Glossary

Airdrop: A distribution of digital assets to several wallet addresses, often free of charge, to promote awareness of a new cryptocurrency.

Altcoin: Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. Altcoins can vary considerably in their objectives and functionalities.

AML (Anti-Money Laundering): A set of regulations, procedures and laws aimed at preventing criminals from concealing illegally obtained funds as legitimate income.

BANGK Coin: The native digital currency of the BANGK platform, used for transactions, rewards and participation in the governance of the platform.

Blockchain: A distributed ledger technology that maintains a secure, transparent and immutable record of transactions across a network of computers.

CeFi (Centralized Finance): Financial services provided by a centralized organization or institution, as opposed to decentralized finance (DeFi).

CEX (Centralized Exchange): A cryptocurrency trading platform operated by a centralized authority.

Circulating supply: The total quantity of cryptocurrencies currently available on the market that can be traded.

Cold Wallet / Hot Wallet: Cold wallets are cryptocurrency wallets not connected to the Internet, offering additional security for digital assets. Hot wallets are connected to the Internet, making them more convenient for everyday transactions but also more vulnerable to attacks.

Cryptocurrency: A digital or virtual currency secured by cryptography, making counterfeiting or double spending almost impossible.

Decentralisation: The distribution of power away from a central authority in a network, often associated with blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, promoting transparency and security.

Decentralised Finance (DeFi): An emerging financial technology based on secure distributed ledgers similar to those used by cryptocurrencies, aimed at eliminating intermediaries in financial transactions.

DEX (Decentralized Exchange): A decentralized exchange based on blockchain that allows users to exchange cryptocurrencies directly with each other without the need for a central authority.

Fiat/fiat currency: Currency issued by a government that is not backed by a physical commodity, such as gold or silver, but by the trust and authority of the issuing government.

Liquidity pool: A collection of funds locked into a smart contract used to facilitate decentralised trading, lending and many other functions. Liquidity pools are the backbone of many decentralised exchanges (DEX).

Liquidity provider: A person or entity that funds a liquidity pool with assets it owns to facilitate trading on the platform and earn passive income on its deposit, generally through transaction fees based on its percentage share in the pool.

Governance: The processes of interaction and decision-making between stakeholders or participants in an organisation or platform, particularly in the context of decentralised networks where governance determines the direction and changes in the system.

Governance token: A token that grants its holders the right to participate in decision-making processes on a blockchain platform, often in relation to changes to protocols, rules or configurations.

Hard Cap: The maximum amount of funds that a cryptocurrency project plans to raise through its Initial Coin Offering (ICO) or other funding mechanisms.

ICO (Initial Coin Offering): A funding mechanism in which new projects sell their underlying crypto tokens in exchange for bitcoin, ether or fiat currency. It's similar to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) but for new cryptocurrency ventures.

KYC (Know Your Customer): A process by which companies, particularly in the financial sector, verify the identity of customers to prevent fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing.

Liquidity: The ease with which an asset or security can be converted into cash without affecting its market price. In cryptocurrency, this refers to the ability to buy or sell large quantities of tokens or coins without significant price fluctuations.

Market capitalisation: The total value of all coins or tokens that have been mined or issued. It is calculated by multiplying the current price of a single coin or token by its total supply.

Market Maker: A person or institution that actively buys and sells securities, commodities or currencies to provide liquidity to the markets, profiting from the difference between buying and selling prices.

Off-chain / On-chain: Off-chain refers to transactions or processes taking place outside the blockchain, while on-chain refers to transactions and processes recorded on the blockchain, being transparent and immutable.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P): A decentralised communication model in which each party has the same capabilities and can initiate a communication session. In cryptocurrency, this refers to the direct exchange of digital assets without the need for an intermediary.

Private sales: A stage in the funding of a new project or cryptocurrency where tokens or coins are sold to a select group of investors before being made available to the public, often at a lower price.

Proof of History (PoH): A consensus mechanism that verifies the order and passage of time between events, used to encode the passage of time without reliance on a register.

Proof of Stake (PoS): A consensus mechanism for blockchains that enables transactions to be verified and security protocols to be more energy-efficient compared with proof of work (PoW). It involves validators who use their tokens as collateral to validate transactions.

