This trading glossary collects the words that come up most in our guides. Terms link to the page where they are explained in full. Tap a letter to jump.
- Address
- A public string that can receive coins on a particular blockchain. Tron addresses start with T; Ethereum addresses start with 0x. See USDT networks.
- Address poisoning
- A scam in which an attacker sends a tiny transfer from a look-alike address so it appears in your history, hoping you copy it by mistake next time.
- Ask
- The price at which you can buy. Also called the offer.
- Base currency
- The first currency in a pair. In AUD/USD, the Australian dollar.
- Bid
- The price at which you can sell.
- Block
- A batch of transactions added to a blockchain, linked to the previous block by its hash.
- Blockchain
- A shared ledger kept in sync by many computers, where records are grouped into linked blocks that are very hard to change afterwards.
- Bridge
- A service or smart contract that moves tokens between blockchains. Bridges have been a frequent target of hacks.
- Custody
- Who holds an asset for its owner. On an exchange, the platform has custody; in a self-custody wallet, you do.
- Dividend
- A cash payment a company makes to shareholders out of its profits. Not guaranteed. See the stock market guide.
- ERC20
- The token standard on Ethereum. USDT on Ethereum is an ERC20 token and pays fees in ETH.
- Gas
- The fee for processing a transaction on Ethereum, paid in ETH.
- Halving
- The cut in Bitcoin's block subsidy every 210,000 blocks. The latest, in April 2024, set it at 3.125 BTC. See what is Bitcoin.
- Hardware wallet
- A small device that stores private keys offline and signs transactions without exposing them to a computer or phone.
- Index
- A measure of the combined value of a group of shares, such as the S&P 500 or FTSE 100.
- KYC
- Know your customer: identity checks regulated firms must carry out before opening an account.
- Leverage
- Borrowed exposure that lets a small deposit control a larger position, magnifying gains and losses. See the margin calculator.
- Limit order
- An order to buy or sell only at a stated price or better.
- Liquidation
- The forced closure of a leveraged position when collateral no longer covers losses.
- Lot
- A unit of position size. One standard forex lot is 100,000 units of the base currency; one gold lot is commonly 100 ounces.
- Maker fee
- A fee charged on an order that adds liquidity by waiting on the order book. Often lower than a taker fee.
- Margin
- Collateral a broker holds while a leveraged position is open.
- Margin level
- Equity divided by used margin, as a percentage. UK and EU retail brokers begin closing positions at 50%.
- Mining
- The proof-of-work process in which computers compete to add Bitcoin blocks and earn the block reward.
- Network fee
- The charge paid to a blockchain's miners or validators to include a transaction.
- Pip
- The standard step in a currency price: 0.0001 on most pairs, 0.01 on yen pairs. See the pip calculator.
- Private key
- The secret number that authorises spending from an address. Whoever has it controls the coins.
- Proof of stake
- A consensus method in which validators lock up coins as collateral to earn the right to add blocks. Used by Ethereum since 2022.
- Proof of work
- A consensus method in which miners spend computing power to add blocks. Used by Bitcoin.
- Satoshi
- The smallest unit of bitcoin: 0.00000001 BTC.
- Seed phrase
- A list of 12 or 24 words that backs up a wallet's keys. Anyone who has it can take the funds. Never share it.
- Slippage
- The difference between the price you expected and the price you got, common in fast or thin markets.
- Spread
- The gap between bid and ask prices, and the first cost of every trade. See trading fees explained.
- Stablecoin
- A token designed to hold a steady value, usually one US dollar, backed by reserves or other mechanisms.
- Stop-loss
- An order that closes a position once the price reaches a set level, to limit losses. Not guaranteed in a gap.
- Swap
- The overnight financing charged or paid on a leveraged forex or CFD position held past the daily cut-off.
- Taker fee
- A fee charged on an order that fills immediately against orders already on the book.
- TRC20
- The token standard on Tron. USDT on Tron is a TRC20 token.
- TRX
- The native coin of the Tron blockchain, used to pay for transactions directly or through energy and bandwidth obtained by staking it.
- USDT
- Tether's dollar-linked stablecoin, issued on several blockchains. See what is USDT.