What is the difference between DeFi and CeFi?

CeFi (centralized finance) services like Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken custody user funds. DeFi (decentralized finance) protocols like Uniswap and Aave settle on-chain via smart contracts and let users keep custody of their assets.

Crypto Glossary — 291+ DeFi, Layer 2, MEV, Stablecoin, Regulation Terms Explained

DeFi Intel's plain-English glossary covers DeFi protocols, Layer-2 architectures, MEV mechanics, stablecoin classifications, regulatory frameworks, security incidents, and the people behind crypto. Updated 2026-05.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Aave

Aave is a decentralized non-custodial money-market protocol where users supply assets to earn yield and borrow against collateral. Launched 2017 as ETHLend, rebranded 2018, Aave pioneered flash loans and has $20B+ TVL across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Optimism, Polygon, Base, and Avalanche.

Variable and stable rates, isolation mode, eMode for correlated-asset leverage, and GHO stablecoin issuance round out the v3 product.

See also: Lending, Flash Loan, Collateral, Liquidation, GHO

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Aave, Aave V3, Aave v4, Aave token, Aave Horizon RWA

Entity coverage: 12 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Aave Protocol V3: Technical Paper (2022) by Aave Companies

ABI (Application Binary Interface)

The ABI is a JSON descriptor of an Ethereum contract's functions, events, and types. Wallets, indexers, and frontends use it to encode calls and decode logs.

See also: Smart Contract, ERC-20, JSON-RPC

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Account Abstraction (AA)

Account abstraction lets smart contracts act as user accounts, replacing externally owned accounts (EOAs). Users gain features like social recovery, batched transactions, gas sponsorship, and session keys.

ERC-4337 implements AA without consensus changes via a UserOperation mempool, bundlers, and paymasters. EIP-7702 (Pectra, 2025) extends AA-style behavior to existing EOAs by allowing one-shot delegation to contract code.

Read deeper: Account Abstraction deep-dive

Dedicated page: What is Account Abstraction?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Account Abstraction via Entry Point Contract Specification (ERC-4337) (2021) by Vitalik Buterin et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel account abstraction topic deep-dive

Accredited Investor

A US accredited investor meets income/net-worth thresholds (currently $200k income or $1M net worth ex-primary residence) qualifying them to participate in private securities offerings under SEC Reg D 506(b)/(c).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Aerodrome

Aerodrome is the dominant DEX on Base, a Velodrome v2 fork using ve(3,3) tokenomics: lock AERO as veAERO to direct emissions to pools and earn the fees + bribes from those pools.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Aerodrome Finance, Aerodrome Finance, Aerodrome Slipstream

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Airdrop

An airdrop is a distribution of tokens to wallet addresses, typically free, used to bootstrap a network or reward early adopters. Airdrops can be retroactive (rewarding past activity) or forward-looking (incentivizing future engagement).

Famous examples: Uniswap (UNI, 2020 — 400 UNI per past user, ~$1,200 at launch); Arbitrum (ARB, 2023); Hyperliquid (HYPE, 2024); Jito (JTO, 2023).

See also: Points Program, Utility Token, Vesting, Sybil Attack

Dedicated page: What is Airdrop?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Algorithmic Stablecoin

An algorithmic stablecoin maintains its peg through code-driven supply expansion and contraction rather than collateral. UST/Luna (Terra) was the highest-profile failure: a $40B+ implosion in May 2022 when the peg snapped.

Surviving variants are mostly partially-collateralized (FRAX) or operate at small scale.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

AML (Anti-Money Laundering)

AML refers to the laws and procedures preventing criminals from disguising illegally obtained funds as legitimate income. Crypto exchanges and CASPs implement KYC, transaction monitoring, suspicious-activity reports (SARs), and Travel Rule compliance.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel privacy compliance topic deep-dive

AMM (Automated Market Maker)

An automated market maker is a smart-contract-based exchange that prices assets via a deterministic formula instead of an order book. Liquidity providers deposit token pairs into pools and earn a share of swap fees.

Uniswap v2 popularized the constant-product (x*y=k) AMM in 2020. Variants include Curve's StableSwap (low-slippage between like-priced assets) and Uniswap v3's concentrated liquidity (CLMM).

Dedicated page: What is AMM?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: PancakeSwap AMM, DODO AMM, PancakeSwap AMM V3

Entity coverage: 7 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Uniswap v3 Core (2021) by Hayden Adams et al.

App-chain

An app-chain is a blockchain dedicated to a single application, often built as a rollup or Cosmos zone. dYdX v4, Hyperliquid, and Lyra V2 run on app-chains for control over throughput, gas, and MEV.

See also: Rollup, Cosmos, Sovereign Rollup, Sequencer

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Aptos

Aptos is an L1 launched October 2022 by ex-Diem engineers, using Move with a global storage model. AptosBFT (HotStuff variant). APT token. Institutional partnerships with Microsoft and Mastercard.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Aptos, Aptos

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 0 tokens, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Arbitrage

Arbitrage is buying an asset on one venue and selling on another to capture a price discrepancy. In DeFi, arbitrageurs keep AMM prices aligned with CEX/oracle prices, often via flash loans and atomic multi-leg trades.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Arbitrum

Arbitrum is an Ethereum optimistic rollup developed by Offchain Labs, launched 2021. Arbitrum One is the flagship general-purpose chain; Arbitrum Nova targets gaming/social with AnyTrust DA. As of 2026 it leads L2 TVL with $15B+.

Stylus enables Rust/C++ smart contracts alongside Solidity via WASM.

See also: Optimistic Rollup, Rollup, Stylus, Sequencer, Fraud Proof

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Arbitrum, Offchain Labs, Arbitrum One, Arbitrum Orbit, Arbitrum DAO

Entity coverage: 8 protocols, 0 tokens, 3 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Archive Node

An archive node stores the full historical state of a blockchain at every block, not just the latest pruned state. Required for indexers, analytics, and historical RPC queries (eth_getBalance at block X). Storage costs can exceed 12 TB for Ethereum mainnet.

See also: Full Node, RPC, Indexer, JSON-RPC

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Arweave

Arweave is a permanent decentralized storage network using a one-time payment model (endowment funds 200+ years of storage). AR token. Used by Mirror, Mintbase, and various L2s for archival data.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Arweave

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Attestation

In Ethereum proof-of-stake, an attestation is a validator's signed vote for the head of the chain plus a Casper FFG checkpoint vote. Attestations are aggregated each slot and rewarded with issuance.

See also: Validator, Beacon Chain, Finality, Slashing

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Avalanche

Avalanche is a heterogeneous network: the C-Chain (EVM), X-Chain (UTXO), and P-Chain (validator/subnet management). Subnets enable app-chains. AVAX token. Partnerships in institutional asset tokenization (JPMorgan Onyx, Citi).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Avalanche

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 1 token, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Snowflake to Avalanche: A Novel Metastable Consensus Protocol Family for Cryptocurrencies (2018) by Team Rocket (anonymous) et al.

AVS (Actively Validated Service)

An AVS is a service that uses restaked ETH (or LSTs) for cryptoeconomic security. AVSs include data-availability layers (EigenDA), oracles, bridges, and coprocessors. Operators opt in to validate AVSs and accept slashing risk in exchange for fees.

Read deeper: Restaking and LRT deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: AltLayer

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: EigenLayer: The Restaking Collective for Ethereum (2023) by Sreeram Kannan et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel restaking lrt topic deep-dive

B

Babylon

Babylon is a Bitcoin staking protocol enabling BTC holders to secure PoS chains and AVSs without bridging. Self-custodial BTC is locked via a Bitcoin script and slashable through covenant emulation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Babylon Protocol

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 0 tokens, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Backrunning

Backrunning is the practice of placing a transaction immediately after a target transaction (typically a large swap) to capture arbitrage created by the price impact. Unlike sandwich attacks, pure backrunning does not harm the victim.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: MEV-Boost: A Modular Block Builder Architecture for Ethereum (2022) by Flashbots Research et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel mev topic deep-dive

Base

Base is Coinbase's Ethereum L2, an OP-Stack optimistic rollup launched August 2023. It runs as a Superchain member with shared sequencing roadmap and has $10B+ TVL as of 2026.

Base focuses on consumer onramps (Coinbase integration) and creator-economy primitives (onchain mints).

See also: OP Stack, Superchain, Optimistic Rollup

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Base

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 1 token, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Based Rollup

A based rollup delegates sequencing to L1 (Ethereum) proposers rather than a centralized sequencer. The first rollup of this kind to gain traction is Taiko. Based rollups inherit L1 censorship resistance and credible neutrality at the cost of latency.

See also: Rollup, Sequencer, Taiko, Native Rollup

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Basis Trade

A basis trade captures the spread between a perpetual or futures contract and the underlying spot price. In crypto, traders short BTC perps and hold spot BTC (or via ETF) to harvest the funding rate. Ethena's USDe stablecoin generalizes the basis trade as yield-bearing collateral.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Ethena: A Synthetic Dollar Built on Ethereum (2023) by Guy Young et al.

Beacon Chain

The Beacon Chain coordinates Ethereum's proof-of-stake validator set, attestations, and finality. Launched December 2020, merged with execution layer in September 2022 (The Merge), and continues as the consensus layer.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Casper the Friendly Finality Gadget (2017) by Vitalik Buterin et al.

BFT (Byzantine Fault Tolerance)

Byzantine fault tolerance describes a system's ability to reach consensus despite malicious or arbitrary failures up to a fraction of nodes (typically 1/3). Tendermint, HotStuff, and PBFT are common BFT consensus protocols used in Cosmos chains, Aptos, and Sui.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal)

BIPs are the standard for proposing changes to Bitcoin. BIP-32 (HD wallets), BIP-39 (mnemonic seed phrases), BIP-141 (SegWit), and BIP-340/341 (Taproot) are foundational.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Bitcoin (BTC)

Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency, launched January 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. It uses proof-of-work consensus, a 21M supply cap, and 10-minute block times. As digital gold, BTC anchors the entire crypto market and powers spot ETFs (BlackRock IBIT, Fidelity FBTC, etc.).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Bitcoin, Bitcoin (BTC), iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF

Entity coverage: 10 protocols, 5 tokens, 4 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) by Satoshi Nakamoto

BitLicense

BitLicense is a New York State Department of Financial Services framework, effective 2015, requiring virtual currency businesses serving NY residents to obtain a license. Critics call it onerous; many firms geofence New York.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: NY DFS BitLicense

Blob (EIP-4844)

A blob is a 128 KB binary object posted alongside an Ethereum transaction, introduced by EIP-4844 (Dencun, March 2024). Blobs provide cheap data availability for rollups, with data pruned after ~18 days. Each block targets 3 blobs (max 6).

Full danksharding (planned) scales blob throughput to 64+ per slot.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: EIP-4844: Shard Blob Transactions (2022) by Vitalik Buterin et al.

Block

A block is a batch of transactions appended to a blockchain at fixed intervals (12 seconds on Ethereum, 10 minutes on Bitcoin, 400ms on Solana). Each block contains a header (parent hash, state root, timestamp) and a body (transactions).

See also: Blockchain, Mempool, Validator, Transaction

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Block Analitica

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Blockchain

A blockchain is a replicated append-only ledger maintained by a network of nodes that agree on transaction order via a consensus protocol. Each block cryptographically links to its predecessor, making history tamper-evident.

See also: Block, Consensus Layer, Smart Contract, Node

Dedicated page: What is Blockchain?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Bitcoin, NEAR, Aptos, Sui, Canton Network

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 8 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

BLS Signatures

Boneh-Lynn-Shacham signatures support efficient aggregation: thousands of signatures over the same message compress to a single 96-byte signature verifiable in constant time. Ethereum uses BLS12-381 for validator attestations; Chainlink uses BLS for OCR oracle reports.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Borrowing

In DeFi, borrowing means depositing collateral into a money market (Aave, Compound, Morpho) and drawing a different asset against it, typically at 50-80% loan-to-value. Borrowers pay variable interest and risk liquidation if collateral value falls.

