Gas fee
The fee paid for executing a transaction or smart contract on a blockchain network such as Ethereum. The gas amount depends on network congestion — the busier the network, the more expensive a transaction becomes.
See also
Mining
The process of verifying transactions and creating new blocks in Proof-of-Work networks, such as Bitcoin. Miners solve complex computational puzzles and are rewarded with cryptocurrency.
Node
A computer connected to a blockchain network that stores a copy of the ledger and validates transactions according to the protocol's rules. The more independent nodes there are, the more resilient and decentralized the network.
Smart contract
A program that automatically executes on the blockchain once predefined conditions are met, without intermediaries. It powers most DeFi, NFT, and DAO applications.
Gwei
A tiny denomination of ether (ETH) commonly used to express gas fees. One ETH equals one billion gwei.
Altcoin
Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. The term covers thousands of projects — from Ethereum and Solana to small niche tokens.
Stablecoin
A cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset, most often the US dollar. It is used to avoid volatility and to settle transactions within the crypto market (examples: USDT, USDC).