CeFi (Centralized Finance) — Web3 Glossary

101 terms • Part of the Cointegrity Web3 Glossary

• ADCB (Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank) — Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank is one of the UAE's largest commercial banks by assets and a Platinum...
• ADGM (Abu Dhabi Global Market) — The Abu Dhabi Global Market is an international financial free zone located in Abu Dhabi and...
• Advanced Order Types — Advanced order types are sophisticated trading instructions that extend beyond simple market and...
• Anchorage Digital — Anchorage Digital is a federally chartered digital asset bank that combines traditional banking...
• Bank of Transilvania — Bank of Transilvania (Banca Transilvania) is Romania's largest commercial bank by assets, deposits,...
• Bank Regulation — The body of law, rules, and supervisory frameworks that govern the activities of depository...
• Banking — The traditional financial system of depository institutions that accept deposits from the public,...
• Barry Silbert — Barry Silbert is a serial entrepreneur and investor who founded Digital Currency Group (DCG) in...
• Binance — Binance is the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, founded by Changpeng Zhao...
• Bitfinex — Bitfinex is a premium cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2012 and operated by iFinex Inc., catering...
• Bitget — Bitget is a cryptocurrency exchange platform that specializes in copy trading and social trading...
• BitGo — BitGo is a comprehensive cryptocurrency custody and security platform serving institutional clients...
• Bitstamp — Bitstamp is one of the cryptocurrency industry's oldest and most established exchanges, founded in...
• BlackRock — The world's largest asset management firm, overseeing approximately $10 trillion in assets under...
• Block (formerly Square) — Block, formerly known as Square Inc., is a financial services and digital payments company founded...
• Brad Garlinghouse — Brad Garlinghouse is the CEO of Ripple Labs, the company behind the XRP cryptocurrency and the...
• Brian Armstrong — Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, the largest and most prominent...
• BUIDL (BlackRock) — BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (ticker: BUIDL) represents the world's largest...
• Bybit — Bybit is a derivatives-focused cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2018 that specializes in...
• Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss — Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are twin brothers who became prominent figures in cryptocurrency...
• Cathie Wood — Cathie Wood is the founder and CEO of ARK Invest, a prominent investment management firm known for...
• CeFi (Centralized Finance) — Centralized Finance refers to cryptocurrency financial services operated by centralized...
• CeFi-DeFi Convergence — CeFi-DeFi convergence describes the emerging hybrid financial models that combine the operational...
• Central Ledger — A central ledger is a single, authoritative record-keeping system where one entity maintains the...
• Centralized — Centralized systems concentrate decision-making authority and control in a single entity or small...
• Centralized Exchange (CEX) — A centralized exchange is a cryptocurrency trading platform operated by a single company that acts...
• Centralized Risk Management — Centralized Risk Management refers to proprietary systems employed by cryptocurrency platforms to...
• Changpeng Zhao (CZ) — Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, is a Chinese-Canadian cryptocurrency entrepreneur who founded Binance...
• Circle — Circle is a fintech company founded in 2013 that has become a central figure in the stablecoin...
• Coinbase — Coinbase is a leading U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2012 that revolutionized retail...
• Copper — Copper is a digital asset custody and prime services platform designed to provide...
• Corporate Treasury Strategies — Corporate treasury strategies involving cryptocurrency represent structured approaches for...
• CRO (Crypto.com) — CRO is the native utility token of the Crypto.com ecosystem, serving multiple functions across...
• Crypto Custody — The secure holding of cryptocurrency private keys or digital assets on behalf of clients, an...
• Crypto.com — Crypto.com is a comprehensive cryptocurrency platform that serves as both a centralized exchange...
• Custodial Wallets — Custodial wallets are digital asset storage solutions where a centralized service provider...
• De-risking — De-risking refers to the practice of financial institutions or crypto businesses terminating...
• Emirates NBD — Emirates NBD is the UAE's largest banking group by total assets, majority-owned by the Investment...
• Exchange Market Share — Exchange market share represents the percentage of total cryptocurrency trading volume processed by...
• Exchange Reserves — Exchange reserves represent the total cryptocurrency and fiat currency assets held by an exchange...
• Exchange Security — The set of technical, operational, and procedural safeguards implemented by cryptocurrency...
• Fiat Off-Ramps — Fiat off-ramps are services that enable cryptocurrency holders to convert digital assets back into...
• Fiat On-Ramps — Fiat on-ramps are services and platforms that enable users to convert traditional government-issued...
• Financial Stability Board Crypto Recommendations 2025 — The Financial Stability Board's 2025 crypto recommendations represent updated international...
• Franklin Templeton — A global investment management firm founded in 1947 and managing over $1.5 trillion in assets as of...
• FTX Collapse — The sudden and dramatic collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022. Once one of...
• Gate.io — Gate.io is a cryptocurrency exchange established in 2013, operating as one of the longest-running...
• Gemini — Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2015 by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, headquartered...
• Hex Trust — Hex Trust is a licensed digital asset custody platform offering institutional-grade security...
• Hong Kong Crypto Hub Initiative 2025 — The Hong Kong Crypto Hub Initiative 2025 is a strategic regulatory framework designed to position...
