Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Dictionary

Bounty

What Is a Bounty? Crypto bounties are an important rewards mechanism that blockchain projects utilize in order to secure the successful accomplishments of certain tasks required by the network. Initially, bounties were intended as a marketing tool to attract users to participate in performing validation services for blockchain projects. Today, crypto bounties have developed significantly beyond the purpose of a simple marketing tool. One of the main purposes of a bounty rewards program is to promote the initial coin offering (ICO) of a token. Much like traditional initial public offerings, ICOs need to generate a lot of attention to be successful. Bounty reward programs are a great way to create awareness and engagement for a new token. The way bounties work is simple. The project looking to push its ICO announces a promotion campaign in which users perform marketing actions and receive tokens in return. These marketing actions can be anything from posting a photo or video promoting the project to publishing reviews in forums and online community boards. In return for performing these promotional actions, users receive either free or discounted tokens. Bounty rewards campaigns were a huge phenomenon during the ICO craze in 2017 and 2018. Unfortunately, this marketing tool was often employed by fraudulent projects in order to promote fake tokens. This has made many crypto enthusiasts wary of bounty rewards programs. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has deemed some ICOs and bounty rewards programs illegal and used them as proof of wrongdoing in front of courts. Despite numerous controversial cases, bounty rewards programs remain a very widespread marketing tactic for promoting new tokens. Not only that, some blockchain projects incorporate bounty rewards even after the successful launch of the token. Post-ICO rewards schemes are focused on boosting the development of the project. During them, developers are incentivized to go through the code of the project and localize bugs. In addition, bounty rewards may be offered for translation services aimed at making the project more globally accessible.  The abundance of bounty rewards programs has created a new persona in the cryptocurrency world — a crypto bounty hunter. Bounty hunters are people pursuing a number of rewards programs, seeking to benefit from all of them simultaneously. Much like bounty hunters in the Wild West, crypto bounty hunters always chase the best-paying rewards programs and race to be the ones to claim the reward.  Even with the high level of controversy surrounding bounty rewards programs, this is still a widely used marketing strategy by cryptocurrency projects.

Fiat-Pegged Cryptocurrency

What Is a Fiat-Pegged Cryptocurrency? Also known as “pegged cryptocurrency,” it is a coin, token or asset issued on a blockchain that is linked to a government or bank-issued currency. Each pegged cryptocurrency is designed to always have a specific cash value in reserves. Fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies are considered to be examples of stablecoins. They were created to tackle extreme levels of volatility. Cryptocurrencies can typically be very volatile. Huge upward and downward swings are very common. Stablecoins are usually pegged to key currencies such as the euro, the British pound or the U.S. dollar. While it is very much possible for fiat currencies to depreciate against other currencies, massive swings are less likely.  Stablecoins can vary in structure. Some fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies have a strict structure where they can only be issued if a unit of fiat money is deposited.  Cryptocurrency exchanges are considered the biggest holders of fiat-backed cryptocurrencies. The most popular cryptocurrency exchanges are often required to protect positions from price volatility by holding some reserves in these assets. This is cited as a key reason why exchanges are big holders of such cryptos. Boosting the exchange’s liquidity base is considered another big driver for exchanges to hold fiat-backed cryptocurrencies.

Astroturfing

What Is Astroturfing? This controversial practice involves trying to achieve credibility and authenticity by making marketing and PR messages appear like they are occurring naturally in a grassroots community. Astroturfing has a long history as a favored technique of both political groups and private businesses. One notable example includes the tobacco industry's establishment of the fake National Smokers Alliance lobby group. Another concerns Microsoft’s sponsorship of a pressure group that intended to create an illusion that the company had support during a bitter antitrust lawsuit. More recently, the Kremlin is alleged to have built a vast army of fake online profiles and bots to sow disinformation globally.Astroturfing became much more widely used with the explosion of the internet. Now, almost any organization can establish a large network of fake online identities with ease — and they can be directed to post whatever content the organization dictates. Advanced “persona management” software can equip each of these identities with their own IP address and confected online history.Awareness of astroturfing is now widespread, and the reputational risks associated with the practice are high. Many jurisdictions have legislated to crack down on it — and now, several countries require bloggers, social media users and influencers to clearly mark sponsored content with an #ad tag.Despite this, astroturfing remains rife in the crypto community. The technique has been regularly used to generate interest in ICOs, with Telegram and Discord among the most favored channels. It is thought that there are now dozens of marketing companies dedicated almost entirely to running astroturfing campaigns designed specifically for the crypto industry.Common signs of astroturfing activities include extremely rapid growth in Telegram and Discord community membership. There are also several tools allowing users to “audit” the authenticity of profiles on Twitter and other social networks.

