ABI

ABI is an acronym for Application Binary Interface, and it is an interface between two binary program modules at the level of machine code, not source code. Blocknative can monitor smart contract ABIs in real-time.

Address (noun)

A unique string of numbers or text appointing a wallet’s location on a blockchain.

Access (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. Users must have easy and direct access to their own data.

Access Tokens (noun)

Grants access to premium features on a platform or to a community. The token is a tradable membership for exclusive experiences.

Airdrop (noun)

Crypto projects use this marketing technique to send their tokens (e.g. coins and NFTs) directly to wallets to raise awareness.

Alpha (noun)

Valuable advice, recommendations, or info given by someone in a position of knowledge.

Altcoin or Alts (noun)

Refers to cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin such as newer projects with a smaller market cap. Alts is short for Altcoins.

Agent

A representative of an identity. It’s possible that require the use of a wallet. May support transfer.

Authentic Chained Data Container Task Force (ACDC)

The purpose of the ACDC Task Force, is to draft a TSS (ToIP Standard Specification) that defines the standard requirements for the semantics of Authentic Provenance Chaining of Authentic Data Containers.

Ambient verifiability

Verifiable by anyone, anywhere, at anytime. E.g. Ambient Duplicity Detection describes the possibility of detecting duplicity by anyone, anywhere, anytime.

Autonomic Identifier

An identifier that is self-certifying and self-sovereign

Autonomic Namespace

A namespace that is self-certifying and hence self-administrating. ANs are therefore portable = truly self sovereign.

API

API is an acronym for Application Programming Interface which is an interface between computers or programs that allows information to pass between them.

Asymmetric encryption

The encryption key (also called the public key) and the corresponding decryption key (also called the private key) are different. Asymmetric encryption is also known as public-key encryption.

App Review

An incentive mechanism for application developers in the early stage (first four years) of the ecosystem and helps with bootstrapping the two-sided market.

ATH & ATL (noun)

ATH is short for ‘all-time high’. The highest price point an asset has ever had. ATL is short for ‘all-time low’, the lowest price point an asset has ever had.

Artificial Intelligence -AI-

The theory and development of computer systems that can perform tasks — often using natural language processing (NLP), machine learning and natural language understanding (NLU) — that normally require human intelligence, comprehension and understanding.

Archival Nodes

An archival node is a full node in the blockchain that keeps a complete history of transactions and address state changes since the genesis block. Blocknative enables users to see archival mempool information on public blockchain networks.

Augmented Reality -AR-

Technology, using involving glasses, visors, goggles or smartphones, that superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the actual world, providing a composite view that often includes perceptual information.

Avatar

A computerized icon or figure which represents a person, pet or entity in video games, internet forums, games, chat rooms, virtual reality and other channels.

Base Fee

The base fee is an algorithmically determined fee that users on the Ethereum blockchain must pay to complete a transaction. The base fee is designed to help smooth transaction fees and prevent sudden spikes by targeting 50% full blocks. Depending on how full the new block is, the Base Fee is automatically increased (the block is more than 50% full) or decreased (the block is less than 50% full).

Bear Market (noun) & Bearish (adjective)

A market is bearish when there is a prolonged downward pricing trend and a pessimistic outlook. Sometimes purposely misspelled as beras.

Bid

The bid price represents the maximum price that a buyer is willing to pay for an NFT.

Block (noun)

A block is a batch of data transactions stored on the blockchain.

Blockchain (noun)

A digital list of data records. Records are called blocks which are organized in chronological order, linked together like a chain, and secured using cryptography.

Block Explorer (noun)

A tool used to examine detailed information on blockchains. (E.g. Etherscan for the Ethereum transactions)

Block Gas Estimator Feed

The Block Gas Estimator Feed estimates gas prices for the next block based upon the in-flight transactions that are currently in the mempool (pre-chain transactions). With Blocknative’s Gas Platform, Dapp and wallet developers can integrate gas estimation feeds directly into their product. Ethereum blockchain)

Buidl (noun, verb)

meaning ‘build’, a misspelling on purpose used in crypto communities just like HODL (hold).

Bull Market (noun) & Bullish (adjective)

A market is bullish when there is a prolonged upward pricing trend and an optimistic outlook.

Burn (verb)

A strategy where tokens or other digital assets like NFTs are removed from a circulating supply to influence price and demand. Bitcoin and Ethereum don’t have this, but many other Altcoins do.

Bitcoin 

A decentralized, digital cryptocurrency that doesn’t rely upon a central bank or trusted source which can be transferred from user to user on a peer-to-peer network using blockchain technology.

Bitcoin (BTC) address

A string of letters and numbers like: 3E53XjqK4Cxt71BGeP2VhpcotM8LZ853C8

Sharing this address allows anyone to send Bitcoin to the address.

Blockstack Browser

A deprecated application for accessing identity and storage.

Blockstack Owner Address

Looks like a bitcoin address but starts with ID for example: ID-1J3PUxY5uDShUnHRrMyU6yKtoHEUPhKULs

Burning

Burning a token means that the token is transferred to an address that is a black hole—one that is not owned by any entity and for which guessing the applicable private key is effectively impossible based on known mathematical principles. This effectively destroys the token by making it unavailable for future use and decreases the total number of tokens available from that point forward.

Bootstrapping

Refers to the process of starting up a computer system.

Cancel Transactions

A cancel transaction is a type of replacement transaction where a user submits an identical transaction with a higher gas limit so it is mined before the previous transaction. Once the new replacement transaction is confirmed, the original transaction will get dropped. Blocknative’s mempool monitoring tools can track replacement transactions in real-time.

