Financial Glossary
Clear, jargon-free definitions of the most common financial and crypto terms.
A
Accumulation fund
An investment fund that automatically reinvests the dividends and coupons it generates, instead of distributing them to unit holders.
View definition Crypto / DeFiAirdrop
Free distribution of a crypto project's tokens to a list of wallets, usually as a promotion or a reward for having used the protocol before its official launch.
View definition Personal financeAsset pledge (Pignoración)
Putting up an asset (an investment, a deposit, a home) as collateral for a loan, without needing to sell it to access liquidity.
View definition Crypto / DeFiATH (All-Time High)
The highest price an asset has ever reached, whether a cryptocurrency, a stock, or any other traded instrument.
View definitionB
Ballena (Whale)
A wallet or investor holding such a large amount of a cryptocurrency that its moves can noticeably influence the market price.
View definition Personal financeBank deposit
A savings product where you hand your money to the bank for a fixed term in exchange for an agreed interest rate, guaranteed up to €100,000 by the Deposit Guarantee Fund.
View definition Crypto / DeFiBlockchain
A ledger distributed across thousands of computers, where each block of data links to the previous one so that it cannot be altered without changing the entire chain.
View definitionC
Cartera caliente (Hot Wallet)
A cryptocurrency wallet connected to the internet (mobile app, browser extension, or exchange), convenient for everyday use but more exposed to remote attacks.
View definition Crypto / DeFiCartera fría (Cold Wallet)
A cryptocurrency wallet whose private keys are generated and stored without any internet connection, drastically reducing the risk of remote theft.
View definition Crypto / DeFiCEX (Centralized Exchange)
A cryptocurrency trading platform run by a company that holds custody of users' funds, similar to a bank.
View definition Personal financeCompound interest
Interest calculated not only on the initial capital, but also on the interest already generated, accelerating growth over time.
View definition Personal financeCrowdfunding
Collective funding of a project, company, or property through small contributions from many individual investors, usually via an online platform.
View definition Crypto / DeFiCryptocurrency
A digital asset that uses cryptography and a decentralized ledger (blockchain) to operate without needing a central bank or intermediary.
View definitionD
DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging)
An investment strategy that consists of investing a fixed amount of money at regular intervals, regardless of the asset's price at each point in time.
View definition Crypto / DeFiDeFi (Decentralized Finance)
A set of financial applications (lending, exchanges, savings) built on blockchain that operate without banks or traditional intermediaries.
View definition Crypto / DeFiDEX (Decentralized Exchange)
A platform for buying and selling cryptocurrencies directly between users through smart contracts, without a company holding custody of the money or acting as an intermediary.
View definition Personal financeDistribution fund
An investment fund that periodically pays out to unit holders the dividends and coupons generated by its portfolio, instead of reinvesting them.
View definition MarketsDividend
The portion of profit that a company distributes to its shareholders, usually in cash, as a return for holding its shares.
View definition Crypto / DeFiDYOR (Do Your Own Research)
A basic principle in crypto that encourages researching a project on your own before investing, rather than relying solely on recommendations from others.
View definitionE
EPSV (Entidad de Previsión Social Voluntaria)
A retirement savings vehicle specific to the Basque Country, equivalent to pension plans but governed by regional (foral) regulations, with specific tax advantages.
View definition Macro dataEuríbor
The interest rate at which major European banks lend money to one another, used as the reference rate for most variable-rate mortgages in Spain.
View definitionH
Halving
A scheduled event in Bitcoin (and similar cryptocurrencies) that cuts in half the reward miners receive for validating blocks, roughly every four years.
View definition MarketsHedge
A strategy to reduce or offset the risk of a position by opening another position that moves in the opposite direction in response to the same event.
View definition Crypto / DeFiHODL
A strategy (and slang term from crypto culture) that consists of holding an investment for the long term without selling, despite market volatility.
View definitionI
Impermanent Loss
The loss in value that a liquidity provider in a DeFi pool experiences compared to simply having held (hodled) the same assets.
View definition Macro dataInflation
A widespread, sustained rise in the prices of goods and services, which reduces the purchasing power of money over time.
View definition Personal financeInterest-bearing account
A bank account that pays interest on the balance held, with the advantage that the money remains available at any time.
View definition Macro dataIPC (Consumer Price Index)
An indicator that measures the average change in prices of goods and services consumed by households, the basis for the official calculation of inflation.
View definition MarketsIPO / OPV (Going Public)
The process by which a private company puts its shares up for sale to the public for the first time, beginning to trade on a stock market.
View definition TaxationIRPF (Impuesto sobre la Renta de las Personas Físicas)
A progressive tax on the income of individuals resident in Spain, covering salary, rental income, investment returns, and capital gains.
View definitionL
Leverage
Use of borrowed capital to increase the size of an investment, multiplying both potential gains and potential losses.
View definition Crypto / DeFiLiquidity (liquidity pool)
How easily an asset can be converted into cash without affecting its price; in DeFi, the funds that make automatic token swaps possible.
View definition Crypto / DeFiLiquidity pool
A smart contract where multiple users deposit a pair of tokens to enable automatic swaps between them on a DEX, earning a share of the fees in return.
View definitionM
Mining
The process of using computing power to validate transactions and create new blocks on a proof-of-work blockchain, receiving new coins and fees in return.
View definition Personal financeMoney market fund
An investment fund that only invests in very short-term, low-risk debt instruments, such as Treasury bills or interbank deposits.
View definition Personal financeMortgage
A long-term loan for buying a property, secured by the property itself as collateral in case of default.
View definitionN
NAV (Net Asset Value)
The value of a single unit of an investment fund, calculated by dividing the fund's total assets by the number of units outstanding.
View definition Personal financeNet worth
Everything you own (assets) minus everything you owe (liabilities or debts).
View definition Crypto / DeFiNFT (Non-Fungible Token)
A token recorded on a blockchain that represents ownership of a unique asset (a digital artwork, a collectible, an access right), not interchangeable 1:1 with another.
View definitionS
Satoshi
The smallest unit of Bitcoin (one hundred-millionth of a bitcoin) and the name of the pseudonym under which the original project was published in 2008.
View definition Crypto / DeFiSeed Phrase
A set of 12 or 24 words that lets you fully recover or restore access to a cryptocurrency wallet, including all of its private keys.
View definition MarketsSharpe Ratio
Measures an investment's return adjusted for the risk taken, comparing the excess return over a risk-free asset with the portfolio's volatility.
View definition MarketsSpread
The difference between the buy price and the sell price of an asset (or between two interest rates), which typically represents the margin or implicit cost of a trade.
View definition Crypto / DeFiStablecoin
A cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value, usually pegged 1:1 to a fiat currency such as the dollar or the euro.
View definition Crypto / DeFiStaking
Locking up cryptocurrencies to help validate transactions on a blockchain network (proof of stake), receiving a periodic reward in return.
View definitionT
TAE (Tasa Anual Equivalente / APR)
The real cost or return of a financial product over one year, including fees and the effect of compounding frequency.
View definition MarketsTakeover Bid (OPA)
An operation in which a company or investor offers to buy the shares of a listed company, usually at a price above market value, in order to gain control of it.
View definition Personal financeTIN (Tipo de Interés Nominal)
The plain interest rate the bank applies, not counting fees or associated costs.
View definition MarketsTreasury Bills (Letras del Tesoro)
Short-term Spanish government debt (up to 12 months) issued by the Spanish state, considered one of the safest assets in the market.
View definition