Cryptocurrency Glossary / dictionary

"ECB" means European Central Bank. It performs a similar function as the US Federal Reserve Bank which is to try to ensure a stable monetary system. This "stabilization" can be done with the intent to control inflation, increase economic development, and/or raise employment rates. These banks control the money supply and can influence bank interest rates to fulfill their mission. The ECB works to stabilize the Euro, and the US Federal Reserves works to stabilize the US dollar.

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"ECDSA" means Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm for Cryptography. It is a mathematical algorithm which is used to validate and secure cryptocurrency. It is a mathematical algorithm which is used to validate and secure cryptocurrency. It is called an "asymmetric encryption" technique since it uses an asymmetric public and private key set to ensure that only the owner of private keys [link private keys] can spend their funds. It is used to prevent the theft of cryptocurrency. There are many types of cryptography algorithms which fulfill the same critical purpose. Each type of cryptocurrency may use the same or a different encryption algorithm. Older discarded algorithms can now be hacked, and so new algorithms are always under development to ensure that cryptocurrency stays unhackable in the future. See also encryption.

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"Encryption" is the process of scrambling data so that it is unrecognizable and yet it is scrambled in such a way that it can be "unscrambled" only by authorized people. The unscrambling is often based on a private "key" which only the authorized person(s) knows.  This type is called private key encryption.  There are MANY types of encryption algorithms, such as ECDSA which is common in the cryptocurrency world. Encryption is used by anyone who wants to hide data from unauthorized snoopers.  Any website which uses "https" is encrypted.  It is used by banks, email programs, websites, personal computer data sets, and more. See also ECDSA.

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"ENS" means Ethereum Name Service. It is similar in function to a DNS (Domain Name Server) which is used to map website URLs to the computer server where the website is hosted. The difference is that an ENS is used to find (map) Ethereum domains, which contain addresses, metadata, and hashes for smart contracts, to the ethereum network. The ENS uses the ETH blockchain to do this mapping.

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"ERC" means Ethereum Request for Comment. It is the official method for anyone in the ethereum community to propose changes, fixes, and/or improvements to the ethereum design. These proposals are voted on and, if approved, then they are assigned a formal ERC number.  ERC-20 is one of the better known and approved ERCs.

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"ERC-20" is one of many Ethereum network token "standard" protocols. This particular standard defines 6 principle functions that an ERC-20 based token must perform to be considered ERC-20 compliant.

• totalSupply
• balanceOf
• transfer
• transferFrom
• approve
• allowance

ERC-20 was the 20th ERC approved for the ethereum network. ERC-20 itself is not a token, it is just a standard for other tokens to follow. Many different tokens (almost 200,000 token types) have been created that conform to the ERC-20 standard, and so they can interact with each other if so desired. It also allows different types of ERC-20 compliant tokens to be easily exchanged for each other. ERC-20 tokens are intended to all operate on the same ethereum main blockchain, and so they do not need to run their own blockchain. Surprisingly, the first native ethereum token, called "ether", does not conform to directly to this standard. There are many well-known ERC-20 compliant tokens, such as TUSD, TON, Filecoin, EOS, GUSD, etc. See also ERC.

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"Ether" is the first cryptocurrency token created for the ethereum [link] network. It is not an ERC-20 compliant token since it was created before the ERC-20 standard was approved. As of 2019, ether is the second most valuable cryptocurrency after bitcoin, as it has been since it was first created. Mining of ether generates 18million tokens per year but, unlike bitcoin, there is no lifetime cap of ether that can be generated. The trading symbol of ether is ETH. See the current price here.

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Ethereum is an "open-source" "public" "globally distributed" "decentralized" "censorship-resistant" "permissionless" "blockchain" "platform".

• open-source software [link] (means that anyone can contribute acceptable code changes and improvements to the network)
• public (Means anyone can view all transactions)
• global-distributed (Means that computers around the world help to run the network)
• decentralized [link] (means there is no one single controlling authority)
• censorship-resistant (since it is decentralized no government, nor police force can directly shut it down)
• Permissionless (you don't have to ask anyone for permission to use the network - related to censorship resistant)
• blockchain [link] (Means that data records are stored as blocks of multiple transactions)
• platform (means it is designed to support the execution of other applications - like smart contracts and compliant tokens)

It is similar to, but different in purpose from the bitcoin blockchain network. The purpose of the Ethereum network is to allow tokenization and control of the ownership of an "asset". The "asset" can be almost anything, such as a cryptocurrency (like ether or any other ERC-20 compliant tokens), or a physical asset like a house, or a cow, or a work of art, or even intellectual property. The ethereum network provides for the ability of users to securely control their ownership of assets, and also to provide an easy mechanism to trade, give, or sell their asset(s) via Smart Contracts [link] Some advantages of the Ethereum network over other cryptocurrency networks is that any Ethereum compliant tokens and smart contracts on the Ethereum network don't need to create a new blockchain - They can simply build an application to run on the existing ethereum blockchain. They also get a readymade "run-time" platform and programming language, so that that infrastructure does not need to be reinvented. This is called the Ethereum Virtual Machine with programming opcodes as well as high-level languages which can be used to build the new tokens and smart contracts. A few other interesting points about the Ethereum network:

• Ethereum is the name of the blockchain - The native cryptocurrency on this blockchain is called "ether". The operation of the network is partially paid for by the cost of Ethereum "Gas". Gas is the price paid for executing contracts and/or transferring funds on the blockchain. Gas is paid for in the Ethereum "ether" cryptocurrency.
• The Ethereum transaction block validation uses a "Proof of Work" (PoW) model, but in 2019 this is being transitioned into a "Proof of Stake" (PoS) model. PoS provides several distinct advantages over PoW.
• The Ethereum model was first written about in the Ethereum "White" paper by Vitalik Buterin in 2013

Note that Ethereum is NOT the same thing as the cryptocurrency "ether" - Ethereum is the network and ether is a cryptocurrency that executes on that network. See also Ethereum 2.0, Smart Contract, DApps, ERC-20, ether, Token, PoW, PoS.

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Ethereum 2.0 is also called Eth2 or Serenity. It is a very significant design upgrade to the existing Ethereum blockchain. Eth2 will be faster, more energy-efficient, more secure, and handle far more transactions per second. The primary ways it will achieve these essential improvements via two major changes: 1) Changing its current PoW consensus algorithm to PoS. 2) Splitting the existing single blockchain into many smaller parallel "Shard" blockchains. It is anticipated that Eth2 transaction processing speed will be more than 3000 times faster than Eth1. The transition from Eth1 to Eth2 will be carried out in 3 phases that will take two years to complete. The first phase has already been implemented as of December 2020. The final phase may complete in the year 2022.

An Exit Scam usually consists of an aggressively promoted new ICO. The promoters will often promise a get-rich-quick magic system with a high rate of return to investors. The founders of the scam will create a lot of excitement via press releases and social media. There will also often be a short deadline for investors. FOMO takes over, and money pours in. Then, often before they have to pay any returns, the scammers take all the invested funds and stop returning emails. The website may go offline, social media stops being updated, and the chat lines go quiet. The value of the coin crashes, and the initial investors are left with, at best, pennies on the dollar. Due to the unregulated and decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, it is often impossible to persecute the scam's perpetrators.