Decryptopedia™

Terms that start with “M”

1. Mainnet

   Mainnet is a term used to describe a working, fully-operational blockchain. A mainnet network has been fully deployed and is in production, like the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains.

2. Market Capitalization (Market Cap)

   Market Capitalization (Market Cap) is a total dollar value given to an asset (like Bitcoin), or an entire asset class (all cryptocurrencies), calculated by taking that asset’s circulating supply and multiplying it by the market price of that asset.

3. Market Order

   Soemtimes called instant orders, an order that lets a trader buy or sell a cryptocurrency immediately. When a market order is placed, a trader doesn’t have to wait for the asset he’s buying or selling to reach a certain price. Market orders don’t guarantee the exact price that you see on the screen, but market orders are the fastest way to buy or sell.

4. MCAP

   MCAP is an acronym for Market Capitalization, or Market Cap.

5. Metaverse

   The Metaverse should give you the opportunity to do virtually anything you can do in the “real” world, but online…virtually. Some common characteristics of the metaverse that are discussed today include the use of virtual reality (VR) interfaces (goggles, headsets, etc.), augmented personal avatars that represent you in the digital world, and ownership of digital goods.

6. Miner Fee

   Another name for transaction fees that a blockchain network charges to execute and validate transactions on the blockchain network of choice. Miners are incentivized to do the work of verifying transactions, confirming transactions, and then adding those transactions to a new block, which is finally added to the blockchain. This is accomplished by miners by using their vast amounts of computing power to be the quickest at solving complex and expensive cryptographic problems faster than the next miner.

7. Money Legos

   Also called Money Legos, refers to the idea of composability, the combining of simple protocols that are already doing something very well on their own, into a brand new protocol or service. Lego blocks, or individual protocols operating on the same blockchain network, can “snap” onto another Lego block, or protocol, creating new and incredible DeFi projects. The protocols can interoperate, or work together using middleware, that binds the various protocols together.

8. Money Services Business (MSB)

   A business, or person acting as a business, that transmits, exchanges, or converts money. MSB regulation is part of a larger AML program overseen by FinCEN.

9. Moon

   Moon or Mooning is slang, and it describes when a cryptocurrency’s price increases sharply and quickly in value. It soars up into the sky, towards the moon!