Glossary Term: Cryptocurrency

PancakeSwap is a decentralized exchange (DEX) built on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) and was launched by anonymous developers with a penchant for breakfast foods in September 2020.

Similar to Uniswap on Ethereum, PancakeSwap enables users to swap between cryptocurrency assets by tapping into user-generated liquidity pools. It also introduces a yield farming mechanism, where users can earn its native utility token, CAKE, by providing liquidity.

Users can stake their tokens to earn a share of PancakeSwap’s trading fees and participate in the platform’s governance. The CAKE tokens themselves can also be staked to earn other tokens and additional rewards.

PancakeSwap also includes additional features like a lottery, initial farm offerings (IFOs), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Being on Binance Smart Chain, PancakeSwap users benefit from much faster and cheaper transactions than those on Ethereum.

However, please note that using platforms like PancakeSwap involves significant risk and complexity. It’s important to understand how they work, and consider their specific risks, including smart contract vulnerabilities and the volatility of the platform’s native tokens.

SushiSwap is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange (DEX) built on the Ethereum blockchain. It was launched in August 2020 as a fork of Uniswap, another DEX. This means that its codebase started as a copy of Uniswap’s, but it has since evolved with unique features and a different community.

The basic function of SushiSwap is to allow for the exchange of cryptocurrency tokens without the need for an intermediary. This is done through automated liquidity pools where users can swap tokens.

A distinctive feature of SushiSwap is the platform’s yield farming functionality. Yield farming is a way to earn more cryptocurrency with cryptocurrency that you already have. In the case of SushiSwap, users can “stake” their Sushi tokens in a liquidity pool, where they are used to facilitate trades on the platform. In return, those users receive a portion of the fees generated by trades in that pool.

Another unique aspect of SushiSwap is its commitment to community governance. Holders of the platform’s native token, SUSHI, have the ability to vote on changes and improvements to the protocol.

Like many other DeFi platforms, SushiSwap has a lot of complexities and risks, and potential users should make sure they fully understand the platform before deciding to use it.

In financial markets, the term “premium” can have several meanings, but they all generally pertain to an additional cost or value above the normal or baseline level. Here are a few examples:

1. Option Premium: In options trading, the premium is the price a buyer pays to the seller for an option contract. This grants the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy (call option) or sell (put option) the underlying asset at a specified price (strike price) before or at a specified future date (expiry date).
2. Insurance Premium: In insurance, the premium is the amount that policyholders pay regularly (monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.) to keep their insurance policies in force.
3. Bond Premium: If a bond is sold for more than its face (par) value, the additional amount is called a bond premium. This usually happens when the bond’s stated interest rate is higher than the current market rates.
4. Futures Premium: In futures trading, if the futures price is higher than the spot price, it is said to be trading at a premium. This typically occurs due to factors such as storage costs, interest rates, and dividends.
5. Forward Premium: In foreign exchange markets, if the forward exchange rate of a currency pair is higher than the spot exchange rate, the currency is said to be at a forward premium.
6. Risk Premium: In general investing, the risk premium is the additional return above the risk-free rate that investors expect to receive for holding a risky asset.

Remember, the precise meaning of “premium” can vary depending on the context in which it is used.

$AUDIO is the native utility token of the Audius platform, a decentralized music-sharing and streaming protocol that directly connects artists and listeners.

Here are some of its primary uses:

1. Governance: $AUDIO holders can propose or vote on changes to the platform, giving them a direct say in its operation and development.
2. Security: $AUDIO may also be staked to run Discovery and Content nodes, helping secure the network and earning stakers a portion of network fees.
3. Feature Access: Holding $AUDIO can give users access to exclusive features or content on the Audius platform.
4. Rewards and Incentives: Artists and listeners can earn $AUDIO through various platform engagement mechanisms, incentivizing use and fostering a robust ecosystem.

Audius is a decentralized music-sharing and streaming protocol that facilitates direct transactions between listeners and creators, giving everyone the freedom to distribute, monetize, and stream any audio content. The platform aims to bypass traditional music industry intermediaries and give more control and revenue back to artists.

Built using blockchain technology, Audius was designed to be fully decentralized, meaning no single entity controls the network. It’s operated by a diverse group of parties in the music industry, including listeners, artists, and developers. In a nutshell, the goal of Audius is to create a fair, open, and decentralized system for the music industry.

The platform uses AUDIO tokens to facilitate its decentralized governance system. Users, artists, and nodes (servers that host content) can stake AUDIO tokens to gain voting rights in the platform’s governance decisions. Moreover, token holders can also receive a proportion of the platform’s revenue.

IPFS stands for InterPlanetary File System. It’s a protocol and network designed to create a content-addressable, peer-to-peer method of storing and sharing hypermedia in a distributed file system. It was developed by Protocol Labs and is an open-source project.