See also: Lending, Collateral, Liquidation, Health Factor

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Compound: The Money Market Protocol (2019) by Robert Leshner et al.

Bundler (ERC-4337)

A bundler is a node in the ERC-4337 account-abstraction stack that aggregates UserOperations from the alternate mempool into a single transaction submitted to the EntryPoint contract. Bundlers earn priority fees from user ops.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: ERC-4337

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Account Abstraction via Entry Point Contract Specification (ERC-4337) (2021) by Vitalik Buterin et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel account abstraction topic deep-dive

C

CASP (Crypto-Asset Service Provider)

Under EU MiCA, a CASP is any entity providing crypto services (exchanges, custody, advice, portfolio management) to EU clients. CASPs must be authorized by a national competent authority and meet capital, governance, and conduct requirements.

Read deeper: MiCA Enforcement Report

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

CDD (Customer Due Diligence)

CDD is the AML process of identifying and verifying customer identity, beneficial ownership, and risk profile. Enhanced due diligence (EDD) applies to high-risk customers, PEPs, and high-risk jurisdictions.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

CeFi (Centralized Finance)

CeFi describes crypto services run by centralized companies that custody user funds: Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, Bitfinex. Users trust the operator to hold keys, execute orders, and remain solvent. The 2022 collapse of FTX, Celsius, and Voyager illustrated CeFi counterparty risk.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Celestia

Celestia is a modular DA-only blockchain launched October 2023. Provides data availability with DAS for sovereign rollups; Celestia does not execute or settle. TIA token. Used by Manta, Dymension, Movement, and many app-rollups.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Celestia, Celestia, Celestia

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 1 token, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: LazyLedger: A Distributed Data Availability Ledger With Client-Side Smart Contracts (2019) by Mustafa Al-Bassam

Read deeper: DeFi Intel modular blockchains topic deep-dive

CEX (Centralized Exchange)

A centralized exchange is a custodial trading venue that holds user balances and runs a matching engine off-chain. Major CEXs as of 2026: Binance, Coinbase, Bybit, OKX, Upbit, Kraken. Users deposit, trade against an order book, and withdraw.

Counterparty risk: FTX (Nov 2022) showed users can lose funds if the operator is fraudulent.

Dedicated page: What is CEX?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Chainlink

Chainlink is the dominant decentralized oracle network, securing $20T+ in cumulative DeFi transaction value via price feeds, VRF (verifiable randomness), CCIP (cross-chain), and Proof-of-Reserve. LINK token rewards node operators for honest reporting via OCR2.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Chainlink, Chainlink Labs, Chainlink CCIP, Chainlink Labs, Chainlink CCIP

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Circulating Supply

Circulating supply is the count of tokens currently in public hands and tradeable, excluding locked, vested, or treasury-held tokens. Used in market-cap calculations. Methodology varies; CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap publish the canonical numbers.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Cliff

A cliff is a time period during which vested tokens cannot be claimed. A typical investor schedule: 1-year cliff, then linear vesting over 3 years. The cliff prevents immediate post-TGE dumping.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

CLMM (Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker)

CLMMs let liquidity providers concentrate capital into custom price ranges instead of the full curve. Pioneered by Uniswap v3 (May 2021), CLMMs deliver 100-4000x capital efficiency for like-priced pairs but require active management to avoid IL.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Uniswap v3 Core (2021) by Hayden Adams et al.

Cold Wallet

A cold wallet keeps private keys offline (hardware device, paper, air-gapped computer) to defeat remote attackers. Hardware wallets (Ledger, Trezor) are the standard form. Institutional cold storage uses HSMs and MPC across geographically separated signers.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Collateral

Collateral is the asset a borrower deposits to secure a loan. DeFi loans are typically over-collateralized (110-200% of the borrowed value) so the protocol can liquidate if the collateral value falls. Stablecoins like DAI and crvUSD are also issued against collateral.

See also: Borrowing, Liquidation, Health Factor, Lending

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Compound

Compound, launched 2018 by Robert Leshner, is the original algorithmic money-market protocol on Ethereum. It pioneered cTokens (interest-bearing receipt tokens) and the COMP governance token (June 2020 launch kicked off "DeFi Summer" yield farming).

See also: Lending, Aave, Liquidity Mining, Governance Token

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Compound, Compound Iii, Compound V3, Compound III, Compound Labs

Entity coverage: 6 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Compound: The Money Market Protocol (2019) by Robert Leshner et al.

Consensus Layer

The consensus layer of a blockchain orders blocks and finalizes them. On Ethereum post-Merge, the Beacon Chain runs Casper FFG + LMD GHOST. On modular stacks, consensus may be a separate layer (e.g., Celestia for DA + ordering) consumed by execution layers.

See also: Execution Layer, Beacon Chain, Finality, Validator

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Cosmos

Cosmos is a network of sovereign chains connected by IBC (inter-blockchain communication). Built on Tendermint/CometBFT consensus and the Cosmos SDK. Cosmos Hub (ATOM), Osmosis, Celestia, Sei, Injective, dYdX v4 are members.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Cosmos Hub, Cosmos SDK, Cosmos Hub, Cosmos / Tendermint, Cosmos SDK

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 1 token, 4 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Tendermint: Consensus without Mining (2014) by Jae Kwon

CPMM (Constant Product Market Maker)

A CPMM holds reserves x and y and prices swaps so that x*y=k remains constant (modulo fees). Uniswap v1/v2, SushiSwap, and PancakeSwap v2 use CPMM. Simple, robust, but capital-inefficient compared to CLMMs.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Uniswap v3 Core (2021) by Hayden Adams et al.

crvUSD

crvUSD is Curve's stablecoin, launched May 2023. Borrowers deposit volatile collateral (ETH, wstETH, WBTC, sfrxETH) into LLAMMA, a continuous AMM that gradually liquidates as price falls (no abrupt liquidation). ~$200M+ supply.

See also: Stablecoin, Curve Finance, Collateral, DAI

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: crvUSD

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

Curve Finance

Curve is the dominant stablecoin AMM, launched 2020 by Michael Egorov. Its StableSwap invariant blends constant-sum and constant-product behavior to deliver near-zero slippage between like-priced assets (USDC/USDT/DAI).

Curve Wars: protocols compete for CRV emissions via veCRV/Convex bribes to direct liquidity.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Curve DEX, Curve Finance, Curve Finance, Michael Egorov, Curve Ng

Entity coverage: 5 protocols, 2 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: StableSwap — Efficient Mechanism for Stablecoin Liquidity (2019) by Michael Egorov

Custodial

A custodial service holds the private keys on behalf of users. Coinbase, Kraken, BitGo, and Anchorage are custodians. Users gain UX (recovery, no seed phrase) but lose self-sovereignty.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Custody (Institutional)

Institutional custody refers to qualified custodians (e.g., BitGo Trust, Anchorage Digital Bank, Fidelity Digital Assets, Coinbase Custody) holding crypto for funds and corporates. Setup includes MPC or HSM key generation, multi-party authorization workflows, and insurance.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Coinbase Custody, BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL), Zodia Custody, BlackRock USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund, Standard Custody & Trust Company

D

DA Sampling (DAS)

Data availability sampling lets light nodes verify a large block has been published by randomly sampling small chunks. Statistically, with enough samples, a node is confident the full block is available without downloading it. Core to danksharding and Celestia.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

DAI

DAI is a decentralized stablecoin issued by MakerDAO/Sky, soft-pegged to $1 via crypto-collateral (ETH, wstETH, USDC) and PSM (Peg Stability Module) USDC swaps. Outstanding supply ~$5B as of 2026; rebranded portion is now USDS.

See also: Stablecoin, MakerDAO / Sky, Collateral, Depeg

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Dai

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: The Endgame Plan: Restructuring MakerDAO for Resilience and Growth (2022) by Rune Christensen

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

Danksharding

Danksharding is Ethereum's rollup-centric scaling roadmap, named after researcher Dankrad Feist. Proto-danksharding (EIP-4844, 2024) introduced 3-blob blocks. Full danksharding scales to 64+ blobs per slot via DA sampling and KZG proofs, targeting 1+ MB/s of rollup data throughput.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)

A DAO is an organization whose rules and treasury are encoded in smart contracts and governed by token holders. Major DAOs: Uniswap, Aave, MakerDAO/Sky, Arbitrum, Optimism, ENS, Lido. Tools: Snapshot (off-chain voting), Tally, Aragon, Safe.

See also: Governance Token, Snapshot

Dedicated page: What is DAO?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Lido, Kelp DAO, Curve Finance, Kelp Dao, Arbitrum DAO

Entity coverage: 19 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Data Availability (DA)

Data availability means rollup transaction data is published where anyone can retrieve it, so users can reconstruct state independently. Posting to Ethereum L1 (via blobs) is the gold standard. Alternative DA layers: Celestia, EigenDA, Avail. Off-chain DA committees (DACs) trade trust assumptions for cost.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Data Availability Committee

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: LazyLedger: A Distributed Data Availability Ledger With Client-Side Smart Contracts (2019) by Mustafa Al-Bassam

Read deeper: DeFi Intel modular blockchains topic deep-dive

DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

Decentralized finance refers to financial services (lending, trading, derivatives, insurance, asset management) implemented as smart contracts on public blockchains. DeFi removes intermediaries, settles 24/7 globally, and is composable: any protocol can integrate with any other.

Total value locked peaked above $200B in 2021 and stabilized around $100-150B by 2026 across Ethereum, Solana, BSC, Tron, Base, Arbitrum, and TON.

Dedicated page: What is DeFi?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Total DeFi TVL

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 0 tokens, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Delegated PoS

DPoS uses token-holder voting to elect a small set of block producers. Trades decentralization for throughput. Used by Tron (27 SR), EOS, Cosmos chains (variant), and BNB Chain.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Denial of Service (DoS)

A DoS attack prevents legitimate users from accessing a service. In smart contracts, common vectors include unbounded loops, gas griefing on external calls, and pushing failing transactions into a queue that blocks progress. Mitigations: pull-over-push payments, gas limits per call.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Depeg

A depeg is a stablecoin trading meaningfully below (or above) its target price. Notable depegs: USDC briefly to $0.87 during Silicon Valley Bank failure (March 2023); UST to $0 (May 2022); USDR to $0.50 (October 2023).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

DePIN (Decentralized Physical Infrastructure Networks)

DePIN refers to networks that use token incentives to bootstrap physical infrastructure: wireless (Helium), storage (Filecoin, Arweave), compute (Akash, io.net), maps (Hivemapper), energy (DIMO, React).

See also: Filecoin, Helium

Read deeper: DePIN deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: DePIN Sector

Read deeper: DeFi Intel depin topic deep-dive

Deterministic Finality

Deterministic finality means a block is irreversible after a known number of blocks/rounds, barring slashing-funded attacks (Casper FFG: 2 epochs; Tendermint: 1 round). Contrasts with probabilistic finality of PoW chains.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Devnet

A devnet is a developer-only test network that runs latest protocol code, often resetting state weekly. Used by core developers to test consensus changes before they reach testnet and mainnet.

See also: Testnet, Mainnet, Fork

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

DEX (Decentralized Exchange)

A decentralized exchange settles trades on-chain via smart contracts. Users keep custody of funds. AMM-based DEXs (Uniswap, Curve, Balancer, Aerodrome) dominate spot; CLOB-based DEXs (dYdX, Hyperliquid, Vertex) dominate perps.

