Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y

A

Active Limit A setting that places dynamic limit orders, adjusting prices in real time with changing market conditions.

Address book "For security purposes, withdrawals can only be made to pre-registered whitelisted addresses. You can add approved withdrawal addresses on the Address Book page of your Account Settings page.

Please note, for Institutional accounts, Administrator approval is required to add a new withdrawal address."

Algo Execution Automated trading strategies that place and manage orders based on algorithms, optimizing for speed, cost, or market impact.

Alpha Tilt A parameter that shifts the execution schedule, either front-loading or back-loading trades depending on market expectations.

Altcoin Any cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin.

Anti-money-laundering (AML) Anti‑money‑laundering (AML) refers to a global framework of laws, regulations and procedures aimed at detecting and preventing the process of disguising illicit funds as legitimate income. AML rules reduce the ability of criminals to hide profits and require institutions to perform due diligence on their customers

Aping In Investing quickly without research.

Arbitrage A strategy that captures price differences between markets or exchanges

Airdrop Free token distribution to users.

Assets Under Management (AUM)/Total Equity The net worth of a portfolio, including cash, stablecoins, spot holdings, and unrealized PnL.

ATH (All-Time High) Highest price ever reached.

ATL (All-Time Low) Lowest price ever traded.

B

Basis Trading A paired strategy of buying spot and selling futures to capture profits from price discrepancies.

Bid-ask Spread The bid‑ask spread is the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay for an asset (the bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept (the ask). This spread represents a transaction cost for traders and indicates the liquidity of the market—the narrower the spread, the more liquid the market

Blockchain Explorer Tool to view blockchain data.

Bull Market Rising prices and optimism.

C

CeFi Company-run crypto services managing user assets.

Centralized Exchange (CEX) A crypto trading platform run by a company that holds user funds and matches buyers/sellers.

Circulating Supply Coins currently available in market.

Coin Native digital currency of its own blockchain.

Cold Wallet Offline storage of crypto.

Cross-Exchange Arbitrage Buying on one exchange and selling on another to lock in price gaps, executed through smart order routing.

D

DAO Blockchain group governed by token holders.

DApp App running on blockchain smart contracts.

Decentralized Exchange (DEX) A peer‑to‑peer marketplace where users trade crypto assets directly via blockchain transactions. DEXs use smart contracts to facilitate trades, providing transparency and reducing counterparty risk because users keep control of their funds rather than depositing them with a central custodian

DeFi Blockchain-based financial services without intermediaries.

Directional Bias A measure of portfolio tilt toward long or short exposure, derived from the net notional value of open contracts. Positive indicates bullish, negative indicates bearish.

Discretion A parameter that adds controlled randomness into execution, lowering predictability and reducing detection risk.

Dynamic Limit Spread A setting that defines the minimum spread needed to execute trades, ensuring profitability thresholds are met.

E

Exposure Tolerance Adjusts execution pacing between trade legs to balance fills and reduce exposure when one side executes faster.

F

FOMO Fear of missing out, rushing to buy.

Fork Blockchain split into two versions.

FUD Fear, uncertainty, doubt causing panic.

Funding Rate Arbitrage A strategy that exploits funding rate differences between perpetual swaps and spot markets.

G

Gas War Competing with high gas bids for priority.

Good 'Til Canceled (GTC) An order type that stays active until fully executed or manually canceled.

Gross Market Value (GMV) The notional value of all open positions, calculated as spot, cash, and absolute notional value of derivatives.

H

Halving Mining reward reduction event.

Hash Rate Computing power securing a blockchain.

HODL Strategy of holding crypto long-term.

Hot Wallet Online wallet, easier but does come with risk

I

Iceberg Orders Iceberg Orders are designed to conceal the true size of large trades, a capability that’s crucial for maintaining a competitive edge. Terrace’s Iceberg Orders break down large trades into smaller, hidden portions that are executed sequentially. Only a fraction of the total order is visible at any time, preventing the market from reacting to your full position. This helps you avoid slippage and execute trades without tipping off the market.

Immediate-Or-Cancel (IOC) An order that must fill immediately in full or in part, with any remainder canceled, routed to the best venue.

Impermanent Loss Temporary loss for liquidity providers.

Implementation Shortfall (IS) An execution path designed to minimize the gap between arrival price and final execution price.

J

Jitter Jitter adds a randomized addition or subtraction (up to a set time you provide, ex 1 minute) to the time between TWAP legs. Jitter further obfuscates your trades and reduces front-running risk.

K

Know Your Customer (KYC) Know Your Customer (KYC) refers to guidelines that require financial institutions and service providers to verify the identity, suitability and risk profile of customers. KYC is part of anti‑money‑laundering (AML) and counter‑terrorism financing regulations and helps ensure customers are who they claim to be

L

Layer 1 Base blockchain infrastructure.

Layer 2 Scaling solution on top of Layer 1.

Limit Order An order to buy or sell at a specified price or better.

Liquidation Forced closure of leveraged positions.

Liquidity Pool Pool of funds on a DEX enabling trades.

Liquidity Provider (LP) User depositing assets into pools for fees.

M

Maker A trader or order that provides liquidity by placing limit orders, earning maker fees when filled.

Maker and Taker Maker fees apply when you provide liquidity (e.g., out of the money limit orders), while taker fees apply when you consume liquidity (e.g., market orders).

Margin Trading Margin trading is a method that allows users to borrow funds to increase the size of their positions. By putting up collateral, traders can access leverage—amplifying both potential gains and potential losses. If the value of the position falls too much and the collateral is no longer sufficient, the position may be liquidated (automatically closed) to repay the borrowed funds. Fees and interest are typically charged on the borrowed amount.

