Research · Trading Glossary
Trading Glossary
Plain-English definitions of the trading terms that start with E.
E
- ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm)
- The signature scheme historically used by Bitcoin and Ethereum.
- Eclipse Attack
- Isolating a node by controlling all of its peer connections, feeding it a false view of the network.
- EdDSA / Ed25519
- A signature scheme used by Solana, Cardano, and others, valued for speed and resistance to certain implementation errors.
- EIP-1559
- The Ethereum fee-market reform introducing the burned base fee, priority tips, and more predictable fee estimation.
- EIP-4844 (Proto-Danksharding)
- The Ethereum upgrade introducing blob transactions, sharply reducing the cost of posting rollup data.
- Elastic Supply
- A supply that expands and contracts algorithmically according to defined conditions.
- Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)
- The family of public-key cryptography used by most blockchains, offering strong security with comparatively small key sizes.
- Emergency Multisig / Security Council
- A designated group empowered to act rapidly during an incident, subject to defined constraints.
- Emission Schedule
- The rate at which new tokens enter circulation over time.
- Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD)
- Deeper investigation applied to higher-risk customers and relationships.
- Entropy
- The measure of unpredictability in the random data used to generate keys. Insufficient entropy is a recurring cause of catastrophic key compromise.
- Epoch
- A grouping of slots used for validator set management, reward accounting, and finality checkpoints. Thirty-two slots on Ethereum.
- ERC-1155
- A multi-token standard allowing fungible, non-fungible, and semi-fungible tokens within one contract, with efficient batch operations.
- ERC-20
- The Ethereum standard for fungible tokens, defining transfer, balance, and approval behaviour. The most widely implemented token standard in the industry.
- ERC-2612 (Permit)
- An extension allowing approvals via signature rather than an on-chain transaction, saving users a step and a fee.
- ERC-4337
- The Ethereum standard implementing account abstraction without protocol changes, introducing UserOperations, Bundlers, and Paymasters.
- ERC-4626
- The tokenized vault standard, defining a common interface for yield-bearing deposit shares.
- ERC-721
- The Ethereum standard for non-fungible tokens, assigning each token a unique identifier.
- Ethereum Name Service (ENS)
- A naming system mapping human-readable names to addresses and other records.
- Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)
- The runtime environment executing Ethereum smart contracts. Its instruction set has become a de facto industry standard.
- Ethers.js / viem / web3.js
- JavaScript libraries for interacting with EVM chains from applications.
- Event / Log
- Data emitted by a contract during execution, indexed for efficient off-chain querying. The primary mechanism for applications to track on-chain activity.
- EVM-Compatible / EVM-Equivalent
- Describing a chain that can execute EVM bytecode, allowing existing contracts and tooling to be reused with little or no modification.
- Exchange Netflow
- The net movement of assets onto or off exchange wallets, interpreted as a directional signal.
- Execution Layer
- The component that processes transactions and computes state transitions.
- Exit Liquidity
- Late buyers whose purchases enable earlier holders to sell profitably.
- Exit Scam
- A service accumulating deposits before ceasing operations and absconding with funds.
- Expiry
- The date a derivative contract settles.