Bitcoin - the original cryptocurrency, developed in 2009 by an anonymous programmer using the pseudonym of "Satoshi Nakamoto". Some people consider Bitcoin to be the digital equivalent of gold.

Blockchain - a growing list of records that are linked using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block and transaction data. You can think of it as an open, distributed general ledger that can record transactions between two parties.

Fiat currencies - traditional currencies minted by a central bank (the US Dollar 💵 or Euro 💶 are examples).

HODL - this is a slang term for a buy-and-hold crypto investor. It stands for "Hold on for dear life". These are the types of investors I am looking to work with -- not people looking to get rich quickly or panic sellers.

Market cap - this is the total value of a commodity. As of December 2021, the market cap of Bitcoin is about $2 trillion. By comparison, the market cap of gold is $10 trillion. This is calculated by multiplying the number of Bitcoins outstanding by the price per Bitcoin.

Mining - the act of using computing power to actively mine cryptocurrency for fun or profit. Very powerful custom ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) machines must be used to profitably mine crypto these days. These machines consume a lot of electricity and can be noisy due to the fans required to keep the chips cool.

Mining pool - when multiple miners work together to mine Bitcoin and then split the profits.

Oracle - no we are not talking about Larry Ellison's company! In crypto, an oracle sends data from the outside world to a blockchain such as Ethereum. A smart contract on the blockchain can then use the data (normally to make a decision about whether or not to dispense money and to whom).

Proof of Stake - a way to verify transactions. The cryptocurrencies that use Proof of Stake usually provide all of their digital tokens in advance and miners are chosen based on how many units they have. The miners then receive transaction fees for their work. Newer cryptos generally use proof of stake. The Ethereum 2.0 upgrade will move Ethereum from proof of work to proof of stake.

Proof of Work - a system for proving that a cryptocurrency's transactions have been verified. Bitcoin currently uses Proof of Work. Miners must do their work and are paid for verifying the transactions by receiving units of cryptocurrency.