News

News Glossary

Plain-English terms for reading ecosystem updates without getting lost in jargon.

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Governance

The process used to make protocol or ecosystem decisions.

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dRep

A delegated representative in Cardano governance who votes with delegated voting power.

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Validator

A participant or node that helps verify network activity.

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Hard Fork

A network upgrade that changes protocol rules and requires ecosystem coordination.

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Treasury

Funds controlled by a protocol or ecosystem for grants, development, or operations.

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Partner Chain

A chain connected to a base ecosystem while having its own execution or feature focus.

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Sidechain

A separate blockchain connected to another chain, often used for different features or scaling.

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ETF

An exchange-traded fund. In crypto, it can affect investor access and market narratives.

Contextual Learning

News terms

Terms update based on the page you are viewing. Linked terms can open this panel directly.

Market Basics

Market Cap

Token price times circulating supply.

A common size measure for crypto assets. It is calculated by multiplying token price by circulating supply, and is often used to define universes like Top 25, Top 50, or Top 100.

DeFi

Financial apps built on blockchains.

DeFi means decentralized finance: apps for swapping, lending, borrowing, staking, liquidity provision, and yield strategies that operate through smart contracts.

TVL

Total value locked.

TVL estimates how much value is deposited in a protocol. It can indicate adoption and liquidity, but it can also change quickly and should not be treated as proof of safety.

Staking

Participating in network or protocol rewards.

Staking generally means locking or delegating assets to help secure a network or participate in a protocol, often in exchange for rewards. Risks vary by chain and app.

News Concepts

Governance

How a network or protocol makes decisions.

Governance covers voting, proposals, budgets, parameter changes, and community decision-making. It can shape how a network evolves over time.

Treasury

Funds controlled by governance rules.

A treasury is a pool of ecosystem funds that may be allocated through governance for development, grants, incentives, or public goods.

Cardano Governance

dRep

A delegated representative in Cardano governance.

A dRep, or delegated representative, participates in Cardano governance on behalf of delegated voting power. Users should understand who they delegate to and why.

Infrastructure

Validator

An operator that helps run a network.

Validators or stake pools help process blocks, maintain network security, and participate in consensus depending on the chain design.

Midnight

Partner Chain

A related chain connected to a broader ecosystem.

A partner chain is a separate chain designed to connect with or benefit from another ecosystem. Midnight is often discussed in relation to Cardano as a partner-chain style architecture.

Privacy Layer

Infrastructure for selective data protection.

A privacy layer helps apps protect sensitive data while still enabling useful verification, compliance, or interoperability depending on the design.

Interoperability

Systems working across networks.

Interoperability describes how assets, data, identities, or applications can operate across multiple blockchain ecosystems rather than staying isolated on one chain.

Privacy

ZK Proof

Proving something without revealing everything.

A zero-knowledge proof lets one party prove a statement is true without revealing all of the underlying data. It is one of the core ideas behind many privacy-preserving blockchain systems.

Selective Disclosure

Revealing only the data that is needed.

Selective disclosure means sharing specific information while keeping other details private. It is important for identity, compliance, and privacy-aware applications.