100 words for getting started with blockchain

This is an "industry dictionary" for blockchain enthusiasts

If you are new to the blockchain industry and you are still a “newbie”, you need to read a lot of texts and even watch some videos to gain knowledge. In the process, you will definitely come into contact with many blockchain "jargon", such as "hash algorithm", "zero-knowledge proof", "segregated witness", "blockchain impossible triangle" and so on.

Even if you are already an "experienced", you may encounter a lot of "old words". Some words have different interpretations in different industries, such as "gas", translated into "gas"? It is actually "a calculation unit in the Ethereum network used to measure the workload of executing transactions or smart contracts."

It can be seen how important it is to have an "industry dictionary" in hand at all times.

To this end, the Chinese version of CoinDesk has compiled 100 common terms used by blockchain practitioners from A to Z, hoping to help you.

ABI: Application Binary Interface, a description of the interface of a smart contract. ABI is a message format called between contracts in Ethereum, similar to the SOAP protocol of WebService, that is, a protocol that defines operation function signatures, parameter encoding, and return result encoding. .

Address: Address, a string of letters and numbers, representing the address where cryptocurrencies can be sent and received.

Algorithm: Algorithms, rules and commands written in code that are automatically executed by a computer to solve a problem.

AltCoin: Altcoin refers to cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin.

AML: Anti-Money Laundering, is a legal framework to prevent financial crime.

API: Application Program Interface, an application program interface, a software tool used to satisfy software interactions.

ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit.

ASIC Miner: A mining device specifically designed to mine certain cryptocurrencies.

Atomic Swap: Atomic swap, which allows users to swap different currencies directly in the wallet without going through an exchange.

BFT: Byzantine Fault Tolerance, Byzantine Fault Tolerance, a consensus protocol that tolerates malicious behavior, which can ensure that even if there are malicious nodes in the system sending error messages or other abnormal behaviors, each node can achieve it in a distributed computer network The right consensus.

BIP: Bitcoin Improvement Protocol, refers to a series of proposals to improve Bitcoin submitted by members of the Bitcoin community.

Bit: Bit, a binary code represented by 0 or 1. At the same time, it is a small bitcoin unit. 1,000,000 Bits equals 1 BTC.

Block: A block, a digital file that cannot be tampered with, which stores all actions that occur on the blockchain network. Each block has its own timestamp, Merkel tree hash, electronic signature, and transaction information.

Block Explorer: Block Explorer is an online tool used to view all transactions on a block, providing information such as network hash rate and transaction growth rate.

Block Height: block height, the serial number of the current block.

Block Reward: Block rewards, based on the internal mechanism of the blockchain, provide rewards for nodes or miners.

Bulletproofs: The bulletproof protocol, proposed by Stanford University, reduces the expansion coefficient to three times that of ordinary transactions (originally 60 times), which can greatly reduce the data size of private transactions.

CAP: The CAP theorem, in a distributed asynchronous network model, consistency, availability, and partition fault tolerance cannot be guaranteed at the same time.

Confirmation: Transaction confirmation refers to verifying the transaction information of a certain series. On the Bitcoin blockchain, each transaction must be confirmed by 6 different nodes to be considered successful.

Consensus: Consensus is reached when all network participants agree on the validity of the transaction, ensuring that the distributed ledgers are accurate copies of each other.

Cryptography: Cryptography, a technology that uses codes and passwords to encrypt and decrypt sensitive information or data.

Cryptocurrency Mixing Service: It is difficult to trace the source of funds by mixing the potentially identified cryptocurrency funds with other currencies to disguise the flow of funds. Cryptocurrency mixing services are designed to increase the anonymity of cryptocurrencies because cryptocurrencies provide a public ledger where anyone can view all transactions.

DAO: Decentralized autonomous organization.

DApp: Decentralized application.

Dark Web: The Dark Web, an encrypted network that is not indexed by a web search engine, can only be accessed with special software, special authorization, or special settings on the computer.

DDoS: Distributed Denial Of Service, a type of network attack, a malicious attacker conducts traffic attacks through multiple servers.

Decentralized: Decentralized, ownership is not owned by a single entity, but distributed to any member who wants to join the network.

Deflation: The economic side effect of deflation, the accumulation of value. During deflation, the same amount of currency can make people buy more goods.

Demurrage: A demurrage fee, a form of punishment implemented in some cryptocurrency protocols, taxing wallets of unused assets. Suppose you hold 10,000 EOS and don't want to move them within 5 years, this is very bad for you, because the EOS you hold may be exhausted by demurrage fees.

DEX: Decentralized Exchange, a decentralized exchange, a website used for decentralized transactions.

Difficulty: Difficulty of mining, used to measure the computing power required to complete the next block hash calculation.

Distributed Ledger, a distributed ledger, is a database that is shared, replicated, and synchronized among network members. A distributed ledger records transactions between network participants, such as the exchange of assets or data. This shared ledger reduces the time and expense incurred by mediating different ledgers.

Double Spending: By controlling the hash power of the network, the same digital currency will be spent twice at the same time, which will cause the price of cryptocurrencies on the exchange to be severely frustrated.

ERC: Ethereum Requests for Comment Use the same number, for example, ERC-20 corresponds to EIP-20.

ERC-20: A protocol of the Ethereum network. ERC-20 tokens are created on the Ethereum network through smart contracts. They describe the functions and events that must be implemented by this token contract.

Escrow: Escrow, the introduction of third-party institutions during the transaction process to ensure that all participants are compliant.

