresponds to a bitcoin address.

Shorting

Shorting - Selling a cryptocurrency in hopes of buying it at a lower price to capitalize on it.

Arbitrage

Arbitrage - a different rate between exchanges, which can be used to move funds from one to another exchange

Cryptocurrency slang

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

Fear of Missing Out Syndrome - can develop when you want to make a trade in the market but are too impatient and act out of fear of losing, and this syndrome pushes you to make trades that may not be profitable in advance.

Fear, uncertainty and doubt

Fear, uncertainty and doubt - when someone doubts a particular cryptocurrency and generates criticism or lies through their actions in order to instill fear, uncertainty and doubt in the community.

Rekt

Failure, losing money as a result of a monstrously unprofitable deal.

Whale

A whale is an individual or group engaged in buying or selling a large amount of cryptocurrency that is significant enough to seriously alter market conditions. Whales are often referred to as large traders who are able to influence the market.

Major cryptocurrencies:

BTC - Bitcoin (Bitcoin)  
DASH - Dash  
ETH - Ether  
ETC - Ether Classic  
LTC - Litecoin 
XEM - NEM 
XMR - Monero (Monero - esperanto "coin")
ZEC (Zcash)