Centralized (adjective)

In a centralized network, there is a central authority that governs and handles the network.

CEX or Centralized Exchange (noun)

An exchange handling cryptocurrency managed by a centralized business. (E.g. Coinbase, Kraken)

CeFi or Centralized Finance (noun)

Centralized businesses participating in crypto. (E.g. BlockFi)

Coin (noun)

Cryptocurrency built on its own native blockchain, with the purpose to store value and serves as an medium of exchange within that specific ecosystem. (E.g. ETH, BTC)

Cold Wallet (noun)

A hardware device used to store cryptocurrency.

Confirmed Transaction

A confirmed transaction is a transaction that has been included in a block and permanently added to the blockchain. Confirmed transactions are one of the core transaction status changes users can monitor with Blocknative’s mempool API across multiple blockchains and testnets.

Consent (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. Users must give explicit permission for an entity to use or access their data. The process of expressing consent should be interactive and well-understood by people.

Consensus (noun)

A collective judgment in which data processors, called nodes, come to an agreement to verify new transactions and blocks to be added to the blockchain. This process is used by consensus mechanisms such as proof of work and proof of stake.

Consensus hash

A consensus hash is a cryptographic hash that each node calculates at each block. It is derived from the accepted state transitions in the last-processed block, and a geometric series of prior-calculated consensus hashes.

Consensus rules

The rules governing the creation of new valid records in a blockchain database, and the mining algorithms used for this purpose.

Control plane

The part of a network that carries signaling traffic and is responsible for routing. Control packets originate from or are destined for a router. Functions of the control plane include system configuration and management.

Controller

The entity that has the capacity to make changes to an identity, cryptocurrency or VC (verifiable credential).

Control Authority

In identity systems Control Authority is who controls what and that is the primary factor in determining the basis for trust in them. The entity with control authority takes action through operations that affect the creation (inception), updating, rotation, revocation, deletion, deletion, and delegation of the authentication factors and their relation to the identifier. How these events are ordered and their dependence on previous operations is important. The record of these operations is the source of truth for the identity system.

Correlation

An identifier used to indicate that external parties have observed how wallet contents are related. For example, when a public key is reused, it conveys that some common entity is controlling both identifiers. Tracking correlation allows for software to warn when some new information might be about to be exposed.

Control (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. People must have ultimate authority over their digital identities and personal data.

Custodial and Non-Custodial Wallets

At the core of every crypto wallet is a public and private key pair. Asymmetric cryptography is at the backbone of all distributed ledgers and web3 technologies; without it, no distributed ledgers would exist. Your private key is used to authorize your transactions and receive information. Whoever has the private key of a wallet can access funds and authorize transactions. The private key is critical. The public key is hashed and then used as your wallet address.

The distinction between a custodial and non-custodial wallet is who manages your private keys. If you manage your private keys, the wallet is referred to as a non-custodial wallet because no one has custody of your wallet except you. If a third party controls your private keys, then the wallet is a custodial wallet.

Creator Economy

A class of businesses made up of content creators, curators and community builders which enable the content producers to monetize their creations.

Credential

A credential is an order or document that attests or authorizes the qualification, competence or authority granted to an individual by a third party with de jure or de facto authority.

Cryptocurrency (noun)

A digital currency designed for use as money within a digital ecosystem. It is a medium of exchange, storing value, etc. They are maintained by blockchains.

Cryptography

The computerized practice of encoding and decoding information for secure communication.

Cypherpunk (verb)

Someone who believes in the use of cryptography to affect social and political change through privacy by cryptography. (E.g. Satoshi Nakamoto, anonymous founder of Bitcoin.)

Crypto wallet

A physical or digital device, computer application or smartphone app that stores the public and/or private keys for cryptocurrency transactions, including sending, receiving, buying, selling, swapping of cryptocurrencies and NFTs and digitally signing information

Data breach

When an unauthorized person or party steals, views, transmits, copies, or uses information.

DApp or Decentralized Application (noun)

A software application that runs on a distributed network. It’s not hosted on a centralized server, but instead on a peer-to-peer decentralized network.

DAO or Decentralized Autonomous Organization (noun)

An organization is governed by its users or token holders through voting. DAO’s are open-source and often focus on a specific project or goal.

Decentralized (adjective)

Centralized businesses participating in crypto. (E.g. BlockFi).

Decentralized Identifier (DID)

DID is your decentralized identification, this way your information can be stored in a secure decentralized way and fully owned by you. This also means no one can change or hack your identity information when using your DID on a platform.
Cryptographically verifiable identifiers created by the user, owned by the user, and independent of any organization. DIDs contain no personal identifiable information.

1. Is created by the user
2. Comes with one or many private key and public key pairs
3. Does not contain personal data or wallet information
4. Enables private and secure connections between two parties and can be verified anywhere at any time

Decentralized Web Node (DWN)

A decentralized personal and application data storage and message relay node, as defined in the DIF Decentralized Web Node specification. Users may have multiple Nodes that replicate their data between them.

Decentralized Identifiers (DID)

Unique ID URI string and PKI metadata document format for describing the cryptographic keys and other fundamental PKI values linked to a unique, user-controlled, self-sovereign identifier in a target system (e.g., blockchain, distributed ledger).

Degen (noun, adjective)

Like ‘Ape’ , a self-assigned term. Short for ‘degenerate gambler’, an individual taking risky bets. “I bought the dip before paying my rent. I’m such a degen.”

DID Document

DID Document is a component of the W3C Decentralized Identifiers and is the resource to which the DID URI

The combination of a DID Document and its associated DID Document forms the root record for a Decentralized Identifier.

