A token glossary

The entire token ecosystem is underpinned by blockchain technology. Blockchains are globally distributed networks that host cryptocurrency tokens, and they can be used to exchange value, take out loans, collect art, and more without relying on third party services. They’re called “blockchains” because they process transactions in blocks. Miners or validators add blocks to the network in a chain, and the data gets permanently stored on a public ledger. Bitcoin and Ethereum are the world’s biggest and best known blockchains. 

The block time is the amount of time required for miners or validators to verify all transactions within a block and add it to the chain. Bitcoin has an average block time of around 10 minutes, while many newer Proof-of-Stake blockchains are much faster.

The strongest projects in the token ecosystem are sometimes referred to as “blue chips.” Projects typically only hit blue chip status after attracting a loyal community of supporters that prop up their valuations. There are only a handful of crypto blue chips, and they are regarded as some of the most robust projects in the ecosystem. 

Bridges or “cross-chain bridges” are used to transfer assets across different networks, addressing the challenge of helping users freely move across separate blockchain networks. Demand for bridges has increased as new networks have emerged, but they suffer from security drawbacks and are often prone to hacks.

In the traditional finance world, people often have to provide an asset known as “collateral” to serve as a deposit for a loan. Collateral plays a key role in decentralised finance as lending platforms usually ask users for deposits to secure their loans. Collateral is used to guarantee that the loan will be repaid, and if it falls below a certain threshold, the user can lose their deposit.

Community drives the token ecosystem. From Bitcoin and Ethereum to Dogecoin and Shiba Inu, every successful token project has an active community—fans who may support a project by investing in a token, participating in governance votes, or spreading the word to other people. As the token movement is decentralised at its core, communities play a key role in helping the ecosystem grow.

Many token builders are working to enable cross-chain interoperability between blockchains. As new networks have emerged, the demand for interconnectivity across separate platforms in the ecosystem has increased. Cross-chain interoperability is regarded as one of the most important but challenging problems to solve.

The essence of why we are here, cryptocurrencies offer a disruptive alternative to traditional forms of value such as fiat money, gold and art. Cryptocurrencies, often referred to as tokens, offer a way to exchange value over the Internet via blockchain networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum. Blockchain and cryptocurrency technology is arguably the most important innovation since the Internet itself.  

The “Curve Wars” is a phenomenon that centres on the decentralised finance project Curve Finance. It involves a host of decentralised finance projects competing to accumulate Curve’s CRV token to get a share of the project’s token rewards.