Crypto glossary for Australians

The protocol rules that let distributed nodes agree on the next block (e.g. proof-of-work, proof-of-stake).

The Ethereum Virtual Machine — the runtime that executes smart contracts on Ethereum and compatible chains.

The point at which a confirmed transaction is considered irreversible by the network.

The maximum amount of gas a user is willing to spend on a transaction.

A protocol change that breaks compatibility, requiring every node to upgrade or split off.

A one-way function that turns any input into a fixed-length fingerprint, used to secure blockchains.

A wallet or node that verifies block headers without storing the full chain history.

A tree of hashes that lets a blockchain prove a transaction is included without revealing the whole block.

A separate blockchain that runs in parallel to a main chain and can move assets back and forth via a bridge.

A backwards-compatible protocol upgrade where old nodes still accept new blocks.