Crypto Glossary

Plain-English definitions of the cryptocurrency, blockchain and trading terms you will meet as you learn.

H

HODL describes a long-term holding strategy: buying a cryptocurrency and keeping it through price swings instead of trading in and out.

Hal Finney was an American cryptographer and programmer who, along with Satoshi Nakamoto, pioneered the development of Bitcoin.

A halving is the event where Bitcoin rewards are cut in half: the number of new bitcoins a miner receives for adding a block drops by 50 percent.

A hard fork is an irreversible blockchain upgrade that changes the protocol rules in a way older software does not accept.

A hash is the fixed-length output generated by a hash function, an algorithm used to secure and verify data.

Hot storage is the online storage of the secret (private) keys that control cryptocurrency, so funds can be accessed and moved quickly.

A hot wallet is an online cryptocurrency wallet: its private keys are kept on a device or server that is connected to the internet.

The Howey Test is a legal test used in the United States to determine whether an asset or a deal counts as a security, specifically an investment…