DID Document MUST be a single JSON Object conforming to RFC 7159. For purposes of this version of the DID specification, the format of this JSON Object is specified in JSON-LD, a format for mapping JSON data into the RDF semantic graph model as defined by JSON-LD. Future versions of this specification MAY specify other semantic graph formats for a DID Document such as JXD (JSON XDI Data), a serialization format for the XDI graph model.

DeFi or Decentralized Finance (noun)

A term used for financial services on public blockchains such as Ethereum. It serves peer-to-peer, is open to all, and supports functions such as earning interest, borrowing, trade, and more.

DID URL

A DID plus any additional syntactic component. This includes an optional DID path (with its leading / character), optional DID query (with its leading ? character), and optional DID fragment (with its leading # character).

DID Method

A DID method defines how implementers can realize the features described by this specification. DID methods are often associated with a particular verifiable data registry. New DID methods are defined in their own specifications to enable interoperability between different implementations of the same DID method.

Conceptually, the relationship between this specification and a DID method specification is similar to the relationship between the IETF generic URI specification [RFC3986] and a specific URI scheme [IANA-URI-SCHEMES], such as the http scheme [RFC7230]. In addition to defining a specific DID scheme, a DID method specification also defines the mechanisms for creating, resolving, updating, and deactivating DIDs and DID documents using a specific type of verifiable data registry. It also documents all implementation considerations related to DIDs as well as Security and Privacy Considerations.

DID Delegate

An entity to whom a DID controller has granted permission to use a verification method associated with a DID via a DID document. For example, a parent who controls a child’s DID document might permit the child to use their personal device in order to authenticate. In this case, the child is the DID delegate. The child’s personal device would contain the private cryptographic material enabling the child to authenticate using the DID. However, the child might not be permitted to add other personal devices without the parent’s permission.

DID Resolver

A DID resolver is a software and/or hardware component that performs the DID resolution function by taking a DID as input and producing a conforming DID document as output.

DID Controller

An entity that has the capability to make changes to a DID document. A DID might have more than one DID controller. The DID controller(s) can be denoted by the optional controller property at the top level of the DID document. Note that a DID controller might be the DID subject.

DID scheme

The formal syntax of a decentralized identifier. The generic DID scheme begins with the prefix did: as defined in 3.1 DID Syntax. Each DID method specification defines a specific DID method scheme that works with that specific DID method. In a specific DID method scheme, the DID method name follows the first colon and terminates with the second colon, e.g., did:example:

DID subject

The entity identified by a DID and described by a DID document. Anything can be a DID subject: person, group, organization, physical thing, digital thing, logical thing, etc.

DEX (noun)

A peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange built on the blockchain. It is run on smart contracts and by its users. (E.g. Uniswap)

Diamond Hands (noun, adjective)

You have diamond hands when you are bullish on a certain asset and are not planning to sell it. Antonym of paper hands.

Digital asset

Also referred to as a crypto-asset. Any set of unique digital information—including, for example, programs, decentralized programs, isolated chunks of programming code, collections of data, e-mail or web addresses or cryptocurrency tokens—that is capable of being stored and uniquely tracked on a computer network such as the Stacks network and over which a user can maintain control through that network.

Digital fingerprint

A digital fingerprint is a unique number of a fixed length that can be produced by running any set of digital information through something called a cryptographic hash function. Each set of digital information (including a digital asset, and the digital record of any network operation on that digital asset) should (as a practical matter) have a unique digital fingerprint, which allows that set of digital information to be identified. However, it is almost impossible to recreate a digital asset from its digital fingerprint.

Digital signature

A digital signature is a sequence of digital information combining a user’s private key and any digital information that the user wishes to sign. Any other party can use the user’s paired public key to verify that the digital signature is authentic, i.e. that the public key was generated from a particular piece of digital information and the user’s private key.

Distributed hash tables (DHT)

A form of network used to store some content in the form of key/value pairs. … This experimental project try to avoid keeping all the blockchain, but instead prefers to store it in a DHT.

Distributed Ledger

A ledger or database of replicated, shared and synchronized digital data that is maintained in a decentralized form that is spread across multiple sites, countries or institutions without using a central administrator.

DLT: Distributed Ledger Technology

Distributed Ledger Technology(DLT) is the overarching category of web3. DLTs encompass any distributed network that works to achieve consensus on the information. Blockchains are distributed ledgers, but notably not the only kind. Other distributed ledgers don’t use a chain-coded architecture. For example, some DLTs utilize Directed Acyclic Graph(DAG) architectures for their consensus mechanisms. Examples of distributed ledgers that utilize DAG architectures are Hedera Hashgraph and Filecoin.

DYOR or do your own research

A reminder to conduct your own research before investing. “This NFT project is looking good, but DYOR.”

Digital Twin

 A virtual or 3D digital representation that is identical to the real-time version of a physical object or process.

Drop

A limited duration or editioned sale event of one or many creations from a creator, collective, or gallery.

Dropped Transaction

A dropped transaction is a transaction that was not mined and confirmed on the blockchain, and subsequently has been dropped from the transaction queue in the mempool. Common causes of dropped transactions include a low nonce value, high nonce value, and insufficient gas.

EIP-1559 (adjective)

Also known as Ethereum Improvement Proposal 1559, EIP-1559 was part of Ethereum’s London hard fork and it was deployed across the Ethereum network on August 5th, 2021. EIP-1559 introduced a Base Fee which is paid by users and is eventually burned (i.e. removed from circulation), and it replaced the current gas limit with two values: a “long-term average target” (equal to the current gas limit), and a “hard per-block cap” (twice the current gas limit).

End verifiable

If a log is end verifiable, this means that the log may be verified by any end user that receives a copy. No trust in intervening infrastructure is needed to verify the log and validate the content.

