Kite

Decode finance jargon with Kite

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Terms starting with M

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Explain it like a bankFlips every card at once

Mainnet

also called testnet

The live network with real money on it. Testnet is the identical system with worthless play tokens, used to rehearse.

What you already know this as

Production versus the staging environment. Nobody wants to confuse the two.

Price multiplied by circulating supply. A useful size comparison and a poor measure of how much money is actually in something.

What you already know this as

Market capitalisation of a listed company, with the same limitation.

Memo

also called tag, destination tag

An extra reference some networks and exchanges require alongside the address. Leave it off where it is required and the funds land in the right building but not in the right room.

What you already know this as

The reference field on a transfer to a pooled client account. The account number gets it to the bank, the reference gets it to you.

Merchant QR

also called QR payment, scan to pay

The printed code taped to a counter that identifies the seller's account. Your app reads it, you approve an amount, and the money is pushed to them. No terminal, no card, no hardware for the merchant to buy.

What you already know this as

A payment request rather than a card charge. You push money to them instead of them pulling it from you.

In Kite: Scan and Pay reads the local merchant code and pays straight from your balance. Nothing to load first.

MEV

also called maximal extractable value

Profit extracted by whoever gets to order transactions in a block, by putting theirs ahead of yours. It is why a trade sometimes fills slightly worse than quoted.

What you already know this as

Front running, and the co-location arms race that made it a business.

MiCA

also called Markets in Crypto-Assets

The European Union's crypto rulebook, notable for setting reserve and reporting requirements for stablecoin issuers. It has become a reference point well beyond Europe.

What you already know this as

A licensing regime, of the same species as the e-money and payment services rules that came before it.

MPC

also called multi-party computation, TSS, threshold signatures

A way to split a private key into shares held in different places, so no single share can move money and no single breach can steal it. The shares co-operate to sign without ever being reassembled into one key.

What you already know this as

A safe that needs two managers turning two keys at once, except the whole key is never assembled in one room even for a moment.

In Kite: This is how Kite secures your wallet. Keys are split across parties using TSS-MPC, with social login backup so a lost phone is not a lost balance.

Multisig

also called multi-signature

A wallet that needs several approvals before money moves, such as two of three designated signers. Standard for company treasuries and shared funds.

What you already know this as

A joint account requiring two signatures, or dual authorisation on a corporate payment.

All 8 terms shown.