Dedicated page: What is DEX?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Curve DEX, LI.FI, Orca DEX

Entity coverage: 16 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

DEX Aggregator

A DEX aggregator routes a user trade across multiple DEXs to optimize price. 1inch, Matcha (0x), Paraswap, Jupiter (Solana), and CowSwap (intent-based, MEV-protected) are the major aggregators. Most aggregators rebate gas to users via Flashbots Protect or similar.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: LI.FI

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

dYdX

dYdX is a perpetual-futures DEX. v3 ran on Starkware's StarkEx; v4 (October 2023) migrated to a Cosmos app-chain with on-chain order book and DYDX governance.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: dYdX, dYdX Trading, dYdX v4

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 1 token, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: dYdX V4: Decentralized Perpetual Futures via an Application-Specific Cosmos Chain (2023) by Antonio Juliano et al.

E

Ed25519

Ed25519 is an EdDSA signature scheme over Curve25519, used by Solana, Sui, Aptos, NEAR, and Cosmos chains. It is faster and more side-channel resistant than secp256k1 ECDSA used by Bitcoin/Ethereum.

See also: secp256k1, Elliptic Curve, Solana

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

EDD (Enhanced Due Diligence)

EDD applies stricter AML scrutiny to high-risk customers: politically exposed persons (PEPs), high-risk jurisdictions (FATF gray/black list), or unusual transaction patterns. Includes source-of-funds verification and senior management approval.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

EigenDA

EigenDA is a data availability service built on EigenLayer, secured by restaked ETH. Live since April 2024. Used by Mantle and several OP Stack rollups for cheaper DA than Ethereum blobs.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: EigenDA, EigenDA

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel modular blockchains topic deep-dive

EigenLayer

EigenLayer is the dominant Ethereum restaking protocol. Stakers re-pledge ETH or LSTs to secure additional services (AVSs). Launched 2023, ~$15B TVL by 2026. EIGEN token, slashing, and operator delegation are live.

Read deeper: Restaking and LRT deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: EigenLayer

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: EigenLayer: The Restaking Collective for Ethereum (2023) by Sreeram Kannan et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel restaking lrt topic deep-dive

EIP (Ethereum Improvement Proposal)

EIPs are the standard for proposing changes to Ethereum. Notable EIPs: EIP-1559 (fee market burn), EIP-4337 (account abstraction), EIP-4844 (proto-danksharding/blobs), EIP-7702 (EOA→smart-account delegation).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

EIP-1559

EIP-1559 (London hard fork, August 2021) replaced Ethereum's first-price gas auction with a base-fee-per-gas that burns and a priority-fee tip to validators. The base fee adjusts each block to target ~50% block utilization. Made fees more predictable and turned ETH deflationary under load.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

EIP-4844 (Proto-Danksharding)

EIP-4844, shipped March 2024 as part of the Dencun hard fork, introduced blob-carrying transactions: ~128 KB binary blobs posted alongside transactions, priced separately from gas. Cut L2 fees by 10-100x overnight.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: EIP-4844: Shard Blob Transactions (2022) by Vitalik Buterin et al.

EIP-7702

EIP-7702, shipped in the Pectra hard fork (Q2 2025), lets an externally owned account (EOA) temporarily delegate execution to a smart-contract code via a signed authorization. Bridges existing wallets into account-abstraction features without migration.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel account abstraction topic deep-dive

Elliptic Curve

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) provides public-key crypto with much smaller key sizes than RSA at equivalent security. Bitcoin and Ethereum use secp256k1; Solana/Sui use Ed25519 over Curve25519; Ethereum BLS uses BLS12-381.

See also: secp256k1, Ed25519, BLS Signatures, Public Key

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

EOA (Externally Owned Account)

An EOA is an Ethereum account controlled by a private key, with no associated code. EOAs initiate transactions; contract accounts (with code) only execute when called. EIP-7702 blurs this distinction.

See also: Wallet, Private Key, EIP-7702

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

ERC (Ethereum Request for Comments)

ERCs are application-layer Ethereum standards (a subset of EIPs). ERC-20 (fungible tokens), ERC-721 (NFTs), ERC-1155 (multi-token), ERC-4337 (account abstraction), ERC-4626 (tokenized vaults) are foundational.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: ERC-4337, ERC-3643 (T-REX)

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

ERC-1155

ERC-1155 is a multi-token standard supporting both fungible and non-fungible tokens in a single contract, with batched transfers. Used by gaming protocols (Enjin, Sandbox), Rarible, and Coinbase Wallet.

See also: ERC-20, ERC-721, NFT (Non-Fungible Token)

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

ERC-20

ERC-20 is the fungible-token standard on Ethereum and EVM chains. Defines transfer, approve, transferFrom, balanceOf, totalSupply. Almost every DeFi token (USDC, UNI, AAVE, LDO, ENA) is ERC-20.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Ethereum: A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform (Buterin, 2013) and Ethereum: A Secure Decentralised Generalised Transaction Ledger (Wood, 2014) (2014) by Vitalik Buterin et al.

ERC-4337

ERC-4337 is the account abstraction standard that runs alongside Ethereum without consensus changes. Users sign UserOperations submitted to an alternate mempool; bundlers package them into transactions calling the EntryPoint contract. Live since March 2023.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: ERC-4337

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Account Abstraction via Entry Point Contract Specification (ERC-4337) (2021) by Vitalik Buterin et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel account abstraction topic deep-dive

ERC-4626

ERC-4626 is a tokenized-vault standard: deposit asset, mint shares, withdraw, redeem. Yearn, Morpho Vaults, Spark, and most LST/LRT wrappers conform to ERC-4626. Composability win: any vault can plug into any aggregator.

See also: ERC-20, Yield Aggregator

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

ERC-721

ERC-721 is the non-fungible-token (NFT) standard, codified by Dieter Shirley in 2018 alongside CryptoKitties. Each token has a unique tokenId. Used by OpenSea, Blur, Magic Eden, and almost every PFP project.

See also: NFT (Non-Fungible Token), ERC-1155, ERC-20

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

ETF (Exchange-Traded Fund)

Spot crypto ETFs let traditional brokerage clients gain Bitcoin or Ether exposure without self-custody. US BTC spot ETFs launched January 2024 (BlackRock IBIT, Fidelity FBTC, Bitwise BITB, Ark ARKB, etc.). ETH spot ETFs launched July 2024.

Read deeper: BTC ETF retrospective

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF, Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 4 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Eth2 (deprecated)

"Eth2" was the historical name for Ethereum's consensus-layer / proof-of-stake transition. Officially retired post-Merge in favor of "consensus layer" + "execution layer." There is no separate ETH2 token.

See also: The Merge, Beacon Chain, Consensus Layer

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Ethena (USDe)

Ethena issues USDe, a "synthetic dollar" backed by delta-neutral basis trades: long staked ETH/BTC vs. short perpetual futures on CEXs. Yield-bearing variant sUSDe distributes funding-rate yield. ~$5B+ supply by 2026; controversial but resilient.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Ethena USDe, Ethena, Ethena Labs, Staked USDe, Ethena Labs

Entity coverage: 7 protocols, 4 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Ethena: A Synthetic Dollar Built on Ethereum (2023) by Guy Young et al.

Ethereum (ETH)

Ethereum is the largest smart-contract blockchain by economic security and DeFi activity, launched July 2015 by Vitalik Buterin and others. Transitioned from PoW to PoS via The Merge (Sept 2022), then introduced blobs via EIP-4844 (March 2024).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Ethereum, Ether (ETH), Ethereum, Ethereum 4844 blobs, Lido Staked ETH

Entity coverage: 10 protocols, 15 tokens, 4 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)

The EVM is Ethereum's deterministic, stack-based VM that executes smart-contract bytecode. The dominant smart-contract runtime — Polygon, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, BSC, Avalanche C-Chain, and most other smart-contract chains are EVM-compatible.

See also: Ethereum (ETH), Smart Contract, Solidity

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Exchange

A crypto exchange is a marketplace for buying and selling crypto assets. Centralized exchanges (CEXs) custody user funds and run an off-chain matching engine; decentralized exchanges (DEXs) settle trades via on-chain smart contracts.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: SEC, Coinbase, Bybit, Bullish, Binance

Entity coverage: 18 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Execution Layer

The execution layer of Ethereum runs the EVM, processes transactions, and maintains world state. Pre-Merge it was the entire chain; post-Merge it is paired with the consensus layer (Beacon Chain).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

F

FATF (Financial Action Task Force)

FATF is the intergovernmental body setting global AML/CFT standards. Its 40 Recommendations and Travel Rule (Recommendation 16) are implemented by member jurisdictions. FATF gray and black lists drive enhanced due diligence (EDD) for transfers involving listed countries.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Financial Action Task Force

FCA

UK Financial Conduct Authority. Operates the AML cryptoasset register; consultation ongoing for a full UK crypto regime as of 2026. Refused most early applicants for the AML register.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Financial Conduct Authority, FCA, FCA UK Crypto Asset Registration

FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation)

FDV is the market price multiplied by the fully diluted (max) supply. Useful for comparing tokens at different points in their unlock schedules. Ratio of FDV to circulating market cap signals overhang from future unlocks.

See also: Market Cap, Tokenomics, Circulating Supply, Vesting

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Fiat-Backed Stablecoin

A fiat-backed stablecoin is collateralized 1:1 by bank deposits and short-dated treasuries held by a regulated issuer. USDC (Circle), USDT (Tether), and PYUSD (Paxos/PayPal) are the largest by supply. Reserve attestations and audits are key trust signals.

Read deeper: Stablecoins deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

Filecoin

Filecoin is a decentralized storage network where miners earn FIL by storing client data and proving they continue to hold it (proof-of-spacetime, proof-of-replication). 17 EiB of capacity onboarded by 2026.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Filecoin

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Finality

Finality is the property that a block, once finalized, cannot be reverted without economic penalty (deterministic) or with negligible probability (probabilistic). Ethereum reaches Casper FFG finality after two epochs (~12.8 minutes). Bitcoin uses probabilistic finality (~6 confirmations).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Casper the Friendly Finality Gadget (2017) by Vitalik Buterin et al.

Fit and Proper Test

A "fit and proper" assessment is a regulatory check on the integrity, competence, and financial soundness of crypto firm directors and qualifying shareholders. Required under MiCA, FCA registration, MAS PSA, and most national VASP regimes.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Flash Loan

A flash loan is an uncollateralized loan that must be borrowed and repaid in the same transaction, atomic on the EVM. Pioneered by Aave 2020. Used for arbitrage, collateral swaps, refinancing, liquidations — and also for many exploits, since attackers can borrow $100M+ for a single block.

See also: Aave, Arbitrage, Flash Loan Attack, Liquidation

Dedicated page: What is Flash Loan?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Flash Loan Attack

A flash loan attack uses a flash loan to amass capital, manipulate a vulnerable price oracle or vote, profit, and repay — all atomically. High-profile victims: bZx ($1M, 2020), Cream ($130M, 2021), Beanstalk ($182M, 2022), Euler ($197M, 2023, recovered).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Flashbots

Flashbots is the leading research/product org for Ethereum MEV. MEV-Boost (block-builder marketplace for validators), MEV-Share (private orderflow with backrun rebates), and SUAVE (decentralized block-building) are flagship products.

Read deeper: MEV deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Flashbots, Flashbots Writings, Flashbots, Flashbots Relay

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: MEV-Boost: A Modular Block Builder Architecture for Ethereum (2022) by Flashbots Research et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel mev topic deep-dive

Fork

A fork is a divergence in a blockchain's state. Soft forks tighten validity rules (backward-compatible). Hard forks introduce incompatible rules and split chains if not all nodes upgrade. Bitcoin Cash forked from Bitcoin (2017); Ethereum Classic from Ethereum (2016, post-DAO hack).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Fork Choice Rule

A fork choice rule deterministically picks the canonical chain when a node sees competing forks. Bitcoin: longest (most-work) chain. Ethereum: LMD GHOST (latest message-driven greedy heaviest observed subtree).

