Reference
Glossary
Every term you will meet on this site and most you will meet elsewhere, defined in one sentence a beginner can read and then explained properly. Where a term is routinely misunderstood, the entry says how.
Consensus & Security22Cryptography8Custody & Access15Data & Measurement27DeFi17Foundations20Institutional Access13Market Structure28Regulation & Policy19Risk & Failure Modes23Scaling & Infrastructure18Stablecoins13Tokens & Supply37
18 terms shown
| Term | Category | In one sentence |
|---|---|---|
| Account Abstraction | Scaling & Infrastructure | Letting a user's account be a programmable contract, so rules such as spending limits or social recovery replace a single private key. |
| Blob | Scaling & Infrastructure | A large chunk of temporary data attached to an Ethereum block, priced separately from gas and deleted after a few weeks. |
| Bridge | Scaling & Infrastructure | A system that moves value between two blockchains, usually by locking an asset on one and issuing a representation on the other. |
| Data Availability | Scaling & Infrastructure | The guarantee that the data behind a block or batch was actually published, so anyone can download it and check the results. |
| EVM | Scaling & Infrastructure | Ethereum's virtual machine, and the de facto standard that many other chains copy so the same contracts can run on them. |
| Fraud Proof | Scaling & Infrastructure | Evidence submitted on the base chain showing that a layer 2 posted an incorrect result, causing that result to be rejected. |
| Layer 1 | Scaling & Infrastructure | A blockchain that runs its own consensus and settles its own transactions, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana. |
| Layer 2 | Scaling & Infrastructure | A separate network that processes transactions off a base chain while relying on that chain for security or dispute resolution. |
| Modular Blockchain | Scaling & Infrastructure | A design where separate systems handle execution, settlement, consensus, and data publication instead of one chain doing everything. |
| Optimistic Rollup | Scaling & Infrastructure | A rollup that assumes posted results are correct and gives observers a window in which to challenge them with a fraud proof. |
| Oracle | Scaling & Infrastructure | A service that brings outside information, such as a price or an event outcome, onto a blockchain so contracts can use it. |
| Rollup | Scaling & Infrastructure | A layer 2 that executes transactions in bulk elsewhere and posts the results, plus enough data, back to the base chain. |
| Sequencer | Scaling & Infrastructure | The party that receives layer 2 transactions, decides their order, and packages them for posting to the base chain. |
| Sharding | Scaling & Infrastructure | Splitting a network so each node handles only part of the work, instead of every node processing every transaction. |
| Sidechain | Scaling & Infrastructure | An independent blockchain with its own validators that connects to a main chain through a bridge. |
| Validity Proof | Scaling & Infrastructure | A cryptographic proof that a batch of transactions was executed correctly, checkable by a contract without redoing the work. |
| Virtual Machine | Scaling & Infrastructure | The standardized computer defined by a blockchain's rules, which every node simulates so contracts behave identically everywhere. |
| ZK-Rollup | Scaling & Infrastructure | A rollup that posts a cryptographic proof with each batch showing that the new state was computed correctly. |