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GLOSSARY · BLOCKCHAIN · TOKENIZATION · WEB3

The blockchain, tokenization & Web3 glossary.

Lost in the jargon? From Accredited investor to ZK Proof: every crypto concept, explained in plain, direct language.

153 TERMS · A–Z INDEX · KEY DEFINITIONS

Glossary by topic

EU and Spain regulation

Guide: Regulated tokenization in Spain: the complete guide

See the 33 terms

United States

Guide: Asset tokenization in the United States: Reg D, Reg A+, Reg CF and Reg S explained

See the 13 terms

Latin America

Guide: Asset tokenization in Latin America: the country-by-country regulatory map (2026)

See the 10 terms

Tokenization

Guide: What is asset and company tokenization: a complete guide

See the 16 terms

Crypto basics

Guide: What Is Blockchain and How Does It Work? Types, Real Examples and Limits

See the 45 terms

Development

Guide: Blockchain Development

See the 33 terms

A

5 TERMS

Accredited investor

What an accredited investor is under SEC rules (17 CFR 230.501(a)): $1 million net worth excluding the home, $200,000 income and the other…

Airdrop

What a token airdrop is: free distribution as a web3 marketing tool, how the criteria work and the risks for project and user.

Alternative Trading System (ATS)

What an alternative trading system (ATS) is: a broker-dealer-run securities market under Regulation ATS, Forms ATS and ATS-N, and its role…

AML (Anti Money Laundering)

What AML means in crypto: who must comply in Spain, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia, what anti-money laundering rules require and how AML…

ART (Asset-Referenced Token)

An ART is a crypto-asset regulated by MiCA that stabilizes its value by referencing several assets or currencies.

B

7 TERMS

BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal)

A BIP is the formal route to change Bitcoin: proposed, debated and activated only by consensus. It dates from 2011 and was modeled on…

Bitcoin

What Bitcoin is: the first decentralized cryptocurrency, how its blockchain works (proof of work, halving, 21 million cap) and what sets it…

Blockchain

A technology that allows information to be stored in a secure, decentralized and transparent way using a chain of linked blocks.

Blockchain gaming

What blockchain gaming is: games where players truly own items and currency as NFTs and tokens, how they work, play-to-earn models and what…

Book-entry security

What a book-entry security is: the system whereby a security exists as a simple electronic record in a register, with no physical paper.

Bridge

A bridge moves tokens and data between chains that cannot talk: it locks on one side and mints on the other. It is also one of the most…

Broker-dealer

What a broker-dealer is: Exchange Act definitions, SEC registration on Form BD, FINRA membership, BrokerCheck and when a tokenized offering…

C

12 TERMS

Cap Table and Spanish Shareholder Register

What a cap table is and what Spain's shareholder register (libro registro de socios) is: who owns the company, what the law requires and…

Card Tokenization

What tokenizing a bank card means: the real number is replaced by a secure token in Apple Pay, Google Pay and online payments — and it has…

CASP (Crypto-Asset Service Provider)

What a CASP (crypto-asset service provider) is: the services it covers under MiCA, the authorization regulators require and how the EU…

CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency)

What a CBDC is, how it differs from a stablecoin and from a bank deposit, and where the ECB digital euro stands.

CeFi (Centralized Finance)

What CeFi (centralized finance) is in crypto: exchanges and custodians with an intermediary, how it differs from DeFi and what users gain…

Centralized Exchange (CEX)

A CEX holds your funds and matches orders on its own book. What it offers compared with a DEX, and why the EU has required a CASP license…

CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act)

The CLARITY Act (H.R. 3633) is not law: how it would split oversight between the SEC and CFTC, its status as of October 2026 and how it…

CNMV Circular 1/2022 (crypto-asset advertising)

What CNMV Circular 1/2022 was, and why it has been repealed since December 2024: crypto-asset advertising is now governed by MiCA.

