Blockchain Glossary: From AZ
51% Attack
When a single individual or a group has more than half of the computing power, this individual or group can control the entire cryptocurrency network, and if they have some malicious ideas, they may send some conflicting transactions to damage the entire network.
Address _
Cryptocurrency addresses are used to send or receive transactions on the network. Addresses are usually represented as alphanumeric characters.
ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit)
"Application-Specific Integrated Circuit" for short. Typically, ASICs are dedicated to mining and can potentially save a lot of energy compared to GPUs.
Bitcoin _
Bitcoin is the first decentralized open-source cryptocurrency that runs on a global peer-to-peer network, eliminating the need for middlemen and centralized issuers.
Block
Blocks are packets of data that carry permanently recorded data on the blockchain network.
Blockchain
A blockchain is a shared distributed ledger in which transactions are permanently recorded by appending blocks. The blockchain acts as a historical record of all transactions, from the occurrence of the block to the latest block, hence the name blockchain (blockchain).
Block Explorer
Block Explorer is an online tool for viewing all transactions (past and current) on a block. They provide useful information such as network hash rate and transaction growth rate.
Block Height
The number of blocks connected to the blockchain.
Block Reward
It is a form of incentive for miners who successfully compute hashes in blocks during mining. New coins are generated during the verification of transactions on the blockchain, and miners are rewarded for a portion of them.
Central Ledger
A ledger maintained by a central authority.
Confirmation
Decentralize a transaction, adding it to the blockchain for successful confirmation.
Consensus
Consensus is reached when all network participants agree on the validity of a transaction, ensuring that the distributed ledgers are exact copies of each other.
Cryptocurrency
Also known as tokens, cryptocurrencies are how digital assets are presented.
Cryptographic Hash Function
Cryptographic hashes generate fixed-size and unique hashes from variable-size transaction inputs. The SHA-256 calculation algorithm is an example of a cryptographic hash.
Dapp (Decentralized Application)
A Dapp (Decentralized Application) is an open-source application that runs autonomously, stores its data on the blockchain, incentivizes it in the form of cryptographic tokens, and operates with a protocol that shows proof of value.
DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)
A DAO can be thought of as a company that operates without any human intervention and hands over all forms of control to an unbreakable set of business rules.
Distributed Ledger
Distributed ledger, data is stored through a network of distributed nodes. A distributed ledger does not have to have its own currency, it may be permissioned and private.
Distributed Network
A network in which processing power and data are distributed across nodes rather than having a centralized data center.
Difficulty
This refers to how easy it is to successfully mine data blocks for transaction information.
Digital Signature
A digital code generated by public key encryption, attached to electronically transmitted documents to verify their content and the identity of the sender.
Double Spending
Double spending occurs when a sum of money is spent more than the one-time payment limit.
Ethereum
Ethereum is a blockchain-based platform for running smart contracts decentralized, designed to solve problems related to censorship, fraud, and third-party interference.
EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)
The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is a Turing-complete virtual machine that allows anyone to execute arbitrary EVM bytecode. Every Ethereum node runs on the EVM to maintain consistency across the blockchain.
Fork
Forks can create crossed versions of blockchains, running two blockchains compatible in different parts of the network.
Genesis Block
The first block of the blockchain.
Hard Fork
A branch type that makes a previously invalid transaction valid, and vice versa. This type of fork requires all nodes and users to upgrade to the latest version of the protocol software.
Hash
The act of performing a hash function on the output data. This is used to confirm currency transactions.
Hash Rate
The performance measurement of a mining rig is expressed in seconds.
Hybrid PoS/PoW (Hybrid PoS/PoW)
POW (Proof of Work, Proof of Work) refers to how much currency you get, depending on the amount of work you contribute to mining. The better the computer performance, the more mining will be distributed to you. POS (Proof of Stake, Proof of Stake) is a system that distributes interest based on the amount and time of currency you hold. In the POS mode, your "mining" income is proportional to your currency age, regardless of the computing performance of your computer .
Hybrid PoS/PoW can use shared distribution algorithms on the network as both proof-of-share and proof-of-work. In this approach, a balance between miners and voters (holders) can be achieved, creating a community-based governance system by insiders (holders) and outsiders (miners).
Mining
Mining is the act of validating blockchain transactions. The necessity of verification is usually rewarded to miners in the form of currency. During this cryptographically secure boom, mining can be a lucrative business when calculations are done correctly. By choosing the most efficient and suitable hardware and mining goals, mining can generate a stable form of passive income.
Multi-Signature
Multi-signature addresses require more than one key to authorize transactions, adding a layer of security.
Node
A copy of the ledger operated by the participants of the blockchain network.
Peer to Peer
Peer-to-peer (P2P) refers to decentralized interactions or more interactions between two parties in a highly interconnected network. Participants in a P2P network negotiate directly with each other through a single point of mediation.
Public Address
The public address is the cryptographic hash of the public key. They act as email addresses that can be published anywhere, unlike private keys.
Private Key
A private key is a string of data that is a token that allows you to access a particular wallet. They act as passwords and are hidden from all but the owner of the address.
Proof of Work
POW (Proof of Work, Proof of Work) refers to how much currency you get, depending on the amount of work you contribute to mining. The better the computer performance, the more mining will be distributed to you.
Proof of Stake
POS (Proof of Stake, Proof of Stake) is a system that distributes interest based on the amount and time of currency you hold. In the POS mode, your "mining" income is proportional to your currency age, regardless of the computing performance of your computer .
Scrypt
Scrypt is an encryption algorithm used by Litecoin. Compared to SHA256, it's faster because it doesn't take a lot of processing time.
SHA-256
SHA-256 is the encryption algorithm used by Bitcoin and a number of digital currencies. However, it uses a lot of computing power and processing time, forcing miners to form mining pools for the benefit.
Smart Contracts
Smart contracts encode business rules in a programmable language onto blocks and are enforced by the participants of the network.
Soft Fork
A soft fork differs from a hard fork in that only a previously valid transaction can invalidate it. Soft branches are basically backward compatible since old nodes recognize new blocks as valid. Such forks require a majority of miners to upgrade to execute, while hard forks require all nodes to agree on a new version.
Solidity
Solidity is Ethereum's programming language for developing smart contracts.
Testnet
A test blockchain used by developers to prevent changes to assets on the main chain.
Transaction Block
A collection of transactions aggregated into a block, which can then be hashed and added to the blockchain.
Transaction Fee
All cryptocurrency transactions involve a small fee. These fees add up to the block reward miners receive when they successfully process a block.
Turing Complete
Turing completeness refers to the ability of a machine to perform computations that any other programmable computer can perform. An example is the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Wallet
A file containing the private key. It usually contains a software client that allows access to view and create transactions for a particular blockchain for which the wallet is designed.