Crypto words, made simple

Everything you might bump into on ClearScan, in one or two sentences each.

Wallet address

A public account number on Solana. Anyone can look it up, like a public bank account number — but it can't be used to take money.

Only the secret recovery phrase or private key can move funds. Never share those. ClearScan only ever needs the public address.

SOL

Solana's own currency. It pays network fees and can be traded like any other coin.

Token

Any coin that lives on Solana besides SOL — stablecoins like USDC, meme coins like BONK, and many more.

Stablecoin

A token designed to stay worth about $1, like USDC or USDT.

Swap

Trading one token for another in a single step, using an exchange program on Solana.

Network fee

A tiny amount of SOL paid to the network to process a transaction. It's charged even if the transaction fails.

Failed transaction

The network tried to run it but it didn't go through — usually because prices moved too fast. Nothing was traded, but the fee is still charged.

Refundable deposit (rent)

Solana asks for a small refundable deposit (about 0.002 SOL) to store each token a wallet holds. You get it back when the empty token account is closed.

Speed-up fee (priority fee or tip)

An optional extra payment to get a transaction processed faster, common with trading bots.

Staking

Lending SOL to a validator that helps run the network, in return for rewards. Unstaking takes about 2 days.

Liquidity pool

A pot of two tokens that traders swap against. People who add tokens to the pool earn a share of trading fees.

Minting

Creating brand-new tokens. If tokens are minted straight into a wallet, they didn't come from another person's balance.

Burning

Permanently destroying tokens. Often used to get rid of unwanted spam tokens.

Receipt ID (signature)

The unique ID of a transaction, like a receipt number. Explorers call it the signature. You can paste it into Solscan to look it up.

Who approved it (signer)

The wallet or wallets that approved this transaction with their secret key. Usually that's the wallet owner.

Block number (slot)

Solana groups transactions into numbered blocks about every half second. The number tells you exactly when it was recorded.

Computing work used (compute units)

How much processing a transaction needed. Busier transactions, like multi-step trades, use more.

App (program)

Code that runs on Solana, like an exchange or the token system. Explorers call these programs.

Wrapped SOL (WSOL)

SOL temporarily packaged as a token so exchanges can trade it. ClearScan counts it as plain SOL.

Token holder account (token account)

A small side account a wallet uses to hold one kind of token. Opening one needs a refundable deposit.

Token ID (mint address)

The unique address of a token. Two tokens can share a name, but never a token ID, so this is how you tell real from fake.

App notes (logs)

Messages apps write while a transaction runs. Mostly for experts, but handy for seeing why something failed.

App (protocol)

An app that runs on Solana, like the Jupiter exchange or the Raydium trading pools.

Unverified token

A token that isn't on a trusted list. Many are spam airdrops sent to random wallets — be careful with any links they promote.

Portfolio value

What the wallet's current holdings are worth at today's prices. It is not profit.

Profit

How much more a wallet got out of its trades than it put in. Working this out needs the full trading history and old prices, so ClearScan shows "Insufficient data" rather than guessing.