Cold Wallet

What a cold wallet is: how it works, its types (hardware, air-gapped and paper), how it differs from a hot wallet, and custody rules under…

Crowdlending (Loan-Based Crowdfunding)

What crowdlending is: crowdfunding in which many investors lend to a business, how the EU and Spain regulate it, and how it differs from…

Crypto-asset

What a crypto-asset is under MiCA: the legal definition, the three types (asset-referenced tokens, e-money tokens and other crypto-assets).

Cryptocurrency

What a cryptocurrency is: digital money secured by cryptography and a blockchain, how it is issued and transferred, and how it differs from…

D

15 TERMS

DAC8

What DAC8 is: the EU directive requiring crypto-asset platforms to report to the tax authority and to share that data between EU countries.

DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)

What a DAO is: an organization governed by smart contracts and token votes, how decisions and treasury work, real examples and the open…

Decentralization

Decentralizing spreads validation, governance and data across independent nodes rather than one server. It removes intermediaries and makes…

Decentralized Exchange (DEX)

What a DEX (decentralized exchange) is: swaps executed by smart contracts without central custody, how AMMs and liquidity pools work, and…

DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

Ecosystem of financial applications that operate on blockchain without traditional intermediaries such as banks.

Derechos fiduciarios (Beneficial Interests in a Colombian Trust)

What derechos fiduciarios are in Colombia: an interest in a fiducia mercantil trust, how they are assigned and how they differ from the…

Digital asset custodian

What a digital asset custodian is: the entity that safeguards and protects the cryptographic keys of your tokens and crypto-assets on your…

Digital euro (a retail CBDC from the European Central Bank)

What the ECB's digital euro is, where its regulation stands as of October 2026, why it is not a stablecoin or crypto, and what it provides…

Digital identity

What digital identity is on blockchain: wallets, verifiable credentials and self-sovereign identity, how it works and what it changes for…

Digital signature

What a digital signature is in blockchain: how cryptography proves who sent a transaction and that nobody altered it, and the role of the…

DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology)

What DLT or distributed ledger technology is: the shared ledger held across many computers that makes tokenization possible.

DLT Pilot Regime

The DLT Pilot Regime is the European testing framework for trading and settling tokenized securities using DLT.

DLT-MTF, DLT-SS and DLT-TSS

What DLT-MTF, DLT-SS and DLT-TSS are: the three types of market infrastructure authorized by the EU pilot regime to trade and settle…

DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act)

What DORA, Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, is: who it covers since January 17, 2025, its five pillars and what it means for crypto and…

DvP (Delivery versus Payment)

DvP meaning: delivery versus payment, where a security moves only if the cash moves. BIS models 1-3, DvP on DLT, the EU pilot regime's DLT…

E

12 TERMS

Eligible counterparty

What an eligible counterparty is under MiFID II: the category with the lowest protection (banks, investment firms, governments) in order…

ELTIF (European Long-Term Investment Fund)

What an ELTIF is: the EU long-term fund under Regulation 2015/760, what ELTIF 2.0 changed, which assets it can hold and how retail…

EMT (E-Money Token)

What an e-money token (EMT) is under MiCA: the stablecoin referenced to a single official currency, who may issue it and what obligations…

ERC (Ethereum Request for Comments)

An ERC defines the interface a contract must implement so wallets, exchanges and marketplaces can read it: ERC-20, ERC-721 and ERC-1155 all…

ERC-1155

What ERC-1155 is, Ethereum's multi-token standard: fungible and non-fungible tokens in one contract, why games use it and what it saves in…

ERC-20

What ERC-20 is, Ethereum's fungible token standard: the functions it defines, why almost every token uses it and its limitations.

ERC-3643

What the ERC-3643 (T-REX) standard is for security tokens: on-chain identity, permissions and KYC/AML compliance built into the token…

ERC-721

Standard for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Ethereum, used for unique assets such as art, collectibles or digital property.

