Glossary
The terms you will come across when using crypto, explained in a few words. Where EU law defines one, we say so.
· 55 terms
A
- Address
- A string of letters and numbers that identifies where crypto-assets are received on a network. You can share it, like an account number, and each network has its own format.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- Advice on crypto-assets
- Personalised recommendations to a client about transactions in crypto-assets or about the use of crypto-asset services. It is one of the crypto-asset services that MiCA covers. General information, the same for everyone, is not.Source: MiCA, art. 3(1)(24)
- Anti-phishing code
- A word or code you choose in your account that appears in the platform's emails. If an email that looks like theirs does not carry it, be suspicious. Carrying it helps, but does not prove it is genuine.Explained in the guide How to protect your account
- Asset-referenced token
- A type of crypto-asset that is not an electronic money token and that purports to maintain a stable value by referencing another value or right or a combination thereof, including one or more official currencies.Source: MiCA, art. 3(1)(6)
- Authenticator app
- A phone app that generates the one-time codes for two-step verification. It works offline: the codes are calculated on the phone itself from a key stored when you turn it on.Explained in the guide How to protect your account
B
- Block explorer
- A website that shows what is recorded on a blockchain: transfers, their confirmations and the balances of each address. It lets you follow a transfer with its hash.
- Blockchain
- A record of a network's transactions, grouped in linked blocks and kept by many computers at once. Changing what is already recorded would need the network's agreement. It is the most common kind of distributed ledger.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
C
- Cold wallet
- A wallet that keeps the keys offline, on a dedicated device or on paper. It is harder to attack remotely, but it can be lost, broken or stolen.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- Confirmation
- Each block the network adds after the one recording a transfer. The more confirmations it has, the harder it is to reverse, and platforms wait for a minimum number before crediting it.
- Crypto-asset
- A digital representation of a value or of a right that is able to be transferred and stored electronically using distributed ledger technology or similar technology. It is the term EU law uses.Source: MiCA, art. 3(1)(5)Explained in the guide What the risks of crypto-assets are
- Crypto-asset service provider
- A legal person or other undertaking whose occupation or business is the provision of one or more crypto-asset services to clients on a professional basis, and that is allowed to provide them under Article 59 of MiCA.Source: MiCA, art. 3(1)(15)Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- Cryptocurrency
- The usual name for crypto-assets used to pay, exchange or invest, such as bitcoin or ether. EU law calls them crypto-assets.
- Custody
- The safekeeping or controlling, on behalf of clients, of crypto-assets or of the means of access to them, such as private keys. It is one of the crypto-asset services that MiCA covers.Source: MiCA, art. 3(1)(17)Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
D
- Deposit
- Sending crypto to your platform account from another wallet, to the address and on the network shown on the deposit screen.
- Destination tag
- A number or text that some networks, such as XRP's, use to know which account a transfer is for when several share the same address. It is also called a memo. If it is missing, the transfer may not be credited.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- Dispute
- In a peer-to-peer (P2P) trade, a request for the platform team to review what happened when something is wrong. It reviews the evidence from both sides and decides who gets the crypto set aside.Explained in the guide What P2P is and how it works
- Distributed ledger
- An information repository that keeps records of transactions and that is shared across, and synchronised between, a set of network nodes using a consensus mechanism. A blockchain is one kind.Source: MiCA, art. 3(1)(2)
E
- E-money token
- A type of crypto-asset that purports to maintain a stable value by referencing the value of one official currency. Only credit institutions and electronic money institutions can offer it to the public.Source: MiCA, art. 3(1)(7)
G
- Guarantee schemes
- In Spain, the Deposit Guarantee Fund covers bank deposits, and the investor compensation scheme (FOGAIN) covers clients of investment firms. Neither covers crypto-assets.
H
- Hot wallet
- A wallet connected to the internet, such as a phone or browser app. It is handy for everyday use and more exposed to remote attacks than a cold wallet.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
I
- Identity verification (KYC)
- The check of who you are, with your identity document and an image of your face, that the law requires before financial services are provided. KYC stands for know your customer.
- Instant transfer
- A euro transfer that arrives within seconds, on any day and at any time. In the euro area, banks that offer regular transfers must also offer instant ones, without charging more for them.
L
- Limit order
- An order where you set the price: the most you will pay to buy or the least you will accept to sell. It only fills at that price or better, and may stay unfilled.
- Liquidity
- How easily something can be bought or sold without moving its price much. With little liquidity it can be hard to find someone to sell to, or only at a worse price.Explained in the guide What the risks of crypto-assets are
M
- Maker and taker
- Roles in an order book trade. Whoever places an order that waits in the book is the maker; whoever takes an order already there is the taker. Each can pay a different fee.
