A little less jargon

Digital asset glossary.

32 useful terms for APIs, tokenization, wallets, market data, and operations. Each definition connects to a longer, sourced explanation.

A

API: An application programming interface: a defined way for software components to exchange requests and responses. In this library, a digital asset API may expose asset identities, observations, activity, or events. An interface should explain its units, permissions, coverage, and failures—not only its endpoint names. Explore the guide ↗
Allowance: An authorization for a spender to use a stated quantity of tokens under a token contract’s rules. It is different from an immediate transfer. A wallet review should explain the spender and requested scope instead of describing the action as a generic identity check. Explore the guide ↗
Asset identifier: A reference that identifies an asset within a defined context. A network-aware identifier is more dependable for joining records than a symbol alone. Keep the original provider reference and any reviewed normalization rules so that the catalog can explain how records were matched. Explore the guide ↗
Asset metadata: Descriptive information such as a name, symbol, decimal scale, image reference, or description. Keep its source and observation time separate from the asset’s identity. Metadata can change or conflict between providers; it should not be treated as an endorsement or a security certification. Explore the guide ↗
Authorization: The decision about whether a particular actor may perform an operation or access a record or property. It is distinct from establishing who the actor is. A user allowed to read a balance is not automatically allowed to inspect another customer’s notes or change an approval policy. Explore the guide ↗

B

Balance observation: A recorded quantity for an asset and account at an identified observation point. Its meaning depends on the asset identity, unit, time, and coverage. A balance observation should be kept separate from a fiat estimate and from any conclusion about an off-chain entitlement. Explore the guide ↗
Block reference: Information linking a chain observation to a particular block or selected chain state. Preserve the reference needed to investigate the result. A requested observation state and the actual evidence returned by a provider should not disappear when the application normalizes the response. Explore the guide ↗

C

CAIP-19: A Chain Agnostic Improvement Proposal describing structured asset identification using chain and asset-namespace information, with an additional identifier for individually addressable assets where appropriate. It identifies an object; it does not certify that the object is valuable, legitimate, or economically equivalent to another token. Explore the guide ↗
Coverage: The accounts, networks, resources, historical range, and observation completeness represented by a result. In our reference design, coverage can be complete, partial, or unavailable. A valid response for one account does not establish complete coverage of a report that is meant to include several accounts. Explore the guide ↗
Cursor pagination: A way to retrieve a sequence of result pages using a continuation reference rather than guessing page positions. Our proposed design pairs the cursor with a documented ordering rule and observation boundary, so the consumer can reason about new arrivals, expiration, and interrupted historical imports. Explore the guide ↗
Custody: The arrangements around control of signing authority and responsibility for assets. A useful planning exercise distinguishes observation, approval, signing, policy changes, recovery, and incident handling. An attractive wallet interface alone does not explain who controls each of those responsibilities. Explore the guide ↗

D

Decimal scale: The number of decimal places used to display a raw token quantity. For a fictional six-decimal asset, a raw amount of 1250000 displays as 1.25. Preserve the scale explicitly, and do not silently assume a familiar value when the source has not established it. Explore the guide ↗
Deduplication: Recognizing repeated records or deliveries so that the same logical item is not counted as a new one. Determine what the provider’s event identifiers actually mean before selecting a uniqueness key. Keep delivery attempts distinguishable from the logical event they carry. Explore the guide ↗

E

ERC-20: A common interface specification for fungible tokens on Ethereum-compatible environments. The referenced specification includes balance, transfer, allowance, and supply-related behavior; some display metadata methods are optional. The interface does not establish legal rights to an external asset or guarantee redemption. Explore the guide ↗
ETF: An exchange-traded fund. When researching digital asset products, confirm the documented product structure rather than treating a familiar marketing label as a complete classification. The broader ETP category includes structures with different characteristics and protections. A product share is not the same record as a token in a wallet. Explore the guide ↗
ETP: Exchange-traded product, a broader category discussed in the investor reference linked from our ETF guide. Keep a product’s documented structure, issuer, listing, and source documents in its own record. Do not assume every digital asset product informally described as an ETF uses the same structure. Explore the guide ↗
Event envelope: The surrounding fields that identify and contextualize an event, such as its type, identifier, schema version, and relevant timestamps. Our local example keeps the delivery identifier separate from the event identifier. An accepted envelope is not proof that every associated business effect has completed. Explore the guide ↗

