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Glossary

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Stake pool

Morgan
A computer server running the Cardano node to validate transactions and produce blocks. Each pool holds the combined stake of many ada owners in a single entity, or pool. Rewards earned by the pool are shared between the operator and their stakeholders.
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Token burning

Morgan
Token burning is the process of removing tokens from circulation. This reduces the number of coins in use.
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Stake pool operator

Morgan
A person or organization that takes responsibility for setting up and keeping the pool running. This usually entails owning or renting a server, holding the key to the pool, and maintaining and monitoring the node.
1 up votes and 0 down votes. Total score

Stablecoin

Morgan
A cryptocurrency whose value is held constant against one or more other assets. The assets may be a ‘basket’ of currencies, a single currency (eg, the US dollar or the euro), commodities such as gold or silver, stocks, or other cryptocurrencies. Stablecoins include mechanisms that maintain a low deviation from their target price and so are useful to store or...
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SMASH

Morgan
Stake pool metadata aggregation server, which is designed to track and maintain stake pool metadata to ensure its validity.
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Smart contracts

Morgan
Programs written to self-execute when certain pre-determined conditions are met. On Cardano, contracts can be written in Plutus, Marlowe, or Haskell. Such contracts are the basis of decentralized finance (DeFi).
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Slot

Morgan
The primary unit of time used by the Ouroboros algorithm. In current Cardano versions, a slot is exactly one second. Slots that are inhabited by blocks are called active slots. In early 2022, Cardano parameters set one in 20 slots as active, so the average block time is 20 seconds.
0 up votes and 0 down votes. Total score

Slot leader

Morgan
A stake pool that has the right to create a block on Cardano within the current slot. The selection process is based on the proportion of ada delegated to each pool.
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Slashing

Morgan
A penalty charge on some proof-of-stake blockchains for dishonest behavior by network validators. There is no slashing on Cardano. Instead, Ouroboros provides incentives for good behavior. Each stake pool operator pledges funds to their pool to make it more attractive and earn a higher percentage of rewards. Dishonest behavior will result in loss of rewards....
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Sidechain

Morgan
A blockchain that runs independently alongside the main chain and is linked to it. Transactions are transferred to the sidechain for processing and the results are sent back, thus taking a load off the main chain. This improves speed, lowers execution fees, and increases overall throughput.
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Shelley

Morgan
The second phase of Cardano development in which network decentralization was delivered in 2021.
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Script

Morgan
Smart contract conditions coded to be automatically executed on the blockchain.
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Token

Morgan
A cryptographic token that represents a footprint of value defined by the community, market state, or self-governed entity. A token can be fungible (tradable) or non-fungible (unique), and act as a payment unit, reward, trading asset, or information holder.
1 up votes and 0 down votes. Total score

Project Catalyst

Morgan
Project Catalyst is a decentralized innovation fund for Cardano projects set up in 2020. Within two years, 30,000 members had set hundreds of projects underway with a treasury worth $1 billion ada. The project marked the start of Cardano’s Voltaire phase and is one of the world’s largest examples of on-chain governance.
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Plutus

Morgan
A programming language and a set of tools for writing and testing smart contracts to be used on Cardano. Plutus is based on Haskell and provides a safe, full-stack programming environment.
1 up votes and 0 down votes. Total score

Ouroboros Praos

Olga Hryniuk
This version of Ouroboros was deployed in August 2020. Praos introduced decentralized block production by stake pools. It also implemented a novel incentive mechanism for participating in block production and introduced mechanisms to defend against Sybil attacks.
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Ouroboros Crypsinous

Olga Hryniuk
The Crypsinous version of Ouroboros aims to provide security against adaptive attacks and introduces secure encryption relying on Snarks. Crypsinous is currently not planned for deployment on Cardano.
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Ouroboros Classic

Olga Hryniuk
A version of Ouroboros deployed on Cardano in December 2017. It established the foundation for an energy-efficient, proof-of-stake consensus protocol.
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Ouroboros Chronos

Olga Hryniuk
A version of Ouroboros designed to use a system clock based on blockchain technology. This removes the potential for attacks on blockchains that rely on external time sources such as the internet’s Network Time Protocol.
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