ERIR (Entity Responsible for the Registration and Recording)

Spain's Law 6/2023 requires an ERIR to register tokenized securities on DLT. See who may act as one, what it answers for and why the CNMV…

Ethereum

What Ethereum is: the programmable blockchain that hosts smart contracts, dApps and most tokens, how it works and how it differs from…

EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine)

What the EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is: how it runs smart contracts, what gas is, and why so many blockchains call themselves…

Exchange (Cryptocurrency Exchange)

What a crypto exchange is and how it works: CEX vs DEX, which license the EU requires (CASP) and how to choose one with clear criteria.

F

7 TERMS

FIBRA (Mexican REIT)

What a FIBRA is: the Mexican rental property trust, its requirements under the Income Tax Law, its CBFI certificates and how it relates to…

Fideicomiso (Latin American Trust)

What a fideicomiso is: its parties, the types in Mexico, Argentina and Colombia with their legal basis, whether it exists in Spain and what…

Fideicomiso financiero (Argentine financial trust): CNV and tokenization

What an Argentine financial trust is (Civil and Commercial Code art. 1690), how it differs from an ordinary trust, CNV public offerings and…

Fiducia Mercantil (Colombian Trust)

What a fiducia mercantil is (Commercial Code art. 1226): how it works in 4 steps, its types under the SFC, costs and how it differs from a…

Fork (soft fork and hard fork)

What a fork is in blockchain: soft and hard forks, why they happen (Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic) and what happens to your coins when a…

Funding portal

What a funding portal is: a required Reg CF intermediary alongside broker-dealers, SEC and FINRA registration, and what it can and cannot…

Fungible Token

What a fungible token is: interchangeable, identical units (like money), the ERC-20 standard and how it differs from an NFT.

G

3 TERMS

Gas

What gas is on Ethereum: the unit that measures the cost of every operation, how fees are calculated (gas limit, base fee, tip) and how to…

GENIUS Act (US Stablecoin Law)

GENIUS Act: Public Law 119-27, signed July 18, 2025, expected to take effect January 18, 2027. What it requires of U.S. payment stablecoin…

Governance Token

What a governance token is: the right to vote on the decisions of a protocol or DAO, how it works in practice and when it brushes the…

H

4 TERMS

Hash

A cryptographic function that transforms data of any size into a fixed string of characters, unique for each entry.

Hot Wallet

What a hot wallet is: how an internet-connected wallet works, what it is for, the risks of being online and how to combine it with a cold…

Howey Test

What the Howey Test is: the 1946 ruling (328 U.S. 293) that defines a security in the U.S., how the SEC applies it in 2026 and why…

Hyperliquid

What Hyperliquid is: the decentralized derivatives exchange with an on-chain order book, its own blockchain, the HYPE token and its risks.

I

5 TERMS

Iberclear (Central Securities Depository)

What Iberclear is: Spain's central securities depository, which records who owns each security and ensures that trades settle correctly.

Immutability

Immutability means a validated block cannot be rewritten: hash chaining plus PoW or PoS consensus enforce it. See how it holds and where it…

Interoperability

What blockchain interoperability is: how different chains exchange assets and data (bridges, cross-chain protocols), why it matters and…

IRR (Internal Rate of Return)

What IRR (internal rate of return) is: the rate that makes NPV zero, how to calculate it, how it differs from a simple return and where its…

ISBE (Spain’s Blockchain Services Infrastructure)

What ISBE, Spain's Blockchain Services Infrastructure, is: who backs it, how its network works (Besu, QBFT and EVM) and what it is used for.

