Crypto Glossary: The Jargon, in Plain English

Coins & money

• BTC (Bitcoin) — the first and largest crypto by market cap, often treated as the whole market's bellwether. Total supply is fixed at 21 million, and it's basically the first thing beginners touch.
• ETH (Ethereum) — the second-largest crypto by market cap. Its network runs "smart contracts" and is the base layer a vast number of tokens and apps sit on — think of it as crypto's operating system.
• USDT (Tether) — a stablecoin pegged to 1 US dollar, used as dollar cash in crypto. To buy other coins or US stocks, you usually convert money into USDT first.
• Stablecoin — a crypto asset pegged to a fiat currency like the US dollar, kept as steady as possible, such as USDT or USDC. Its job is to give you a "place to catch your breath" during violent moves.

Ways to trade

• Spot — buy as much as your money covers and hold it directly, no borrowing or amplification. This is where beginners should start; the risk is relatively contained.
• Futures — a derivative settled at a future price, where you can go long or short, usually with leverage. Flexible, but far riskier than spot — don't touch it until you get it.
• Leverage — using less capital to control a larger position. 10x leverage means gains and losses are both magnified 10x. A small adverse move can wipe out your margin.
• Liquidation (forced close) — when a futures loss eats your margin, the system force-closes your position and your capital is essentially gone. The most common fate for beginners who impulsively open leverage. Before ordering, use the Liquidation Calculator to see the liq price first.
• Long / Short — going long bets price rises and buys to profit from the rise; going short bets price falls, sells borrowed coins, and buys them back cheaper for the difference.

Accounts & funding

• KYC (identity verification) — the platform's process to confirm "you are who you say you are," via ID upload and a face scan. A compliance requirement; features are only complete once you pass. See the KYC guide.
• C2C (peer-to-peer) — users buying and selling crypto directly with fiat, with the platform as escrow. A common funding method.
• Frozen card — when a C2C payment involves a counterparty account that previously took in funds tied to a case, your bank card can be temporarily frozen. The most maddening beginner trap; prevention and handling are in Common traps and C2C without a frozen card.
• Deposit / Withdraw — moving assets into a platform is a deposit; sending them out to another address is a withdrawal. Always double-check the address and the "chain" — sending on the wrong chain can lose coins.

Indicators & strategy

• Funding rate — in perpetual futures, the fee longs and shorts periodically pay each other. A very high rate often means one side is too crowded — a signal to be wary. See: the funding rate explained.
• Halving — Bitcoin's protocol rule that roughly every four years automatically halves the block reward, slowing new supply. It's the source of the "four-year bull-bear cycle" idea. See: the halving cycle explained.
• DCA (dollar-cost averaging) — buying a fixed amount at regular intervals to average out cost. No timing needed, suited to beginners wary of buying at the top but wanting long-term exposure. Backtest with the DCA Calculator.

Wallets & chains

• Wallet — a tool for holding crypto and safeguarding private keys. Two kinds: online "hot wallets" and offline "cold wallets."
• Cold wallet / Hot wallet — a cold wallet is offline, safer, and better for large long-term holdings; a hot wallet is online, convenient for daily use, but relatively riskier.
• Private key / Seed phrase — the top-level control over your wallet's assets. Whoever holds it can take your coins. Anyone asking for a private key or seed phrase is a scammer — never share it.
• Gas fee — the fee paid to the network for a transaction or operation on a blockchain. The more congested the network, the more expensive gas gets.
• Chain / Mainnet / Public chain — the underlying network that carries assets, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. Pick the right chain for a transfer; the wrong one may not arrive.

Orders & the market

• Maker / Taker — a maker posts a price first and provides liquidity, usually paying a lower fee; a taker fills instantly at the current price, usually paying a slightly higher fee.
• Market order / Limit order — a market order fills immediately at the current price, fast but you don't set the price; a limit order lets you set a price and only fills when the market reaches it.
• Slippage — the gap between your expected price when ordering and the actual fill price. It's more pronounced in sharp moves or when market depth is thin.

Slang & mood

• Altcoin — a catch-all for cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. Generally more volatile and higher risk — beginners shouldn't rush straight into small-caps.
• Airdrop — a project's free token giveaway. Tempting, but also often used by scammers as phishing bait; any "airdrop" that wants you to connect a wallet, grant approvals or pay a fee is probably a scam.
• FOMO / FUD — FOMO is chasing impulsively out of "fear of missing out"; FUD is panic-selling swept along by "fear, uncertainty and doubt." Both are common drivers of beginner losses.
• Tokenized stock — a stock mapped into an on-chain token you can trade with crypto. Binance US stocks work this way, but it differs from a real share at a broker in the rights it carries. See: what tokenized stocks are.