Crypto glossary in plain English
Short definitions for wallet, seed, gas, approval, bridge, explorer, and other terms beginners meet first—with pointers to public references.
Jargon is half the intimidation. These definitions follow common usage in public developer docs (especially ethereum.org’s glossary and developer docs). They are educational labels, not legal or tax advice.
- Address — A public identifier (often
0x+ hex on EVM chains) that can receive assets. Safe to share for receiving; never share the matching private key or seed. - Approval (token allowance) — Permission for a smart contract to move a specific token from your address up to a limit. Unlimited approvals are convenient and risky.
- Block explorer — Website that indexes chain data so you can look up txs, addresses, and contracts.
- Bridge — System that represents assets across two networks. Designs vary; risks include smart-contract bugs and malicious UI.
- Cold wallet — Keys kept offline for signing; see wallet-basics doc.
- Custodial — A third party holds keys; you hold an account login.
- DEX — Decentralized exchange: smart contracts for swapping tokens. Still requires wallet signatures and correct token contracts.
- EVM — Ethereum Virtual Machine; many chains reuse its account and contract model.
- Gas — Computational fee paid in the network’s native coin to include a transaction.
- Hot wallet — Software wallet on an online device.
- Private key — Secret that authorizes spends from an address. Seed phrases derive trees of these keys.
- RPC — Endpoint your wallet uses to talk to a network node.
- Seed / recovery phrase — BIP-39 words that regenerate keys. Ultimate backup; ultimate theft target.
- Smart contract — Program stored on-chain. Token contracts and DEX routers are common examples.
- Stablecoin — Token designed to track a reference (often USD). Designs and reserves differ—read issuer docs; this is not a safety rating.
- Transaction hash — Unique ID for a submitted transaction; paste into an explorer.
- Wrapped token — Representation of an asset inside another system (e.g., wrapped native coin for DEX pools).
TakeawayWhen a word is unclear, pause the signature. Definitions first, clicks second.
Sources
- ethereum.org — Glossary
- ethereum.org — Developers docs
- NIST — Blockchain resources (public-sector overview materials)
Educational content only — not investment advice. Definitions describe technology, not whether any asset is suitable for you.