K

2 TERMS

KYB (Know Your Business)

What KYB (Know Your Business) is: verifying companies — beneficial owner, powers, activity — as required by anti-money-laundering rules and…

KYC (Know Your Customer)

What KYC is: customer due diligence under Spain's Law 10/2010 (identity, beneficial owner, purpose, monitoring) and how it applies to…

L

7 TERMS

Launchpad

What a launchpad is: the platform where projects launch their token to early investors, how it works and how it differs from a regulated…

Layer 1

What a layer 1 is: the base blockchain that validates and settles transactions (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana), its limits and why layer 2s…

Layer 2

What a layer 2 is: rollups and channels that process transactions off the main chain to scale and cut costs, and how they inherit its…

Layer 3

What a layer 3 is in blockchain: the application and user-experience layer built on layers 1 and 2, what it adds and when it makes sense.

Liquidity Pool

A pool locks two tokens in a contract so swaps trade against it instead of an order book. You collect a fee and you take on impermanent…

LMVSI (Law 6/2023 on Securities Markets)

Spain's Law 6/2023 (LMVSI): the securities-markets law recognizing securities issued on DLT: what it changed and what it means for…

LTV (Loan-to-Value Ratio)

What LTV (loan-to-value) is: the loan divided by the value of its collateral, how it is calculated and how it is used in tokenized real…

M

10 TERMS

Mainnet

What a mainnet is: the live blockchain network where transactions have real value, how it differs from a testnet and what to check before…

Merkle Tree

What a Merkle tree is: the data structure that lets a blockchain verify any transaction with a few hashes, how it works and why light…

MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation)

The MiCA Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 governs crypto-assets in the EU: scope, ARTs and EMTs, CASP license, deadlines and what it means in…

MiFID II

What MiFID II is: the EU directive regulating markets in financial instruments, how it protects investors and why it applies to security…

MiFIR

What MiFIR is: the EU regulation that complements MiFID II with transparency and reporting rules for markets, and how it touches tokenized…

Minting

Minting creates the token and records it on-chain through a smart contract: an ERC-20 is born with its supply, an NFT with its tokenId and…

Modelo 721

What Modelo 721 is: the informational return used to report to the Spanish tax authority cryptocurrencies held on platforms abroad.

MOIC (Multiple on Invested Capital)

What MOIC (multiple on invested capital) is: how many times investors get their capital back, how to calculate it and why it is always read…

MPC (Multi-Party Computation)

What MPC (multi-party computation) is when applied to wallets: the private key is generated and used in shares that are never put together.

Multisig (Multi-signature)

What a multi-signature (multisig) wallet is: several keys to authorize each movement, M-of-N schemes and when to use one in a company.

N

5 TERMS

Net Asset Value (NAV)

What a fund's net asset value (NAV) is: its net assets divided by units outstanding, how it is calculated in Spain and what changes in a…

NFT (Non-Fungible Token)

A unique digital token that represents ownership of a specific asset, such as digital art, music, or collectibles.

NFT metadata

Additional information that describes the characteristics of an NFT, such as a name, image, description, or unique attributes.

Node

A node stores the ledger and validates every block. Tell the five types apart, full, light, validator, miner and archive, and what each one…

Nonce

A nonce orders your Ethereum transactions and is the number miners change until a Bitcoin block hash is valid. Explained twice: simply and…

O

4 TERMS

Obligación negociable (ON, Argentine Corporate Bond)

What an obligación negociable (ON) is: the Argentine corporate bond under Law 23,576, how it is issued, its guarantees and its tokenization…

On-ramp / Off-ramp

What fiat-to-crypto on-ramps and crypto-to-fiat off-ramps are, who operates them and what regulation requires of them in the EU.

OpenZeppelin

OpenZeppelin is the audited Solidity library behind most ERC-20, ERC-721 and DAO contracts. See the risks it removes: reentrancy, overflow…

Oracle

An oracle feeds the smart contract the data the chain cannot see: a price, a result, a temperature, a shipment. Execution is only as good…

P

10 TERMS

Participating Loan (Préstamo Participativo)

What a participating loan is under Article 20 of Spain's Royal Decree-Law 7/1996: interest tied to performance, subordination and effect on…

Patrimonio autónomo (Autonomous Trust Estate)

What a patrimonio autónomo is in Colombia: trust assets kept apart from the trust company and its creditors, what it is for and its role in…

Professional client

What a professional client is under MiFID II: an experienced investor who receives less protection. Per se and on-request routes.

