The language of crypto & payments.

Access control

The policies and mechanisms that determine which identities may use particular resources or perform particular actions.

Also known as access controls

Account abstraction

An approach that makes blockchain account authorization and transaction handling programmable rather than limiting every account to one fixed signing workflow.

Advance payment

A payment made before the corresponding goods or services are supplied, under terms that state how the amount will be applied, held or returned.

Also known as prepayment, upfront payment

Altcoin

An informal market term commonly used for cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin, with boundaries that vary between speakers.

Also known as altcoins

Anti-money laundering

The legal, supervisory and operational measures intended to detect, prevent and report the concealment or use of proceeds from criminal activity.

Also known as AML

Application programming interface

A defined interface through which software components request operations or exchange data according to an agreed contract.

Also known as API

B2B payment

A transfer of value between businesses to satisfy a commercial obligation, such as a supplier invoice.

Also known as business-to-business payment, B2B payments

Bitcoin

A peer-to-peer payment network and its native digital asset, bitcoin (BTC), with transactions recorded on a proof-of-work blockchain.

Also known as BTC

Blockchain

A ledger structure that groups records into blocks linked to earlier blocks, allowing a network to maintain and verify an ordered history.

Buy now, pay later

A point-of-purchase credit arrangement that lets a customer obtain goods or services and repay the financed amount through an agreed installment plan.

Also known as BNPL

Chargeback

A reversal process associated with a cardholder’s dispute through the card issuer and card-payment framework, rather than an ordinary merchant-initiated refund.

Also known as chargebacks

Checkout

The customer-facing process that confirms an order’s details and initiates or completes the selected payment flow.

Also known as checkout flow

Client trust accounting

The recording and control of money held on behalf of clients or other entitled parties, separately from the professional’s own funds under applicable rules.

Also known as trust accounting

Cross-border payment

A payment between parties located in different jurisdictions, potentially involving multiple payment systems, intermediaries or currencies.

Also known as international payment

Cryptocurrency

A digital asset used for value exchange whose transfers and records are governed by cryptographic mechanisms and a blockchain or other distributed ledger.

Also known as cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency payment

A payment arrangement in which a cryptocurrency transfer is used to satisfy an agreed amount owed for goods, services or another obligation.

Also known as crypto payment, crypto payments

Cryptocurrency wallet

Software or a device used to interact with blockchain accounts and digital assets, including viewing balances and preparing or authorizing transactions.

Also known as wallet, crypto wallet

Currency conversion

Exchanging an amount expressed in one currency or asset for an amount in another under a specified rate, timing and set of charges.

Also known as foreign exchange conversion, fiat conversion

Data privacy

The protection and appropriate handling of information about people, including who can access it and the context in which it is used or disclosed.

Also known as privacy

Decentralized finance

Financial applications that use blockchain-based protocols and smart contracts for activities such as exchange, lending or borrowing.

Also known as DeFi, decentralised finance

Enterprise resource planning

Business software that connects processes such as accounting, purchasing, inventory and project operations through shared data and workflows.

Also known as ERP

ERC-4337

An Ethereum ecosystem standard for account abstraction that processes UserOperations through an EntryPoint contract and a bundler workflow.

Escrow

An arrangement in which a third party holds money, property or documents and releases them according to conditions agreed by the parties.

Ethereum

A programmable blockchain network that executes smart contracts and uses ether (ETH) as its native asset for transaction fees and proof-of-stake security.