Glossary

Terms, in plain English

55 words you will meet in the lessons and on crypto charts. Each links to the lesson that explains it properly.

Find a term

55 terms

A

Address: A public identifier that can receive crypto, derived from a private key. Safe to share, like an account number. Learn more about address
Algorithmic stablecoin: A stablecoin that tries to hold its peg with rules that create or destroy a partner token, rather than with outside reserves. Learn more about algorithmic stablecoin
Ask: A sell order waiting in the order book. The best ask is the lowest price anyone is currently willing to sell for. Learn more about ask

Bearish: Showing or expecting falling prices. A bearish candle closes below its open. Learn more about bearish
Bid: A buy order waiting in the order book. The best bid is the highest price anyone is currently willing to pay. Learn more about bid
Blockchain: A shared ledger of transactions that many independent computers keep in sync, built so that past entries are very hard to change. Learn more about blockchain
Breakout: A candle close beyond a level that has been holding price, such as resistance, support or a pattern boundary. Learn more about breakout
Bullish: Showing or expecting rising prices. A bullish candle closes above its open. Learn more about bullish

Candlestick: A chart symbol showing the open, high, low and close of one period. Learn more about candlestick
Channel: Two parallel lines containing price: a trendline through the swing lows and another through the swing highs. Learn more about channel
Circulating supply: The coins that exist and can be traded now. Learn more about circulating supply
Close: The last traded price of a period. Chart patterns are confirmed on closes, not wicks. Learn more about close
Confirmation: The price action that completes a pattern, usually a candle close beyond its key level. Learn more about confirmation
Consensus: How a blockchain's computers agree on which transactions are valid, for example by proof of work or proof of stake. Learn more about consensus
Continuation pattern: A pause inside a trend that tends to resolve in the direction of that trend, such as a flag, pennant or rectangle. Learn more about continuation pattern
Custodial: An arrangement where someone else, such as an exchange, holds the keys to your crypto. Learn more about custodial

Depeg: When a stablecoin trades away from the value it is designed to track. Learn more about depeg

Emissions: New coins created and paid out over time, usually as rewards to miners, validators or users. Learn more about emissions

Fakeout: A failed breakout: price closes beyond a level, then returns inside it. Learn more about fakeout
Fully diluted valuation (FDV): Price × max supply (or total supply if there is no max): every coin that will ever exist, valued at today’s price. Learn more about fully diluted valuation (fdv)

Hardware wallet: A small device that keeps private keys offline and signs transactions without exposing them. Learn more about hardware wallet
Hash: A fixed-length fingerprint of some data. Change the data at all and the hash changes completely. Learn more about hash
Higher high, higher low: Swing points above the previous ones. Together they define an uptrend. Learn more about higher high, higher low

Invalidation: The price action that proves a pattern or idea wrong, ideally decided before the breakout. Learn more about invalidation

Limit order: An order to buy or sell only at a set price or better. It guarantees the price, not that the order fills. Learn more about limit order
Liquidity: How much can be traded near the current price without moving it much. Deep order books mean high liquidity. Learn more about liquidity
Lower high, lower low: Swing points below the previous ones. Together they define a downtrend. Learn more about lower high, lower low

Market cap: Price × circulating supply. It is not the amount of money invested in a coin. Learn more about market cap
Market order: An order to buy or sell immediately at the best prices available in the order book. Learn more about market order
Max supply: The most coins that can ever exist, if the project has a cap. Bitcoin’s is 21 million. Learn more about max supply
Measured move: A pattern's height projected from its breakout. A reference for scale, not a price target. Learn more about measured move

Neckline: The line connecting the lows (or highs) between the shoulders and the head in a head and shoulders pattern. Learn more about neckline

OHLC: Open, high, low, close: the four prices every candle records. Learn more about ohlc
Order book: The live list of buy orders (bids) and sell orders (asks) waiting on an exchange. Learn more about order book

Private key: The secret that controls the funds at an address. Anyone who has it can move them. Learn more about private key
Proof of stake: A consensus method where validators lock up coins as collateral for the right to add blocks. Learn more about proof of stake
Proof of work: A consensus method where miners spend computing power for the right to add blocks. Learn more about proof of work

Range: A market moving sideways between roughly flat highs and lows, with no clear trend. Learn more about range
Resistance: A level where rising prices have repeatedly stalled and turned down. Learn more about resistance
Retest: A return to a level that price has just broken, approached from the other side. Learn more about retest
Reversal pattern: A pattern that shows a trend losing momentum and turning, such as a head and shoulders or double top. Learn more about reversal pattern

Seed phrase: The 12 or 24 words that can restore a wallet and every key in it. Anyone with it controls the funds, so never share it. Learn more about seed phrase
Self-custody: Holding your own private keys, in a software or hardware wallet, instead of leaving them with an exchange. Learn more about self-custody
Slippage: The difference between the price you expected and the average price you actually got. Learn more about slippage
Spread: The gap between the best bid and the best ask. Learn more about spread
Stablecoin: A token designed to track the value of a currency, usually the US dollar. Learn more about stablecoin
Support: A level where falling prices have repeatedly stopped and turned up. Learn more about support
Swing high, swing low: Turning points where price peaks or bottoms before reversing for a while. Their sequence defines the trend. Learn more about swing high, swing low

Timeframe: How much time each candle on a chart covers, such as 15 minutes, 4 hours or 1 day. Learn more about timeframe
Token unlock: The release of coins that were locked, often for early investors or the team, adding to circulating supply. Learn more about token unlock
Total supply: All the coins created so far, including any that are locked or held back. Learn more about total supply
Trendline: A line connecting the swing lows of an uptrend, or the swing highs of a downtrend. Learn more about trendline

Volume: The amount traded in a period, shown as bars under the price chart. Learn more about volume

Wash trading: Trading with yourself to make volume look higher than it is. Learn more about wash trading
Wick: The thin line above or below a candle's body, reaching to the period's high or low. Also called a shadow. Learn more about wick