The blockchain technology has consistently proven itself and has grown massively. It has been able to solve some specific problems and it is on its way to being a mainstream technology for everyone to comfortably use. Seeing the massive growth and contribution of the blockchain to the globe, it seems to be the right thing to explain some of the terminologies that are used in the blockchain ecosystem. Here are some of the terminologies I think you should know;

A

Address: an address also known as a “public address” or “wallet address” is a unique alphanumeric string that is used to send, receive, and interact with cryptocurrencies or digital assets on the blockchain. It is used as a mode of identification to know where transactions are going or coming from. An address is derived from its public key.

Automated Market Maker(AMM): It is a decentralized exchange protocol that helps automate the price of crypto assets and facilitates trading between different crypto assets without the aid of third parties such as the traditional buyers and sellers who determine the pricing of assets. It makes use of mathematical formulas to create and manage the liquidity pool of different crypto assets, allowing users to swap one cryptocurrency for another at any time. The users provide liquidity by putting their crypto assets into the pool and are incentivized by earning from a portion of the transaction fee.

Airdrop: It is the distribution of free coins or tokens to a specific set of people who have performed a task or are holders of specific tokens. It is a strategy implemented by blockchain projects, startups, or companies for marketing, promotion, or community building.

Altcoin: it is the term used to refer to any other coin apart from bitcoin. Altcoins are cryptocurrencies that were created after the inception of Bitcoin.

G

Gas: It refers to the unit of measurement for the computational work or resources required to execute specific actions on a blockchain network such as ether transfer, and smart contract execution.

Gas Fee: It is the cost associated with performing operations on a blockchain network such as sending cryptocurrency, executing smart contracts, or interacting with decentralized applications (Dapps). It is the multiplication of the gas used for computation multiplied by the cost per unit of gas. These fees are paid by users to compensate miners or validators who process and include their transactions or operations in the blockchain.

M

Mempool: A mempool also known as the memory pool is a pool of pending transactions that are waiting to be picked up by a node on the blockchain network. The node picks the transaction, validates it, and then adds it to a block.

P

Public key: it is the other half of a cryptographic key pair which is used to encrypt data or verify digital signature. Anyone with the public key can encrypt a message and the corresponding private key would be able to decrypt the message. The public key goes through a cryptographic hash function to derive the public address used to interact with digital assets on the blockchain.

Private key: It is the other half of a cryptographic key pair used to decrypt data, sign transactions, access, and control crypto assets holding. The private key should be kept private and not revealed to anyone at any time because anyone who possesses the private key has access and control over associated crypto assets. The private key also goes through some process to derive its public key.

S

Shilling: it is a slang term that refers to the act of promoting or endorsing cryptocurrency, projects for personal gain. The essence of doing this is to create hype around a particular cryptocurrency to drive up the price of the cryptocurrency or attract potential investors.

Conclusion

The blockchain ecosystem is undeniably rich in terminology, and mastering these concepts may take time and continuous exploration. I sure would update the list for better comprehension of the blockchain from time to time.