Decentralized Finance: Finance with no central point of service, instead it is spread over a series of users.

 

Fiat currencies: Government-issued currencies that are not backed by anything physical.

 

Blockchain: the underlying technology that keeps the cryptocurrency accounting system secure.

 

Proof of Work (PoW): Blockchain security methods which requires miners to mine blocks to validate transactions

 

Proof of Stake (PoS): Blockchain security methods which requires users to stake some of their cryptocurrency to validate transactions.

 

dApps (decentralised application): Applications that are not centralised and work on top of the blockchain.

 

Public keys: This is the key that you share with people so you can receive cryptocurrency.

 

Private keys: This is what you use to access your wallet where you store your cryptocurrency. Only you should have access to your private keys. If someone else gets hold of them, they can steal your cryptocurrency.

 

Cold storage: This is when people store their private keys offline away from the Internet, so they won’t get stolen.

 

Exchange: A place where people can go to buy, sell or trade cryptocurrency.

 

Stablecoin: A cryptocurrency that is supposedly tied to the value of something else, such as the US dollar, to make it more stable and less volatile in price swings.

 

DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation): An organisation, usually made up of developers and shareholders who vote on how the blockchain should develop.