A central bank digital currency. A digital liability of the central bank, not a commercial-bank deposit and not Bitcoin.

A CeFi lender that froze withdrawals in 2022 and entered bankruptcy after risky yield strategies.

A company-run venue that holds custody, matches orders, and lists pairs. Users deposit to the exchange wallet.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which oversees commodity derivatives and has treated Bitcoin and ether as commodities.

A numerical identifier included in supported blockchain signatures to distinguish the network on which an authorization is intended to work.

A blockchain analytics firm used by exchanges and governments for compliance and investigations.

The leading oracle network for prices, proofs, and cross-chain messages (CCIP).

Ethereum co-founder who later launched Cardano.

A large-value U.S. dollar netting system used by banks for many international USD payments.

China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System for yuan clearing.

The issuer of USDC, a regulated dollar stablecoin reserved in cash and short-term U.S. Treasuries.

An automatic pause when flows or losses exceed thresholds.

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025, H.R.3633, a U.S. House-origin market-structure bill with subsequent Senate consideration.

Bankruptcy tool to recover preferential withdrawals from customers who got out before the freeze.

Continuous Linked Settlement, the traditional FX PvP utility for major currencies.

The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, which lists cash-settled Bitcoin and ether futures used by institutions.

A U.S.-listed centralized exchange and custodian, also a prime broker and the issuer path for coinbase-wrapped assets like cbETH.

Theft of NEM from the Japanese exchange Coincheck, one of the largest exchange losses of that era.

A long-running crypto news site, historically linked to industry events like Consensus.

A wallet whose keys stay offline, often on a hardware device or paper backup, used for longer-term storage.

Assets locked to back a loan or a minted stablecoin. If the value falls too far, the position is liquidated.

Mixing client funds with firm trading inventory. Core allegation pattern in FTX and a standing CeFi red flag.

A decentralized lending protocol with version-specific market designs; Compound III markets use one borrowable base asset and a set of approved collateral assets with separate risk limits.

In common Bitcoin usage, inclusion in a block gives one confirmation, and each subsequent block on the accepted chain adds another.

A replicated data structure designed so concurrent changes can converge under specified merge or delivery rules, without coordinating every update.

An Ethereum-focused company that builds MetaMask, Infura, and institutional Ethereum tooling.

The x * y = k rule used by Uniswap v2-style pools. Larger trades pay a steeper price.

When futures trade above spot. Long-futures products bleed as they roll.

Identifying data through a cryptographic digest and representation information so retrieved bytes can be checked independently of their storage location.

An institutional digital asset infrastructure provider offering custody, settlement, and collateral-related services.

How two prices move together. In stress, many alts correlate near 1 with Bitcoin.

The nested-account model banks use to pay across borders when they do not hold accounts with each other.

The chance the other side of a trade, loan, or custody arrangement cannot pay or deliver.

Information used to determine whether a digital credential has been suspended, revoked, or otherwise updated, independently of whether its signature verifies.

Permission for another address to borrow against borrowing capacity provided by a collateralized account, subject to the lending protocol's rules.

Bundled custody, leverage, and execution for funds, closer to TradFi prime than to retail CEX accounts.

A multi-year drawdown after a mania, as in 2018 and 2022.

Math that protects confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity. Blockchains rely on hashes and signatures.

A 2017 Ethereum NFT game that clogged the network and proved consumer demand for on-chain collectibles.

Larva Labs' 10,000-pixel characters on Ethereum that defined NFT profile culture and blue-chip collectible pricing.

A currency transaction report for large cash moves. Crypto analogs appear as threshold transfer reports.

An automated market maker protocol whose StableSwap pools concentrate liquidity around a reference price relationship, with other pool designs such as CryptoSwap serving assets whose relative prices move.

Who holds the keys. A custodian can move funds on a client's behalf and takes operational and legal responsibility.

The 1990s privacy-and-crypto mailing-list culture that influenced Bitcoin's design goals.

Binance's founder, a central figure in exchange history who later faced U.S. legal outcomes.