EVM: Ethereum Virtual Machine, which uses the Ethereum Virtual Machine to transform Solidity code into encrypted code that can be executed on the blockchain. The Ethereum Virtual Machine is a virtual machine designed to run on all participating nodes in a peer-to-peer network. It can read and write executable code and data in a blockchain, verify data signatures, and use a semi-Turing-complete method. Run the code.

FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out, specifically a kind of fear of missing people. For example, if the price of bitcoin exceeds $ 10,000, many people will be afraid to miss the price that bitcoin will continue to rise.

Fork: Forking, usually because the software code needs to be updated, so the previous version is abandoned.

FUD: Fear Uncertainty and Doubt, fear of uncertainty and doubt, is used to refer to the very dark or disturbing period of the future of something.

Gas: A calculation unit in the Ethereum network that measures the workload of executing transactions or smart contracts.

Gas limit: The maximum gas that a specific transaction can consume. When the transaction gas limit is insufficient, an out of gas error will occur.

Gas price: The price at which a transaction is measured in another currency or token (such as Ether). In order to stably consume the value of gas, the gas price is floating, and it changes accordingly according to the fluctuation of the currency or token price to keep the total price stable. The gas price is determined by the market supply and demand (the game between the price that users are willing to spend and the price that the miner nodes are willing to accept).

Genesis Block: Genesis Block, the first block of the Bitcoin network.

GPU: Graphics Processing Unit. For Bitcoin mining, this is the tool used to calculate the underlying mathematical hashing process.

Halving: Halving refers to the halving of blockchain mining rewards. For the Bitcoin network, mining rewards are halved every 4 years or every 210,000 blocks mined. The initial reward is 50 BTC, which will be halved to 25 in 2012, then halved to 12.5 in 2016, and will be 6.25 in 2020.

Hard Fork: A hard fork, a radical change in cryptocurrency code. Generally speaking, such changes occur at the bottom of the code, such as privacy protocols or consensus mechanisms.

Hash: A hash, a fixed-length string that represents the input data. Taking Bitcoin as an example, its hash value is calculated from the data of the previous block.

Hash Rate: Hash rate, a unit that measures the computing power of the entire network.

HODL: The misspelling of the word HOLD is a slang and online meme developed in the Bitcoin community, which refers to holding a cryptocurrency for a long time without selling or using it.

Inflation: Inflation, which originally meant an increase in the amount of money in circulation, but also refers to the increase in the amount of money in circulation, which has caused the price level to continue to rise by a considerable amount in a certain period, that is, the phenomenon of rising prices and falling purchasing power .

Inputs: input, during the transaction, the data corresponding to the output. The inputs and outputs add up to reflect the remaining consumable balance of the relevant address.

IP: Internet Protocol.

KYC: Know Your Customer, "Know Your Customer" refers to a series of regulations that the government requires companies to audit user identities.

Laundry: A way to strengthen privacy and anonymity.

Lightning Network: Lightning Network is a second-tier payment protocol that works on the blockchain (mainly for Bitcoin). Its design purpose is to realize instant transactions between the two parties of the transaction, and the transaction frequency of the blockchain is limited by its capacity.

Merged Mining: Mixed mining means that miners use their computing resources to run different cryptocurrency nodes at the same time, and can mine different cryptocurrencies at the same time.

Mining: The process of mining, where nodes compete with each other to verify and publish transaction information. For Bitcoin, mining should include compiling the parameters of all past blocks and the parameters of the current block, while also solving super difficult mathematical problems.

Miner: Miner, the subject of mining activities, and the node operator in the blockchain network can get mining rewards.

Mining Pool: The mining pool, that is, multi-person cooperative mining, is a collection of miners' computing power, which greatly increases the probability of mining a block, and then allocates rewards according to the proportion of each person's computing power. .

Minting: Mint rewards, which directly generate monetary rewards for participating users, are more common in proof-of-stake mechanisms.

Money Laundering: Money laundering, the laundering of illegal funds in a way that law enforcement cannot track.

Node: A node is a computer or device connected to a cryptocurrency network. The more nodes, the more stable the network.

Nonce: Pseudo-random number parameter, used for mining and hashing algorithms.

OffChain Transactions: Off-chain transactions, in order to avoid network congestion, transactions that are not performed on the main chain of cryptocurrencies.

Oracle: oracle, oracle connects virtual and reality. The core function is to provide data on-chain services, which is a necessary condition for realizing smart contracts. Smart contracts run in the sandbox environment provided by the blockchain. The sandbox is a closed environment, making the contract code unable to read off-chain data, but many times smart contracts must rely on external data, and Oracle assumes the responsibility of providing external data. Features.

Orphaned Block: An orphaned block, an isolated block due to a fork.

Output: Output, part of the cryptocurrency transaction information with sending instructions.

Paper Wallet: Paper wallet, a method of cold storage of cryptocurrencies, where the private key and receiving address are printed.

P2P: Peer-to-Peer, a structure of point-to-point, data distribution and information sharing, where all users are directly connected, avoiding a single point of failure.

PoS: Proof Of Stake, Proof-of-Stake, is a type of consensus algorithm for public blockchains, which relies on the economic interests of validators in the network. In a PoS-based public blockchain (such as the upcoming Casper implementation of Ethereum), a group of validators take turns to vote and vote in the next block, and the weight of each validator's vote depends on the size of their deposit (ie equity ). The significant advantages of PoS include security, centralized risk reduction, and energy efficiency.

PoW: Proof of Work, Proof of Work, is an economic countermeasure against service and resource abuse or blocking service attacks. Generally, users are required to perform some complex and time-consuming complex calculations, and the answers can be quickly checked by the service provider. This takes the time, equipment and energy as guarantee costs to ensure that services and resources are used by real needs. Has become the mainstream of cryptocurrencies