Account Balance

What Is Account Balance? The total amount of money that may be withdrawn from a bank account or a crypto account is referred to as the "account balance" in the banking and finance industry. Accounts are used to enable transactions by people, corporations and enterprises alike. These accounts offer an alternative to the conventional methods of dealing with cash transactions. There are different kinds of crypto and bank accounts available that may be used by entities to store and transfer assets and send and receive payments. Accounting Cash Flow From Bank Accounts In banking, the account balance includes both deposits and withdrawals made from a bank account. However, any sum paid out of these accounts results in a negative cash flow. As a consequence of this, the total balance in the bank account decreases (and in some cases, it results in overdraft). These payments may also include the bank's costs or other fees. To be more specific, though, they often include cash withdrawals or payments made to third parties. Account Balance in Loan Accounts In some circumstances, a bank may also provide an entity with financing in the form of a loan. If this is the case, then they will also be given a bank account. On the other hand, the account balance won't be the same in certain circumstances. It will be used to refer to the amount that must be paid to the bank by the entity, rather than the cash that can be spent. However, this term does not apply to savings or checking accounts; it is only applicable to loan accounts. In general, an account balance in banking refers to the entire amount of money that is held by an entity within its own bank account. As was previously stated, this may involve checking as well as savings accounts. After deducting all of the payments made from the receipts into the bank account, the remaining balance is shown.  What Is Account Balance in Accounting? The term account balance is applicable to banking, crypto and accounting. In accounting, the difference between all of the transactions that have been debited from and credited to a ledger account is referred to as the account balance. These accounts might be for assets, liabilities, or even stock in the company. In each of these cases, the amount that is remaining in the account will have a distinct significance. Generally speaking, account balances for assets are shown as debit balances. These things reflect an asset that is held or managed by an entity and has the potential to offer economic advantages in the future. In most cases, assets consist mostly of debit transactions rather than credit ones. As a result, they will be in a position to have a positive balance, presuming that the debit transactions had a beneficial impact. Account balances often contain credit balances in case of liability and equity. When it comes to liabilities, these balances indicate the responsibilities that were incurred as a result of previous transactions that led to the loss of economic gains. When referring to an entity's equity, these amounts will be the sum that may be distributed to owners or shareholders from the operations of the business.  The aforementioned principles, when taken as a whole, are applicable to any and all assets, liabilities and equity balances that organizations may have. However, there are likely to be some deviations from these rules, such as the existence of counter accounts. In certain specific circumstances, the opposite treatment will be applied to each individual object. For example, counter asset accounts tend to build up credit balances instead of debit balances over time. Difference Between Available Balance and Current Balance The amount of balance that is accessible for spending is called available balance. The available balance in an account is used to determine whether or not the user has sufficient funds in their account to cover a transaction. The account's available balance is calculated using the deposits and withdrawals from the account as well as all pending transactions. Pending transactions include pre-authorized transfers, point-of-sale transactions and merchant payments. Sometimes, you may notice that your available balance is lower than your current. In these circumstances, the only money you have access to is the sum that is accessible to you (or a lesser amount if you have checks that are still outstanding), and the rest of the funds are being kept by the financial institution that you use. Your current balances take into account all of your money, including both the amounts that are currently accessible and those that are being held.

