Cryptocurrency Basics
Account Balance Model
Account Balance Model is a ledger design that tracks balances per account rather than individual unspent outputs.
Read full definitionShouldEye Trust Intelligence Glossary
Cryptocurrency Basics Terms
Cryptocurrency, digital assets, coins vs tokens, and core ledger vocabulary — educational, not trading advice.
Educational information only. ShouldEye does not provide legal, banking, or individualized financial advice. Dispute rights, deadlines, and outcomes depend on your payment method, card network, issuer, processor, jurisdiction, and the facts of your case. Legal Disclaimers
69 published definitions in this topic.
Cryptocurrency Basics
Anonymity Claim
Anonymity Claim is a statement that activity cannot be linked to a person; many so-called anonymous flows are still analyzable.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Asset Issuance
Asset Issuance is creation of new coins or tokens under protocol or contract rules.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Bitcoin Network
Bitcoin Network is the Bitcoin blockchain and peer network as an educational example of a proof-of-work cryptocurrency system.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Blockchain Explorer Basics
Blockchain Explorer Basics is a public website that displays addresses, transactions, and contracts for a network.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Blockchain Technology Overview
Blockchain Technology Overview is a consumer summary that blockchains chain hashed blocks to create a shared transaction history.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Burn Mechanism
Burn Mechanism is deliberate destruction of tokens that reduces measurable supply under a contract’s rules.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Circulating Supply
Circulating Supply is tokens or coins currently available in the market according to a chosen methodology.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Confirmation Concept
Confirmation Concept is the idea that a transaction gains more assurance as additional blocks build on top of it.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Address Basics
Crypto Address Basics is the consumer-facing idea that funds are sent to an address string controlled by keys.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Asset
Crypto Asset is an asset issued or transferred using cryptographic ledger technology, used in regulation and consumer materials.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Confirmation Delay
Crypto Confirmation Delay is waiting time before a transfer is considered settled enough for a given risk tolerance.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Consumer Caution
Crypto Consumer Caution is a habit of verifying network, address, and requester before signing or sending irreversible value.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Ecosystem
Crypto Ecosystem is the combined set of networks, wallets, exchanges, apps, and service providers around crypto assets.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Liquidity Basics
Crypto Liquidity Basics is how easily an asset can be traded without large price impact; thin liquidity raises exit risk.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Market Cycle Language
Crypto Market Cycle Language is informal boom/bust vocabulary that is descriptive only and not a predictive model.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Portfolio Risk
Crypto Portfolio Risk is concentration, custody, smart-contract, and scam risks that can compound across holdings.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Scam Surface
Crypto Scam Surface is the set of common attack channels: phishing, fake apps, romance pitches, drainers, and recovery fraud.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Settlement
Crypto Settlement is final recording of a transfer on a ledger according to that network’s confirmation rules.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Ticker Symbol
Crypto Ticker Symbol is a short code used to label an asset in UIs; tickers can collide and are not unique global identifiers.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Unit
Crypto Unit is a denomination of a crypto asset such as whole coins or fractional subunits.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Crypto Volatility
Volatility is rapid price swings common in crypto markets that can change fiat value between send and receive.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Cryptocurrency
Cryptocurrency is a digitally native asset recorded on a distributed ledger and transferred with cryptographic keys rather than a traditional bank instruction.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Cryptocurrency Network
Cryptocurrency Network is the combination of protocol, nodes, and economic incentives that maintain a crypto ledger.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Custodial Risk
Custodial Risk is the chance a platform holding your assets restricts withdrawals, is hacked, or becomes insolvent.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Decentralization
Decentralization is the distribution of control across many participants so no single operator unilaterally rewrites the shared ledger.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Digital Asset
Digital Asset is a broad label for electronically represented value that may include crypto tokens, and is not automatically a bank deposit.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Digital Scarcity
Digital Scarcity is protocol rules that limit issuance so units are not infinitely copyable as spendable balances.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Distributed Ledger
Distributed Ledger is a shared record of transactions replicated across multiple machines.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Double-Spending Problem
Double-Spending Problem is the risk of spending the same digital unit twice, which consensus designs aim to prevent.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Educational Crypto Disclaimer
Educational Crypto Disclaimer is a reminder that crypto explanations are informational and not personalized financial or recovery advice.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Ethereum Network
Ethereum Network is a smart-contract blockchain often used for tokens, NFTs, and DeFi interactions.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Fiat Currency
Fiat Currency is government-issued money such as USD or EUR that crypto markets often price against.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Fork Basics
Fork Basics is a divergence in protocol rules or chain history that can create competing versions of a ledger.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Gas Concept Basics
Gas Concept Basics is a beginner framing for network fees paid to execute transactions on smart-contract chains.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Hard-to-Reverse Payment
Hard-to-Reverse Payment is a payment rail where consumer chargeback rights are limited or absent after confirmation.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Immutability
Immutability is the practical difficulty of altering confirmed ledger history without consensus-breaking effort.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Irreversible Transfer
Irreversible Transfer is a confirmed crypto send that typically cannot be charged back like many card payments.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Key Control Principle
Key Control Principle is the principle that control of keys usually means control of the assets those keys can move.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Ledger
Ledger is an append-oriented record of balances and transfers maintained by a network or institution.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Mainnet
Mainnet is the production blockchain network where real value settles, as opposed to a test network.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Market Capitalization
Market Capitalization is an estimate of network or token value from price times circulating supply, not a safety score.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Medium of Exchange Claim
Medium of Exchange Claim is a claim that an asset is used to buy goods or services; usage varies widely by place and merchant.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Miner Basics
Miner Basics is participants that expend resources to propose blocks under proof-of-work style systems.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Native Asset
Native Asset is the primary coin used to pay fees and secure a specific blockchain.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Network Upgrade
Network Upgrade is a coordinated change to protocol rules that may require software updates by node operators.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Node Basics
Node Basics is software that participates in a blockchain network by relaying and/or validating data.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Non-Custodial Risk
Non-Custodial Risk is the chance you lose access through lost seeds, malware, or phishing when you hold keys yourself.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Off-Chain Activity
Off-Chain Activity is actions outside the base ledger such as exchange databases or messaging that may later settle on-chain.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
On-Chain Activity
On-Chain Activity is actions recorded on a public ledger such as transfers, swaps, and contract calls.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
On-Chain Pseudonymity
On-Chain Pseudonymity is the use of addresses that are not legal names, while activity may still be linkable through analysis.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Peer-to-Peer Network
Peer-to-Peer Network is a network where participants exchange data or value without a single required middle server for every hop.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Permissioned Network
Permissioned Network is a ledger network where participation is restricted to approved entities.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Permissionless Network
Permissionless Network is a network anyone can use or validate according to protocol rules without prior approval from a gatekeeper.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Private Blockchain
Private Blockchain is a blockchain operated within a restricted membership set, often for enterprise workflows.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Protocol Rules
Protocol Rules is the consensus and validity rules that determine which blocks and transactions a network accepts.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Public Blockchain
Public Blockchain is a blockchain anyone can read and, subject to protocol rules, submit transactions to.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Public Key Cryptography Basics
Public Key Cryptography Basics is the use of key pairs so signatures can prove authorization without revealing the private key in normal use.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Risk Label Probabilism
Risk Label Probabilism is the idea that risk scores and scam labels are probabilistic estimates, not courtroom verdicts.
Read full definitionCryptocurrency Basics
Satoshi
Satoshi is the smallest commonly referenced unit of Bitcoin, equal to one hundred-millionth of a bitcoin.
Read full definition