See also: Consensus Layer, Validator, Attestation

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Formal Verification

Formal verification mathematically proves a smart contract satisfies a specification. Tools: Certora Prover, Halmos, KEVM, Solidity SMTChecker. MakerDAO, Compound, and Aave use formal verification on critical contracts.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Fraud Proof

A fraud proof is a cryptographic argument that a state transition on an optimistic rollup was invalid. Anyone can submit one during a 7-day challenge window and revert the bad state. Arbitrum BoLD (permissionless) and OP Stack Cannon are flagship fault-proof systems.

See also: Optimistic Rollup, Validity Proof, Rollup, Arbitrum

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Frax / FRAX

Frax is a fractional-algorithmic stablecoin protocol. FRAX is partially backed (collateral ratio 100% as of 2024 after governance vote) and partially algorithmically stabilized. Also issues frxETH (LST) and the Fraxchain L2.

See also: Algorithmic Stablecoin, Stablecoin, DAI

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Frax, Frax USD, Frax Finance, Frax Finance, Frax Finance

Entity coverage: 5 protocols, 5 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Frax v3: Fully Collateralised, RWA-Backed, and the Frax Universe (2023) by Sam Kazemian et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

Frontrunning

Frontrunning is placing a transaction ahead of a known pending trade to profit from the resulting price move. In DeFi it is enabled by public mempools. Mitigated by private orderflow (Flashbots Protect, MEV-Share, CowSwap) and encrypted mempools (Shutter, SUAVE).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: MEV-Boost: A Modular Block Builder Architecture for Ethereum (2022) by Flashbots Research et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel mev topic deep-dive

FSMA

Belgium's Financial Services and Markets Authority. Notable as the EU national competent authority that has been most aggressive in enforcing MiCA in 2025-2026.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Full Node

A full node validates every block and transaction against consensus rules and stores recent state. Distinct from archive nodes (full history) and light clients (header-only). Running a full node is the strongest trust-minimization position for a user.

See also: Archive Node, Light Client, RPC, Validator

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Funding Rate

On a perpetual futures contract, the funding rate is a periodic payment between longs and shorts that anchors the perp price to spot. Positive funding: longs pay shorts (perp trades above spot). Funding-rate yield is the engine behind Ethena USDe and basis trades.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Fungible

A fungible asset is interchangeable with any other unit of the same type — one USDC equals any other USDC. Contrasts with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) where each unit is distinct.

See also: Non-fungible, ERC-20, ERC-721

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Fuzzing

Fuzzing throws random or guided inputs at a contract to find unexpected failures. Foundry Forge fuzz, Echidna, and Medusa are standard tools. Invariant tests express properties that must hold under all sequences ("user balance never exceeds totalSupply").

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

G

Gas

Gas is the unit of computational work on the EVM. Every opcode has a fixed gas cost; the transaction sender pays gas * (base + tip) in ETH. Gas budgets prevent infinite loops and price scarce block space.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Gas Fee

The gas fee is the ETH paid to include a transaction in a block: gas used × gas price. After EIP-1559, gas price = base fee (burned) + priority fee (tip to validator). Post-EIP-4844 (March 2024), L2 fees collapsed by 10-100×.

Dedicated page: What is Gas Fee?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Gas Griefing

Gas griefing exploits gas accounting to deny service or force unprofitable behavior. Examples: forwarding low gas to a sub-call so it reverts but the parent succeeds; spamming a queue with revert-only transactions.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

GHO

GHO is Aave's native overcollateralized stablecoin, launched July 2023. Borrowers mint GHO against any Aave v3 collateral; interest accrues to the Aave DAO. ~$300M+ supply by 2026.

See also: Aave, Stablecoin, Collateral, DAI

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: GHO, GHO Stablecoin

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

GMX

GMX is a perp DEX on Arbitrum and Avalanche using a multi-asset liquidity pool (GLP) as counterparty to traders. Fee yield distributes to GMX stakers and GLP/GM holders. GMX v2 (2023) added isolated markets.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: GMX, GMX (DAO), GMX V2 Perps, GMX v2

Entity coverage: 8 protocols, 2 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: GMX V2: Synthetic Pools, Isolated Markets, and Chainlink-Priced Perpetuals (2023) by GMX Core Contributors

Governance Attack

A governance attack acquires or rents enough voting power to push a malicious proposal through a DAO. Beanstalk lost $182M in April 2022 via a flash-loan-funded governance attack. Mitigations: timelocks, supermajority requirements, vote-escrow lockups.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Governance Token

A governance token grants voting rights over a protocol's parameters, treasury, and upgrades. UNI, COMP, AAVE, MKR, ARB, OP, LDO are examples. Often paired with vote-escrow or staking models (veCRV, sAAVE).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

H

Halving

The Bitcoin halving cuts the block subsidy in half every 210,000 blocks (~4 years). Subsidies have stepped from 50 → 25 → 12.5 → 6.25 → 3.125 BTC (April 2024). The next halving (~2028) will cut to 1.5625 BTC.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Bitcoin Fourth Halving

Hard Fork

A hard fork is a backward-incompatible blockchain upgrade. Nodes that do not upgrade reject new blocks. Famous hard forks: Ethereum DAO fork (2016), Bitcoin Cash (2017), The Merge (2022), Dencun (2024), Pectra (2025).

See also: Soft Fork, Fork, The Merge

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Hardware Wallet

A hardware wallet stores private keys in a secure element, signing transactions internally so keys never touch a connected computer. Ledger, Trezor, GridPlus, and Keystone are major brands.

See also: Cold Wallet, Seed Phrase, Custodial, Non-custodial

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Hash Function

A cryptographic hash function maps arbitrary input to a fixed-length output (e.g., 256 bits) that is one-way and collision-resistant. Bitcoin uses SHA-256; Ethereum uses Keccak-256. Hashes anchor blockchains, Merkle trees, and commitments.

See also: SHA-256, Keccak-256, Merkle Tree

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Health Factor

On Aave and similar money markets, the health factor = (collateral × liquidation threshold) / debt. If it falls below 1.0, the position is liquidatable. Borrowers monitor health factor and add collateral or repay to avoid liquidation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Helium

Helium is a DePIN wireless network where individuals deploy hotspots earning HNT for providing LoRaWAN and 5G coverage. Migrated to Solana in 2023; Helium Mobile launched as a US MVNO in 2024.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Helium, Helium Network

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 0 tokens, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel depin topic deep-dive

Hot Wallet

A hot wallet keeps private keys on an internet-connected device. Convenient for active trading and dApp use, but exposed to malware and phishing. Mobile wallets (Rainbow, Trust, MetaMask Mobile) and browser extensions (MetaMask, Rabby) are hot wallets.

See also: Cold Wallet, Hardware Wallet, Custodial, Wallet

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Howey Test

The Howey Test (SEC v. W.J. Howey Co., 1946) defines a US "investment contract" security: investment of money, common enterprise, expectation of profits, derived from efforts of others. Crypto cases (LBRY, Ripple, Coinbase, Binance) hinge on Howey application.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Hyperliquid

Hyperliquid is a perp DEX on its own L1 (HyperBFT consensus, EVM execution coming via HyperEVM). Onchain CLOB, ~$10B daily volume by 2026. HYPE token airdropped November 2024 — one of the largest community-aligned launches ever.

Read deeper: Hyperliquid deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Hyperliquid L1, Hyperliquid, Hyperliquid L1, Hyperliquid Labs, Hyperliquid

Entity coverage: 5 protocols, 1 token, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Hyperliquid: A High-Performance L1 with On-Chain Order Book (2023) by Hyperliquid Labs

I

Impermanent Loss (IL)

Impermanent loss is the opportunity cost an AMM liquidity provider incurs when pool prices diverge from the entry ratio: holding the two assets outside the pool would have outperformed. Realized only on withdrawal; recoverable if prices revert.

Modern framing prefers Loss-Versus-Rebalancing (LVR), which measures LP loss against a continuously rebalanced reference portfolio.

Dedicated page: What is Impermanent Loss?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Indexer

An indexer ingests raw blockchain data and exposes structured queries to applications. The Graph, Goldsky, Subsquid, Envio, and Ponder are major indexer stacks. Indexers usually require an archive node as data source.

See also: Archive Node, RPC, JSON-RPC, The Graph

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Integer Overflow

Integer overflow occurs when arithmetic exceeds the variable's range, wrapping around. The 2018 BeautyChain (BEC) overflow let an attacker mint 2^255 tokens. Solidity ≥0.8 reverts on overflow by default; older code uses SafeMath.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Intent

An intent is a user's declaration of a desired outcome ("swap X for at least Y of Z by deadline T") rather than an execution path. Solvers compete to fulfill intents. CowSwap, UniswapX, 1inch Fusion, and Across use intent-based architectures to deliver MEV protection and better prices.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

J

JIT Liquidity (Just-In-Time)

JIT liquidity is a CLMM strategy where a sophisticated LP adds tight-range liquidity in the same block as a large incoming swap, captures most of the swap fee, then withdraws. Common on Uniswap v3 ETH/stablecoin pools; controversial because passive LPs are diluted.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel mev topic deep-dive

JSON-RPC

JSON-RPC is the standard wire protocol for talking to Ethereum nodes: eth_blockNumber, eth_call, eth_sendRawTransaction. Wallets, dApps, and indexers communicate with nodes via JSON-RPC over HTTP or WebSocket.

See also: RPC, RPC Provider, Indexer, Full Node

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

K

Karak

Karak is a multi-asset restaking network competing with EigenLayer and Symbiotic. Supports restaking ETH, LSTs, USDC, WBTC, and other assets to secure DSSes (distributed secure services). Built by Andalusia Labs.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Karak, Karak Vaults

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel restaking lrt topic deep-dive

Keccak-256

Keccak-256 is the hash function used pervasively in Ethereum: address derivation, event signatures, Merkle Patricia trees, and storage slot calculations. Distinct from NIST SHA-3 (which uses different padding) despite Keccak being its predecessor.

See also: Hash Function, SHA-256, Merkle Tree

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

KYC (Know Your Customer)

KYC is the process of verifying a customer's identity (name, DOB, address, government ID, sometimes biometrics) before providing financial services. Mandatory for CASPs/VASPs under MiCA, BSA, MAS PSA, and most jurisdictions.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel privacy compliance topic deep-dive

KZG Commitment

Kate-Zaverucha-Goldberg polynomial commitments are constant-size cryptographic commitments to polynomials that support efficient point-opening proofs. Used in Ethereum blobs (EIP-4844), Plonk-family ZK proofs, and Verkle trees.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

L

Layer 1 (L1)

Layer 1 is the base blockchain layer that provides settlement, consensus, and (sometimes) data availability. Ethereum, Bitcoin, Solana, BSC, Tron, Avalanche, Sui, Aptos, and TON are major L1s. L2s settle on top of L1s.

See also: Layer 2 (L2), Layer 3 (L3), Rollup, Settlement Layer

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Layer 2 (L2)

A Layer 2 is a chain that inherits security from an L1 by posting transaction data and state proofs to it. Ethereum L2s include Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, zkSync, Starknet, Linea, Scroll, Blast. As of 2026 they collectively hold $40B+ TVL.

Read deeper: ZK Rollups deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Layer 3 (L3)

A Layer 3 settles on an L2 instead of L1, typically for app-specific use cases. Examples: Arbitrum Orbit chains, ZK Stack chains, OP Stack on top of Base. Inherits L2 security plus customization (gas token, MEV policy, throughput).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Lending

DeFi lending lets users supply assets to a money-market protocol (Aave, Compound, Morpho, Spark, Euler) and earn interest paid by borrowers. Rates are algorithmic, set by utilization curves. Risks: smart-contract bugs, oracle manipulation, bad debt from cascading liquidations.

