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NFT (non-fungible token)

A token that is unique and not interchangeable with another of its kind. It records on a blockchain who holds a specific item — a ticket, a certificate, a membership, a piece of art. The NFT itself is the record; the thing it refers to may live elsewhere.

Token

An entry on a blockchain that represents something and can be held and transferred. Fungible tokens (like a currency) are interchangeable; non-fungible tokens are each one of a kind.

Smart contract

A program deployed on a blockchain that runs exactly as written when called. It holds the rules of a token — who may mint, transfer or burn it — so that nobody has to be trusted to apply them.

Wallet

Software or hardware that controls the keys to a blockchain address. It does not "contain" assets; it proves you are allowed to move what the blockchain records under your address.

MPC wallet

A wallet whose key is split between several parties using multi-party computation. The parties sign together, so the complete key never exists in one place and there is no single seed phrase to lose or steal.

Ledger-based security

A Swiss legal category (Registerwertrecht), introduced by the DLT Act in 2021, for rights such as shares or bonds that exist and are transferred only through a qualifying distributed ledger.

Mint

To create a new token on a blockchain. Minting an NFT writes a new, unique entry and assigns it to an address.

Gas

The fee paid to the network for processing a transaction, measured in the blockchain's own currency. Some services sponsor gas so that users never need to hold that currency.

Custody

Who controls the keys to an asset. Self-custody means you do; a custodian means a third party does on your behalf. In Switzerland, holding crypto assets for others can be a regulated activity.

Provenance

The verifiable history of an item: who created it and every owner since. On a blockchain this history is public and cannot be rewritten after the fact.

Royalty

A share of each resale paid back to the original creator. Royalties can be declared in a token standard, but whether they are paid usually depends on the marketplace.

Layer 2

A network built on top of a base blockchain (Layer 1) that processes transactions more cheaply and quickly, then settles the results back on the base chain for its security. Base, Arbitrum and Optimism are examples on Ethereum.

Stablecoin

A token designed to keep a stable value, usually one unit of a currency such as the US dollar or Swiss franc, typically backed by reserves held by the issuer.

DAO

A decentralised autonomous organisation: a group that coordinates through rules in smart contracts, often voting with tokens. Its legal status varies; in Switzerland a DAO frequently wraps itself in an association or foundation.

Zero-knowledge

A cryptographic method for proving a statement is true without revealing the underlying data — for example, proving you are over 18 without revealing your birth date.

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