/ Glossary
Plain-English definitions.
The terms you\'ll see across our reviews and the wider crypto space. No jargon, no condescension. We add to this as we go.
Address
A public string of letters and numbers that someone can send crypto to. Safe to share, like an email address.
Air-gapped
A device that has never been connected to the internet. The most secure way to store a private key.
Bech32
A Bitcoin address format starting with bc1. Lower transaction fees than legacy formats.
Bug bounty
A program where a company pays external researchers to find security vulnerabilities in their code.
Cold wallet
A wallet that is not connected to the internet. Hardware wallets and paper wallets are cold.
Custodial
A wallet where a third party holds the private keys on your behalf. Exchanges are custodial.
Custody
Who holds the private key: you (self-custody), the wallet company (custodial), or some split (hybrid).
dApp
Decentralized application — a smart contract or set of contracts that runs on a blockchain.
DeFi
Decentralized finance — financial services (lending, trading, swaps) built on smart contracts instead of companies.
Dust attack
A tiny amount of a token sent to your wallet, hoping you'll interact with a malicious contract to "clean it up."
EVM
Ethereum Virtual Machine. The execution environment used by Ethereum and most non-Bitcoin chains (Polygon, Arbitrum, etc).
Gas
The fee paid to a blockchain network to process a transaction. Higher gas = faster processing.
Hardware wallet
A physical device that stores your private key and signs transactions offline. Ledger, Trezor, Tangem, etc.
Hot wallet
A wallet connected to the internet. Your phone, your browser extension, your desktop app.
Hot wallet threat model
The set of risks that come from a key living on an internet-connected device.
MPC
Multi-party computation. A way to split a private key across multiple parties so no single party holds the full key.
Multi-sig
A wallet that requires multiple signatures (e.g. 2-of-3) to move funds. No single point of compromise.
NFT
Non-fungible token. A unique token on a blockchain, often used for art, collectibles, or identity.
Open source
Software whose code is publicly available to read, modify, and audit. Considered a security advantage.
Phishing
A social engineering attack where a fake website or message tricks you into revealing your seed phrase or signing a malicious transaction.
Private key
A very large secret number that controls crypto. Whoever has it has the funds.
Public key
A number mathematically derived from the private key, used to generate addresses. Safe to share.
Recovery seed
12 or 24 words that encode the private key. Anyone with the seed has the funds. Also called a "seed phrase" or "mnemonic."
Rug pull
A scam where a project team disappears with investor funds, often after hyping a new token.
Secure element
A specialized chip designed to resist physical tampering. Used in high-end hardware wallets.
Self-custody
You hold the private key. No third party can freeze or seize your funds.
Shamir Backup (SLIP-39)
A scheme that splits a seed into N shares, of which any M can reconstruct it. The gold standard for inheritance.
Seed phrase
See "Recovery seed."
Slippage
The difference between the expected price of a trade and the actual executed price. High slippage = bad for traders.
Smart contract
A program that runs on a blockchain. Self-executing, with the code as the agreement.
Staking
Locking up crypto to help secure a proof-of-stake blockchain, in exchange for rewards.
Trust score
Our 0-100 score for each wallet, computed as a weighted sum of five public criteria. See /methodology.
Vanity address
An address with a custom pattern (e.g. starting with a specific word). Often used for branding, not a security risk in itself.
Wallet
A piece of software or hardware that holds (or manages) your private key. Does not actually hold your crypto.
Wallet address
See "Address."