See also: Borrowing, Collateral, Aave, Compound, Liquidation

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Fluid Lending

Entity coverage: 5 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Compound: The Money Market Protocol (2019) by Robert Leshner et al.

Lido

Lido is the largest Ethereum liquid staking protocol, securing ~30% of all staked ETH (peaking concerns about validator-set centralization). stETH and wstETH are the receipt LSTs, integrated across all major DeFi.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Lido, Lido Staked ETH, Lido stVaults, Lido DAO, Lido

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Light Client

A light client downloads only block headers and verifies consensus without running full execution. Used by mobile wallets and (with DAS) data-availability sampling. Helios (Ethereum) and PRYS are reference implementations.

See also: Full Node, Archive Node, DA Sampling (DAS)

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Linea

Linea is a ZK-EVM rollup by ConsenSys, mainnet since July 2023. Uses gnark + PLONK. Tightly integrated with MetaMask and Infura. LINEA token launched 2024.

See also: ZK Rollup, PLONK, ZK-SNARK, Rollup

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Linea

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel zk rollups topic deep-dive

Liquid Restaking

Liquid restaking deposits restaked ETH (or LSTs) into a protocol that issues a fungible receipt token (LRT). LRTs preserve liquidity while earning restaking yield: ether.fi (eETH/weETH), Renzo (ezETH), Kelp (rsETH), Puffer (pufETH).

Read deeper: Restaking and LRT deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: EigenLayer: The Restaking Collective for Ethereum (2023) by Sreeram Kannan et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel restaking lrt topic deep-dive

Liquid Staking

Liquid staking pools user ETH into validators and issues a fungible receipt token (LST) representing the staked balance. Lido (stETH), Rocket Pool (rETH), Coinbase (cbETH), Frax (sfrxETH), Stader, and Mantle dominate. ~30% of all staked ETH is in LSTs.

Dedicated page: What is Liquid Staking?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Jito Liquid Staking

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Liquidation

When a borrower's health factor falls below 1.0 (collateral value insufficient), the protocol auctions or sells collateral to repay debt, with a liquidation bonus (typically 5-15%) paid to the liquidator. Cascading liquidations during volatility events can break peg or generate bad debt.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Liquidation Threshold

The liquidation threshold is the maximum loan-to-value (LTV) before a position becomes liquidatable. Aave v3 uses asset-specific thresholds (e.g., 82.5% for ETH, 50% for volatile alts). Higher threshold = more leverage but more liquidation risk.

See also: Liquidation, Health Factor, Collateral

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Liquidity Mining

Liquidity mining rewards users with protocol tokens for supplying liquidity (LP positions, deposits, borrows). Compound's COMP launch (June 2020) kicked off "DeFi Summer." Modern variants: ve-tokenomics (Curve, Velodrome), points programs (Eigenlayer, Blast).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Liquidity Pool

A liquidity pool is a smart-contract-held reserve of two or more tokens that enables AMM trading. LPs deposit pairs in correct ratio, earn fees, and bear impermanent loss / LVR risk. Pools are the atomic unit of DEX liquidity.

Dedicated page: What is Liquidity Pool?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

LP Token

An LP token represents a share of a liquidity pool. Uniswap v2 LP tokens are ERC-20; Uniswap v3 positions are ERC-721 (each position has a custom price range). LP tokens can be staked, used as collateral, or sold.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

LRT (Liquid Restaking Token)

An LRT is the receipt token for a liquid restaking position: ezETH (Renzo), eETH/weETH (ether.fi), rsETH (Kelp), pufETH (Puffer). LRTs aggregate restaked ETH or LSTs into AVS-curated baskets and pass through restaking + staking yield.

Read deeper: Restaking and LRT deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: EigenLayer: The Restaking Collective for Ethereum (2023) by Sreeram Kannan et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel restaking lrt topic deep-dive

LST (Liquid Staking Token)

An LST is the receipt token for a liquid staking position: stETH (Lido), rETH (Rocket Pool), cbETH (Coinbase), sfrxETH (Frax). LSTs are widely used as DeFi collateral and as collateral for restaking and LRTs.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Luna / Terra Collapse

Terra (LUNA) was a Cosmos chain whose UST algorithmic stablecoin maintained peg via two-way burn-mint with LUNA. In May 2022 a death spiral wiped $40B+ in value as UST depegged and LUNA hyperinflated. Catalysed FTX, Celsius, 3AC, and BlockFi failures.

See also: Algorithmic Stablecoin, Depeg, Stablecoin

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 2 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

LVR (Loss-Versus-Rebalancing)

LVR formalizes the loss an AMM LP suffers compared to a continuously rebalanced reference portfolio at the true CEX price. Unlike impermanent loss, LVR is realized continuously through arbitrage and is the precise quantity protocols try to mitigate via batch auctions, MEV-redirect, and dynamic fees.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

M

Mainnet

The mainnet is the production blockchain network where real economic value lives. Distinguished from testnets (Sepolia, Holesky for Ethereum) and devnets used for development and protocol testing.

See also: Testnet, Devnet, Blockchain

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Ethereum, Optimism, OP Mainnet, Plume Mainnet

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 5 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

MakerDAO / Sky

MakerDAO (rebranded Sky in 2024) issues DAI/USDS, the first decentralized stablecoin. Vault collateral types include ETH, wstETH, USDC, RWAs (US treasuries via Monetalis, BlockTower). MKR/SKY governance directs PSM, stability fees, and risk parameters.

See also: DAI, Stablecoin, Collateral, RWA (Real-World Asset)

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Sky Protocol, Sky (formerly MakerDAO), MakerDAO, Sky Makerdao, Rune Christensen

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: The Endgame Plan: Restructuring MakerDAO for Resilience and Growth (2022) by Rune Christensen

Market Cap

Market capitalization = price × circulating supply. The standard valuation metric for crypto assets. Compare with FDV (uses max supply) for unlock-overhang context.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Market Maker

A market maker quotes bid and ask prices on an exchange to earn the spread. Crypto market makers (Wintermute, Cumberland, GSR, B2C2, Jump Trading) provide liquidity on CEXs and DEXs and are key counterparties for token launches.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

MAS PSA

Singapore Monetary Authority of Singapore Payment Services Act, effective 2020. Licenses Digital Payment Token (DPT) service providers. Tight: MAS rejected most applicants 2022-2023. Crypto.com, Coinbase, Independent Reserve are licensed.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Mempool

The mempool is the queue of pending transactions waiting to be included in a block. On Ethereum the public mempool is gossiped peer-to-peer; private orderflow networks (Flashbots Protect, MEV-Share, BloXroute) bypass it to reduce MEV exposure.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Merkle Root

The Merkle root is the top hash of a Merkle tree, included in block headers to commit to the contained transactions or state. Light clients verify inclusion against the root with a logarithmic-size proof.

See also: Merkle Tree, Hash Function, Light Client

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Merkle Tree

A Merkle tree is a binary tree of hashes where each non-leaf node is the hash of its children. The root commits to the entire dataset; small inclusion proofs (logarithmic path) verify any leaf. Bitcoin and Ethereum use Merkle trees for transactions and state.

See also: Hash Function, Merkle Root, Verkle Tree

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) by Satoshi Nakamoto

MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)

MEV is the value a block proposer (or builder) can extract by ordering, including, or censoring transactions. Originally "miner extractable value." Sources: arbitrage, sandwich attacks, liquidations, JIT liquidity, NFT sniping. Annualized at $500M-$1B+ on Ethereum.

MEV-Boost (Flashbots) decouples builders from validators: builders compete to construct the most profitable block, validators rent block space.

Read deeper: MEV deep-dive

Dedicated page: What is MEV?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: MEV-Boost, MEV-Boost

Entity coverage: 5 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: MEV-Boost: A Modular Block Builder Architecture for Ethereum (2022) by Flashbots Research et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel mev topic deep-dive

MEV-Boost

MEV-Boost is sidecar software run by Ethereum validators that auctions block-building rights to a marketplace of builders via relays. Adopted by ~90% of validators. Used to centralize block-building (Beaver, Titan, rsync) — counterbalance is decentralized building research (SUAVE, BuilderNet).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: MEV-Boost, MEV-Boost

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: MEV-Boost: A Modular Block Builder Architecture for Ethereum (2022) by Flashbots Research et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel mev topic deep-dive

MEV-Share

MEV-Share (Flashbots, 2023) is a private orderflow auction where searchers bid to backrun user transactions; the resulting MEV is rebated to the user. Adopted by major wallets and aggregators.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel mev topic deep-dive

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets)

MiCA is the EU regulatory framework for crypto assets, published 2023, fully applicable from December 2024. It covers stablecoins (ART, EMT), CASPs, market abuse, and disclosures. The first comprehensive crypto regulation in a major jurisdiction.

Read deeper: MiCA Enforcement Report

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, MiCA E-Money Token regime

Modular Blockchain

A modular blockchain separates execution, settlement, consensus, and data availability into independent layers. Celestia + sovereign rollups, Ethereum + L2s + Celestia/EigenDA, and Avail-based stacks are examples. Trade-off: better scaling, more complex security composition.

Read deeper: Modular Blockchains deep-dive

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: LazyLedger: A Distributed Data Availability Ledger With Client-Side Smart Contracts (2019) by Mustafa Al-Bassam

Read deeper: DeFi Intel modular blockchains topic deep-dive

Monolithic Blockchain

A monolithic blockchain executes, settles, and provides DA on the same layer. Solana, Bitcoin, BSC, Tron, and Sui are monolithic. Trade-off: simpler security model, harder to scale without raising hardware requirements.

See also: Modular Blockchain, Solana, Bitcoin (BTC)

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Morpho

Morpho is a permissionless lending primitive (Morpho Blue) and curated vault layer on Ethereum, Base, and other EVM chains. ~$5B+ TVL by 2026. Each market is an isolated (collateral, loan, oracle, IRM, LLTV) tuple; risk curators (Steakhouse, Block Analitica, Re7) build vaults on top.

See also: Lending, Aave, Compound

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Morpho Blue, Morpho, Morpho Labs, MORPHO

Entity coverage: 5 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Move

Move is a resource-oriented smart-contract language designed for Diem and inherited by Aptos and Sui. Enforces linear types — assets cannot be silently duplicated or destroyed. Compiles to Move bytecode.

See also: Aptos, Sui, Smart Contract

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

MPC (Multi-Party Computation)

Multi-party computation splits a private key (or signing operation) across multiple parties so no single party holds a complete key. Threshold-ECDSA and threshold-Schnorr are common variants. Used by Fireblocks, BitGo, Coinbase Custody, Copper, and Safe{Wallet}-MPC.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel privacy compliance topic deep-dive

MPC see also

Cross-reference. See MPC entry.

See also: MPC (Multi-Party Computation)

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Multisig

A multisig requires M of N signatures to authorize a transaction. Safe (formerly Gnosis Safe) is the dominant Ethereum multisig — over $100B+ in assets secured. Used by DAOs, treasuries, and security-conscious individuals.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Private Key / Multisig Compromise

N

Native Rollup

A native rollup is a rollup whose execution and proof-verification rules are baked into the L1 protocol via a precompile (proposed EIP-7732 / RIP-7728). Removes governance trust on the L1 verifier and enables cheaper proofs. Active research as of 2026.

See also: Rollup, Based Rollup, ZK Rollup, Validity Proof

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

NFT (Non-Fungible Token)

A non-fungible token is a unique on-chain asset, typically ERC-721 or ERC-1155 on EVM chains. Use cases: digital art (Punks, Bored Apes), in-game items, domain names (ENS), tickets, and tokenized real-world goods.

See also: ERC-721, ERC-1155, Fungible

Dedicated page: What is NFT?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: OKX NFT

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Node

A node is a computer participating in a blockchain network: validating, propagating, or simply querying data. Distinct types: full nodes, archive nodes, validator/miner nodes, RPC nodes, and light clients.

