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Glossary
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- WAGMI WAGMI is an acronym that stands for "We're All Gonna Make It," used among the crypto community. It describes a feeling of hope, unity, and shared belief that we will get through the tough times together. It is used to encourage investors to hold on to their token even during a downturn and trust that in the long-run there will be gains. The phrase was popularized by Russian-Australian bodybuilder Aziz Shavershian, also known as "Zyzz", who used it often in his motivational videos before he died in 2011. The term entered the investing circles 10 years later via subreddits amid the GameStop frenzy. Within the crypto world, the term gained popularity during the 2021 bull run, when memecoins like Dogecoin experienced their heyday. WAGMI appears frequently on social platforms; for instance, during a crypto bull run, a user might tweet, "Bitcoin just hit $100K! WAGMI!" to celebrate and unite the community. Sometimes it's also used to mock overly promotional influencers, but is mostly used to promote positivity. It also has an evil twin in NGMI "Not Gonna Make It", which, as spelled out is used mostly by the pessimist within crypto.
- Wallet A crypto wallet is regarded as a digital apparatus that provides access to cryptocurrencies for users to keep, transmit, and receive securely. To be precise, it is not a physical wallet that holds coins. Rather, it is a software that possesses private keys of the individual, giving him/her access to the digital assets on the blockchain. Whoever possesses these keys has control over the funds. There are basically two categories of wallets: hot wallets and cold wallets. Hot wallets are internet-linked devices, such as mobile apps, browser extensions, or exchange accounts, and while they are some of the most user-friendly wallets to work with, they still have a potential risk of getting hacked. In contrast, cold wallets are the hard drives holding the cryptocurrency offline, or even the paper with the access keys on it; they provide the highest level of security for storing crypto assets over a long period of time. All wallets contain two components: a public address (that is used for receiving crypto such as an account number) and a private key (which is used for signing transactions and proving ownership). This means that the users must keep their private keys SECURELY. Losing them means losing access to the funds permanently. Crypto wallets are very much needed to carry out various operations on the blockchain networks, from sending tokens, and trading NFTs, to connecting with the decentralized applications (dApps). In brief, a wallet is your digital keychain into the blockchain world - where the security and control are wholly in your hands.
- Wash Trade A wash trade is a market manipulation technique that has been used by a trader to carry out the buying and selling of the same asset, for instance, cryptocurrency, to create false trading activity. The trader's objective is to create an illusion of a more active and liquid market than it actually is which might result in other investors having wrong concepts regarding the asset's price, and thus its popularity or value, and hence, being misled. When there is a wash trade taking place, the trader who is actually the one doing the trading incurs no gain or loss as he is dealing with himself or his number of accounts that he has control over. The fake trading will lead to a rise in the trading volume which will be interpreted as high demand. The unaware investors will take it as real interest and thus will be buying the asset, this will lead to a temporary increase in the price. For a long time wash trading has been banned in the traditional financial market and is one of the practices that regulators in the crypto sector are increasingly scrutinizing. Some exchanges, especially the ones that are not regulated, have been accused of allowing or even encouraging wash trading as a way to lure users. The market integrity is negatively impacted because of the practice through the creation of distortions in price and trading data. It is hard to identify wash trades, but the use of blockchain analytics tools and more stringent supervision are among the factors that have been helping to reduce their occurrences. In short, wash trading is a method of fake market activity meant to mislead and manipulate perception.
- Web3 Web3 is a term representing the subsequent version of the internet, where blockchain plays a significant role in granting users greater authority over their data, digital identity, and online relationships. Today’s Web2, characterized by centralization with platforms such as Google, Meta, or Amazon, is not Web3. The latter operates on decentralized networks where data is owned by users and they can communicate amongst themselves without the use of third parties. Web3 is fundamentally a combination of the aforementioned components: cryptocurrencies, smart contracts, and decentralized applications (dApps). This is the internet that large corporations cannot monopolize but rather built on their users. Customers are able to do all kinds of transactions and even utilize services through their cryptocurrency wallets, thus eliminating the need for a bank or any intermediary. The ownership is established through blockchain, which guarantees the utmost transparency as well as security. The use of Web3 can be illustrated through several examples such as decentralized finance (DeFi) which allows users to straight up lend and borrow money without the involvement of banks, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) which is a way of selling digital art directly from the artist to the buyer. Web3 further introduces the concept of digital identity management systems that empower users with the choice over what information they are willing to share in the online world. Proponents consider Web3 as the new and more just version of the internet because it is open, user-driven, and resistant to censorship. Detractors claim that it is still underdeveloped and cannot be used by the masses. Nevertheless, whether by one way or another, Web3 signifies an important milestone toward the future internet where blockchain technology acts as the driving force behind the innovations and the empowerment of users.
