Terminology

Used to send and receive transactions on a blockchain network. An address is an alphanumeric character string.

A distribution of a cryptocurrency token or coin, usually for free, to numerous wallet addresses. Airdrops are primarily implemented as a way of gaining attention and new followers, resulting in a larger user-base and a wider disbursement of coins.

AML stands for “Anti-Money Laundering” – processes designed to stop the disguise of illegally obtained funds.

Application Programming Interface. A software intermediary that allows two separate applications to communicate with one another.

Under the PoS mechanism, every validator will provide an attestation, or vote, in favor of a block with which it agrees, hereby forming consensus and confirming the block and the transactions it contains.

After a number of transactions have been added to the ledger, then they are cryptographically locked into a “block”. This “block” forms the basis for the next one; in this way, they are all linked together in a chain, hence–blockchain.

The number of blocks connected together in the blockchain. For example, Height 0 would be the very first block, which is also called the Genesis Block.

A digital ledger comprised of unchangeable, digitally recorded data in packages called blocks. Each block is ‘chained’ to the next block using a cryptographic signature.

Transaction speed of the blockchain network as gauged by the number of blocks processed per minute.

Centralized Finance, or centralized market, as opposed to decentralized finance, is a market solely independently working not affected by competition from any other market or finance. Examples are stock markets and central banks.

Centralized Exchange. Platform which facilitates the buying and selling of Cryptocurrency. They function as trusted intermediaries in trades, and often act as custodians by storing and protecting your funds.

A coin, in cryptocurrency, is a representation of digital asset value that is generated via its own independent blockchain.

A confirmation happens when the network has verified the blockchain transaction. Under a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism, this happens through a process known as mining; under Proof of Stake (PoS), the process is known as validation.

The process used by a group of peers, or nodes, on a blockchain network to agree on the validity of transactions submitted to the network. Dominant consensus mechanisms are Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS).

A community-led entity with no central authority. It is an organization represented by rules encoded as a computer program that is transparent, controlled by the organization members and not influenced by a central government. A DAO’s financial transaction record and program rules are maintained on a blockchain.

The transfer of authority and responsibility from a centralized organization, government, or party to a distributed network.

Decentralized Finance. A blockchain-based form of finance that does not rely on central financial intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks to offer traditional financial instruments.

Decentralized Exchange. A type of cryptocurrency exchange which allows for direct peer-to-peer cryptocurrency transactions to take place online securely and without the need for an intermediary.

A digital commodity that is scarce, electronically transferable, and intangible with a market value.

An online or networked identity adopted by an individual, organization, or electronic device.

A type of database which spreads across multiple sites, countries, or institutions. Records are stored sequentially in a continuous ledger.

A place to trade cryptocurrency. Centralized exchanges, operated by companies, function as intermediaries, while decentralized exchanges do not have a central authority.

Government-issued currency. For example, US Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR), Yuan (CNY), and Yen (JPY).

Finality is the guarantee that a set of transactions before a given time will not change and can’t be reverted.

Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt. A term used to describe behavior by trolls in the Blockchain/Crypto/Web3 community who seek to be negative for no legitimate reason.

This is the fee charged to complete a transaction on a blockchain. Whenever you make a crypto transaction you will pay a small gas tax.

A fixed-length fingerprint of variable-size input, produced by a hash function.

Initial Coin Offering – The launch date that crypto/tokens are open for public trading via a DEX.

Initial DEX offering – The initial date that a Decentralized Exchange allows public trade of crypto/tokens

Initial Exchange offering – The initial date that a coin is listed on an exchange, this can be either a CEX or a DEX.

Know Your Customer. A process in which a business must verify the identity and background information (address, financials, etc) of their customers.

The term that’s used to describe the underlying main blockchain architecture.

Is an overlaying network that lies on top of the underlying blockchain, or Layer-1.

Load Balancing Protocol.

A crowdsourced pool of cryptocurrencies or tokens locked in a smart contract that is used to facilitate trades between the assets on a decentralized exchange (DEX).

A MainNet is the primary network where transactions take place.

Market Capitalization. This is the value of a publicly available token or cryptocurrency. It is equal to the token price multiplied by the number of tokens in distribution.

A network node or operator that finds valid proof-of-work & proof of stake for new blocks on the blockchain.

The process by which blocks or transactions are verified and added to a blockchain using a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism.

The acronym for Non-Fungible Token. At a basic level, an NFT is a digital asset that links ownership to unique physical or digital items, such as works of art, real estate, music, or videos.

A software client that participates on the network to facilitate validating and providing consensus.

Peer-to-Peer refers to interactions that happen between two parties, usually two separate individuals. A P2P network can be any number of individuals.

PoA stands for “Proof of Authority”, an algorithm used by blockchains to deliver faster transactions.

PoS stands for “Proof of Stake”, a consensus mechanism used by a blockchain networks.

PoW stands for “Proof of Work”, a cryptographic verification method used by a blockchain networks.

A secret number that allows users to prove ownership of an account by producing a digital signature.

A number, derived via a one-way function from a private key, which can be shared publicly and used by anyone to verify a digital signature made with the corresponding private key.

An amount of cryptocurrency included in each new block as a reward by the blockchain to the miner who found the proof-of-work solution.

The underlying layer 1 blockchain that SagaOS will operate on.

The name of the cryptocurrency that powers the SagaChain and SagaOS.

The global operating system that powers the SagaChain and all development therein.

A modified syntax of the Python programming language that allows developers to build apps and services on top of the SagaChain, leveraging the base classes available natively in the chain itself.

A family of cryptographic hash functions published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

Sharding is a database partitioning technique used by blockchain companies with the purpose of scalability, enabling them to process more transactions per second. Sharding splits a blockchain company’s entire network into smaller partitions, known as “shards.” Each shard is comprised of its own data, making it distinctive and independent when compared to other shards.

A single, editable, blockchain object that can track the entire lifecycle of a product, asset, or application.

A computer program or a transaction protocol which is intended to automatically execute, control or document legally relevant events and actions according to the terms of a contract or an agreement. The objectives of smart contracts are the reduction of need in trusted intermediators, arbitrations and enforcement costs, fraud losses, as well as the reduction…

Any cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset, like fiat currency or gold. It theoretically remains stable in price as it is measured against a known amount of an asset less subject to fluctuation.

Staking is the process of locking up crypto holdings in order to obtain rewards or earn interest.

An alternative blockchain developers use to test applications in a near-live environment.

Token Generation Event. When Tokens are generated/created.

The study of the economics of crypto tokens or cryptocurrencies is called tokenomics. It fundamentally involves studying the factors that impact the demand and supply of tokens. The factors include quality, distribution and production of crypto tokens.

A fee you need to pay whenever you use the blockchain network. You can think of this as a service fee. This fee will change based on how busy the network is. This is because miners, the people responsible for processing your transaction, are likely to prioritize transactions with higher fees – so congestion forces…

Validators are participants in Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus.

A designated storage location for digital assets (cryptocurrency) that has an address for sending and receiving funds. The wallet can be online, offline, or on a physical device.

Terms used synonymously with “the decentralized web” and are often used to refer, broadly, to the blockchain and decentralized technology ecosystems as a whole.

XBOM™ (the eXtensible Blockchain Object Model) was an early name for what is now known as SagaOS™