See also: Full Node, Archive Node, Validator, RPC

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Non-custodial

A non-custodial wallet or service lets the user retain sole control of private keys. MetaMask, Rabby, Phantom, and Argent are non-custodial wallets. The user bears full responsibility for backups; lost keys = lost funds.

See also: Custodial, Wallet, Seed Phrase

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Non-fungible

Non-fungible means each unit is unique and non-interchangeable. Contrasts with fungible tokens like ERC-20s.

See also: NFT (Non-Fungible Token), Fungible, ERC-721

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

O

OFAC

Office of Foreign Assets Control (US Treasury) administers economic sanctions, including the SDN list. Tornado Cash was OFAC-sanctioned August 2022 (later partially reversed by court rulings); affected wallets are excluded from compliant relayers.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: OFAC

OP Stack

The OP Stack is Optimism's open-source modular rollup framework powering a superchain of L2s: Base (Coinbase), Worldchain, Mode, Zora, Lisk, Lyra, Aevo, Soneium. Shared sequencing and bridge interop are the long-term promise.

See also: Superchain, Optimism, Base, Rollup

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: OP Stack, Op Stack

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Optimism

Optimism is an Ethereum optimistic rollup launched 2021 by OP Labs (Plasma Group). The OP Stack now powers a superchain of L2s (Base, Worldchain, Mode, Zora). $5B+ TVL by 2026; OP token governs the Optimism Collective.

See also: Optimistic Rollup, OP Stack, Base, Superchain

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Optimism, Optimism Bridge, Optimism Collective, Optimism Foundation

Entity coverage: 6 protocols, 0 tokens, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Optimistic Rollup

An optimistic rollup assumes posted state transitions are valid by default, with a 7-day fraud-proof window during which anyone can challenge invalid claims. Cheaper to operate than ZK rollups but with longer L1 withdrawal latency. Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Mantle, Blast.

See also: Rollup, ZK Rollup, Fraud Proof, Arbitrum, Optimism

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: A Rollup-Centric Ethereum Roadmap (2020) by Vitalik Buterin

Oracle

An oracle brings off-chain data on-chain: prices, sports results, weather, randomness, RWA reserves. Chainlink, Pyth, Redstone, Switchboard, and API3 dominate. Oracle manipulation is a leading attack vector.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: UMA Protocol, UMA Optimistic Oracle V3

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Oracle Manipulation

Oracle manipulation pushes a vulnerable price feed (often a single DEX TWAP or instantaneous reserve) to mispricing, then exploits a downstream protocol that trusts that price. Mitigations: time-weighted average prices, multi-source oracles, sanity bounds.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

P

Paymaster

In ERC-4337, a paymaster is a contract that pays gas for a UserOperation, optionally accepting an ERC-20 in exchange. Enables gasless UX, sponsorship campaigns, and pay-in-USDC flows.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Account Abstraction via Entry Point Contract Specification (ERC-4337) (2021) by Vitalik Buterin et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel account abstraction topic deep-dive

Pectra Hard Fork

Pectra is the Ethereum hard fork following Dencun, shipped Q2 2025. Headlines: EIP-7702 (EOA → smart-account delegation), EIP-7251 (max effective balance increased to 2,048 ETH), and several EOF/MEV-resistance EIPs.

See also: Hard Fork, EIP-7702, Beacon Chain, Validator

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Pendle

Pendle splits yield-bearing tokens (LSTs, LRTs, RWAs) into Principal Tokens (PT) and Yield Tokens (YT), enabling fixed-yield trading and yield speculation. Major venue for points farming during the LRT cycle. ~$5B TVL by 2026.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Pendle, Pendle Finance, Pendle V2, Pendle Finance

Entity coverage: 6 protocols, 3 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Pendle V2: A Permissionless Yield-Trading Protocol (2022) by Pendle Labs

Perpetual Futures (Perps)

A perpetual futures contract is a derivative without expiry, anchored to spot via funding-rate payments. Crypto perps trade $50B+ daily across Binance, Bybit, OKX, Hyperliquid, and onchain DEXs (Hyperliquid, dYdX, GMX, Vertex, Drift, Aevo).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: GMX V2 Perps, Jupiter Perps, Jupiter Perpetual Exchange

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Plasma

Plasma was a 2017-2018 Ethereum scaling design (Buterin, Poon) using child chains anchored by Merkle commitments and exit games. Largely superseded by rollups, but Plasma-style data-off-chain validia/volition modes remain.

See also: Rollup, Layer 2 (L2)

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Plasma

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 0 tokens, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

PLONK

PLONK (2019, Aztec) is a universal-trusted-setup ZK-SNARK system. Variants Halo2, UltraPLONK, and HyperPlonk underpin many production ZK rollups (Scroll, Linea, Polygon zkEVM).

See also: ZK-SNARK, ZK-STARK, KZG Commitment

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Points Program

A points program awards off-chain "points" for protocol activity, redeemed later for tokens via airdrop. Pioneered by Blur (2023), copied by Eigenlayer, Blast, ether.fi, Pendle, Hyperliquid, Linea. Lets teams retain narrative control while gathering retroactive activity data.

See also: Airdrop, Liquidity Mining, Yield Farming

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Price Oracle

A price oracle provides on-chain asset prices for use in lending, perps, options, and stablecoin protocols. Chainlink Data Feeds (push), Pyth (pull), Redstone (modular), and Uniswap v3 TWAP are standard sources.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Private Key

A private key is a 256-bit secret that signs transactions and proves control of an Ethereum/Bitcoin address. Anyone with the private key controls the funds. Backed up via seed phrase (BIP-39) for HD wallets.

See also: Public Key, Seed Phrase, Wallet, Non-custodial

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Private Key / Multisig Compromise

Probabilistic Finality

Probabilistic finality means a block becomes exponentially less reversible with each subsequent block but never strictly final. Bitcoin uses 6 confirmations as a practical heuristic. Solana is ostensibly deterministic but can reorg under network stress.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Proof of History (PoH)

Proof of History is Solana's verifiable delay function: a recursive SHA-256 hash chain that imposes a verifiable passage of time, enabling validators to agree on transaction ordering before consensus. Combined with Tower BFT for finality.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Proof of Stake (PoS)

Proof of stake selects block proposers in proportion to staked tokens. Validators earn issuance and fees but can be slashed for misbehavior. Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, Cosmos chains, Sui, Aptos, and BNB Chain run PoS variants.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Polygon

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Proof of Work (PoW)

Proof of work selects block proposers by computational lottery: miners hash block headers searching for a value below a difficulty target. Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum Classic still use PoW. Ethereum exited PoW at The Merge.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) by Satoshi Nakamoto

Prover

On a ZK rollup, the prover generates validity proofs (SNARKs/STARKs) attesting that a batch of transactions executes correctly. Proving is computationally expensive (GPU/FPGA/ASIC) but yields fast L1 finality. Decentralizing the prover is an open challenge.

See also: ZK Rollup, Validity Proof, Sequencer, ZK-SNARK

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Public Key

A public key is derived from a private key via elliptic-curve multiplication. It can be shared freely. The Ethereum address is derived as the last 20 bytes of Keccak-256(public key).

See also: Private Key, Elliptic Curve, Wallet

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Pyth Network

Pyth is a pull-based oracle network sourcing prices from 90+ first-party publishers (CEXs, market makers, trading firms) and serving 80+ chains. PYTH token launched November 2023. Strong on Solana and EVM L2s.

See also: Oracle, Chainlink, Price Oracle

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Pyth Network, Pyth Network, Pyth Network, PYTH

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

PYUSD

PYUSD is a USD stablecoin issued by Paxos for PayPal, launched August 2023 on Ethereum and Solana (May 2024). ~$1B+ supply by 2026. Targets PayPal/Venmo wallet integration.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: PayPal USD

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 3 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

R

Reentrancy

Reentrancy is a vulnerability where an external call lets the called contract recursively re-enter the caller before its state is updated. The 2016 DAO hack ($60M) was the canonical reentrancy exploit. Mitigations: checks-effects-interactions, ReentrancyGuard.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Restaking

Restaking lets staked ETH (native or via LSTs) be re-pledged as cryptoeconomic security for additional services (AVSs, DSSes). Pioneered by EigenLayer (2023); competitors include Symbiotic, Karak, and Babylon (BTC-based).

Read deeper: Restaking and LRT deep-dive

Dedicated page: What is Restaking?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 9 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: EigenLayer: The Restaking Collective for Ethereum (2023) by Sreeram Kannan et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel restaking lrt topic deep-dive

RFQ (Request for Quote)

RFQ is a trade execution model where takers solicit firm quotes from a panel of market makers and accept the best one. 0x RFQ, Hashflow, and 1inch Fusion use RFQ to deliver tight CEX-grade prices on-chain with MEV protection.

See also: Intent, Solver, DEX Aggregator, Market Maker

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Rollup

A rollup batches transactions, executes them off the L1, and posts compressed data plus a proof (validity for ZK, fault-disputable for optimistic) back to the L1. Inherits L1 security plus its own throughput.

Read deeper: ZK Rollups deep-dive

Dedicated page: What is Rollup?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: A Rollup-Centric Ethereum Roadmap (2020) by Vitalik Buterin

Read deeper: DeFi Intel modular blockchains topic deep-dive

RPC

Remote procedure call. In crypto, "RPC" usually means a JSON-RPC endpoint exposing eth_-style methods. Dapps connect to public RPCs (Cloudflare, Ankr) or paid RPC providers (Infura, Alchemy, Quicknode, dRPC) for production traffic.

See also: JSON-RPC, RPC Provider, Full Node, Indexer

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

RPC Provider

An RPC provider runs hosted nodes and resells JSON-RPC and websocket access. Major providers: Alchemy, Infura, Quicknode, Ankr, dRPC, Chainstack, Blast API. Pricing is per-CU (compute unit) with WebSocket and archive surcharges.

See also: RPC, JSON-RPC, Full Node, Archive Node

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

RWA (Real-World Asset)

RWA refers to tokenized off-chain assets: US treasuries, money-market funds, real estate, private credit, commodities, equities. The fastest-growing crypto narrative — BlackRock BUIDL, Ondo USDY, Maple syrupUSDC, Centrifuge, RealT.

See also: Tokenized Treasury, Stablecoin

Read deeper: RWA Tokenization deep-dive

Dedicated page: What is RWA?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Midas RWA, Aave Horizon RWA, Plume Network

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 4 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel rwa tokenization topic deep-dive

S

Safe (formerly Gnosis Safe)

Safe is the dominant smart-contract multisig wallet on EVM chains, securing $100B+ in DAO treasuries and institutional balances. Modular: any number of M-of-N owners, plug-in modules (recovery, spending limits, AA), and Safe{Pass} for individuals.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Safe, Safe (Gnosis Safe), Safe (Gnosis Safe)

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Sanctions

Sanctions are government-imposed restrictions on transacting with specific persons or jurisdictions. US OFAC, EU, UK, and UN sanctions are most relevant to crypto. Tornado Cash, certain North Korean addresses, and Russian-affiliated wallets are common SDN entries.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Sandwich Attack

A sandwich attack frontruns a victim swap with a buy, then backruns with a sell after the victim moves the price. Captures the slippage as profit at the victim's expense. Most common MEV harm. Mitigations: private orderflow, intent-based execution, MEV-Share rebates.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: MEV-Boost: A Modular Block Builder Architecture for Ethereum (2022) by Flashbots Research et al.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel mev topic deep-dive

Satoshi Nakamoto

Pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Published the Bitcoin whitepaper October 2008, launched the genesis block January 2009, communicated until December 2010, then disappeared. Identity remains unknown.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Scroll

Scroll is a bytecode-equivalent ZK-EVM rollup, mainnet since October 2023. Pure SNARK-based design (Halo2 + KZG). Open-source toolchain.

