Cryptocurrency Trading Glossary

Altcoin Season

A period when altcoins broadly outperform Bitcoin.

AML

Anti-Money Laundering — rules exchanges follow to prevent illicit fund flows.

API

Application Programming Interface — lets software connect and share data.

APY

Annual Percentage Yield — yearly return including compounding.

ATH (All-Time High)

The highest price ever reached by a cryptocurrency.

Bear Market

A market condition where prices are falling, typically 20% or more.

Bitcoin

The first cryptocurrency, launched in 2009 with a fixed 21 million supply.

Bitcoin Dominance

Bitcoin's share of total crypto market capitalisation.

Blockchain

A distributed ledger that records transactions across a network of computers.

Bot Trading

Automated execution of a trading strategy through code.

Breakout

Price moving decisively beyond an established range or level.

Bull Market

A market condition where prices are rising or expected to rise significantly.

Capitulation

A high-volume sell-off where holders abandon positions at any price.

Centralized Exchange (CEX)

An exchange operated by a company that controls user funds and trading.

Cold Wallet

An offline wallet used for secure long-term storage.

Cryptocurrency

Digital currency secured by cryptography and running on blockchain technology.

DCA

Dollar-Cost Averaging — buying fixed amounts at regular intervals.

DeFi

Decentralized Finance — financial services built on blockchain without intermediaries.

DEX

Decentralized Exchange — peer-to-peer trading via smart contracts.

Dip

A temporary decline in price, often seen as a buying opportunity.

DYOR

Do Your Own Research — verify information before investing.

FOMO

Fear Of Missing Out — anxiety about missing profitable opportunities.

Fork

A change in blockchain protocol creating two versions of the chain.

FUD

Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt — negative information spread to move sentiment.

Funding Rate

Periodic payment between long and short holders of perpetual futures.

Gas Fee

Transaction fee paid to validators for processing blockchain transactions.

Genesis Block

The first block in a blockchain, also known as Block 0.

Halving

The scheduled 50% cut in Bitcoin's block reward, roughly every four years.

Hash Rate

The computational power used to mine and process transactions on a blockchain.

HODL

Hold On for Dear Life — holding long-term despite volatility.

Hot Wallet

An online wallet connected to the internet for easy access.

Impermanent Loss

Value lost by liquidity providers when pooled asset prices diverge.

KYC

Know Your Customer — identity verification required by regulated platforms.

Layer 2

A network built on top of a base blockchain to increase speed and cut fees.

Leverage

Borrowing funds to increase position size, returns and risk.

Limit Order

An order to buy or sell at a specific price or better.

Liquidation

Forced closure of a leveraged position when margin is insufficient.

Liquidity

How easily an asset can be bought or sold without affecting its price.

Liquidity Pool

A smart-contract reserve of paired assets that powers DEX trading.

Margin

Collateral posted to open and maintain a leveraged position.

Market Cap

Total value of a cryptocurrency: current price × circulating supply.

Market Order

An order that executes immediately at the best available price.

Market Psychology

The collective emotion driving market cycles from fear to euphoria.

Mining

Validating blockchain transactions using computational power.

Moon

Slang for a large price increase ('to the moon').

NFT

Non-Fungible Token — a unique digital asset representing ownership.

Node

A computer connected to a blockchain network that validates transactions.

On-Chain Analysis

Studying blockchain data to gauge investor behaviour and network health.

Order Book

The live list of buy and sell orders at each price level.

Paper Trading

Practising trading with virtual money to learn without financial risk.

Perpetual Futures

Derivatives contracts with no expiry, kept near spot by funding payments.

Private Key

The secret code that controls access to crypto funds.

Proof of Stake

Consensus where validators stake tokens to secure the network.

Proof of Work

Consensus where miners expend computation to validate blocks.

Pump and Dump

A manipulation scheme that inflates price before insiders sell.

Rekt

Slang for 'wrecked' — suffering significant trading losses.

Resistance

A price level where selling pressure tends to prevent further increases.

Risk Management

The rules that limit how much can be lost on any trade or portfolio.

ROI

Return on Investment — percentage gain or loss on an investment.

Rug Pull

A scam where developers abandon a project and drain its liquidity.

Satoshi

The smallest unit of Bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC), named after its creator.

Seed Phrase

A 12–24 word backup that regenerates every key in a wallet.

Slippage

The difference between expected and executed trade price.

Smart Contract

Self-executing code on a blockchain that runs when conditions are met.

Stablecoin

A token designed to hold a stable value, usually pegged to the US dollar.

Staking

Locking cryptocurrency to support network operations and earn rewards.

Stop Loss

An automatic order to exit when price reaches a specified level.

Support

A price level where buying pressure tends to prevent further declines.

Technical Analysis

Analysing price charts and patterns to anticipate future movement.

Token

A digital asset built on an existing blockchain such as Ethereum.

Tokenomics

The supply, distribution and incentive design of a token.

Trading Volume

The total amount of an asset traded in a specific period.

Volatility

A measure of how much and how quickly prices change.

Volume

The amount of cryptocurrency traded within a specific timeframe.

Wallet

Software or hardware used to store cryptocurrency private keys.

Whale

An individual or entity holding a very large amount of cryptocurrency.

Whitepaper

A technical document explaining a project's purpose and technology.

Yield Farming

Moving capital between protocols to maximise incentive rewards.