End verifiable log 

End verifiable logs on ambient infrastructure enables ambient verifiability (verifiable by anyone, anywhere, at any time). We don’t need the intermediate states of the log.

Entity

Entities are not limited to natural persons but may include groups, organizations, software agents, things, and even data items.

Ethereum token standards (adjective)

ERC-20, ERC-223, ERC-721, ERC-1155, etc. Allow certain structures of data. For example, ERC-1155 is often used in gaming and collectibles to reduce the number of transactions as they can be managed simultaneously by a single smart contract.

Ethereum (noun)

A public blockchain with the purpose to build and deploy decentralized

Ethereum 2.0

Ethereum 2.0 is a deprecated term that was used to describe the consensus layer of Ethereum as part of it’s migration from a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to Proof-of-Stake consensus. Additionally, Eth1 is now referred to as the “execution layer.”applications. It has its own programming language called Solidity.

Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is a software application that blockchain developers use to deploy decentralized applications (Dapp) on the Ethereum blockchain. The EVM interacts with Ethereum’s accounts, smart contracts, and distributed ledger.

Extended Reality (XR)

An environment or experience that combines virtual and physical realities through the use of augmented reality (AR), mixed reality, virtual reality (VR) or any similar immersive technologies.

Existence (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. A user must be able to exist in the digital world without the need of a third party.

End verifiable

If a log is end verifiable, this means that the log may be verified by any end user that receives a copy. No trust in intervening infrastructure is needed to verify the log and validate the content.

End verifiable

If a log is end verifiable, this means that the log may be verified by any end user that receives a copy. No trust in intervening infrastructure is needed to verify the log and validate the content.

End verifiable

If a log is end verifiable, this means that the log may be verified by any end user that receives a copy. No trust in intervening infrastructure is needed to verify the log and validate the content.

End verifiable

If a log is end verifiable, this means that the log may be verified by any end user that receives a copy. No trust in intervening infrastructure is needed to verify the log and validate the content.

Failed Transaction

A failed transaction is a transaction on the Ethereum blockchain that does not succeed, cannot be reversed, canceled, or refunded.

Federated Identity

System of Identity Control. In federated identity systems, personal data is often being stored, tracked, and shared to other parties without people’s knowledge. In 2019, Facebook had 540 million user records exposed on the Amazon cloud server (CBS). Currently, there is a hacker attack every 39 seconds.

Few

Short for ‘Few Understand’. Meaning you are still early in the industry and will make a lot of money when mass adoption arrives.

Fiat (noun)

refers to the  currency often backed and regulated by a government. (E.g. USD, EUR)

FOMO or Fear of missing out (noun)

The fear of not being included in something that others are experiencing or gaining benefit from. FOMOing often happens after a price increase.

Fork

The term fork is used to refer both to any situation where there are two or more competing versions of a blockchain on a network (a situation that may arise and resolve itself in the ordinary course of network operations due to lags in communication between core nodes) and any software update that is proposed for adoption by the core nodes of a blockchain network that may result in a persistent fork on the network, with core nodes that adopt the update recognizing one version of the blockchain and those which do not recognizing another.

FUD or Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (noun)

Fake negative news around an asset.

Fungible (adjective)

Term for interchangeable. Changeable for something else. Antonym of non-fungible.

Fungible tokens

Contrasting NFTs are Fungible tokens, which are not unique. Tokens like Bitcoin, ETH, and Hbar are all fungible tokens. These tokens often serve as network fuel to pay for network services like transaction fees. In some cases, Fungible tokens also serve as governance tokens for DAOs.

Gas (noun)

The fee paid by a user that is required to run a transaction or execute a smart contract on certain blockchains like Ethereum. (Also GWEI, WEI).

Gas Estimator

Gas Estimator is a gas estimation tool built by Blocknative that inspects every pending transaction in Ethereum’s mempool to probabilistically estimate transaction fees to get included in the next block.

Gas Fees

Gas fees are the fees users must pay in Ethereum’s native currency, Ether (ETH), to complete a transaction. Gas fees are used to compensate miners for providing the computational work required to process and validate transactions.

Gas Limit

The gas limit is the maximum amount of gas miners are authorized to consume to complete a transaction.

Gas Price

The gas price is the amount of Ether (ETH) a user is willing to pay for every unit of gas required to complete a transaction (denominated in Gwei).

Genesis Block (noun)

The first block recorded on a blockchain. Unlike other blocks, it must be hardcoded into the software, since there are no previous blocks for the genesis block to reference.

GMI

Short for ‘gonna make it. Frequently used in the crypto community to support positivity for a project or person. Antonym of NGMI (not gonna make it).

Görli

Görli is a cross-client, community-based, proof-of-authority (PoA) Ethereum testnet where Web3 developers can test smart contracts in a sandbox.

Gwei (noun)

A value of ETH used as a unit of measurement to calculate the Ethereum gas price.10^9 gwei = 1 ether.

Hard Fork (noun, verb)

A permanent new version of a blockchain that required a change to the previous protocol. (E.g. Ethereum Classic & Ethereum)

Hashing (verb)

the process of taking any kind of input of any size and reducing it to a unique identifier code. This allows data to be stored securely and recalled. This is a fundamental principle of blockchain technology.

HODL (verb)

A misspelling of ‘hold’ that was popularized and frequently used in crypto communities. It means to hold your assets and not sell them.

Holder

Someone who creates their decentralized identifier with a digital wallet app and receives Verifiable Credentials. | Owner of the Verifiable Credential (e.g. driver’s license) has their public DID on the blockchain.

