Cryptocurrency

generic term for digital and cryptography based money. Altcoin – a cryptocurrency which isn’t bitcoin. Includes Ethereum (see flippening), Litecoin, Ripple, Monero, Dash and about 800 others.

Protocol

In information technology, a protocol is the special set of rules that end points in a telecommunication connection use when they communicate. Protocols specify interactions between the communicating entities.

Airdrops

A free token or coin distributed to the crypto community by a blockchain project. Airdrops are essentially giveaways used as a marketing tool with the purpose of gaining an early community of users, who are sometimes asked to perform little tasks like social media jobs. To be a recipient of a crypto airdrop, often the only requirement is that you have coins from the relevant blockchain stored in your wallet.

Transaction

Financial transaction, an agreement, communication, or movement carried out between a buyer and a seller to exchange an asset for payment

Crowd Sale, Crowd Funding

the practice of funding a project or venture by raising many small amounts of money from a large number of people, typically via the Internet.

Whitepaper

An informational document that generally informs readers on the philosophy, objectives and technology of a project or initiative. Whitepapers are often provided before the launch of a new coin or token.

ICO(Initial Coin Offerings)

cryptocurrency often (but not always) built on Ethereum which raise money on the basis of an idea.

Proof of Work(PoW)

this is difficult and costly to produce, but easy to verify by others. The mechanism used in the bitcoin blockchain

Proof of Stake(PoS)

a blockchain where there is no block reward or mining, as the creator is determined depending on stake. Less energy intensive than proof of work.

Hard Fork

new blockchain software that is non-backwards compatible, causing a chain split.

Soft Fork

new software that is backwards compatible, so the blockchain doesn’t split.

peer-to-peer (P2P)

service is a decentralized platform whereby two individuals interact directly with each other, without intermediation by a third-party. Instead, the buyer and the seller transact directly with each other via the P2P service.

DAPP

Software applications that are stored mostly on cloud computing platforms and that run on multiple systems simultaneously. The systems run on the same network and communicate with each other in an effort to complete a specific task or command. They are a type of software program designed to exist on the Internet in a way that is not controlled by any single entity.

Mining

the process used to create coins or tokens and verify transactions on a proof of work blockchain

Miners

Network users or nodes who perform mining, which is the process of validating transactions and adding them to a blockchain – a public ledger of past transactions. Miners decide by consensus which blockchain should be mined, or if there is a disagreement or a “fork”, which version of the code carries more potential for profit. Miners are paid any transaction fees as well as a “subsidy” of newly created coins. This both serves the purpose of disseminating new coins in a decentralized manner as well as motivating people to provide security for the system.

ERC-20

A type of token standard for Ethereum which ensures the tokens perform in a predictable way. This allows the tokens to be easily exchangeable and able to work immediately with decentralized applications that also use the ERC-20 standard. Most tokens released through ICOs are compliant with the ERC-20 standard

Pre-sale

A sale that takes place before an ICO is made available to the general public to participate.

KYC

Know Your Customer. This is an acronym, but also a bank regulation (mostly US) to verify identity of their customers.

Node

A node is basically any software or computer that is connected to the Bitcoin's (or other cryptocurrencies) network and maintains a copy of the blockchain.