- Wei Wei, the smallest unit of Ether (ETH), is the native cryptocurrency of the Ethereum blockchain. Cents are a traditional measure for dollars, while Wei is a universal base for all the transactions made on the Ethereum network. One Ether is always equal to 1 quintillion Wei. The coin is named after Wei Dai, who is a computer scientist, and a cryptography giant whose ideas about digital money gave rise to early blockchain applications. The use of such tiny units helps Ethereum's system to make very precise calculations, especially at gas fees and smart contract interactions, without any difficulties. The network's transactions of the Ethereum Blockchain make use of Wei as their silent partner. In fact, if you were to send or receive ETH, the blockchain would record the amount in Wei for precision and to avoid rounding errors. Converting the values back into Ether is done by wallets and exchanges for better user readability. The existence of a base unit like the Wei is important for the functioning of decentralized systems where precision is required. It empowers Ethereum to easily take care of microtransaction, of running automated contracts and of giving a large-scale financial application in one precise unit. Simply put, the relationship between Wei and Ether is that of a cent to a dollar—but the difference in size is immense.
- Whale In the world of digital cryptocurrencies, a so-called whale is a person or a company that owns a very huge amount of a certain cryptocurrency. Such major owners possess a quantity of a coin or token that their market transactions can possibly pose an impact on its price. The expression references whales being the biggest animals in the sea, similar to these investors being the largest in the crypto market. Whales may be comprised of early birds who kept acquiring coins during the period of low prices, then these would be big institutional investors, hedge funds as well as crypto exchanges that take care of customer funds. On account of the blockchain's transparency, these investors' movements are therefore closely followed by the market analysts who identify the general sentiment by watching "whale wallets." For instance, a whale’s transfer of a substantial quantity of either Bitcoin or Ethereum to a trading platform may give off a signal of selling intentions. Moreover, on the other hand, whales can be the market stabilizers if they take the opposite route of holding considerable amounts for the long term, thus averting extreme price fluctuations. The trading activity or that of the whales is always the focus of traders and the media, as transfers of large amounts have the capacity of sparking massive buying or selling actions. To put it simply, a crypto whale is any strong holder that gives a chance of seeing a noticeable change in the trend by mere holding of its huge assets.
- Maxi A maxi is basically someone who's ride-or-die for one single coin, usually Bitcoin, and thinks everything else is garbage. The term derives from "maximalist," and it started getting used a lot back in 2017–2018 when altcoin season was wild and Bitcoin purists started pushing back hard. Most people mean Bitcoin maxi when they say the word. They believe BTC is the only real decentralized money that matters. They point to the 21 million hard cap and the proof-of-work security that's never been seriously cracked. To the OG Maxis, altcoins are either centralized scams, pre-mined Ponzi schemes, or just unnecessary experiments that dilute the focus of sound money. You'll hear them call Ethereum "a security with a founder," Solana "VC chain," or memecoins "rug-pull casinos." They often say the endgame is Bitcoin absorbing value from everything else, like gold, fiat reserves, real estate, etc. That said, the label has spread. Now you get Ethereum maxis who are convinced smart contracts and DeFi are the actual future of finance, and Bitcoin is just digital gold sitting in a vault doing nothing useful. Some Cardano or Solana diehards call themselves maxis too, but they're way less common, and they usually get clowned for it. Maxis tend to hang out in echo-chamber corners of Twitter/X, Telegram, or Reddit, dunking on anyone who holds more than one coin. Critics say they're dogmatic and blind to innovation; maxis say they're just realistic about where real scarcity and security actually live.
- White Paper A whitepaper is the document released before or during the start of a project that explains the vision, technology, and how the cryptocurrency or blockchain project will work. It is the main place for information for potential investors, developers, users, and the community to get all the information they need. The most well-known whitepaper is "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," which Satoshi Nakamoto published in 2008. A typical paper includes a problem statement, which explains the specific issues the project aims to solve, and a description of the proposed solution. Meanwhile, the roadmap lays out the schedule of important events, development stages, and future plans to make things clear and hold people accountable.
- WPA3 encryption WPA3, or Wi-Fi Protected Access version 3, is a Wi-Fi security protocol designed to replace WPA2 and strengthen protection for both personal and enterprise networks. Released by the Wi-Fi Alliance in June 2018, it is now standard in most modern Wi-Fi routers and is used to protect users better and keep unwanted individuals out. WPA3 encrypts your wireless transmissions so nearby attackers can’t eavesdrop on your local traffic. However, once data leaves the local network, it could still be vulnerable to interception elsewhere. The biggest change between WPA2 and WPA3 is the Simultaneous Authentication of Equals (SAE), also known as the Dragonfly handshake. SAE replaces WPA2’s vulnerable four-way handshake, making captured handshakes immune to offline dictionary and brute-force attacks. WPA3 also provides forward secrecy, which means past sessions will remain secure even if the network password is compromised later. Better still, WPA3-Enterprise offers an optional 192-bit security mode for government-grade protection. So, where will you usually find it? WPA3 is present in nearly all routers manufactured after 2020, as well as in mesh systems, recent smartphones and laptops, many public hotspots with updated hardware, and enterprise networks.