Holding the bag

When an asset you own quickly drops and are left with an unfortunately low-valued asset, but are not selling. You are now holding the bag of a worthless coin.

Hot storage

Storing of media files on internal servers for faster rendering on our platform.

Hyperledger

Is an open source umbrella project to create a blockchain initiated in December 2015 by the Linux Foundation to support distributed ledgers based on its technology.

ICO or Initial Coin Offering (noun)

An ICO is a popular crowd fundraising tactic for startup cryptocurrency projects, in which a percentage of the initial token supply is sold to early supporters.

Identity management (IDM)

Identity management, also known as identity and access management is, in computer security, the security and business discipline that enables the right individuals to access the right resources at the right times and for the right reason

Issuing Organizations

Save money and time issuing Verifiable Credentials efficiently, including the option to issue in bulk, prevent fraud, and reduce manual work.

Inception Event

Is a type of Establishment Event, it’s the first event that establishes an identifier.

Interoperability (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. | Identities should be as widely usable as possible by various stakeholders. Organizations, databases, and registries must be able to quickly and efficiently communicate with each other globally through a digital identity system.

IEO or Initial Exchange Offering (noun)

Like an ICO a means to raise capital but regulated by a trusted exchange. A way to make ICOs more secure.

Inconsistency

If a reason, idea, opinion, etc. is inconsistent, different parts of it do not agree, or it does not agree with something else. Data inconsistency occurs when similar data is kept in different formats in more than one file. When this happens, it is important to match the data between files.

Internal transaction

An internal transaction is a transaction between one smart contract and another smart contract. Internal transactions do not include EOA transactions which are transactions initiated or between one or more externally owned addresses (i.e. a user’s wallet).

Issuer

Party with the authority to issue Verifiable Credentials. | When an issuer, like a government department, provides a Verifiable Credential to a holder like a driver’s license, they sign it with their DID and associated private key. The department’s DID and associated public key will be on the blockchain.

Interoperability

When something is interoperable, its information is communicated, retained, or transferrable across different blockchain ecosystems.

IP

Internet Protocol

IPFS

Refers to the InterPlanetary File System, a decentralized file system that seeks to ensure data security, privacy and resistance to censorship.

Javascript Object Signing and Encryption (JOSE)

A framework intended to provide a method to securely transfer claims (such as authorization information) between parties. The JOSE framework provides a collection of specifications to serve this purpose.

Key (noun)

Consists out of a public and private key that refers to your wallet address. A public key is similar to a bank account number, a private key is often revered as a way to access your funds. Only to be known by its owner.

Key Event

A data structure that consist of a header (Key Event header), a configuration section (Key Event Data spans Header and configuration) and signatures (Key event Message spans Data and signatures)

Key Event Log

Hash-chained Key Events, these are blockchains in a narrow definition, but not in the sense of ordering (not ordered) or global consensus mechanisms (not needed).

Key Event Receipt Log

Signed Key Events, keeping track of establishment events. To begin with the inception event and any number of rotation events. We call that the establishment subsequence.

Kovan

Kovan is a Proof-of-Authority, publicly accessible Ethereum testnet.

Know your customer (KYC)

Know your Customer or KYC, is a popular term used in the banking or financial field. KYC is a process where financial institutions, insurers and other companies obtain information about the identity and address of the customers as part of risk management.

L1-Layer 1 & L2-Layer 2 (noun)

The L1-layer 1 is the base layer of the blockchain platform. Also refers to mainnet or mainchain (E.g. Solana, Cardano, Ethereum, Polkadot.) The L2-layer 2 refers to protocols, or solutions, built on top of the L1 layer. (E.g. Lightning network).

Ledger

 A collection or registry where transactions or data are recorded.

Level of Assurance

LOA; Identity and other trust decisions are often not binary. They are judgement calls. Any time that judgement is not a simple “Yes/No” answer, you have the option for levels of assurance.

Light Nodes

A light node is a computer that connects to full nodes as a gateway to the blockchain. Light nodes do not validate blocks and do not maintain the entire blockchain and address state. Blocknative’s mempool monitoring tools provide builders and traders mempool data from full nodes

Liquidity

Liquidity is how quickly and easily an asset can be converted into cash or another asset. Decentralized exchanges like Uniswap have multiple liquidity pools where asset holders can deposit their assets where traders can buy and sell them in a decentralized way in exchange for rewards.

Liquidity Pool (noun)

The pool of tokens locked in the smart contract. By offering liquidity, they guarantee trade and are used widely by some decentralized exchanges.

Mainnet (noun)

Short for main network or main layer of a blockchain.

Market Cap (noun)

The total value of all the coins that have been mined. It’s calculated by multiplying the number of coins in circulation by the current market price of a single coin.

Max Fee Per Gas

The Max Fee is the absolute maximum amount a user is willing to pay per unit of gas (gwei) to get a transaction included in a block.

Max Priority Fee

An ‘optional’ additional fee that is paid directly to miners, the Max Priority Fee incentivizes miners to include your transaction in a block.

Mempool

Also known as the “transaction pool,” the “transaction queue,” or “pre-chain,” the mempool is a set of in-memory data structures propagated across Ethereum nodes that store pending transactions before they are mined.

Mempool Explorer

Mempool Explorer is a mempool monitoring tool built by Blocknative that enables builders and traders to observe what is happening in the transaction pool in real-time.

MEV

MEV (Miner Extractable Value or Maximal Extractable Value), is the profit a miner can make by including, excluding, or reordering transactions in a block.

Metaverse

Is a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users.

Mining (verb)

The process of mining is generally used in reference to a type of distributed consensus mechanism called Proof of Work. Mining means verifying transactions, organizing them into blocks, and then adding blocks to the blockchain often in exchange for a reward.

