Decode finance jargon with Kite
All 123 terms
Showing 24 of 123
Liquid staking
also called delegated stakingStaking through a service that hands you a tradeable receipt token, so your capital stays usable while it is locked.
A fund unit you can sell on, representing bonds you cannot.
Your collateral being sold automatically because its value fell below the threshold. There is no phone call and no grace period, because there is nobody to make one.
A margin call that executes itself the instant it is breached.
How much you can trade without moving the price. Deep liquidity means the quote you see is the price you get, which matters far more than the headline fee.
Market depth. The reason a big FX order and a small one get different rates.
A shared pot of two tokens that traders trade against. The people who supplied it earn a cut of the fees, and carry the risk when prices diverge.
A market maker's inventory, funded by many small investors instead of one desk.
The money the person you are paying actually wants. A payment that ends in the seller's own currency needs no explanation from them and no conversion by them.
Choosing to be charged in the local currency at a card terminal, which is the cheaper answer nearly every time.
In Kite: You hold dollars, the merchant is paid in their currency, and neither of you has to think about the swap.
Price multiplied by circulating supply. A useful size comparison and a poor measure of how much money is actually in something.
Market capitalisation of a listed company, with the same limitation.
Memo
also called tag, destination tagAn 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.
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 payThe 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.
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 valueProfit 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.
Front running, and the co-location arms race that made it a business.
MiCA
also called Markets in Crypto-AssetsThe European Union's crypto rulebook, notable for setting reserve and reporting requirements for stablecoin issuers. It has become a reference point well beyond Europe.
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 signaturesA 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.
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-signatureA wallet that needs several approvals before money moves, such as two of three designated signers. Standard for company treasuries and shared funds.
A joint account requiring two signatures, or dual authorisation on a corporate payment.
Network
also called chain, blockchain networkWhich blockchain a transfer travels on, such as Ethereum, Base or Polygon. The same stablecoin exists on several networks and they are not interchangeable in transit. Sender and receiver must agree on one.
Choosing SWIFT, SEPA or a domestic rail. Same money, different pipe, different cost and speed, and the wrong pipe means the payment fails.
In Kite: You can top up with USDC on Base, Ethereum or Polygon, or USDT on Ethereum or Polygon.
A computer running the blockchain's software, keeping a copy of the ledger and checking that everyone else is playing by the rules.
A member bank's server in a clearing network, if any volunteer could run one and audit every other member.
Reading public blockchain data to trace flows and assess risk. Because the ledger is public, this is considerably easier than the equivalent in banking.
Transaction monitoring, except the analyst does not need a subpoena to see the data.
On-chain transfer
also called transaction, transfer, txMoving value directly on a blockchain, from your wallet to theirs, with no bank in the middle. It settles in one step, and once it is final it stays final.
A wire or an instant payment, except settlement and messaging are the same event rather than two systems reconciling afterwards.
The live list of buy and sell offers on an exchange. The best bid and best offer meeting in the middle is the price.
The same order book, on the same principle, as any stock exchange.
Depositing more value than you borrow, for example 150 dollars of assets to draw 100. It is how lending works without credit checks.
A secured loan with a deliberately conservative loan-to-value ratio.
Showing 49 to 72 of 123 terms