Crypto terms, explained plainly

How to use this crypto glossary

Crypto speaks English, and Albanians mix the two: “wallet kripto”, “crypto exchange”, “fraza seed”. This crypto glossary defines each term in plain language and gives the Albanian word next to it, so you can follow both the apps and the conversations around you.

Terms are in alphabetical order. Jump to a letter with the bar below or use your browser’s find (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F). Every term has its own link, so you can send a single definition to a friend who is just starting. If you are completely new, read the beginner’s guide first and come back here whenever a word trips you up.

A

Address · adresë

The string of letters and numbers where you receive crypto, the blockchain equivalent of an IBAN. Safe to share. Each network has its own format, so check the network before every transfer.

Airdrop

A free distribution of tokens to wallets, usually as marketing. Many fake airdrops exist to trick you into connecting your wallet to a malicious site or typing in your seed phrase.

Altcoin

Any cryptocurrency other than bitcoin, from Ethereum down to thousands of tiny tokens. Most have thin liquidity and far wilder price swings than bitcoin.

AMF · Autoriteti i Mbikëqyrjes Financiare

Albania’s Financial Supervisory Authority, which licenses firms under Law 66/2020. According to a May 2026 government impact assessment, it has received no applications and licensed no crypto platform. See is crypto legal in Albania.

AML · anti-pastrimi i parave

Anti-money-laundering rules. Since the 2019 amendments to Albania’s AML law, virtual-asset service providers must identify customers, monitor activity and report suspicious transactions.

ATH · all-time high

The highest price a coin has ever reached. Buying near an ATH is not a mistake in itself, but crypto history shows that peaks have often been followed by deep falls.

B

Bitcoin · BTC

The first cryptocurrency, running since January 2009. It has no central issuer and a hard cap of 21 million coins. The basics are in our beginner’s guide.

Block · bllok

A batch of transactions added to the blockchain in one go. Each block is linked to the previous one by a hash, which makes past records very hard to alter.

Blockchain

A public ledger of transactions, split into linked blocks and stored simultaneously by many computers. Nobody can quietly edit one copy without the others noticing.

Burn

Sending tokens to an address from which they can never be spent, to reduce supply. It does not guarantee a higher price, however it is marketed.

C

CASP · crypto-asset service provider

A crypto-asset service provider under the EU’s MiCA regulation: trading platforms, custodians, order execution and similar. Albania’s draft crypto-assets law uses the same concept and gives authorisation to the AMF.

CBDC · central bank digital currency

Digital money issued by a central bank. The Bank of Albania has researched the idea cautiously but, as of October 2026, has announced no “digital lek” pilot.

Cold wallet · cold storage

A wallet that keeps keys offline, such as a hardware device or a key written on paper. Safer for long-term holding, less handy for frequent payments.

Confirmation · konfirmim

Each new block added after the one containing your transaction. Exchanges wait for a set number of confirmations before crediting a deposit.

Custodial · kustodial

A service where a company holds the keys for you, as an exchange does. Simple to use, but you depend on the company’s honesty and solvency.

D

DCA · dollar-cost averaging

Buying a fixed amount at regular intervals, say monthly, whatever the price. It softens the effect of timing and emotion but does not protect against a long decline.

DeFi · decentralised finance

Financial services such as swaps, loans and deposits run by smart contracts with no company in the middle. Albania’s draft crypto-assets law excludes DeFi from its scope.

DEX · decentralised exchange

An exchange run by smart contracts, where you trade straight from your own wallet without an account. No KYC, but also no help desk when something goes wrong.

DLT · distributed ledger technology

The broad technical term for blockchains and similar systems. Albania’s Law No. 66/2020 is titled “On Financial Markets Based on Distributed Ledger Technology”.

E

ERC-20

The token standard on Ethereum. USDT on ERC-20 pays gas fees in ETH and is not interchangeable with USDT on TRC-20, despite the identical name.

Ethereum · ETH

The second-largest blockchain and the home of smart contracts. Its coin, ether, pays network fees and also trades as an asset in its own right.

