The crypto glossary A–Z
The words from the charts, the wallet pop-ups and the group chat. Get the meaning, see an example and follow the source.
Fiat-backed stablecoin
A stablecoin that uses fiat-denominated reserves to support its target value.
Finality
The degree of assurance that an accepted transaction or block will not be replaced.
Flash loan
A loan that must be repaid under the protocol’s rules within the same atomic transaction.
FOMO
Fear of missing out: that itch to jump in because everyone else seems to be making money without you.
Fork choice
The rule a node uses to select its preferred chain when multiple valid branches exist.
Formal verification
Using mathematical methods to check whether software satisfies explicitly stated properties.
Fraud proof
Evidence used to demonstrate that a claimed computation or state transition is incorrect.
Fren
Friend, written in crypto-chat style: a friendly way to address someone in an online community.
FUD
Fear, uncertainty and doubt: crypto shorthand for scary news, rumors or negative talk about a project or market.
Full node
Software that independently checks blockchain transactions and blocks against the network’s rules.
Fully diluted valuation
A hypothetical valuation multiplying a reference price by a broader total or maximum supply figure.
Function selector
The first four bytes identifying a function in a standard Ethereum ABI-encoded call.
Fungible token
A token whose units are interchangeable with other units of the same token class.
Gas
The unit Ethereum uses to measure the computation and other resources a transaction consumes.
Gas limit
The maximum amount of gas allowed for a transaction or block, depending on the context.
Gas price
The amount of ether paid per unit of gas consumed by an Ethereum transaction.
Genesis block
The first block from which a blockchain’s history begins.
GM
Good morning: the quick hello you see all over crypto and Web3 chats, whatever the time zone.
GN
Good night: a casual sign-off when someone leaves a crypto chat or calls it a day.
Governance token
A token used in a protocol or organization's decision-making system.
Gwei
A unit equal to one billion wei, commonly used to quote Ethereum gas prices.
Halving
Bitcoin’s scheduled halving of the block subsidy every 210,000 blocks.
Hard fork
A rule change that can make blocks valid under the new rules but invalid under the old ones.
Hardware wallet
A dedicated device designed to generate, protect and use signing keys without exposing them to a general-purpose computer.
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