100 Crypto Terms You Should Know in 2025
Crypto has its own language. If you want to read news, understand guides, or follow discussions, knowing the common abbreviations and terms will save you time and prevent mistakes. This guide gives you 100 useful crypto terms in plain language, explained simply and quickly.
The list below is perfect for beginners, hobby miners, traders, and anyone who wants to become fluent in crypto vocabulary. A short resource list is included at the end for further reading.
Quick tips before you start
- Read through the terms once to build familiarity.
- Keep this page bookmarked for quick reference.
- If a term sparks interest, use the resources below for full tutorials.
Also read What Is Cryptocurrency
The 100 terms
- ADA — Cardano, a Layer 1 blockchain
- Airdrop — Free tokens distributed to users
- ALGO — Algorand token
- Altcoin — Any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin
- AMM — Automated Market Maker used by DEXs to price assets
- API — Application Programming Interface used by apps and services
- APR — Annual Percentage Rate, interest without compounding
- APY — Annual Percentage Yield, interest including compounding
- ARB — Arbitrum, a Layer 2 network
- ATH — All-Time High, highest recorded price
- ATL — All-Time Low, lowest recorded price
- Audit — Security review of smart contract code
- AVAX — Avalanche token
- BNB — Binance Coin
- Bridge — Technology that moves assets between blockchains
- BTC — Bitcoin
- BTFD — Buy The Dip, slang for buying after a drop
- BUIDL — Build in crypto, do the work
- CEX — Centralized Exchange
- Cold wallet — Offline storage for private keys
- Collateral — Crypto locked to secure a loan
- COMP — Compound protocol / token
- CPI — Consumer Price Index, macro metric relevant to markets
- Crypto — Short for cryptocurrencies
- Custodial — A third party holds your keys for you
- DAO — Decentralized Autonomous Organization, community governance
- dApp — Decentralized application running on-chain
- DD — Due Diligence, researching a project
- DEX — Decentralized Exchange
- DIP — Price drop
- DLT — Distributed Ledger Technology
- DOGE — Dogecoin
- DOT — Polkadot token
- DYOR — Do Your Own Research
- ERC-20 — Token standard for fungible tokens on Ethereum
- ERC-721 — Token standard for NFTs on Ethereum
- ETH — Ethereum
- ETF — Exchange Traded Fund
- FA — Fundamental Analysis
- FDV — Fully Diluted Valuation
- FOMO — Fear Of Missing Out
- FUD — Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt
- Farming — Earning rewards by providing liquidity
- Fork — When a blockchain splits into two versions
- Futures — Derivative contracts for future settlement
- Gas — Fee to execute transactions on Ethereum
- GPU — Graphics card used for mining many coins
- GWEI — Unit of ETH gas
- HODL — Hold for the long term
- ICO — Initial Coin Offering
- IDO — Initial DEX Offering
- IEO — Initial Exchange Offering
- Immutable — Cannot be changed (blockchain property)
- IPFS — InterPlanetary File System for decentralized files
- KYC — Know Your Customer identity checks
- L1 — Layer 1, base blockchain like Bitcoin or Ethereum
- L2 — Layer 2 scaling solutions built on top of L1
- Launchpad — Platform for token launches
- Liquidity — Ease of buying or selling an asset
- LP — Liquidity Provider or Liquidity Pool
- LTV — Loan to Value ratio
- Maxi — Maximalist, for example Bitcoin maximalist
- Market cap — Market capitalization of a token
- MEV — Miner/Maximal Extractable Value
- Mempool — Pool of unconfirmed transactions
- Mint — Create new tokens or NFTs
- Moon — When a coin rallies dramatically
- MPC — Multi-Party Computation for shared key security
- NFT — Non-Fungible Token, unique on-chain item
- NGMI — Not Gonna Make It, negative slang
- Node — Computer running a blockchain client
- Non-custodial — You control your private keys
- Oracle — External data feed used by smart contracts
- P2P — Peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries
- Perp — Perpetual future contract
- PoS — Proof of Stake consensus
- PoW — Proof of Work consensus
- Protocol — Rules and code that define a blockchain
- Rekt — Totally wiped out in a trade
- RPC — Remote Procedure Call used to communicate with nodes
- SAT — Satoshi, smallest unit of Bitcoin
- Seed phrase — Backup words that restore a wallet
- Sharding — Technique to split blockchain load for scaling
- Smart contract — Code that runs on-chain automatically
- Stablecoin — Token pegged to another asset like USD
- Staking — Locking tokens to support PoS networks and earn rewards
- Swap — Exchange one token for another, often on a DEX
- TVL — Total Value Locked in DeFi protocols
- Validator — Node that validates blocks in PoS systems
- Volatility — Measure of price movement and risk
- Wallet — Software or device that stores keys and sends transactions
- Whale — Large holder able to move markets
- Yield — Return earned from staking, lending or liquidity
- Zero knowledge — Privacy or scaling tech that proves facts without revealing data
You can learn more here Coinbase Learn — simple explainers for beginners.