Exchange · bursë

A platform where you buy and sell crypto for euros, dollars or other coins. Albanians mostly say “crypto exchange” in English. None is licensed by the AMF; our ranking is in best crypto exchanges.

F

Fiat

Ordinary government-issued money: lek, euro, dollar. A “fiat on-ramp” is how fiat becomes crypto, for example by card or SEPA transfer.

Fork

A change to a blockchain’s rules. When part of the network rejects the change, a new coin can split off, as Bitcoin Cash did in 2017.

Futures

Contracts that profit or lose from price moves without owning the coin, usually with leverage. At high leverage a small move can wipe out the whole stake. Not for beginners.

G

Gas

The fee paid for every action on Ethereum and similar networks. It rises when the network is busy and is paid in the network’s native coin, such as ETH.

H

Halving

The halving of the bitcoin miners’ reward roughly every four years (every 210,000 blocks). It slows the rate at which new bitcoin is created.

Hardware wallet

A small device, such as a Ledger or Trezor, that keeps keys offline and signs transactions internally. Buy only from the maker or an official reseller; see crypto wallets.

Hash

A fixed-length mathematical fingerprint of any data. Change one character and the hash changes completely. A transaction hash (TXID) lets you look up a payment on the blockchain.

Hot wallet

A wallet connected to the internet, such as a phone app or browser extension. Fine for small amounts and daily use, more exposed to hacks.

I

ICO · initial coin offering

The first public sale of a new token. Law 66/2020 regulates such offerings in Albania, but worldwide many ICOs have turned out to be scams or failures.

K

KYC · know your customer

Identity verification with an ID card or passport, often plus a selfie. Serious platforms require it under AML rules. “No-KYC” platforms carry serious risks.

L

Leverage · levë

Trading with money borrowed from the platform, for example 10x. Gains and losses are multiplied, and the position is force-closed (liquidated) once losses eat your collateral.

Lightning Network

A layer on top of bitcoin for small, fast and cheap payments settled off the main chain. Used by some merchants that accept bitcoin.

Limit order · urdhër limit

An order to buy or sell only at a price you set, or better. Usually cheaper than an instant buy, but it may never fill.

Liquidity · likuiditet

How easily an asset can be bought or sold without moving the price. The lek P2P market is very thin: on 2 October 2026 it showed only a handful of ads. See P2P crypto.

M

Market cap · kapitalizimi i tregut

A coin’s price multiplied by its circulating supply. It shows relative size, not how much money was actually invested or could be taken out.

Market order · urdhër tregu

An order that fills immediately at the best available price. Fast, but in thin markets you may pay more than expected (slippage).

MiCA

EU Regulation 2023/1114 on Markets in Crypto-Assets. MiCA licences cover EEA residents, not Albania. Albania is drafting a law to transpose it; it was still a draft in October 2026.

Mining · minim

The process by which computers secure the bitcoin network in exchange for a reward. In Albania it is not regulated as a financial service and income is taxable; see crypto mining in Albania.

N

NFT · non-fungible token

A unique token representing ownership of a digital item such as an image or ticket. Most NFT prices have fallen sharply since the 2021 boom.

Node · nyje

A computer that keeps a copy of the blockchain and checks that every block follows the rules. The more independent nodes, the harder the network is to manipulate.

O

OTC · over-the-counter

Direct trading of large amounts away from the public order book, at a negotiated price. It needs full KYC and source-of-funds documents; see crypto OTC.

P

P2P · peer-to-peer

Buying or selling directly between two people, often through a platform that holds the crypto in escrow until payment is confirmed. Fake-payment scams are common.

Phishing

A message, email or website imitating an exchange or wallet to steal your password or seed phrase. Always type the site address yourself rather than clicking links in messages.

Private key · çelës privat

The secret number that lets you spend the coins at an address. Whoever holds it owns the coins. Never share it with anyone.

Proof of Stake

A way of securing a network in which validators lock up coins as collateral instead of burning energy. Ethereum moved to Proof of Stake in 2022.