• HTX (formerly Huobi) — HTX, the rebranded version of Huobi Global, is a major cryptocurrency exchange continuing to...
• Huobi — Huobi is a cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2013, originally operating out of China before...
• Institutional Adoption — The process by which traditional financial institutions, including banks, asset managers, hedge...
• Institutional Asset Management — Institutional Asset Management in crypto encompasses professional portfolio management services...
• Institutional Capital Flows — Institutional capital flows represent large-scale investment movements from traditional financial...
• Institutional Custody — Institutional custody refers to enterprise-grade storage and management solutions designed to...
• Institutional Lending — Institutional lending services provide customized cryptocurrency loan products designed...
• Institutional Services — Specialized products, infrastructure, and support offerings built for professional investors, asset...
• Institutional Trading Infrastructure — Institutional trading infrastructure encompasses specialized platforms, APIs, risk management...
• JPMorgan Chase — JPMorgan Chase, the largest U.S. bank by assets and a global financial powerhouse, underwent a...
• Jump Crypto — The cryptocurrency division of Jump Trading, a high-frequency trading and quantitative research...
• Kraken — Kraken is a San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2011 that has established itself...
• KuCoin — KuCoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange platform founded in 2017 and headquartered in...
• Liquidity Aggregation — Liquidity aggregation is technology infrastructure that combines available liquidity from multiple...
• LSEG (London Stock Exchange Group) — The London Stock Exchange Group is one of the world's leading financial market infrastructure...
• Maple Finance — Maple Finance is a decentralized credit protocol built on blockchain that enables institutional...
• Market Maker Programs — Market Maker Programs are incentive structures implemented by centralized exchanges to attract...
• Market Makers — Market makers are specialized traders or entities that provide essential liquidity to...
• MEXC — MEXC is a global cryptocurrency exchange known for rapidly listing new and emerging tokens, often...
• Michael Saylor — Michael Saylor is the executive chairman and founder of MicroStrategy, a business intelligence...
• MicroStrategy — MicroStrategy is a publicly-traded business intelligence and analytics software company that...
• Mike Novogratz — Mike Novogratz is a prominent cryptocurrency industry executive and former hedge fund manager who...
• Money Market Fund — A type of mutual fund that invests in short-term, high-quality debt instruments including US...
• Mt. Gox Hack — The Mt. Gox hack was a catastrophic security breach of the world's largest Bitcoin exchange at the...
• Multi-party Computation (MPC) Wallets — Multi-party computation wallets are advanced cryptocurrency security solutions that distribute...
• Multi-Party Computation as-a-Service — A cloud-based service platform that provides institutional-grade security for managing and storing...
• Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins — This principle asserts that cryptocurrency ownership is only truly secured when an individual...
• OKX — OKX is a global cryptocurrency exchange offering spot trading, derivatives, and decentralized...
• Order Books — Order books are the fundamental mechanism centralized exchanges use to facilitate trading by...
• Over-the-Counter (OTC) Trading — Over-the-Counter (OTC) trading refers to large-volume cryptocurrency transactions executed directly...
• Pantera Capital — Pantera Capital is the first institutional investment firm established exclusively to focus on...
• Paxos — A regulated financial technology company and trust company founded in 2012 that specializes in...
• PayFi — PayFi, short for Payment Finance, is a category of blockchain-based financial infrastructure that...
• PayPal — PayPal, the globally recognized digital payments platform serving over 400 million users across...
• Pool Delegates — Pool Delegates are specialized entities within the Maple Finance ecosystem tasked with conducting...
• Prime Brokerage Services — Prime brokerage services in cryptocurrency represent a comprehensive suite of financial offerings...
• Project Agorá — Project Agorá is a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub initiative developing a...
• Project Aperta — Project Aperta is a Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub initiative led by the...
• PYUSD — PayPal USD (PYUSD) is a regulated stablecoin issued by Paxos Trust Company on behalf of PayPal,...
• Qivalis — Qivalis B.V. is an Amsterdam-domiciled joint venture established by a consortium of European banks...
• Regulatory Compliance — Regulatory compliance in CeFi encompasses the operational processes, technology systems, and...
• Ripple — Ripple is a fintech company that focuses on enabling fast, low-cost cross-border payments using...
• Robert Leshner — The American entrepreneur and investor who founded Compound Finance, one of DeFi's foundational...
• Staking-as-a-Service — Staking-as-a-Service platforms automate the technical and operational complexities of...
• Tesla — Tesla, the leading electric vehicle manufacturer and energy company led by Elon Musk, made a...
• Tim Draper — Tim Draper is a venture capitalist and Bitcoin pioneer who became famous for purchasing...
• Tokenized Deposits — Tokenized deposits are digital tokens issued on blockchain networks that represent traditional bank...
• Tokenized Treasuries — On-chain digital tokens that represent ownership of US Treasury bills, notes, bonds, or...
• Traditional Finance — The established financial system comprising banks, asset managers, insurance companies, stock...
• VARA (Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority) — The Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority is Dubai's independent regulator for virtual assets,...
• Yield Accounts — Yield accounts are centralized platform products that generate interest income on cryptocurrency...