Frequently Asked Questions

Fiat money - printed bills and credit money which are issued to be circulated in any given country. For example, US dollar, euro, yuan, etc. Fiat money is neither tied to the gold nor backed by anything.

Cryptocurrency is a digital system wherein money exchange takes place without any bank intervention, strictly between a sender and a receiver. To secure a transaction and control the asset transfer a cryptography system is used.

Cryptography is the science of information protection methods, data integrity, encryption and verification. Cryptography is the cornerstone of the entire crypto industry, which allows advanced protection against third party intervention.

Satoshi is the cryptocurrency unit named after bitcoin’s creator’s nickname, Satoshi Nakamoto. 1 satoshi = 0,00000001 bitcoin.

Market cap is cryptocurrency market value: total available coin amount x current coin value.

Public Key is a bitcoin address digital money is sent to. Public key is open - other users can see it. Open key is connected to the private one and is responsible for data encryption.

Private key are the symbols to create a digital signature no crypto transaction can be possible without. One should store the private key on a separate device without internet connection - if a third party were to gain access to this key, your funds might be compromised.

A distributed ledger is an array of digital data that is duplicated, synchronized, replicated, and distributed across multiple networks. The opposite of a distributed ledger is a centralized ledger, which is controlled by a single network or user.

A mining pool is a community of miners who have joined forces to increase their chances of creating a block and earning more. Profits are distributed based on each participant's contribution.

Scam - an ICO where the developers did not fulfill their obligations to the participants of the deal. For example, when project creators do not pay investors and disappear.

Smart contracts are algorithms for automating contract execution in a blockchain. Their presence allows for the avoidance of dual interpretations of contract terms between parties.

Multisig (multisignature) is a wallet that requires more than one signature to confirm a transaction. For example, if a company wants to ensure that no single employee has full access to transactions, multisig will allow a transaction to be approved only when multiple signatures from different employees are entered.

Hodl - a typo of the English word "hold." On the Bitcointalk forum, one user made a mistake and wrote "I AM HODLING." The meaning of the term is to advise people to hold onto their assets and not succumb to panic selling, aiming for long-term investment.

FUD is an abbreviation for Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt. It's a way to lower the price of cryptocurrencies by spreading false information. But there's also organic, natural FUD, such as a ban on cryptocurrency trading in a country.

Token - a digitized asset embedded in a blockchain. For example, virtual currency, stocks, securities, and so on.

ATH is an abbreviation for All-Time High. It's the point at which the price of a coin or token reaches its all-time highest value. During such times, it's generally not advisable to buy the currency, as the price of the currency typically undergoes a natural correction after reaching ATH.

Node - a network node. They are needed for security purposes: if a user wants to double-spend a token, the cryptocurrency network will not allow them to do so with the help of multiple randomly selected nodes.

Fork - a blockchain chain split. Accidental fork - inconsistencies in software versions among users. Hard fork - changes in the software part of a coin introduced by blockchain developers. After these changes, users need to update all applications for proper trading of this type of coin.

Mining - the process of legitimately and correctly adding blocks to the blockchain. In the context of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, mining is how new coins are issued, and miners receive cryptocurrency as a reward.

Hashrate - the computational power of mining devices (the number of hashes per second).