Proof of Reserves

What proof of reserves is: how a custodian or issuer cryptographically demonstrates that it backs its clients' balances, and the limits…

Proof of Stake (PoS)

What proof of stake is: validators secure the chain by locking tokens instead of mining, how selection and rewards work, and what slashing…

Proof of Work (PoW)

A consensus mechanism that requires solving complex calculations to validate transactions and create new blocks on the blockchain.

Proptech (property technology): what it is and the segments it covers

What proptech is: technology for buying, renting, financing and managing property, its segments, what is regulated and why tokenization is…

Prospectus

What a prospectus is: the document detailing the risks and features of a securities offering before they are sold to the public.

PSAV (Virtual Asset Service Provider, VASP)

What a PSAV or VASP is under the FATF, how Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico and Colombia regulate it, and how it differs from a European CASP…

Public and private key

What public and private keys are: how they sign and verify transactions, how they relate to your address and why losing the private key…

Q

2 TERMS

Qualified Custodian

What a qualified custodian is: the authorized entity that may custody third parties' assets with segregation and supervision — and why…

Qualified investor

What a qualified investor is: a Prospectus Regulation concept that refers back to the MiFID II professional client. Usually exempts from a…

R

9 TERMS

Real Estate Crowdfunding

What real estate crowdfunding is: how EU Regulation 2020/1503, Spain, Latin America and U.S. Regulation Crowdfunding treat it, and how…

Real World Assets (RWA)

What is RWA in crypto? Real-world assets such as bonds, funds, real estate or gold, as tokens. Types, EU rules and how they differ from…

Regulation A+ (Reg A)

What Regulation A+ (Reg A) is: Tier 1 and Tier 2 limits, the 10% cap for non-accredited investors, Form 1-A, testing the waters, and Forms…

Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF)

What Regulation Crowdfunding (Reg CF) is: up to $5 million a year, limits for non-accredited investors, funding portals, Form C and a…

Regulation D (Reg D)

What SEC Regulation D (Reg D) is: Rules 504, 506(b) and 506(c), Form D, bad actors, restricted securities and how to verify accredited…

Regulation S (Reg S)

What SEC Regulation S (Reg S) is: Categories 1, 2 and 3, offshore transactions, directed selling efforts and how it works with Reg D in…

Regulatory Sandbox

What a regulatory sandbox is: the controlled space to test innovative financial products under supervision, and which ones exist in Spain…

REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust)

What a REIT is: 26 U.S.C. 856 requirements (assets, income, 100 shareholders, 90% payout), how it differs from Spain's SOCIMI and where…

Remote Procedure Call (RPC)

RPC is the door your wallet or dApp uses to talk to a node: it reads balances and sends transactions. If the endpoint goes down, the app is…

S

16 TERMS

SAPI de C.V. (Mexican investment promotion stock corporation)

What a SAPI de C.V. is under Mexico's Securities Market Law (arts. 12-18), why startups and crowdfunding institutions use it and how to…

Security Token

What is a security token? A security such as a share, bond or fund unit on a blockchain. When a token is a security in the EU (MiFID II)…

Seed phrase (a crypto wallet’s recovery or mnemonic phrase)

What a seed phrase is: the BIP-39 standard, why you never share it, how to store it, and the role it plays in the custody of crypto-assets.

Self-custody

What self-custody is: holding your own private keys, the advantages and risks compared with a custodian, and when it suits a company.

