Glossary
83 crypto and XFasil terms explained in plain words, with links to articles that go deeper.
A
- Address
- A string of characters that identifies where cryptocurrency can be received on a blockchain. Each network has its own address format. Read more →
- Airdrop
- A distribution of free tokens to many wallets, often to promote a project. Unexpected airdrops of unknown tokens can be scams.
- AMM (automated market maker)
- A type of decentralised exchange that prices trades with a formula based on the tokens in a liquidity pool instead of an order book. Read more →
- Ask
- A sell order in the order book: the price a seller wants. The lowest ask is the best price to buy at right now. Read more →
B
- Base asset
- The first asset in a trading pair — the one being bought or sold. In BTC/USDT the base asset is BTC. Read more →
- Bid
- A buy order in the order book: the price a buyer is willing to pay. The highest bid is the best price to sell at right now. Read more →
- Block
- A batch of transactions added to a blockchain together. Each block refers to the previous one by its hash. Read more →
- Blockchain
- A shared ledger of transactions kept by many computers, in which new records are added in linked blocks. Read more →
- Breakout
- A price move through a support or resistance level, especially with high volume. Read more →
- Bridge
- A service that moves tokens between different blockchains. Bridges add their own security risks. Read more →
C
- Candlestick
- A chart element that shows the open, high, low and close price of one period. Read more →
- Cold wallet
- A wallet that keeps private keys offline, such as a hardware wallet or a paper backup. Read more →
- Confirmation
- A new block added after the block that contains a transaction. More confirmations mean a transaction is harder to reverse.
- Consensus mechanism
- The rules by which a blockchain's participants agree on the next block, such as proof of work or proof of stake. Read more →
- Custodial wallet
- A wallet where a service holds the private keys for the user, like a balance on a platform. Read more →
D
- DeFi
- Decentralised finance: financial services such as exchanging and lending built from smart contracts. Read more →
- Depeg
- When a stablecoin's market price moves noticeably away from the value it is supposed to hold. Read more →
- DEX
- A decentralised exchange, where users swap tokens from their own wallets through smart contracts. Read more →
- Difficulty
- In proof of work, how hard it is to find a valid block. Bitcoin adjusts it about every two weeks. Read more →
E
- ERC-20
- The standard for tokens on Ethereum. ERC-20 tokens use Ethereum addresses (starting with 0x) and fees in ETH. Read more →
- Exchange
- A platform where cryptocurrencies are bought, sold or swapped. On XFasil you can follow live market data, charts, order books and trades in Markets.
F
- Finality
- The point after which a transaction can no longer be reversed. Read more →
- Funding rate
- Periodic payments between long and short positions in perpetual futures that keep the contract price close to the spot price. Read more →
G
- Gas
- The unit that measures the work of an operation on Ethereum and similar networks; gas fees are paid in the network's coin. Read more →
H
- Halving
- A scheduled cut in half of the reward for mining a Bitcoin block, every 210,000 blocks. Read more →
- Hash
- A short fixed-length fingerprint of data. Changing the data even slightly changes the hash completely. Read more →
- HiB
- An internal XFasil bonus asset credited for activity on the platform and used in games and the chat. It is not bought, exchanged or withdrawn, and each credit expires after one month. Read more →
- Hot wallet
- A wallet connected to the internet, such as a mobile app or browser extension. Convenient, but more exposed than cold storage. Read more →
I
- Impermanent loss
- The difference in value for a liquidity provider compared with simply holding the tokens, caused by price changes. Read more →
- Index price
- A reference price of an asset calculated from several spot markets, used for futures. Read more →
K
- KYC
- Know your customer: identity verification required by many financial services. On XFasil, identity verification is required to access trading features. Read more →
L
- Layer 1
- A base blockchain with its own consensus and security, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum. Read more →
- Layer 2
- A network built on top of a layer 1 to process transactions faster and cheaper, such as a rollup. Read more →
- Leverage
- Using borrowed funds to open a position larger than your own margin. It multiplies both profits and losses. Read more →
- Limit order
- An order to buy or sell at a set price or better. It waits in the order book until the market reaches that price. Read more →
- Liquidation
- The forced closing of a leveraged or borrowed position when its collateral no longer covers the losses. Read more →
- Liquidity
- How easily an asset can be traded without moving its price much. Read more →
