We want you to be informed.
Newcomers to the world of Currency might be baffled by the trading jargon – why HODL? What is a Whale? – but don’t panic, there’s a simple definition for everything.
Read on and let your FUD drift away.
If you keep hearing about “altcoin”, but can’t find a trading price, that’s because it doesn’t exist. Altcoin is simply a blend word, derived from “alternative” and “coin”, and refers to any digital currency that isn’t bitcoin.
The big one, created by the mysterious “Satoshi Nakamoto”, in 2008. Even now, despite the rise of a large number of altcoins, it’s still the currency that hogs the headlines.
In August 2017, bitcoin experienced its first “fork” (see below) and split into bitcoin and bitcoin cash – they are now two entirely separate currencies.
A block is one package of permanently recorded transaction data. After it is completed, it goes into a blockchain, which acts as a permanent database of all of the previous blocks of data.
A new block is then generated for new information to be stored on. Each block also contains a mathematical puzzle with a unique answer, and new blocks cannot be submitted to the blockchain without the answer.
This answer is what Currencies (see below) are searching for.
On average, a new block is added to the blockchain through mining every 10 minutes. This block verifies any new transactions, a process known as confirmation.
Some vendors will require several confirmations from different blocks, depending on how large the transaction is.
Fiat currency is legal tender whose value is backed by the government that issued it, such as the US dollar or UK pound.
A fork creates alternate versions of the blockchain and then the split blockchain runs simultaneously on different parts of the network.
A “hard fork” renders prior invalid transactions valid, and vice versa; a “soft fork” renders previously valid transactions invalid, but not the inverse.
An acronym for “fear, uncertainty and doubt”. Used particularly on analysis forums as a put-down for naysayers who are “spreading FUD again”.
A physical device designed to store your money safely off your computer, essentially like a very sophisticated USB stick.
The process by which you get USD or similar currency, by trying to solve the mathematical problem within it.
Originally a typo on a currency forum, when someone typed HODL instead of HOLD. Interpreted as “Hold On for Dear Life”, it’s become the battle cry of diehard currency investors who believe that the investment will come good one day.
An acronym for Initial Coin Offering: a popular, and usually unregulated, way to raise cash for new currency ventures.
A percentage of the new currency is sold to backers as blockchain “tokens” in return for more established ccurrencies.
The process of finding new bitcoins, which involves compiling recent transactions into blocks and trying to solve a computationally difficult puzzle through hashing.
A computer specially designed for currencies.
Any computer connected to the bitcoin network is called a node. These nodes validate and relay transactions while receiving a copy of the full blockchain.
The smallest fraction of a bitcoin is called a “satoshi” or “sat”. It represents one hundred-millionth of a bitcoin and is named after Satoshi Nakamoto.
A combination of the recipient’s public key and your private key is what makes a bitcoin transaction possible.
A software wallet stores these on a third-party server, or you can choose to store them in a desktop wallet downloaded on to your computer. The alternative is a specialist hardware wallet (see above).
These tokens supposedly become currency units if – and when – the new currency targets are met and it launches.
Hence, it’s no surprise that Satoshi Nakamoto is the biggest whale of all. These whales have the ability to impact markets significantly when they buy or sell, so other traders watch for signs of their movements.