Bitcoin basic terms blog

10 must-know basic crypto terms explained

Posted on December 16 2020 – By Yada Wallets Team
Last updated on December 10 2021

In the world of Cryptocurrencies, there are many things that seem more complicated than they really are because of the terms people use. These terms are sometimes so integrated into the crypto communities that they are used basically everywhere. However, for outsiders and newcomers, this can be quite confusing having never heard of these words. So to help you Crypto curious/nubies get started we have provided 10 basic must-know crypto terms for you.

Cryptocurrency

A cryptocurrency (like Bitcoin) is a digital form of money that can give you complete ownership of your funds. Whereas with digital money on your bank account your bank really owns the money, with cryptocurrencies you can have to option to store the currency on your own device as there exists no physical form of the currency.

Fiat Currency

Fiat Money or currency is money printed by a government that is not backed by anything. Examples of Fiat currencies are the Dollar, Euro, and Argentinian Peso. These currencies can easily be printed and thus can lose value very fast.

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the biggest and oldest cryptocurrency out there and has been the dominant Cryptocurrency out there since its beginning.

Altcoin

An altcoin refers to every Cryptocurrency that is not bitcoin. However, the second-biggest cryptocurrency Ethereum is not seen as an altcoin by everyone anymore. These days many people start to use the term “altcoin” for every cryptocurrency besides Bitcoin & Ethereum.

HODL

Stands for “hold on to dear life”. This term is used to describe people that Hold/keep their Bitcoin/cryptocurrencies for a longer time period. People who Hodl are often referred to as “Hodlers”.

Satoshi

A Satoshi refers to the smallest amount of Bitcoin there is, to be exact there are 100,000,000 Satoshis per Bitcoin. Because of the huge value of 1 Bitcoin, it is easier to Say 100 Satoshi as a measure of value than having to ask for 0.00000100 Bitcoin. The word Satoshi comes from the anonymous creator of Bitcoin who is known as Satoshi Nakamoto.

Wallet

A Wallet is an Application where you can store your cryptocurrencies. There are many wallets out there with many different currencies and extra features. To find the best wallet and filter between all the features you can use our crypto wallet filter.

Public Key

A Public key is a string of letters and numbers that is used to receive cryptocurrency in the same way as you would use an email address to send an email to.

Private Key

A Private Key is like a Password of your Public Key. To prove to the Bitcoin Network that you are the owner of a Public Key, you will have to sign a transaction with your Private Key. Because the private key is the only way you can access your funds, it is very important that you keep it safe and to yourself.

Exchange

An exchange is a platform where you can trade between different currencies. This can be from Euro’s to Dollar but also from Euro to Bitcoin. There are many exchange platforms out there with a lot of different trading pairs so you can almost always find a way to switch from one currency to the other.

 

We hope that these 10 Basic crypto terms help you get a better understanding of the crypto space. If you have any Questions regarding Blockchain or Bitcoin? Feel free to ask them on our Facebook or Telegram group. We are happy to help whenever we can!


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