Minting (verb)

The process of validating information, such as domain ownership, or generating a unique NFT, and registering that onto the blockchain.

Minimization (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. A digital identity solution should enable people to share the least possible amount of data that another party needs to minimize sharing of excessive and unnecessary personally identifiable information.

Mooning (verb)

Refers to an asset rising so high in value it reaches the moon: ‘To the moon!’

MultiCodec

Is a self-describing multiformat, it wraps other formats with a tiny bit of self-description. A multicodec identifier is both a variant and the code identifying data. Multicodec is an agreed-upon codec table. See more at GitHub Multicodec

Multi-currency

A variety of currencies, including fiat and cryptocurrency (ie. dollars, euros, bitcoin, ethereum, etc.

Multi-signature

A digital signature scheme that permits a group of users to sign the same document. Typically, a multisignature algorithm produces a joint signature that is more compact than a collection of distinct signatures from all users. Multisigning adds additional security to cryptocurrency transactions.

NFT or Non-Fungible Token (noun)

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are cryptographic assets on a blockchain with unique identification codes and metadata that distinguish them from each other.

Node

Are like small servers. Can be any type of device. These Nodes bring the infrastructure of a Blockchain. All nodes in the blockchain are connected. They communicate with each other constantly passing data they all nodes spread and preserve.  A full node is, in summary, a device that saves a full copy of all transactions on the blockchain’s history. Then, based on the block’s legitimacy (validity of signature and transactions), nodes can accept or reject the block. When a node accepts a new block of transactions, it saves and stores it on top of the rest of the blocks it already has stored.

Nonce

Nonce is a number associated with Ethereum transactions that increases by one with every transaction, and a value that can only be used once.r main network or main layer of a blockchain.

NGMI

Short for ‘not gonna make it’. Implied when a project has a low chance of becoming valuable or when a person made a bad investment.

Nocoiner (noun)

The muggles of the crypto world. Someone. who does not hold any cryptocurrencies.

Non-transferable identifier

An identifier of which you can’t rotate its controlling private key. When the private key for a non-transferable identifier becomes exposed to potential compromise then the identifier must be abandoned by the controller as it is no longer secure.

Non-normative

A theory is called non-normative if it does not do that. In general, the purpose of non-normative theories is not to give answers, but rather to describe possibilities or predict what might happen as a result of certain actions.

Normative

In general, we call a theory “normative” if it, in some sense, tells you what you should do or what action you should take. If it includes a usable procedure for determining the optimal action in a given scenario

Notify

Notify is a javascript library that enables blockchain developers to deliver real-time, in-flight notifications for blockchain transactions on Ethereum and Polygon. Blocknative’s Notify API can easily be integrated using webhooks and websockets to Dapps and wallets.

Oracle (noun)

A service supplying smart contracts with data from the outside world. Smart contracts are unable to access data that exists off-chain, so they rely on oracles to retrieve, verify, and provide external information. (E.g. Chainlink).

Off-Chain

Off-chain means any transaction or data that exists outside the blockchain. Because committing every transaction on-chain can be expensive and inefficient, third-party tools like oracles that handle pricing data, or layer 2 solutions that execute a higher throughput of transactions, handle a bulk of the processing work off-chain, and will submit information on-chain at less frequent intervals.

On-Chain

On-chain is an umbrella term that includes any transaction or data that is available on the blockchain and visible to all nodes on the blockchain network such as mempool data, historical transactions, and account information.

Paper Hands (noun, adjective)

A term to describe an individual who sold an asset as its price was falling. One with paper hands is supposed as weak and not able to stomach the volatility of the market. Antonym of Diamond Hands.

Persistence (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. Identities must be long-lasting. Solution developers should implement sufficient foundational infrastructure and design sustainable commercial and operational models.

Protection (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. People’s right to privacy must be protected and safeguards should exist against tampering and monitoring information. Data traffic should be encrypted end-to-end.

Portability (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. People must be able to bring their identities and credentials anywhere, transport their data from one platform to another, and not be restricted to a single platform.

Pending Pool

The pending pool is a group of transactions in the mempool that are ready to be processed.

Pending Simulation Transaction

A pending simulation transaction gives you access to all of the real-time mempool information of a pending transaction as if it were submitted on-chain.

Pending Transaction

Pending is a transaction status used to describe in-flight, pre-consensus transactions that are in the mempool and have not yet been confirmed on the blockchain.

Pre-Chain

Pre-chain is another way to describe transactions that are currently in progress. Pre-chain transactions are also known as pre-consensus transactions, and are transactions that are currently in the mempool.

PoW or Proof of Work (noun)

A consensus mechanism that requires miners to complete complex mathematical puzzles in order to verify transactions and mint blocks. When a miner correctly solves a puzzle, they gain access to mint the next block and receive the corresponding block reward and transaction fees.

Pre-Consensus

Pre-consensus is another way to describe transactions that are currently in flight and not yet confirmed on the blockchain. Pre-consensus transactions are also known as pending transactions and pre-chain transactions.

Private Key (noun)

A passcode to access funds and authorize transactions. Because they are hard to memorize, wallets provide a seed phrase or recovery key that is easier to remember. Private keys match with its corresponding public key. A public key also looks like a string of letters and numbers. The exact format of the public and private key depend on the software you use to create them.

Protocol

Set of communication rules governing the exchange of information between two connected computers or systems.

PoS or Proof of Stake (noun)

a consensus mechanism that requires nodes, called validators, to stake a set amount of cryptocurrency on the blockchain in order to verify transactions and mint blocks. If a validator approves fraudulent transactions, then a portion of their stake will be slashed.