See also: ZK Rollup, ZK-SNARK, Validity Proof, PLONK

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Scroll, Scroll Foundation

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 2 tokens, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel zk rollups topic deep-dive

SDN List

Specially Designated Nationals list. The US OFAC sanctions list of individuals, entities, and addresses US persons may not transact with. Includes crypto addresses linked to North Korea, ransomware, and Russian-state actors.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)

The US SEC regulates securities markets and has been the most aggressive crypto regulator. Major actions: Ripple/XRP, LBRY, Coinbase, Binance, Kraken staking, BlockFi. Approved BTC and ETH spot ETFs (2024) under chair changes.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: SEC, US Securities and Exchange Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission (Thailand), Securities and Exchange Commission

secp256k1

secp256k1 is the elliptic curve used by Bitcoin and Ethereum for ECDSA signatures and address derivation. Specific Koblitz curve over a prime field; chosen for fast computation and, somewhat famously, with no NIST nothing-up-my-sleeve.

See also: Elliptic Curve, Ed25519, Public Key, Private Key

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Securities (Crypto)

Whether a token is a "security" determines which laws apply. In the US the Howey Test governs; the SEC has alleged most tokens (XRP, SOL, ADA, MATIC, BNB) are unregistered securities. EU MiCA carves crypto out of MiFID and applies its own taxonomy.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: SEC, EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, Paradigm, a16z Crypto, Securities and Futures Commission (Hong Kong)

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Seed Phrase

A seed phrase (mnemonic) is 12 or 24 words encoding the entropy used to derive a hierarchical deterministic (HD) wallet's private keys, per BIP-39. Anyone with the seed phrase controls all derived addresses.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Sequencer

A sequencer orders transactions on a rollup before they are posted to L1. Almost all production rollups today use a single centralized sequencer (Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, zkSync). Decentralized sequencing (shared sequencers like Espresso, Astria, based rollups) is active research.

See also: Rollup, Optimistic Rollup, ZK Rollup, Based Rollup

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Sequencer Decentralization

Today most rollup sequencers are single operators. Decentralizing sequencing — via shared sequencer networks (Espresso, Astria), based rollups (Taiko), or PBS-style auctions — is a 2026 priority for L2 credibility.

See also: Sequencer, Based Rollup, Rollup

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Settlement Layer

In modular architectures, the settlement layer adjudicates disputes, verifies proofs, and finalizes rollup state. Ethereum is the dominant settlement layer; Celestia explicitly does not provide settlement (sovereign rollups handle their own).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

SHA-256

SHA-256 is the 256-bit Secure Hash Algorithm 2 used by Bitcoin for proof-of-work, address derivation (combined with RIPEMD-160), and Merkle trees. NIST-standardized.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (2008) by Satoshi Nakamoto

Slashing

Slashing destroys a portion of a validator's stake for provable misbehavior: double-signing, surround voting (Casper FFG), or downtime (Cosmos). Ethereum slashing burns up to ~1 ETH initially, scaling with correlated slashings. Restaking introduces additional AVS-defined slashing conditions.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Slashing Condition

A slashing condition is a behavior provably forbidden by the consensus protocol, leading to stake penalty. Ethereum: double-proposing, double-attesting, surround voting. AVSs define their own slashing conditions for restakers.

See also: Slashing, Validator, Attestation, Restaking

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Smart Account

A smart account is a contract-based account with programmable authentication: passkey signers, social recovery, batched ops, gas sponsorship. Examples: Safe, Argent, Ambire, ZeroDev, Biconomy, Coinbase Smart Wallet. Built on ERC-4337 or EIP-7702.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel account abstraction topic deep-dive

Smart Contract

A smart contract is autonomous code deployed to a blockchain that executes deterministically when called. Solidity, Vyper, and Yul target EVM; Rust targets Solana, Sui, and NEAR; Move targets Aptos and Sui. Code is law — bugs are exploitable.

Dedicated page: What is Smart Contract?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Smart Contract Audit

A smart contract audit is a systematic review by a security firm (Trail of Bits, OpenZeppelin, Spearbit, Cantina, Code4rena) checking for vulnerabilities. Standard practice before mainnet deployment but does not guarantee safety; complemented by formal verification, fuzzing, and bug bounties.

See also: Formal Verification, Fuzzing, Reentrancy

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Snapshot

Snapshot is the dominant off-chain DAO voting platform. Token-weighted votes are signed off-chain and tallied by the protocol; binding execution typically requires a separate on-chain proposal (e.g., via Safe + Zodiac).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Snapshot

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Social Recovery

Social recovery lets a user reset access to a smart account by getting a quorum of pre-designated guardians (friends, devices, services) to sign a recovery transaction. Argent and ZeroDev pioneered the UX.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Soft Fork

A soft fork is a backward-compatible blockchain upgrade: new rules tighten validity, so old nodes still accept new blocks. Examples: Bitcoin SegWit (BIP-141, 2017), Bitcoin Taproot (BIP-340, 2021).

See also: Hard Fork, Fork, Bitcoin (BTC)

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Solana

Solana is a high-throughput L1 launched 2020 by Anatoly Yakovenko. PoH + Tower BFT consensus, parallel transaction execution (Sealevel), 400ms slots, ~$0.001 fees. Major DeFi (Jupiter, Kamino, MarginFi), DePIN (Helium, Render), and memecoin activity.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Solana, Solana, Solana token, Solana Labs, Solana

Entity coverage: 5 protocols, 6 tokens, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Solidity

Solidity is the dominant smart-contract language for the EVM. Statically typed, contract-oriented, compiled to EVM bytecode. ~95% of deployed Ethereum contracts are written in Solidity. Vyper is the main alternative.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Solver

A solver is an off-chain agent that fulfills user intents by finding the best execution path (across CEXs, DEXs, market makers, bridges). CowSwap, UniswapX, 1inch Fusion, Across, and Bungee use solver networks.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Sovereign Rollup

A sovereign rollup posts data to a DA layer (Celestia, Avail, EigenDA) but handles its own settlement and forks. Distinct from Ethereum L2s where Ethereum adjudicates rollup state.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel modular blockchains topic deep-dive

Spark Protocol

Spark is the lending protocol for the Sky/MakerDAO ecosystem. Forked from Aave v3 with native DAI/USDS/sUSDS rates and a direct DAI deposit module that taps Maker's D3M for endless DAI liquidity at the SFR.

See also: Lending, MakerDAO / Sky, DAI, Aave

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Spark Protocol, Spark Protocol, Spark Liquidity Layer, Spark Savings

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Stablecoin

A stablecoin is a crypto asset pegged to a stable reference, usually the US dollar. Categories: fiat-backed (USDC, USDT, PYUSD), crypto-backed (DAI/USDS, crvUSD), algorithmic (UST — failed; FRAX — partial), and synthetic (USDe). ~$200B aggregate supply by 2026.

Read deeper: Stablecoins deep-dive

Dedicated page: What is Stablecoin?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Fireblocks Network for Payments, River Stablecoin, MAS Stablecoin Regulatory Framework, GHO Stablecoin

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 9 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

Staking

Staking is locking tokens with a PoS network in exchange for issuance rewards plus a slashing risk. Ethereum requires 32 ETH to run a validator (or fractional via pools). Yields range 3-10% depending on chain, MEV, and total staked.

Dedicated page: What is Staking?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Jito Liquid Staking, Blockdaemon Staking

Entity coverage: 7 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Starknet

Starknet is a ZK rollup by StarkWare using Cairo (its proprietary VM/language) and STARK proofs. Live mainnet since November 2021. STRK token. Distinguished by native account abstraction and Volition data mode.

See also: ZK Rollup, Validity Proof, ZK-STARK, Prover

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Starknet, Starknet Bridge

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel zk rollups topic deep-dive

Static Analysis

Static analysis inspects smart contract source or bytecode without executing it. Slither, Mythril, and Semgrep are common Solidity tools. Detects reentrancy, integer overflow, uninitialized storage, and other common bug patterns.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

STO (Security Token Offering)

A security token offering is a regulated token sale of an explicitly-securities-classified token. Compliance with SEC Reg D, Reg A+, or Reg S is typical in the US. Largely supplanted by RWA tokenization in 2024-2026.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Stylus

Stylus is the Arbitrum extension enabling Rust, C, and C++ smart contracts via WASM, alongside Solidity's EVM contracts. Lower gas for compute-heavy workloads (10-100×) and access to a broader developer ecosystem.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

SUAVE

SUAVE (Single Unifying Auction for Value Expression) is a Flashbots research project for a decentralized block-building network. Aims to replace centralized builder dominance with a competitive multi-builder marketplace.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Sui

Sui is an L1 launched May 2023 by Mysten Labs, using Move language and an object-centric model with parallel execution. Narwhal-Bullshark consensus. SUI token. Strong NFT and gaming traction.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Sui, Sui

Entity coverage: 0 protocols, 3 tokens, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: The Sui Smart Contracts Platform (2022) by Mysten Labs Team et al.

Superchain

The Superchain is the Optimism Collective's vision of interoperable OP Stack L2s sharing a sequencer, a bridge, and governance. Members include Base, Mode, Worldchain, Zora, Lyra, Soneium, Lisk.

See also: OP Stack, Optimism, Base, Rollup

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Superchain

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Supply Cap

Supply cap is the maximum number of tokens that can ever exist. Bitcoin: 21M. Many alts have caps (UNI 1B, AAVE 16M); ETH does not (it is uncapped but deflationary under fee-burn).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Sybil Attack

A Sybil attack creates many fake identities to gain disproportionate influence. Critical concern for airdrops, governance, and quadratic funding. Defenses: proof-of-personhood (Worldcoin, Gitcoin Passport), behavioral analysis, ZK identity attestations.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Symbiotic

Symbiotic is a permissionless restaking protocol launched 2024 by Mellow / Cyber Fund. Unlike EigenLayer, Symbiotic supports any ERC-20 as restakable collateral and delegates risk-management to networks. Lido and Mellow use Symbiotic in their LRT stack.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Symbiotic

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel restaking lrt topic deep-dive

Symbolic Execution

Symbolic execution explores all program paths by treating inputs as symbolic variables and accumulating path constraints. Tools: Manticore, Mythril, hevm, Halmos. Powerful for proving bounded properties; limited by path explosion.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

T

Taiko

Taiko is a based, contestable ZK-EVM rollup, mainnet since May 2024. Sequencing is delegated to Ethereum L1 proposers; Taiko aims for Type-1 (fully equivalent) zkEVM.

See also: Based Rollup, ZK Rollup, Rollup, Sequencer

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Taiko

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 1 token, 1 chain reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Taproot

Taproot is the November 2021 Bitcoin soft fork (BIP-340/341/342) introducing Schnorr signatures, MAST script trees, and Tapscript. Improves privacy and enables more expressive smart contracts (used by Babylon, Stacks, BitVM).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Testnet

A testnet runs the same protocol as mainnet but with valueless test tokens. Ethereum testnets: Sepolia (current default), Holesky (for stakers). Used for contract testing and integration before mainnet deployment.

See also: Mainnet, Devnet

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

TGE (Token Generation Event)

Token generation event refers to the moment a project's native token is first minted/distributed. Often coincides with mainnet launch and an airdrop or sale. Vesting cliffs typically anchor on TGE.

See also: Airdrop, Vesting, Cliff, Tokenomics

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

The Graph

The Graph is the leading decentralized indexing protocol. Subgraphs index blockchain events into queryable GraphQL endpoints. Indexers stake GRT to serve queries; curators signal which subgraphs to host.

