Search Results

What is an appchain An appchain (application-specific blockchain) is a blockchain built to serve a single application or a narrow set of related functions. Unlike general-purpose chains — where hundreds of unrelated applications share the same block space, val...

What is the EVM The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) is the computation engine that powers Ethereum and a large number of other blockchains. It is the software environment that executes smart contracts — self-enforcing programs stored on the blockchain. When a d...

What is a non-EVM blockchain A non-EVM blockchain is any blockchain that does not use the Ethereum Virtual Machine as its execution engine. Instead of running Solidity bytecode, non-EVM chains use different virtual machines, different programming languages, an...

What is a subnet A subnet (subnetwork) is an independent, purpose-built network that operates within or alongside a larger blockchain platform. Instead of forcing every application to share the same set of validators, rules, and throughput, a subnet allows a s...

What is multichain and cross-chain Multichain describes a project that exists or operates on more than one blockchain simultaneously. Cross-chain refers to the ability to move assets, data, or messages between different blockchains. A bridge is the specific me...

What is a blockchain bridge A blockchain bridge is a protocol or system that enables the transfer of assets, data, or messages between two separate blockchain networks. Because blockchains are independent ledgers with no built-in ability to read each other's s...

What is a blockchain oracle A blockchain oracle is a service that supplies external data to smart contracts on a blockchain. Smart contracts can only access information that already exists on their own chain — they cannot call external APIs, read web pages, or...

What is RPC RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is a communication protocol that allows an application to request a service from a program running on another computer without needing to understand the details of that computer's network. In the blockchain context, RPC ...

What is privacy in crypto and AI Privacy in the context of crypto and AI refers to the ability to process, store, and transmit data without exposing it to unauthorized parties. In decentralized systems, privacy is especially challenging because blockchains are...

What is a TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) A Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) is a secure, hardware-isolated area within a processor that runs code and processes data in a way that is protected from the rest of the system — including the operating system...

What is ZK (zero-knowledge) Zero-knowledge proofs (ZK proofs) are a cryptographic technique that allows one party (the prover) to convince another party (the verifier) that a statement is true — without revealing any information beyond the truth of the stateme...

What is restaking Restaking is a mechanism that allows tokens already staked to secure one network to be simultaneously used as economic security for additional services or protocols. Instead of each new service having to build its own validator set and bootst...

What is an AVS An AVS (Actively Validated Service) is a decentralized service that relies on a set of validators who actively perform tasks and put economic stake at risk to guarantee honest behavior. Unlike a smart contract that executes passively when called...

What is MEV MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) is the profit that block producers — validators, miners, or sequencers — can capture by strategically ordering, inserting, or excluding transactions within the blocks they produce. Because the entity assembling a blo...

What is a sequencer A sequencer is the component in a Layer 2 (L2) network responsible for receiving user transactions, ordering them, and producing L2 blocks before the final data is submitted to the underlying Layer 1 chain for settlement. In most current L2...

What is a GPU in crypto AI A GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) is a processor originally designed for rendering graphics that has become the dominant hardware for AI workloads. GPUs excel at parallel computation — performing thousands of simple mathematical opera...

What is a validator A validator is a network participant that verifies transactions, proposes new blocks, and helps maintain the integrity of a blockchain. In proof-of-stake (PoS) and related consensus mechanisms, validators lock up (stake) tokens as collatera...

What is a blockchain node A node is a computer that runs a blockchain's software, maintains a copy of the ledger, and participates in the network by receiving, validating, and relaying transactions and blocks. Nodes are the physical infrastructure that keeps a...