Crypto Lingo

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A 51% attack can happen if more than 51% of the miners are compromised or controlled on a blockchain. The Bitcoin blockchain, to date, and likely to never happen, has ever experienced such an attack but there have been a few blockchain networks that have, such as bitcoin SV (a bitcoin offshoot), LiteCoin Cash (LCC), and Ethereum Classic (ETC).

An Altcoin is technically, any cryptocurrency other than bitcoin (BTC).

A transfer of cryptocurrency from one individual to another without the use of an exchange, it is a true peer-to-peer transaction. 

A bitcoin ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund) works along the same idea as a mutual fund, however the only asset the bitcoin ETF invests in is bitcoin. For the average investor, this may be a good thing, but why would you invest in an ETF when you can invest in bitcoin directly. That is my question...what is the benefit?

The bitcoin halving occurs when 210,000 blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain have been mined, this equates to roughly every 4 years. The next halving will occur around March or April 2024. At this time, the reward for mining a block will be cut in half. Currently in 2023, the current block mining reward is 6.25 bitcoin. At the next halving, the reward will drop to 3.125 bitcoin. The halvings will continue until all bitcoin have been mined in the year 2140. 

On May 22, 2010, a man in Florida named Laszlo Hanyecz purchased two Papa Johns pizzas for 10,000 bitcoins. This day is celebrated because it is the very 1st business transaction recorded using bitcoin. 10,000 bitcoin in 2023 would be worth around $300,000,000.00.

A blockchain is the alternate term for Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Blockchain is a database of sorts, but contains other essential elements that make it immensely more secure, such as immutability. Once data has been entered on the blockchain, it can never be removed, there will always be a record of that data. 

This is a term to explain the best time to buy cryptocurrency as an investment is when the market or crypto assets value is in a down-turn. For instance, buy low - sell high.

 The Byzantine Generals Problem is a game theory problem, which describes the difficulty decentralized parties have in arriving at consensus without relying on a trusted central party. This was previously impossible to prevent until the creation of bitcoin.

 A CBDC is generally defined as a digital currency of a central bank that is widely available to the general public, similar to the U.S. Dollar today, but a digital version. A CBDC is programmable digital cash, which can only succeed if the government outlaws the current form of currency, aka the U.S. Dollar. Since a CBDC is programmable, the fear is the government will use this to place restriction on use of CBDCs for it's citizens. 

 A centralize exchange is an exchange that facilitates the purchase, swapping, and selling of cryptocurrencies. However, in the CEX model, users do not actually own the cryptocurrency they are merely buying the value of the coin or token. The phrase, Not your Keys, Not your Crypto should come to mind. 

A hash is the resulting output of a hashing algorithm, well that clears that up. But seriously that is what is it, it is the answer to a math problem, but that provides a unique, cryptographic key to ensure the security of transactions on a blockchain. 

Liquidity is quite simply, the ability to turn cryptocurrency or another asset into cash. If a cryptocurrency has stable liquidity, it can perform cash out requests for their users at any time. If liquidity is low, it may take a while to get your cash out. Banks run on a similar concept. If you have ever tried to withdrawal $10,000 from your ban account, which I have, it is extremely difficult and time consuming. With crypto, it typically takes mere moments!

A meme coin,  or the term I prefer Shit coin, is a cryptocurrency that is as close as you can get to a ponzi or pyramid scheme that one could get. For instance, Dogecoin and Shiba-Inu are meme coins with no real value or unique use except that it is cool and people like cool things. Neither of them have any real value as a cryptocurrency but will likely fade in time. Unless, the world of course continues to have a fascination in Shiba dogs, and then who knows, more meme millionaires!

A node is the basic unit of a blockchain, it is a single computer (for simplicities sake) that processes blockchain transactions. For instance, on the Bitcoin blockchain, each full node contains a complete record of the the blockchains history of transactions since the first genesis block. The goal of a node is to validate and verify that transactions are correct before they are permanently stored on the blockchain. 

The term non-fungible means that it is unique, there is only one and it cannot be broken down into pieces. The easiest way to think of an NFT is in the form of art. Each NFT (whether it is a picture of a cat, lizard, or even a self-portrait) is one of a kind. Therefore, it can be an asset that is limited and holds value, just like a Rodan or a Rembrandt. If it can be replicated, it is not an NFT. 

The term on-chain and off-chain describe whether transactions are being performed directly on the projects blockchain (Layer 1) or whether it is being performed on a secondary chain (Layer 2) to be consolidated and later added to the Layer 1 chain. For instance, you can conduct transactions directly on the Bitcoin blockchain (Layer 1) using a wallet to send someone else bitcoin, or you could use the a wallet via the Lightning network (Layer 2) to send that same person bitcoin. Same result.

The Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism is fully decentralized and requires a significant amount of processing power to solve cryptographic puzzles meant to ensure the highest levels of security. Although the PoW consensus requires time, energy, and technology to operate, it is also the only consensus mechanism that has never been compromised or hacked, and of course I am talking about the Bitcoin blockchain. However, negative press about its energy consumption are entirely inaccurate.

The Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism is fully decentralized and requires a significant amount of processing power to solve cryptographic puzzles meant to ensure the highest levels of security. Although the PoW consensus requires time, energy, and technology to operate, it is also the only consensus mechanism that has never been compromised or hacked, and of course I am talking about the Bitcoin blockchain. However, negative press about its energy consumption are entirely inaccurate.