Primitives

Cryptographic Primitives are the lowest level algorithms, which are then used to build cryptographic protocols or functions. A “merkle tree” is an example where the primitive and the function are easily seen.

Public Key

A public key is a cryptographic code used to facilitate transactions between parties, allowing users to receive cryptocurrencies in their accounts. Users are issued a private key and a public key when first initiating a transaction.

Public Key Infrastructure

A public key infrastructure (PKI) is a set of roles, policies, hardware, software and procedures needed to create, manage, distribute, use, store and revoke digital certificates and manage public-key encryption.

Pump and dump (noun, verb)

A manipulative scheme that attempts to boost the price of a stock or security through fake recommendations. This is often done so assets can be sold at a high value for the orchestrators of the scam.

Queued Pool

The queued pool is a pool of transactions in the mempool that are not yet ready to be processed because they are ‘out of order.’ Blocknative’s pending transaction monitoring tools can be used to gain insights into transactions in the queued pool.

Rekt (verb, adjective)

Short for “wrecked,” used to express that one has suffered a huge loss.

Replacement Transaction

Replacement transactions include ‘Speed up’ and ‘Cancel’ transactions.

Resilient media storage

The way our platform stores the media files of our NFTs to make them as future proof as possible.

Rinkeby

Rinkeby is a Proof-of-Authority testnet for Ethereum where smart contract developers can test code before deploying it to Ethereum’s mainnet.

Root of trust

Replace human basis-of-trust with cryptographic root-of-trust. With verifiable digital signatures from asymmetric key cryptography we may not trust in “what” was said, but we may trust in “who” said it. The root-of-trust is consistent attribution via verifiable integral non-repudiable statements.

A root of trust is a foundational component or process in the identity system that is relied on by other components of the system and whose failure would compromise the integrity of the bindings. A root of trust might be primary or secondary depending on whether or not it is replaceable. Primary roots of trust are irreplaceable. Together, the roots of trust form the trust basis for the system.

Ropsten

Ropsten is the primary Ethereum testnet (test network) where blockchain developers can test their smart contract code in a live setting without spending actual money.

Rug Pull (noun, verb)

A scam where a crypto project takes the funds that have been invested and runs. Happens when someone is able to sell a large portion of the circulating supply at once.

Replacement Transaction

Replacement transactions include ‘Speed up’ and ‘Cancel’ transactions.

Self-sovereign identity (SSI)

Is a term used to describe the digital movement that recognizes an individual should own and control their identity without the intervening administrative authorities. SSI allows people to interact in the digital world with the same freedom and capacity for trust as they do in the offline world.

Self Certifying Identifier

In brief: A self-certifying identifier cryptographically binds an identifier to a key-pair. 

It is an identifier that can be proven to be the one and only identifier tied to a public key using cryptography alone. A controller issues an own Identifier by binding a generated public private keypair to an identifier. After this a controller is able to sign the identifier and create a certificate. Also called a cryptonym. The simplest form of a self-certifying identifier includes either the public key or a unique fingerprint of the public key as a prefix in the identifier.

SDK

A software development kit (SDK), also known as a devkit, is a collection of software tools and programs developers can use to quickly deploy an application in their development environment.

Searcher

Searchers are people who identify opportunities to extract value for miners, create executable packages of transactions, and submit them to miners.

Secret Recovery Key

Used to access an identity on the Stacks blockchain. A sequence of words for example: Apple bridge earth light pool dancing carrot lion people finish cake orange

Seed Phrase (noun)

A master password to access a crypto wallet.

Symmetric encryption

One key (password) is used to encrypt and decrypt data. Think about securing access to a document by choosing a password like “catsrule.” In order for someone to open the document, they need to type in “catsrule.” In this example, a single password (key) is used to encrypt and decrypt the document.

Ser (noun)

Meaning sir. An intentional misspelling in communities. ‘Gn sir’.

Sidechain

A side chain is a blockchain that allows tokens from one blockchain to be securely used within a completely separate blockchain, but still move back to the original chain if necessary. Sidechains like xDai are popular because they offer distinct advantages to developers including cost savings and greater transaction speed.

Sidetree

Sidetree is a Layer 2 (L2) protocol based on the existing blockchain, specifically for decentralized identity management (DID).

Shill (verb, noun)

To heavily promote a cryptocurrency or NFT collection in an effort to raise its price and adoption. Usually done by spamming on Twitter and Discords. ‘I’ve shilled $SHIB for months, wen Lambo?’

Shitcoin (noun)

A cryptocurrency with bad fundamentals and no good use cases.

Slippage (noun, adjective)

the price of a cryptocurrency may change between the time an order is placed and the time that order is ultimately filled. Slippage is the difference between a cryptocurrency’s quoted price and the price that a trade actually executes at.

Smart Contract (noun)

Self-executing code deployed on a blockchain, designed to autonomously execute agreements independently of third parties. Smart contract code typically acts according to conditional statements (“if/then”), executing a predetermined action when a predetermined source asserts that the contract’s antecedent condition(s) obtains.

SSI

The term refers to Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI).

Service endpoint

A network address, such as an HTTP URL, at which services operate on behalf of a DID subject.

Stablecoin (noun)

A type of cryptocurrency designed to have low volatility, and so maintain a stable market price. Mechanisms for maintaining a stable price vary.

Selective Disclosure

You can decide which data of a credential you want to show to a verifier without revealing unnecessary information than what is requested. For example, if you need to be at least 18 to receive a service, you can show your birth date from your license that was issued as a Verifiable Credential without showing your name or address.