Side Chain

What a sidechain is: a parallel blockchain linked to the main one by a bridge, what it is for (scaling, testing features) and the risks it…

Slashing

What slashing is in proof of stake: the penalty that burns part of a validator's stake for misbehaving or going offline, and how it…

Smart contract

What smart contracts are for in business: automating payments, deliveries and rights when a condition is met, with examples and legal…

SOCIMI (Spanish REIT)

What a SOCIMI is: Spain's REIT under Law 11/2009 (EUR 5M, listing, 80% in rentals, dividends), its tax regime and how it compares to REITs…

Solana

What Solana is and how it works: accounts and Rust programs, SPL and Token-2022 tokens, how it differs from the EVM and its move to…

Solidity

What Solidity is: the main language for writing smart contracts on Ethereum and EVM chains, what makes it different and the mistakes that…

SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle)

What an SPV (special purpose vehicle) is: legal definition, S.L. or S.A. in Spain, its role in securitization and how it is used to…

Stablecoin

What a stablecoin is: types (fiat, crypto and algorithmic), how it holds its value, what MiCA (EMT and ART) and the GENIUS Act require, and…

Staking

What staking is in proof-of-stake networks: how rewards are generated, what slashing is, the variants (delegated, pools, liquid staking)…

State Channel

Off-chain private channel that allows multiple quick and cheap transactions before recording the result on the blockchain.

STO (Security Token Offering)

What an STO (security token offering) is: a securities offering in token form, and how it works in the U.S. (Reg D, Reg A+, Reg CF) and the…

Supply Chain

How blockchain is used in supply chains: origin traceability, tamper-proof records shared between companies, real cases and the problems it…

T

11 TERMS

Testnet

A testnet mirrors the consensus, gas and blocks of the live network with worthless tokens: it is where contracts, wallets and dApps are…

Token

What a token is on a blockchain: meaning, types (utility, security, NFT, EMT and ART), and how it differs from a cryptocurrency and a…

Token Burning

What burning tokens is: sending tokens to an unrecoverable address to reduce supply, what it is used for and what it does not fix.

Tokenization

The process of representing on blockchain tokens the rights over a real or digital asset. The token mirrors the right; it does not transfer…

Tokenized Deposit

Tokenized deposits: bank deposits recorded on a DLT that remain deposits. How they differ from e-money tokens (EMTs), stablecoins and CBDCs.

Tokenized transferable security

A tokenized transferable security is a security (share, bond) represented on a blockchain and regulated as a financial instrument.

Tokenomics

What tokenomics is: supply, distribution, utility and incentives of a token, and how to tell a serious economic design from a decorative…

Traceability

What traceability means: the EU legal definition, backward, internal and forward traceability, a real example and its meaning in metrology…

Transfer agent

What a transfer agent is in the U.S.: legal definition, Form TA-1 registration, what it does in a tokenized offering and the SEC's 2026…

Travel Rule

What the travel rule is: the data that must travel with a crypto-asset transfer under the FATF, the EU and the rules of Argentina, Costa…

TVL (Total Value Locked)

What TVL (total value locked) is: how much value is deposited in a protocol, how it is measured, what it is for and its traps as a metric.

U

1 TERM

Utility Token

What a utility token is: access to a product or service inside a platform, how it differs from a security token and how MiCA treats it.

V

1 TERM

Vesting

What vesting is: the gradual unlock schedule for team and investor tokens, with cliff and linear release, and why it is the first due…

W

4 TERMS

Wallet

What a crypto wallet is: the app or device holding your private keys, hot vs cold, custodial vs self-custody, and how to choose one for…

Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS)

What wallet-as-a-service (WaaS) is: infrastructure to create wallets inside your product without users managing keys — and who ends up…

Web3

What Web3 is: the internet where users control identity and assets with a wallet, the technologies behind it and what it offers a business…

Whitepaper (MiCA)

What the crypto-asset white paper is under MiCA: mandatory content, notification to the supervisor and the issuer's liability.

Z

1 TERM

ZK Proof (Zero-Knowledge Proof)

A cryptographic method that allows you to prove that a statement is true without revealing the information behind it.