See also: Indexer, RPC, JSON-RPC

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

The Merge

The Merge (September 15, 2022) transitioned Ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake by combining the existing execution layer with the Beacon Chain. ETH issuance dropped ~90%, energy use ~99.95%.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Threshold Cryptography

Threshold cryptography distributes a cryptographic operation across N parties so any T can perform it but fewer than T cannot. Threshold signatures (BLS, ECDSA) underpin DKG, bridges, and MPC custody.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Threshold Signature

A threshold signature scheme produces a single signature from a quorum of partial signatures, indistinguishable from a single-signer signature on chain. ROAST + FROST (Schnorr), GG18/GG20 (ECDSA) are common protocols.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Time to Finality

Time to finality is how long users must wait before a transaction is irreversibly confirmed. Solana ~12.8s. Ethereum ~12.8 min (Casper FFG). Cosmos chains ~6s (Tendermint). Bitcoin probabilistic (~60 min for 6-conf).

See also: Finality, Consensus Layer, Attestation

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-to-Time-of-Use)

TOCTOU is a race condition where a value is verified at one moment but used at another, with the value changing between. In smart contracts, common in pricing checks across external calls. Reentrancy is a special case.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Token

A token is an on-chain asset issued by a smart contract. Fungible tokens follow ERC-20 (or SPL on Solana, FA on Aptos); non-fungible tokens follow ERC-721 / ERC-1155. Distinct from native coins (ETH, SOL, BTC) issued by the protocol.

See also: ERC-20, ERC-721, Tokenomics, Utility Token

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: MiCA E-Money Token regime, Mastercard Multi-Token Network, BNB, Official Trump, MAS Major Payment Institution (Digital Payment Token)

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 67 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Tokenized Treasury

A tokenized treasury is an on-chain claim on a money-market fund holding short-dated US Treasuries. BlackRock BUIDL, Ondo USDY/OUSG, Franklin BENJI, Hashnote USYC, Maple syrupUSDC. ~$5B+ aggregate by 2026 — the largest RWA category.

See also: RWA (Real-World Asset), Stablecoin

Read deeper: RWA Tokenization Map

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel rwa tokenization topic deep-dive

Tokenomics

Tokenomics describes a token's economic design: supply schedule, distribution, vesting, utility, value capture, and incentive flows. Bad tokenomics (high FDV, low float, mercenary unlocks) is the most common cause of post-TGE underperformance.

Dedicated page: What is Tokenomics?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Trade Finance (Onchain)

Onchain trade finance tokenizes invoices, supply-chain receivables, and letters of credit. Centrifuge is the main example, with deals via MakerDAO RAM vaults. Crosses with private credit (Maple, Goldfinch).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (FOBXX), Franklin OnChain US Government Money Fund (BENJI / FOBXX), Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund (BENJI)

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 1 token, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

TradFi (Traditional Finance)

TradFi refers to legacy banking, broker-dealers, exchanges, and asset managers (JPMorgan, Goldman, BlackRock, Fidelity, NYSE). Increasingly intersecting with crypto via spot ETFs, tokenized funds, and stablecoin payment rails.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Transaction

A blockchain transaction is a signed message that updates state: a transfer, a contract call, or a contract deployment. On Ethereum, transactions specify nonce, to, value, data, gas limit, and EIP-1559 fee fields.

See also: Gas, Gas Fee, EIP-1559, Mempool

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Travel Rule

FATF Recommendation 16 (the Travel Rule) requires VASPs to share originator and beneficiary identity data on transfers above a threshold ($1,000 or €1,000). Implemented globally with varying scope. Solutions: TRP, IVMS-101 messaging, Notabene, Sumsub.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel privacy compliance topic deep-dive

Tron

Tron is an L1 founded 2018 by Justin Sun. Most notable as the dominant chain for USDT settlement (~$60B of USDT lives on Tron). DPoS consensus.

See also: Delegated PoS, USDT (Tether), Stablecoin

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Tron, Tron

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 1 token, 2 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

TWAP (Time-Weighted Average Price)

A TWAP is the price averaged over a time window, typically used to defeat single-block oracle manipulation. Uniswap v3 exposes a built-in TWAP oracle. Used by lending protocols, options, and structured products.

See also: Oracle, Price Oracle, Oracle Manipulation, Uniswap

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

U

Uniswap

Uniswap is the leading EVM DEX, launched November 2018 by Hayden Adams. v1 introduced ETH-pair AMM, v2 added arbitrary pairs, v3 (May 2021) introduced concentrated liquidity, v4 (2025) introduced hooks and a singleton architecture. UNI airdrop September 2020 set the airdrop standard.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Uniswap V3, Uniswap, Uniswap V4, Uniswap Labs, Uniswap V2

Entity coverage: 8 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

First defined in: Uniswap v3 Core (2021) by Hayden Adams et al.

Unlocked

Unlocked tokens are vested or otherwise immediately transferable and tradeable. The opposite of locked/cliffed. Token unlock schedules (token.unlocks, CryptoRank) drive supply expectations and short-term price action.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

USDC

USDC is a fiat-backed stablecoin issued by Circle, launched September 2018. Backed 1:1 by US bank deposits and short-dated treasuries. Supply $30B+ by 2026, the second-largest stablecoin. Briefly depegged to $0.87 during SVB failure (March 2023), recovered.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: USD Coin

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 2 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

USDT (Tether)

USDT is the largest stablecoin, issued by Tether (Bahamas/El Salvador). Supply ~$140B+ by 2026 across Tron, Ethereum, Solana, and other chains. Tether has faced repeated questions about reserve composition and audits but remains the dominant CEX quote currency.

See also: Stablecoin, Fiat-Backed Stablecoin, USDC

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Tether USD, Tether, USDT0 (Omnichain Tether), Tether Gold, Tether Gold

Entity coverage: 2 protocols, 7 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel stablecoins topic deep-dive

Utility Token

A utility token grants access to a service: paying fees, accessing premium features, or staking for boosted yield. The line between utility and security tokens is regulatory and contested (see Howey Test).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

V

Validator

A validator is a node staking tokens to participate in PoS consensus: proposing blocks, attesting, and accepting slashing risk. Ethereum validators stake 32 ETH (or up to 2,048 post-Pectra EIP-7251). ~1M validators on Ethereum by 2026.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: P2P.org, Coinbase Cloud, Sanctum Validator LSTs

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Validator Set

The validator set is the active group of validators eligible to propose and attest blocks at a given epoch. Ethereum has ~1M validators; Cosmos chains typically cap at 100-180.

See also: Validator, Beacon Chain, Proof of Stake (PoS)

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Validity Proof

A validity proof is a succinct cryptographic proof (typically a SNARK or STARK) that a state transition was executed correctly. ZK rollups post validity proofs to L1, enabling fast withdrawals (no fraud-proof window).

See also: ZK Rollup, Fraud Proof, Rollup, Prover, ZK-SNARK

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

VASP (Virtual Asset Service Provider)

Virtual asset service provider is the FATF term for crypto exchanges, custodians, and certain wallet/transfer services. EU MiCA uses CASP; US regulation tends to use MSB (FinCEN). Travel Rule and AML/CFT obligations attach.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Dubai VARA Virtual Asset License, SFC Hong Kong VASP License

Verkle Tree

Verkle trees use vector commitments (KZG or IPA) instead of Merkle hashes, producing constant-size proofs regardless of branching factor. Planned for Ethereum statelessness — replacing MPT with Verkle reduces witness size by ~10x.

See also: Merkle Tree, KZG Commitment, Light Client

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Vesting

Vesting is the schedule under which locked tokens become available to holders (team, investors, advisors). Typical: 1-year cliff, 3-year linear after. Linear, monthly, or step vesting are common shapes.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Vitalik Buterin

Vitalik Buterin co-founded Ethereum, publishing the whitepaper at age 19 in November 2013. Continues as the most influential voice in Ethereum protocol research, contributing to the rollup-centric roadmap, account abstraction, and danksharding designs.

See also: Ethereum (ETH), The Merge, Rollup

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Vitalik Buterin, Vitalik Buterin

W

Wallet

A wallet is software (or hardware) that holds private keys and signs transactions. Categories: hot/cold, custodial/non-custodial, EOA/smart account. Examples: MetaMask, Rabby, Phantom, Argent, Safe, Coinbase Wallet, Ledger.

Dedicated page: What is Wallet?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Safe, Robinhood Crypto

Entity coverage: 3 protocols, 0 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

WBTC (Wrapped Bitcoin)

WBTC is an ERC-20 representation of BTC, custodied by BitGo (joined by BiT Global in 2024). ~$10B+ outstanding. Brings Bitcoin into Ethereum DeFi as collateral and DEX inventory. Competitors: tBTC (decentralized), cbBTC (Coinbase, launched Sept 2024).

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: Wrapped Bitcoin, Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin

Entity coverage: 1 protocol, 2 tokens, 0 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Y

Yield Aggregator

A yield aggregator routes deposits across yield sources to optimize returns. Yearn pioneered the category in 2020; Convex, Origin, Sommelier, and Sky Savings/Spark are modern examples. Most use ERC-4626 vaults.

See also: ERC-4626, Yield Farming

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Yield Farming

Yield farming is rotating capital across DeFi protocols to maximize token-incentive returns. Peaked during 2020 DeFi Summer; modern variants include points farming (Eigen, Blast, Ethena, ether.fi) and Pendle PT/YT yield trading.

See also: Liquidity Mining, Points Program, Airdrop, Pendle

Dedicated page: What is Yield Farming?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Z

Zero-Knowledge Proof

A zero-knowledge proof lets a prover convince a verifier that a statement is true without revealing why. ZK-SNARKs and ZK-STARKs are the dominant production families. Use cases: ZK rollups, ZK-KYC, private payments, on-chain ML.

See also: ZK-SNARK, ZK-STARK, PLONK, Validity Proof

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

ZK Rollup

A ZK rollup uses validity proofs to attest correct execution to L1, enabling fast finality (no fraud-proof window). Major implementations: zkSync Era, Starknet, Polygon zkEVM, Linea, Scroll, Taiko (based, hybrid).

See also: Rollup, Validity Proof, ZK-SNARK, ZK-STARK, Sequencer, Prover

Read deeper: ZK Rollups deep-dive

Dedicated page: What is ZK Rollup?

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

First defined in: A Rollup-Centric Ethereum Roadmap (2020) by Vitalik Buterin

Read deeper: DeFi Intel zk rollups topic deep-dive

ZK-KYC

ZK-KYC uses zero-knowledge proofs to attest a user is verified (KYC'd, accredited, in/not-in a sanctions list) without revealing identity. Polygon ID, Worldcoin, Galxe Passport, and zkPass are early implementations.

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

ZK-SNARK

Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-interactive Argument of Knowledge. A short proof (a few hundred bytes to a few KB) verifying a computation, with constant or polylogarithmic verifier time. Trusted setup typically required (Groth16, PLONK).

See also: ZK-STARK, PLONK, ZK Rollup, Validity Proof

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel zk rollups topic deep-dive

ZK-STARK

Zero-Knowledge Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge. STARKs avoid a trusted setup and use only hash-based assumptions (post-quantum). Larger proofs than SNARKs but faster prover. Starknet uses STARKs; many ZK rollups use a SNARK over a STARK to compress.

See also: ZK-SNARK, PLONK, ZK Rollup, Validity Proof

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Read deeper: DeFi Intel zk rollups topic deep-dive

zkSync Era

zkSync Era is a ZK-EVM rollup by Matter Labs, mainnet since March 2023. Uses a custom zkEVM with Boojum (STARK + SNARK) and supports Ethereum-compatible Solidity. ZK token.

See also: ZK Rollup, Validity Proof, Prover, Rollup

Last reviewed 2026-05-03

Used by: zkSync Era, zkSync Era, zkSync, zkSync Lite

Entity coverage: 4 protocols, 2 tokens, 3 chains reference this concept in DeFi Intel's registry.

Read deeper: DeFi Intel zk rollups topic deep-dive

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Last updated 2026-05-03 · 291 terms · 25 dedicated pages