- Liquidity pool
- A smart contract holding two or more tokens that users can swap against. Read more →
- Long
- A position that gains when the price rises. Read more →
M
- Maker
- A trader whose order waits in the order book and adds liquidity. Read more →
- Margin
- The funds a trader puts up as collateral for a leveraged position. Read more →
- Mark price
- The price used to calculate unrealised profit and loss and liquidations in futures; it smooths out short spikes. Read more →
- Market order
- An order executed immediately at the best available prices. Read more →
- Mempool
- The waiting area of transactions that have been broadcast but not yet included in a block. Read more →
- Mining
- Adding new blocks in a proof of work network by spending computing power, in exchange for a block reward. Read more →
- Moving average
- The average closing price of the last N candles, drawn as a line to smooth the chart. Read more →
N
- Network fee
- The fee paid to the miners or validators of a blockchain for including a transaction. It is separate from any service fee. Read more →
- Node
- A computer that keeps a copy of a blockchain and checks new blocks against the rules. Read more →
O
- Open interest
- The number of futures contracts that are currently open. Read more →
- Oracle
- A service that brings outside data, such as prices, to smart contracts. Read more →
- Order book
- The list of waiting buy and sell orders for a trading pair, grouped by price. Read more →
P
- Pair
- Two assets traded against each other, such as BTC/USDT. Read more →
- Perpetual futures
- Futures contracts without an expiry date that follow an asset's price. Read more →
- Phishing
- A fake website or message designed to steal passwords, codes or seed phrases. Read more →
- Private key
- A secret number that controls the funds at an address. Whoever has it can move the funds. Read more →
- Proof of stake
- A consensus mechanism in which validators lock up coins as collateral to confirm blocks. Read more →
- Proof of work
- A consensus mechanism in which miners spend computing power to add blocks. Read more →
Q
- Quote asset
- The second asset in a trading pair, in which the price is expressed. In BTC/USDT it is USDT. Read more →
R
- Resistance
- A price level where rising prices have repeatedly stopped before. Read more →
- Rollup
- A layer 2 design that executes transactions off-chain and posts compressed results to the layer 1. Read more →
S
- Satoshi
- The smallest unit of bitcoin: one hundred-millionth of a BTC. Read more →
- Seed phrase
- A list of 12 or 24 words from which a wallet's keys are generated. It must never be shared. Read more →
- Self-custody
- Holding your own private keys instead of trusting a service with them. Read more →
- Short
- A position that gains when the price falls. Read more →
- Slippage
- The difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which it is actually executed. Read more →
- Smart contract
- A program stored on a blockchain that runs exactly as written when someone interacts with it. Read more →
- Spot trading
- Buying and selling an asset for immediate delivery, without leverage or contracts. Read more →
- Spread
- The difference between the best ask and the best bid in an order book. Read more →
- Stablecoin
- A token designed to keep a stable value, usually 1 US dollar. Read more →
- Staking
- Locking up coins to help secure a proof of stake network, usually in exchange for rewards. Read more →
- Stop-limit order
- An order that becomes a limit order once the market reaches a set stop price. Read more →
- Support
- A price level where falling prices have repeatedly stopped before. Read more →
T
- Taker
- A trader whose order is executed immediately against waiting orders, removing liquidity. Read more →
- Token
- An asset created by a smart contract on an existing blockchain, as opposed to the blockchain's native coin. Read more →
- TRC-20
- The token standard of the TRON network. XFasil deposits and withdrawals use USDT TRC-20. Read more →
- Two-factor authentication (2FA)
- A second check at sign-in in addition to the password. On XFasil, 2FA sends a code to your email at every sign-in. Read more →
U
- USDT
- Tether's US dollar stablecoin, issued on several networks. It is the main balance of an XFasil wallet. Read more →
V
- Validator
- A participant in a proof of stake network who stakes coins and confirms blocks. Read more →
- Volatility
- How strongly and quickly a price changes. Crypto assets are usually highly volatile. Read more →
- Volume
- The amount traded during a period, usually 24 hours. Read more →
W
- Wallet
- Software or a device that stores the keys used to access and move cryptocurrency. Read more →
- Whitepaper
- A document that describes a crypto project's design and goals. Bitcoin's whitepaper was published in 2008. Read more →
X
- XFS
- An internal XFasil game asset used in games. It can be exchanged for USDT where the exchange is available, but not withdrawn directly. Read more →