Coin words
26 words that come up first when you look at coins, in plain language. The “on the map” line says how each one shows up on the Crypto Nation map.
Market capFully diluted value (FDV)Trading volumeTurnoverMainnet (L1)L2 (layer 2)RollupNative coinTokenStablecoinWrapped and staked tokensProof of work (PoW)Proof of stake (PoS)Delegated proof of stake (DPoS)Smart contractEVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)Zero-knowledge proofPrivacy coinMeme coinReal-world asset token (RWA)Exchange tokenDecentralised finance (DeFi)Decentralised exchange (DEX)Governance tokenHalvingBridge
- Market cap
- Price times the number of coins in circulation. The number most used to compare how big coins are.
- On the map: Building height and lot size.
- Fully diluted value (FDV)
- Market cap as if every coin that will ever exist were already out (price × maximum supply). A big gap from the market cap means many coins are still to be released.
- On the map: Shown next to the market cap in a coin’s panel.
- Trading volume
- The total value of a coin bought and sold over a day (24 hours).
- On the map: Volume divided by market cap (turnover) lights the windows.
- Turnover
- A day’s trading volume divided by market cap. The higher it is, the more the coin changed hands that day.
- On the map: Window lights; at about 60% turnover almost every window is lit.
- Mainnet (L1)
- An independent blockchain with its own ledger and consensus. Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana are mainnets.
- On the map: One mainnet is one city.
- L2 (layer 2)
- A chain that executes transactions quickly and cheaply elsewhere while leaving its records and security to an L1, usually Ethereum. Rollups are the main kind.
- On the map: The capital-region cities around the capital (Ethereum).
- Rollup
- An L2 design that executes transactions in batches and posts their data to the L1. Optimistic rollups fix mistakes through challenges; ZK rollups post a mathematical proof with each batch.
- On the map: Arbitrum and Base are optimistic rollups; ZKsync is a ZK rollup.
- Native coin
- A chain’s own coin, used to pay fees and to reward the validators or miners who make blocks (ETH, BTC, SOL…).
- On the map: The city-hall tower in the middle of a city.
- Token
- A coin issued by a smart contract on another chain: stablecoins, governance tokens, meme tokens and more.
- On the map: The buildings around the city-hall tower.
- Stablecoin
- A coin built to hold a nearly fixed value, such as one US dollar — either backed by cash and treasuries held in reserve (USDT, USDC) or kept in line by collateral and algorithms.
- On the map: Its price barely moves, so it calms a city’s weather. Most big stablecoins stand in the capital.
- Wrapped and staked tokens
- Tokens issued against another coin held in custody (WBTC, stETH…). Their value moves with the original coin.
- On the map: CoinGecko often leaves them unranked, so few appear on the map.
- Proof of work (PoW)
- Miners compete in computation to make blocks. Used by Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin and Monero.
- Proof of stake (PoS)
- Validators who have staked coins make blocks and lose part of the stake if they misbehave. Used by Ethereum, Solana and Cardano.
- Delegated proof of stake (DPoS)
- Coin holders vote for a small set of representatives who take turns making blocks. TRON is a well-known example.
- Smart contract
- A program on a blockchain that runs itself by fixed rules. Tokens, exchanges and lending all run on smart contracts.
- EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)
- The environment that runs Ethereum’s smart contracts. On EVM-compatible chains (BNB Chain, Avalanche’s C-Chain, the L2s) Ethereum apps run almost unchanged.
- Zero-knowledge proof
- Mathematics that proves something is correct without revealing the details. Used by ZK rollups and by Zcash.
- Privacy coin
- A coin that can hide sender, receiver and amount. Monero always hides them; Zcash lets you choose.
- On the map: Monero City and Zcash City.
- Meme coin
- A coin born from an internet joke, trend or character. It moves on community and hype more than use, so it swings hard. Dogecoin was the first.
- Real-world asset token (RWA)
- A token that represents a real-world asset: treasuries, stocks, gold, property or loans.
- Exchange token
- A coin issued by an exchange, used for fee discounts or as the fee coin of the exchange’s own chain (BNB, OKB…).
- Decentralised finance (DeFi)
- Financial services — swapping, lending, deposits — run by smart contracts instead of banks.
- Decentralised exchange (DEX)
- An exchange where smart contracts swap coins without a company holding your funds.
- Governance token
- A token used to vote on how a protocol or chain is run (ARB, OP, ZK, UNI…).
- Halving
- The cut in half of the number of new coins created, at set intervals. Bitcoin halves about every four years.
- Bridge
- A way to move assets between chains — usually by locking them on one chain and receiving the same amount on another.