The Words of Crypto
Time to understand the language of blockchain, DeFi, NFT and Web3.
Altcoin
An altcoin is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. The term combines "alternative" and "coin" and includes thousands of digital assets like Ethereum, Solana, BNB, and XRP, each designed with different use cases and technologies.
Aster DEX
Aster DEX is a multi-chain decentralized perpetual futures exchange supporting up to 200x leverage across BNB Smart Chain, Ethereum, Arbitrum, and other networks, allowing traders to open leveraged positions from their self-custody wallet.
Binary Option
A binary option is a fixed-payoff financial contract that pays a set amount if an underlying asset's price meets a condition at expiry — structurally similar to a prediction-market share, but tied to asset prices rather than real-world events and traded against a broker rather than other participants.
Bitcoin
Bitcoin (BTC) is the first and most widely recognized cryptocurrency, created in 2009 by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto as a decentralized peer-to-peer digital currency that operates without banks or governments.
Blockchain
A blockchain is a decentralized, distributed digital ledger that records transactions across a network of computers, making the data transparent, secure, and nearly impossible to alter.
Cold Wallet
A cold wallet stores your private keys completely offline, making it immune to remote hacks. It is the most secure method for storing large amounts of cryptocurrency long-term.
Cross Margin
Cross margin is a trading mode in which the entire account balance is used as collateral for all open positions, increasing capital efficiency but putting the full balance at risk of liquidation.
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and operates on a decentralized blockchain network, enabling peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries like banks.
dApp
A dApp (decentralized application) runs on a blockchain using smart contracts instead of a central server — giving users direct control without a company in the middle
DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
DeFi, short for Decentralized Finance, is a financial ecosystem built on blockchain technology that replaces traditional intermediaries like banks and brokers with smart contracts, enabling open, permissionless lending, borrowing, trading, and earning.
DEX
A DEX (decentralized exchange) lets you trade cryptocurrency directly from your wallet using smart contracts — no company holds your funds or requires an account.
Ethereum
Ethereum (ETH) is a decentralized blockchain platform that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps), serving as the foundation for DeFi, NFTs, and much of the Web3 ecosystem.
Event Contract
An event contract is a financial instrument whose payoff depends on whether a specific real-world event occurs by a defined date — the underlying primitive of prediction markets and the regulatory term used by the CFTC for venues like Kalshi.
HIP-4
HIP-4 (Hyperliquid Improvement Proposal 4) introduces native prediction-market primitives to the Hyperliquid Layer-1 blockchain, letting event contracts settle alongside Hyperliquid's existing on-chain perpetuals order book in self-custody.
Hot Wallet
A hot wallet is a crypto wallet that stays connected to the internet. It offers fast access and easy transactions, making it ideal for everyday crypto use.
Hyperliquid
Hyperliquid is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange that runs on its own Layer-1 blockchain (HyperEVM), offering high-speed on-chain order-book trading with support for crypto, equity, and commodity perpetuals.
Leverage (Crypto Trading)
Leverage in crypto trading is the use of borrowed capital to open a position larger than a trader's own funds, multiplying both potential gains and losses by the leverage ratio.
Liquidation
Liquidation is the automatic closure of a leveraged trading position when losses consume the trader's margin, triggered at a predetermined liquidation price to prevent further loss to the exchange or protocol.
Long Position
A long position in crypto trading is a bet that an asset's price will rise — the trader profits when the price goes up and loses when it goes down.
NFT (Non-Fungible Token)
A unique digital asset stored on a blockchain that cannot be replicated or exchanged on a one-to-one basis. NFTs represent ownership of digital items like art, music, collectibles, and in-game assets.
Non-Custodial Wallet
A non-custodial wallet gives you full ownership of your private keys. No company can access, freeze, or lose your funds — you are your own bank.
On-Chain Perpetuals
On-chain perpetuals are perpetual futures contracts where order matching, settlement, and collateral custody all happen on a blockchain, allowing traders to open leveraged positions without handing over custody to a centralized exchange.
Onchain Prediction Markets
Onchain prediction markets are crypto-native event-trading platforms where market creation, trading, and resolution all happen via smart contracts, removing the need for a centralized operator and letting users trade from a self-custody wallet.
Open Interest
Open interest is the total number of outstanding derivative contracts — such as perpetual futures — that have not yet been closed or settled, used as a key indicator of market participation and liquidity.
Outcome Token
n outcome token is a tokenized share representing one possible result of a prediction market — typically a "Yes" or "No" share that pays $1 if its outcome occurs and $0 if it doesn't, with the live price reflecting the market's implied probability.
Perpetual Futures (Perps)
Perpetual futures (perps) are leveraged crypto derivatives with no expiry date, letting traders go long or short on an asset's price with leverage while the contract price is kept aligned to the spot market via a periodic funding rate.
Polymarket
Polymarket is the largest decentralized prediction-market platform, where users trade shares in real-world event outcomes using USDC on Polygon, with markets resolved by the UMA optimistic oracle.
Predict.fun
Predict.fun is an onchain prediction-market platform on BNB Chain that lets users trade event contracts in self-custody while earning yield on idle USDC collateral through Venus integration.
Prediction Market
A prediction market is a marketplace where users buy and sell shares tied to the outcomes of future events, with prices that map directly to the crowd's implied probability of those outcomes occurring.
Private Key
A private key is a secret cryptographic code that gives you full control of your cryptocurrency. Anyone with access to your private key controls your funds.
Public Key
A public key is your shareable blockchain identifier derived from your private key. Share it to receive crypto — it cannot be used to access or move your funds.
Resolution Source
A resolution source is the data feed, oracle, or designated authority that determines the final outcome of a prediction market or event contract — the single most important design choice for any market, since it dictates how disputes are settled and how trustworthy the payoff is.
RWA Perpetuals
RWA perpetuals are perpetual futures contracts based on real-world assets such as US equities, commodities, foreign exchange, and bonds — allowing crypto users to trade leveraged exposure to non-crypto markets directly from a self-custody wallet.
Seed Phrase
A sequence of 12 to 24 randomly generated words that serves as the master key to your crypto wallet. Anyone with your seed phrase can access your funds, so it must be kept offline and private.
Self-Custody Trading
Self-custody trading is the practice of executing trades — including spot and leveraged derivatives — directly from a wallet whose private keys are controlled by the user, eliminating counterparty risk from exchanges or custodians.
Short Position
A short position in crypto trading is a bet that an asset's price will fall — the trader profits when the price goes down and loses when it goes up.
Smart Contract
A smart contract is self-executing code stored on a blockchain that automatically enforces agreement terms when predefined conditions are met — no intermediaries needed.
Staking
Staking is the process of locking up cryptocurrency in a blockchain network to help validate transactions and secure the network, earning rewards in return. It is a core feature of Proof of Stake blockchains.