Crypto Glossary

A

All-time high (ATH)

The highest price a coin has ever traded at, according to the data provider.

Altcoin

Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin.

Altcoin season

A period when most large altcoins rise more than Bitcoin. This site measures it as the share of the 50 largest altcoins that beat Bitcoin over 30 days.

B

Basis point

One hundredth of one percent (0.01%). Funding rates are often discussed in basis points.

Bitcoin dominance

Bitcoin's market cap as a share of the total crypto market cap.

Block height

The number of blocks in a blockchain before the current one. It is used to count down to events such as the Bitcoin halving.

C

Circulating supply

The number of coins that are available to trade now. Locked or unreleased coins are not included.

D

Difficulty adjustment

Every 2,016 blocks Bitcoin changes how hard it is to find a block, so that blocks keep arriving about every ten minutes.

DVOL

Deribit's index of 30 day implied volatility for Bitcoin or Ether options, shown as an annual percentage.

F

Fully diluted valuation (FDV)

The price multiplied by the maximum or total supply. It shows the market cap if every planned coin were in circulation.

Fear and Greed Index

A daily 0 to 100 score from Alternative.me that summarises crypto market mood.

Funding rate

A regular payment between long and short holders of perpetual futures that keeps the contract price close to the spot price.

G

Gas

The unit that measures the work an Ethereum transaction needs. The fee is gas used times the gas price.

Gwei

One billionth of one ether. Ethereum gas prices are quoted in gwei.

H

Halving

The cut in half of the Bitcoin block reward that happens every 210,000 blocks.

Hashrate

The total computing power miners use to secure Bitcoin, measured here in exahashes per second (EH/s).

I

Implied volatility

The size of price moves that option prices suggest traders expect, shown as an annual percentage.

L

Leverage

Trading with borrowed money. It increases both gains and losses.

Liquidation

The forced closing of a leveraged position when losses use up the trader's margin.

Long/short ratio

The number of accounts holding long positions divided by those holding short positions on an exchange.

M

Market cap

Price multiplied by circulating supply. The usual way to rank cryptocurrencies by size.

Max pain

The settlement price at which all open options for one expiry would pay their holders the least.

Mempool

The waiting room for Bitcoin transactions that have been sent but not yet included in a block.

O

Open interest

The total value of futures or options positions that are still open.

P

Perpetual futures

Futures contracts with no expiry date, kept near the spot price through funding payments.

Put/call ratio

Open interest in put options divided by open interest in call options.

S

sat/vB

Satoshis per virtual byte, the unit for Bitcoin fee rates. One satoshi is one hundred millionth of a bitcoin.

Slippage

The difference between the expected price of a trade and the price you actually get, usually larger for big orders or thinly traded coins.

Stablecoin

A token designed to keep a steady value, usually one US dollar.

T

Total value locked (TVL)

The dollar value of crypto deposited in DeFi apps.

Trading volume

The dollar value of a coin traded over a period, usually 24 hours.