Diamond Hands

What Is Diamond Hands? Popularised by r/wallstreetbets, and later spreading to other social media platforms, the term, diamond hands, is a way of expressing that someone is or will continue HODL-ing an asset, even if the value of their portfolio suddenly falls by 20% or more. Although “diamond hands” is sometimes used to describe a person who is holding stock, it is more commonly used as a self-description for someone who holds cryptocurrencies. People who say, “I have diamond hands” (a.k.a. strong hands) deeply believe that cryptocurrencies will drive the future direction of global finance and that mass adoption is inevitable, if not imminent.  This group of cryptocurrency bulls doesn’t sell, even when a storm of seemingly never-ending FUD hits the market. Those who have diamond hands might even tell their followers, friends, family, or anyone who is willing to listen to Buy The (F*******) Dip. Sometimes, diamond hands buy the dip, but the dip keeps dipping. In other words, prices of cryptocurrencies may go down significantly, but there are people who are still unwilling to sell because they have faith that their favorite cryptocurrency project(s) will one day eventually reach the moon status. Basically, if you have diamond hands, you are a very optimistic person even when it seems like the sky is falling.  On social media platforms, like Reddit and Twitter, diamond hands is often use in its emoji form: ??. Diamond hands are risk-takers who have a long-term perspective on the market. Often, many people who identify with this group will share adaptations of the Wolf of Wall Street - “I'm not leaving!” GIF to express their steadfast sentiment. Although diamond hands is widely considered to be an admirable group, they are sometimes warned by other investors to ‘take profits’ in fiat or stablecoins when the market surges. Those with diamond hands, however, rarely (if ever) take profits since they firmly believe the market - even if it crashes - will recover and only grow stronger over time. When the market goes down, many people in the diamond hands group will undoubtedly express themselves on social media with some iteration of “diamond hands.” Crypto investors who decide to sell at low prices after a massive market crash might get teased for having weak hands, paper hands, or spaghetti hands. In other words, this group is the polar opposite of diamond hands. Author: Kadan Stadelmann, CTO of Komodo Kadan Stadelmann is a blockchain developer, operations security expert, and Komodo’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He strongly identifies with Komodo’s open-source vision and ideology. Kadan’s dedication to the Komodo project is founded on an unwavering desire to make the world a better place. His experience ranges from working in operations security in the government sector and launching technology startups to application development and cryptography. Kadan started his journey into blockchain technology in 2011 and joined the Komodo team in 2016. Kadan has published numerous articles on Forbes, Cointelegraph, Nasdaq, and Yahoo Finance.

Crowdfunding

What Is Crowdfunding? Crowdfunding is the process through which one can raise money in order to finance both projects as well as businesses. Crowdfunding enables fundraisers to collect money from a large number of people through a variety of different platforms, usually online. In other words, crowdfunding is a technology-enabled financial service that covers a wide range of ways through which one can raise money. This is done with a large number of capital givers throughout different online crowdfunding platforms which serve the role of intermediaries, and instead of raising finance from traditional funding sources such as banks, mutual funds or business angels, funds are raised through “crowds.” The benefits crowdfunders get in return for their investment or the money they put into these projects depends on what kind of crowdfunding model is being used in order to raise the funds in the first place. As compensation for their financial risk, they can receive a tangible reward or an intangible reward.  However, in many cases, the funds raised are provided as a donation most of the time. Keep in mind that there is investment crowdfunding as well as non-investment crowdfunding. This distinction highlights the difference between when the funders act as investors who aim to achieve an economic return, and when the funders support a charitable project or receive rewards that are non-monetary. Based on the rights of the funders in the specific project, crowdfunding can be categorized into different models. In the investment model, you have debt-based crowdfunding and equity-based crowdfunding. In the non-investment model, you have reward-based crowdfunding and donation-based crowdfunding. Due to the fact that there are many different models, the definitions of crowdfunding can be limited; however, there are different definitions when it comes to its elements. A great number of funders are involved in the financing, and an online platform facilitates as well as promotes the contact between the providers are those seeking capital. Then, there is an open call to participate in the financing.