Market Cap Total value = Price × Supply.

Market Impact The effect large trades have on asset prices, which can be reduced through intelligent execution.

Market Maker (Strategy) A strategy that places passive limit orders to reduce taker fees and impact, without providing continuous spreads.

Market Order An instruction to buy or sell immediately at the best available market price.

Max Clip Size Defines the largest allowed size of a single passive order within a larger trade, balancing visibility and speed.

Max OTC Percentage The maximum share of an order that can be routed through OTC channels.

Meme Coin A type of cryptocurrency inspired by internet memes, jokes, or cultural trends, often created with little or no underlying utility or technical innovation. While some gain popularity through online communities and speculation, they are typically highly volatile and carry significant investment risk

Meme Trading The practice of buying and selling assets—often stocks or cryptocurrencies—driven primarily by online hype, social media trends, and community sentiment rather than fundamental analysis. It is characterized by rapid price swings, speculative behavior, and high risk, as market movements are fueled by viral attention rather than intrinsic value.

Mining Validating transactions and creating new coins (PoW).

Multichain The term multi‑chain refers to the growing ecosystem of hundreds of blockchains. A multi‑chain application typically launches on several blockchains using separate smart contracts for each chain so that it can reach users across networks and address blockchain fragmentation

N

NFT Unique digital assets proving ownership.

O

Off-chain Transactions outside blockchain.

On-chain Data or transactions recorded on blockchain.

Out-of-Limit (OOL) Pause Temporarily halts execution if price moves outside the set limit, preventing fills at unfavorable levels.

Over-the-Counter (OTC) Venues Private, off-exchange trading of large crypto transactions to avoid moving market prices.

P

Participation Rate The share of overall market volume a trader intends to participate in during a set period.

Participation Rate Limit Caps the maximum percentage of market volume an order can interact with to prevent overexposure.

Passive Only A setting that ensures only maker orders are placed, avoiding liquidity-taking executions.

Pre-Trade Analytics Forecasts and insights before execution, including cost estimates, participation targets, and market context

Private Key Secret cryptographic key that controls access to funds.

Proof of Stake (PoS) Validators secure network by staking.

Proof of Work (PoW) Mining-based consensus method.

Public Key Address used to receive crypto, like a bank account number.

Pump and Dump Artificially inflating then selling off.

R

Reduce Only Ensures trades only decrease an existing position, preventing accidental increases.

S

Secure Multi-Party Computation (MPC) Secure multi‑party computation (MPC) is a subfield of cryptography that allows multiple parties to jointly compute a function over their private inputs while keeping those inputs secret from each other. MPC protocols let participants obtain a correct result without revealing their individual data

Slices Smaller chunks of a larger order, managed automatically to reduce market impact and maintain anonymity.

Slippage Slippage is the difference between the expected price of a trade and the price at which it is executed.

Smart Contract Self-executing code on a blockchain.

Smart Order Routing Smart order routing (SOR) is an automated process designed to find the best possible execution for an order by analyzing multiple trading venues and routing the order to the one offering the most favorable terms at the moment, so that your trade is executed in the most efficient way possible

Spread Trade A strategy that pairs buying and selling of related assets to capture price spreads

Stablecoin Crypto pegged to stable assets like USD or gold.

Staking Locking crypto to secure a network and earn rewards (PoS).

Statistical Arbitrage A quantitative strategy that exploits pricing inefficiencies between correlated assets.

Strict Duration Forces execution to end at the set time, even if the full order quantity is unfilled.

T

Taker A trader or order that removes liquidity by filling existing orders, typically incurring taker fees.

Target Participation Rate A strategy that maintains a steady participation rate without a fixed duration.

Target Time A strategy that centers execution around a specific event or time, optimizing trade timing.

Triangular Arbitrage A strategy that captures price mismatches across three assets within the same exchange.

Token Digital asset built on another blockchain.

Tokenomics Design of token supply and incentives.

Total Supply Maximum coins/tokens that will exist.

TWAP Order TWAPs are orders executed over a specified run time (End Time Offset). The total order quantity is broken up into buckets based on the specified interval length. The quantity executed in each bucket is equal to the (total quantity)*((interval length) / (end time offset)). Each execution is a market order by default but can be combined with other order types such as limit orders. TWAPs are available on all trades on Terrace. Select TWAP in the order entry modal and fill out the selected quantity, length of execution, and frequency. Terrace automatically handles execution of all sub-trades.

U

Unrealized PnL (Profit & Loss) The on-paper profit or loss of open positions, based on current versus entry prices, not yet realized.

V

Validator Confirms transactions on PoS networks.

VWAPs help minimize market impact by breaking a large order into smaller trades that follow the natural volume flow."

Venue Refers to the platform or marketplace where digital assets are traded, bought, or sold by market participants. It’s the equivalent of an exchange floor or brokerage in traditional finance. Common types of venues include centralized exchanges, decentralized exchanges, and Over-the-Counter (OTC) desks

VWAP Order "VWAPs are an execution strategy where trades are spread out over a set period to achieve an average price close to the market’s Volume Weighted Average Price.

W

Wallet Tool to store, send, and receive crypto.

Whale Investor holding very large amounts.

Wrapped Token Tokenized version of crypto on another chain.

Y

Yield Farming A DeFi strategy where users can earn rewards by supplying liquidity to decentralized exchanges or lending platforms. In return, liquidity providers receive a share of transaction fees and may also be rewarded with governance tokens, distributed in proportion to their contribution to the pool.