The Dictionary
Explore 336+ clear, technical, and objective definitions defining the decentralized future.
Recently Defined
Notional Value
Notional value is the total face value or market exposure represented by a derivatives position. It is different from the amount of margin the trader contributes.
Polymarket
Polymarket is a blockchain-based prediction-market platform where users trade positions based on the outcomes of real-world events. Its documentation describes markets as peer-to-peer, with prices reflecting participants' collective expectations about event probabilities.
ACH Transfer
An ACH transfer is an electronic bank transfer processed through the US Automated Clearing House network. Crypto exchanges and financial platforms may support ACH transfers for moving US dollars between a user's bank account and their platform account.
Settlement
Settlement is the process of finalising a trade or contract and transferring the resulting value to the appropriate participants. In prediction markets, settlement generally occurs after the market's outcome has been resolved.
Implied Probability
Implied probability is the probability that traders infer from the market price of an outcome contract. In simple prediction markets where a winning share settles at $1, a share trading around $0.65 is often interpreted as approximately a 65% market-implied chance of the outcome occurring.
Designated Contract Market (DCM)
A Designated Contract Market, or DCM, is a board of trade or exchange designated by the CFTC to operate a regulated derivatives market under the US Commodity Exchange Act. The CFTC describes DCMs as being similar to traditional futures exchanges and notes that they may serve both institutional and retail participants.
CFTC
The CFTC, or Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is the US federal agency responsible for overseeing US derivatives markets under the Commodity Exchange Act and related laws. Its remit includes markets involving futures, options, swaps, and certain event contracts.
Binary Option
A binary option is a contract with two primary possible settlement outcomes based on whether a defined condition is met. Unlike owning an asset, the trader is taking a position on a specific yes-or-no condition.
Event Contract
An event contract is a financial contract whose payout depends on whether a specified event or outcome occurs. Event contracts are commonly associated with prediction markets. The CFTC specifically discusses prediction markets and event contracts within US derivatives regulation.
Prediction Market
A prediction market is a market where participants trade contracts whose value depends on the outcome of a future event. The event could involve economics, politics, sports, cryptocurrency, weather, or another measurable outcome. The CFTC describes products traded on prediction markets as frequently being called event contracts.
Gas Fees
Gas fees are blockchain transaction fees paid when users send assets or interact with smart contracts. They compensate the network participants responsible for processing transactions and help allocate limited blockchain capacity.
Cross-Chain / Bridging
Cross-chain describes activity involving more than one blockchain. Bridging is the process of transferring assets or information between those different blockchain networks.
Memecoin
A memecoin is a cryptocurrency whose identity, community, or popularity is primarily built around an internet meme, joke, cultural reference, personality, animal, or online trend rather than a clearly defined technological use case. Memecoins can exist on many blockchains and are commonly launched as standard tokens using networks such as Solana, Ethereum, or BNB Chain.
Third-Party (Supply-Chain) Breach
A third-party breach, also called a supply-chain breach, happens when attackers compromise a vendor, service provider, contractor, software supplier, payment processor, or another external company that holds or has access to a business's data or systems. The main company does not need to be directly hacked for its customers' information to be exposed.
SIM-Swap Attack
A SIM-swap attack is a type of identity fraud in which a criminal takes control of a victim's mobile phone number by convincing or manipulating a mobile carrier into transferring the number to a SIM card or eSIM controlled by the attacker. Once the number has been transferred, the attacker may receive the victim's calls and SMS messages.
Merchant of Record
A Merchant of Record, often shortened to MoR, is a third-party company that legally processes customer payments and orders on behalf of another business. The Merchant of Record usually appears as the seller or payment recipient in the transaction and may handle payment processing, taxes, refunds, chargebacks, fraud checks, billing records, and customer order data.
Launchpad
A launchpad is a platform or protocol that helps users or projects create and initially distribute new crypto tokens. Modern on-chain launchpads can make token creation extremely simple, sometimes allowing users to launch a token without writing code.
Contract Address (CA)
A contract address, often abbreviated CA, is the unique blockchain address associated with a smart contract or token contract. Crypto traders commonly use the term to identify the exact token they intend to buy. For Solana tokens, users often refer instead to the mint address, although traders may still informally call it a contract address.
Copy Trading
Copy trading is a system that automatically mirrors another trader's transactions or positions in a user's own account or wallet. In crypto, copy trading may be available on centralised exchanges, trading terminals, bots, or on-chain wallet-tracking platforms.
Routing
Routing is the process of determining how an on-chain trade should travel through decentralised exchanges, liquidity pools, and aggregators to convert one token into another. The goal is usually to find efficient execution based on price, available liquidity, fees, and slippage.