Proof of Work

Bitcoin’s security model: miners spend energy solving a computational puzzle. Robust, but electricity-hungry.

Public key · çelës publik

The key derived from your private key, from which your address is generated. Others can see it without any risk to your funds.

R

Rug pull

A scam in which a token’s creators collect buyers’ money and then vanish or drain the liquidity, leaving the token worthless.

S

Satoshi · sat

The smallest unit of bitcoin: 0.00000001 BTC. Named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.

Seed phrase · frazë seed

The 12 or 24 words that rebuild your entire wallet. Write it on paper and keep it offline. Anyone who asks for it is a scammer; see crypto scams.

Self-custody · vetëruajtje

Holding your own keys in your own wallet, with no intermediary. It shields you from exchange failures, but mistakes such as losing the seed phrase are irreversible.

SEPA

The Single Euro Payments Area. Albania was added to SEPA’s geographical scope in November 2024 and the first SEPA transaction ran on 7 October 2025. See bank transfer & SEPA.

Slippage

The gap between the price you expected and the price your order actually filled at. It grows with order size and with thinner markets.

Smart contract · kontratë inteligjente

A program on a blockchain that executes automatically when its conditions are met. Bugs can be exploited by hackers, so “audited” never means “risk-free”.

Spot

Buying or selling the actual coin for immediate settlement, with no leverage. On the spot market you really own what you buy, unlike with futures.

Spread

The difference between the buy and sell price. Often a hidden cost, especially on instant card purchases. Work it out with the bitcoin to lek converter.

Stablecoin

A token designed to hold a steady value, usually one US dollar, such as USDT or USDC. Not a bank deposit; it relies on the issuer’s reserves. Current Albanian law does not cover it.

Staking

Locking coins in a Proof of Stake network to help secure it in exchange for a reward. Rewards are not guaranteed and coins may not be withdrawable straight away.

T

Token

A digital asset built on an existing blockchain, such as USDT on Ethereum or Tron. Law 66/2020 divides digital tokens into payment, securities, service and asset tokens.

Travel Rule · rregulli i udhëtimit

The requirement that sender and recipient details accompany crypto transfers between service providers. Albania’s draft AML law of July 2026 includes it.

TRC-20

The token standard on the Tron network. USDT on TRC-20 is popular for its low fees, but sending it to an address on another network can lose the funds.

Two-factor authentication · 2FA

A second security step after your password, usually a code from an authenticator app. An app is safer than SMS, which can be hijacked through a SIM swap.

U

USDT · Tether

The most widely used stablecoin, designed to track the US dollar and issued on several networks. Buying it and its real lek rate are covered in USDT in Albania.

V

Volatility · volatilitet

How sharply and quickly a price moves. Crypto is among the most volatile assets: 10% daily moves are not rare, and drops of more than 70% have happened several times.

W

Wallet · portofol

The app or device that holds your keys and lets you send and receive crypto. Albanians search for “wallet kripto” far more than the formal “portofol kripto”.

White paper

The document describing a crypto project, its technology and its token rules. Bitcoin began with a nine-page white paper in 2008; MiCA makes white papers mandatory for public offers.

The pairs people mix up most

A handful of word pairs cause most beginner mistakes. Exchange and wallet: on the first the platform holds your keys, in the second you do. Public key and private key: share the first freely, the second never. ERC-20 and TRC-20: the same USDT on different roads, and a transfer on the wrong one can vanish.

Another is MiCA and the AMF. An exchange can hold a MiCA licence in an EU country and still have no licence at all in Albania. The European licence covers EEA residents; Albanian residents are normally served by the platform’s global entity, with no local protection.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Law No. 66/2020 “On Financial Markets Based on Distributed Ledger Technology” (AMF, English) · checked Oct 2026
2. Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets (MiCA) — EUR-Lex · checked Oct 2026
3. Draft law “On Markets in Crypto-Assets” — final RIA, 13.05.2026 · checked Oct 2026
4. Bank of Albania — Launch of the first SEPA transaction · 7 Oct 2025

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