- Market order
- An order that fills straight away against the orders in the book. It is quick, but the final price depends on what is available and can be worse than the last one you saw.Explained in the guide What the risks of crypto-assets are
- MiCA
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets. It regulates, across the European Union, the offering of crypto-assets and crypto-asset service providers. It has fully applied since 30 December 2024.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- Money mule
- A person or account that receives money from others and passes it on, often for a fee, to hide its criminal origin. According to Europol, money mules are accomplices in laundering that money.Explained in the guide What P2P is and how it works
N
- Network
- The set of computers that keep a blockchain and record its transfers. The same coin can travel on several networks, and sending on one the recipient does not support can stop the transfer from arriving.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- Network fee
- What a network charges to record a transfer on its blockchain. It changes with how busy the network is. On some networks it is called gas.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
O
- One-time code
- A code that works only once or for a short time, like those of two-step verification. Nobody trustworthy will ask you for it: whoever has it can use it straight away.Explained in the guide How to protect your account
- Order book
- The list of a pair's buy and sell orders waiting to fill, sorted by price. It shows at which prices people want to buy or sell, and how much.
P
- Pair
- The two currencies exchanged in a market, written with their symbols separated by a slash. The first is the one bought or sold, and the second is the currency used to pay.
- Password manager
- A program that creates, stores and fills in a different password for each service, kept behind one main password. Since it only fills them in on the right website, it also helps you avoid fake ones.Explained in the guide How to protect your account
- Peer-to-peer (P2P)
- Buying and selling crypto between two users, where the buyer pays the seller directly with an agreed method. On a platform, the platform sets aside the crypto while the trade lasts.Explained in the guide What P2P is and how it works
- Phishing
- A scam in which someone pretends to be a trusted company or person, by email, text message, social media or phone, to get passwords, codes or money.Explained in the guide How to protect your account
- Private key
- A secret code used to sign transfers from an address. Whoever has it controls the funds at that address, so it is never shared with anyone.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- Public key
- A code derived from the private key, from which the address is derived. It lets anyone check that a transfer was signed by whoever holds the private key, without knowing it.
R
- Recovery phrase
- A list of words, usually 12 to 24, from which a wallet derives all its keys. It restores the wallet on another device, and anyone who sees it can take the funds. It is also called a seed phrase.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- Recovery scam
- A scam aimed at people who have already lost money: someone offers to recover it in exchange for an upfront payment. The money is not recovered and the victim loses that payment too.
S
- Self-custody
- Keeping the keys to your crypto-assets yourself, in your own wallet, with no provider holding them. Nobody else can move the funds, but nobody can recover them either if you lose the keys.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- SEPA transfer
- A euro transfer between accounts in the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA), which brings together the European Union countries and a few more. It is made with the IBAN of the receiving account.
- SIM swap
- A scam in which someone gets a copy of your SIM card by pretending to be you to your mobile operator. From then on they receive your calls and text messages, including verification codes.Explained in the guide How to protect your account
- Spot market
- A market where you buy and sell for immediate delivery, at the price of the orders in the book. It is different from products settled in the future or with borrowed money.
- Spread
- The gap between the highest price someone will pay and the lowest price someone will sell at, at a given moment. The less a pair is traded, the wider it tends to be.
- Stablecoin
- A crypto-asset that tries to keep a stable value against an official currency or other assets. It may fail to, especially in times of stress. In EU law they are e-money tokens or asset-referenced tokens.Explained in the guide What the risks of crypto-assets are
- Staking
- Locking up crypto-assets to take part in validating a proof-of-stake network, in exchange for rewards that can vary or not come at all. While it lasts, it may not be possible to sell them.
- Stop-limit order
- An order with two prices: when the market reaches the trigger price, a limit order is placed at the price you set. It may not fill if the price moves fast.
T
- Transaction hash
- A code that identifies a transfer on a network. With it you can check on a block explorer whether the transfer has been recorded and how many confirmations it has.
- Two-step verification
- A way of signing in or confirming actions that asks, besides your password, for a second item, such as a one-time code from an authenticator app. That way, the password alone is no longer enough.Explained in the guide How to protect your account
V
- Verification of payee
- A check your bank makes, before sending a euro transfer, of whether the name you enter matches the holder of the receiving account. In the euro area it has been mandatory and free since 9 October 2025.Explained in the guide What P2P is and how it works
- Volatility
- How much and how fast the price of something changes. Crypto-assets tend to have high volatility: their price can rise or fall a lot in a short time.Explained in the guide What the risks of crypto-assets are
W
- Wallet
- An app, device or service that holds the keys giving access to crypto-assets. It does not hold the crypto-assets themselves, which live on the blockchain: it holds the means to move them.Explained in the guide What a crypto wallet is
- White paper
- A document describing a crypto-asset: who offers it, what rights it gives, what technology it uses and what its risks are. EU law requires one, with minimum content, to offer it to the public or admit it to trading.Source: MiCA, arts. 6, 19, 51
- Withdrawal
- Sending crypto from your platform account to an address in another wallet. Once the network confirms it, it cannot be cancelled.