I

Idempotency: A property of an operation whose intended effect is not repeatedly added when the same operation is processed again. It matters when a worker retries after interruption. A durable processing marker and a state change must be coordinated appropriately; an in-memory flag alone cannot explain recovery across restarts. Explore the guide ↗

J

JSON-RPC: A remote procedure call protocol that represents messages using JSON. Ethereum’s execution-client interface exposes documented methods through JSON-RPC. The provider and network determine which capabilities are available; a response format used by one integration is not automatically a universal blockchain resource model. Explore the guide ↗

N

Net asset value: Assets minus liabilities, with a per-share figure calculated using the relevant shares outstanding. A sum of token market values is not automatically an official fund NAV. Reporting requires the applicable valuation, accounting, coverage, and review context—not simply an attractive holdings dashboard. Explore the guide ↗

O

Observation time: The time associated with the source observation, which can differ from when an event occurred and when an application fetched the result. A recent page refresh does not prove the underlying data is current. Keep the relevant clock close to the displayed number. Explore the guide ↗

P

Primary source: The directly relevant original source for a claim, such as a protocol specification, provider documentation, or official product document. A primary source can still have a limited scope. Preserve what it actually supports and distinguish a statement from the interpretation added by an editor. Explore the guide ↗
Private key: Secret signing material associated with authority in a cryptographic system. Do not put it in public browser code, application logs, contact forms, or support emails. A read-only research portal does not need to collect it to explain an asset observation or publish a guide. Explore the guide ↗
Provenance: The recorded origin and transformation history of information. In an asset catalog, provenance can identify the provider, original reference, observation time, and normalization rule. In research, it connects a published claim to the specific source evidence that supports it. Explore the guide ↗

R

Reconciliation: Comparing related records within a defined scope and investigating their differences. Match identity and observation boundaries before interpreting an amount mismatch. Preserve timing differences, missing activity, duplicate records, and unresolved mappings as explainable exceptions rather than silently adjusting the result to match. Explore the guide ↗
Recovery phrase: Sensitive recovery information used by some wallet systems. It should not be sent to support staff, entered into an educational website, or included in a screenshot. Recovery planning belongs within the wallet’s documented security model and a carefully reviewed operational process. Explore the guide ↗
Reference payload: A sample response designed to illustrate an interface or application model. The reference payloads on this site are fictional local fixtures. They are not live observations, authentication credentials, production endpoint responses, or guarantees that a particular provider implements the same fields. Explore the guide ↗
Replay: Reprocessing previously recorded events to restore or reconstruct application state. A replay process needs stable identities, controlled business effects, and a way to distinguish already applied work. Its recovery coverage depends on the evidence and history actually retained by the application and provider. Explore the guide ↗

T

Tokenization: Representing an asset, service, or program relationship through tokens and the surrounding operational system. A complete design keeps program rules, identities, issuance decisions, and off-chain fulfillment evidence distinct. The token’s technical interface is only one part of explaining the underlying relationship. Explore the guide ↗

V

Valuation: A measurement of value under an identified currency, source, observation time, and method. Keep the valuation separate from the asset quantity so a missing price does not become a zero balance. A reviewed estimate should remain identifiable as a decision rather than appear to be directly observed market evidence. Explore the guide ↗

W

Wallet signing: The act of producing a signature through a wallet or signing arrangement. The requested authority and intended effect should be understandable before the prompt is approved. Signing, submission, and an observed result are different milestones and need distinct labels in the application. Explore the guide ↗
Webhook: An HTTP notification mechanism used by a service to inform another application of an event. Delivery contracts differ, so check the provider’s actual retry, ordering, verification, and history behavior. A reliable local process treats the notification as evidence to verify and reconcile, not a completeness guarantee. Explore the guide ↗