glossary

Short definitions of the words used in crypto, from address to whitepaper, each in Kurdish, Arabic and English. One entry per term, written to be read in under a minute.

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Pump and Dump

A form of fraud involving the artificial inflation of a cryptocurrency's price through false or misleading hype, followed by coordinated selling at the peak that causes the price to crash. Full definition

Whale

A term used to refer to very high net worth crypto wallet addresses whose trading decisions are large enough to directly and noticeably impact an asset's price. Full definition

Staking

A form of participation in a proof-of-stake system where you lock up your tokens for a set period to serve as a validator for the blockchain and receive rewards in return. Full definition

Know Your Customer (KYC)

A standard procedure in the finance industry that allows companies to identify their customers and comply with KYC and anti-money-laundering laws. Full definition

NFT (Non-Fungible Token)

Short for non-fungible token, NFTs are digital tokens used to prove ownership of unique tangible and intangible items — unlike cryptocurrencies, they cannot be exchanged one-for-one. Full definition

Smart Contract

A self-executing protocol on a blockchain that automatically carries out the terms of a contract when specific conditions are met, without the need for a third party. Full definition

DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

Short for Decentralized Finance, DeFi is the idea that blockchain entrepreneurs can use bitcoin and crypto technology to recreate traditional financial instruments such as loans and insurance, without a centralized intermediary. Full definition

Mining

The process of clumping transactions together in blocks and adding them to the blockchain by solving a computationally demanding puzzle, creating new coins and confirming transactions in the process. Full definition

Wallet

A storage facility for cryptocurrencies. Software that allows users to store their cryptocurrencies in a user-friendly way. Comes in many forms: paper, web, desktop, hardware, and mobile wallets. Full definition

Blockchain

A system in which a record of transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency is maintained across many computers linked in a peer-to-peer network, forming a decentralized fabric of trust. Full definition