Stake / Staking

Staking is defined as ‘locking up’ a certain amount of cryptocurrency in a digital wallet to be used as collateral. Staking is a requirement in proof of stake consensus blockchains, whereby an individual is eligible to verify, process, and record transactions based on the amount of cryptocurrency they have staked

Stuck Transactions

A stuck transaction is when transactions cannot be mined. Many stuck Ethereum transactions are caused by nonce gaps, and until the nonce gap has been resolved, wallets cannot process new transactions.

Testnet (noun)

An environment that mimics a mainnet Blockchain. Used to test network upgrades and smart contracts before deploying them on the mainnet.

Transparency (adjective)

Principle of Self-Sovereign Identity. The way an identity system and algorithms are managed and updated must be publicly available and reasonably understandable. The solution design should be based on open protocol standards and open software.

Tip

A tip is an ‘optional’ additional fee that is paid directly to miners by users to incentivize miners to include their transaction in the next block. Tips were added to Ethereum through an Ethereum Improvement Proposoal (EIP-1559).

Token (noun)

Unlike a coin, a token is a digital asset created on an existing blockchain. Tokens can be used to represent digital and physical assets, or used to interact with dapps. (E.g. Link, UNI, AAVE)

Tokenomics

A portmanteau of the words ‘token’ and ‘economics,’ tokenomics refers to all the aspects of a cryptocurrency that can impact the price such as total supply, vesting, and utility.

Total Value Locked (TVL)

Total Value Locked (TVL) is the total value of assets locked (i.e. being used) in a specific protocol. DeFi lending protocols like Compound Finance and decentralized exchanges like Uniswap use liquidity pools which lock assets in a vault, and therefore have a TVL.

TPS or Transactions per Second (noun)

The number of transactions that a blockchain can handle per second

Transaction (noun)

Data added to the blockchain.

Transfer

Is the process of changing the controller of cryptocurrency, identity or verifiable credential. It’s possible that it requires the use of a key.

Trust-over-IP

Term related to the effort of a foundation. The Trust over IP Foundation is an independent project hosted at Linux Foundation to enable the trustworthy exchange and verification of data between any two parties on the Internet.

Txn Hash (noun)

Short for transaction hash, or transaction ID. This is a unique identifier used to represent a specific transaction.

User-centric Identity  Model

The user-centric identity model suggests that users are in the middle of the identity process, the user must have more control over their identity, and trust must be decentralized. IIW’s work supported different methods for creating digital identity including OAuth (2010) and OpenID Connect (2014). User-centric approaches tended to focus on user consent and interoperability.

UX

UX is an abbreviation for User Experience, and is the design discipline for optimizing how users interact with and perceive an application, interface, or system.

VC (verifiable credential)

Verifiable credentials set the standard for formal conversation. VCs bring structure to the discussion involving two or more sides. It’s private, and the evidence an individual has obtained from an authority cannot be denied. All statements can be verified, and no one can be deleted or changed. A data model for transmitting statements made by an issuer about a subject. See the vc-data-model to find out more. The credentials are part of our everyday lives because they prove that we are capable of doing something, or that we are officially registered for something. This specification provides a mechanism for expressing these types of credentials on the web in a cryptographically secure, privacy-respecting, machine-verifiable way.

Verifiable Data Registry

A system that facilitates the creation, verification, updating, and/or deactivation of decentralized identifiers and DID documents. A verifiable data registry might also be used for other cryptographically-verifiable data structures such as verifiable credentials.

Verifier

Party checking the credential. |  A verifier, like an on-demand driving company, can check the blockchain to ensure that the government department they trust did in fact issue the license because the credential was signed by the issuer’s DID that is on the blockchain.

Verifiying Organizations

The one who verify the holder’s identity when they request access to your service. With SSI, this organizations save time, resources, and money by verifying credentials instantly without having to contact issuing organizations.

W3C

 World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), is an international consortium in which member organizations, full-time staff and the general public work together to develop web standards and guidelines designed to ensure the long-term growth of the web.

W3C DID

The W3C consortium Decentralized ID standardization.

Wallet (noun)

A software application or hardware device used to store the private keys to blockchain assets and accounts. Unlike a traditional wallet, a blockchain wallet does not actually store the coins or tokens themselves. Instead, they store the private key that proves ownership of a given digital asset. (E.g. Metamask, Trustwallet)

Web1 (noun, adjective)

Commonly referred to as the ‘read-only’ web. It is characterized by static websites that displayed information with no user-generated content or no interactions.

Web2 (noun, adjective)

The ‘read-write’ web with user interactions and user interfaces led to various platforms such as Facebook, Wikipedia, and Youtube. It has a focus on user experience.

Web3 (noun, adjective)

A broad, next-generation web architecture that aims to distribute ownership and control of personal data, identity, and associated value directly to its participants. Envisioned as a ‘server-less network. Web3 aims to eliminate single points of failure where big technology companies own most of the data. Also referred to as the ‘read-write-trust web.

WebAssembly

WASM/ WA is an open standard that defines a portable binary code format for executable programs and their corresponding textual assembly language, as well as interfaces to facilitate interaction between such programs and their host environment. The primary goal of WA is to enable high-performance applications on web pages, but the format is designed to be executed and integrated in other environments (including standalone ones) as well.

ZKP

A zero knowledge protocol or zero knowledge proof, also known by the acronym ZKP (Zero Knowledge Proof), is a cryptographic protocol that establishes a method for one party to prove to another that a statement (usually mathematical) is true, without revealing anything other than the veracity of the statement.

Zone file

A Domain Name System (DNS) zone file is a text file that describes a DNS zone. A DNS zone is a subset, often a single domain, of the hierarchical domain name structure of the DNS.