IPFS was created to make the web faster, safer, and more open. Here’s how it does it:

1. Decentralization: Unlike the traditional method of data storage on the web (where information is stored on central servers), IPFS is built around a decentralized system of user-operators who hold a portion of the overall data, creating a resilient system of file storage and sharing.
2. Content Addressing: Each file and all of the blocks within it are given a unique fingerprint called a cryptographic hash. When looking up files, you’re asking the network to find nodes that are storing the content behind that file’s hash. This means content is distributed and found by what it is, not where it’s stored, making the system secure and efficient.
3. Versioning: IPFS is based on the Git protocol, so it also supports versioning, which is useful for system backups and configurations.
4. Censorship resistance: As it’s distributed, it’s difficult for any single authority to censor content.

The potential applications of IPFS span a wide range of industries, from website hosting and public data archiving to large datasets sharing, and even decentralized applications when used in combination with blockchain technology. For example, it is often used with Ethereum in developing decentralized apps (DApps) for secure, reliable, and fast file storage and retrieval.

ERC-1404 is a standard for creating security tokens on the Ethereum blockchain. It was designed with input from issuers, securities law firms, and exchanges and allows shareholders to interoperate with the entire Ethereum ecosystem with added functionality that allows the Fund to enforce transfer restrictions within the share’s “smart-contract.”.

ERC-1404 is an open standard that neither requires an issuer to use TokenSoft products or services nor disqualifies them from employing another. The standard has a couple of key features, such as simple restricted token standard on Ethereum and design to allow participants to meet compliance requirements in the securities industry. In 2018, ERC-1404 was approved for use in a publicly-traded, SEC registered fund, which was the first time the SEC approved a token on a public blockchain.

Open Interest (OI) in trading refers to the total number of outstanding derivative contracts, such as options or futures, that have not been settled. These are contracts that have been traded but not yet liquidated by an offsetting trade or an exercise or assignment.

Open interest is commonly associated with the futures and options markets. For each buyer of a futures or options contract, there must be a seller. From the time the buyer or seller opens the contract until the counterparty closes it, that contract is considered ‘open’.

Here’s what Open Interest can tell you:

1. Liquidity: High open interest means there is more liquidity for the contract, which will make it easier to execute trades at fair prices.
2. Market Sentiment: Changes in open interest can indicate potential trends. An increase in open interest could imply that the current trend is gaining momentum, while a decrease might suggest the trend is likely to reverse.
3. Volume and Open Interest: If both volume and open interest are increasing, it’s often a sign that new money is coming into the market, suggesting a trend is likely to continue. If volume increases while open interest decreases, it could indicate the trend is nearing its end.

However, while open interest can be a helpful tool, like any other indicator, it should not be used on its own but rather in conjunction with other indicators to make informed trading decisions.

Filecoin (FIL) is the native cryptocurrency of the Filecoin network, a decentralized storage system aimed at “storing humanity’s most important information.” The network is built by Protocol Labs and the open-source community. It seeks to change the dynamics of the data storage and retrieval market by using blockchain technology and decentralization.

Filecoin allows users to rent out their unused hard drive space to others who may need it for storing data. Miners on the Filecoin network earn FIL tokens by providing these storage services, and users spend FIL tokens to access and retrieve their data.

One of the fundamental ideas behind Filecoin is to leverage the vast amount of unused storage space around the world. This creates a global, distributed data storage network that can compete with centralized solutions, offering a potentially more secure and private alternative. The FIL token is a crucial part of this ecosystem, serving as a form of payment for the services provided.

It’s important to note that Filecoin and its FIL token have different mechanisms compared to many other cryptocurrencies. The network doesn’t simply reward miners for verifying transactions like Bitcoin does. Instead, it rewards them based on their contribution to the network’s storage capacity.

Tokenomics, also known as token economics, is the study of the economic systems related to blockchain-based tokens. It is a critical aspect of cryptocurrencies and digital assets, focusing on how they can be designed, distributed, and circulated.

Here are some crucial aspects of tokenomics:

1. Total Supply: This is the total number of tokens that will ever exist. For example, Bitcoin has a total supply of 21 million coins.
2. Circulating Supply: The number of tokens currently available for buying, selling, or trading.
3. Token Distribution: This refers to the method in which tokens are distributed or allocated. For example, a certain percentage might be reserved for the development team, another for early investors, and another for a public sale.
4. Inflation/Deflation: Some tokens have a mechanism for increasing or decreasing the supply over time. This can affect the value of each token.
5. Utility: This is the purpose or use case of the token within its ecosystem. For example, a token might be used to pay for transaction fees, grant voting rights, or access specific services.
6. Security: This includes aspects like how transactions are validated and the measures in place to prevent attacks or fraud.
7. Governance: Some tokens allow holders to vote on changes to the system, affecting how the token and its underlying platform evolve over time.

Understanding tokenomics can help potential investors or users make informed decisions about the potential value and utility of a particular token.