Proof of Work (PoW): A consensus mechanism that requires participants to perform a certain amount of computational work to create new blocks in the blockchain, which helps secure the network against fraudulent activity.

Public address: A cryptographic hash of a public key, serving as the address to which cryptocurrencies can be sent. It is the equivalent of an email address for digital assets.

Public key / private key: A cryptographic key pair where the public key can be shared with others to encrypt messages or receive cryptocurrencies, and the private key is kept secret by the owner to decrypt messages or access cryptocurrencies held.

Public Sales: The phase of an ICO or token sale when the cryptocurrency project is opened to the general public for investment, usually following private sales or pre-sales.

Pump and Dump: A manipulative scheme involving the artificial inflation of the price of a cryptocurrency (pump) followed by a massive sale (dump) by the original perpetrators to profit from the artificially high prices.

Security Token: A type of cryptographic token that represents an ownership or investment interest in an external asset or business, offering holders rights such as dividends, a share of profits or a stake in the growth of the project.

Security Audit: A comprehensive review of the code of a platform or smart contract by security experts to identify vulnerabilities and security flaws prior to deployment on the blockchain.

Smart Contract: Self-executing contracts in which the terms of the agreement are written directly in lines of code. They automatically apply and execute the terms of a contract when predefined conditions are met.

Smart contract audit: The process of reviewing the code of a smart contract to ensure it is secure, reliable and working as intended, identifying potential vulnerabilities to prevent future attacks or failures.

Soft Cap: The minimum amount of funds that a cryptocurrency project aims to raise in an ICO or crowdfunding campaign. If the soft cap is not reached, the funds may be returned to investors.

Solana (blockchain): A high-performance blockchain supporting decentralised applications and cryptocurrencies. It is known for its high throughput and low transaction costs, using a unique consensus mechanism called Proof of History (PoH) in parallel with Proof of Stake (PoS) to achieve scalability and speed.

Stablecoin: A type of cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable market price by being indexed to a reserve asset, such as a fiat currency (e.g. USD) or a commodity (e.g. gold).

Staking: Participating in a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain network by holding and locking a certain amount of cryptocurrency in a wallet to support network operations, in return for rewards or interest.

Supply: The total number of coins or tokens that currently exist and are either in circulation or locked in accordance with the protocol rules.

Sustainable finance: Financial activities and investments that take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations, aiming for long-term prosperity while minimising their impact on the environment and society.

Token: A digital unit of value issued by a project, representing various rights within the ecosystem, such as network access, payment or participation rights.

Token allocation: The plan for distributing the total supply of tokens among different stakeholders, including developers, investors and the community.

Tokenomics: The business model of a cryptocurrency, detailing the token's utility, supply, distribution strategy and how it incentivises behaviour within the ecosystem.

Transaction fees: Fees paid to the miners or validators of the blockchain network for processing transactions. These fees vary according to network congestion and the complexity of the transaction.

Utility token: A type of cryptocurrency that serves a specific purpose within its native ecosystem, offering holders access to services, products or benefits offered by the project.

Vesting: A process whereby allocated tokens or assets are locked up for a period of time and gradually released to their holders, often used to secure a long-term commitment.

Vesting schedule: A pre-determined timeline that specifies when and how many vested tokens will be released to stakeholders, typically to prevent mass market sell-offs and encourage loyalty.

Volatility: A measure of the rate at which the price of a cryptocurrency rises or falls for a given set of returns. High volatility means that the price is highly variable.

Volume: The total number of coins or tokens traded in a specific timeframe. It indicates the level of activity on a cryptocurrency market or exchange.

Wallet: A digital tool that allows users to securely store, send and receive cryptocurrencies. Wallets can be software-based (online, mobile or desktop) or hardware-based for added security.

Wallet address: A string of alphanumeric characters representing a destination for a cryptocurrency payment. Each wallet has a unique address that can be shared to receive funds.

Whitepaper: A document published by a cryptocurrency project that explains the proposed technology, methodology, product or service. It includes technical details, project philosophy, team background and business model, aimed at informing and attracting investors and users. Translated with