Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)
A technology that uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. RFID has emerging use cases in blockchain-based supply chain and asset tracking systems.
Rage-quit
In decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), rage-quitting is when a member exits by burning their governance tokens and withdrawing their proportional share of treasury assets.
Raiden Network
An Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution designed to facilitate fast, low-cost off-chain token transfers using payment channels, similar to Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.
Rank
A cryptocurrency’s position on a market aggregator, typically based on market capitalization.
Ransomware
Malicious software that encrypts a victim’s files and demands cryptocurrency as ransom to unlock them. Increasingly used in cybercrime targeting corporate or government systems.
Real World Assets (RWAs)
Assets from the traditional economy (e.g., real estate, commodities, invoices) that are tokenized and represented on a blockchain for use in decentralized finance (DeFi).
Rebalancing
A portfolio management strategy that adjusts asset allocations back to a target mix, commonly used to maintain risk exposure across crypto holdings.
Rebase
A mechanism where a token’s total supply is automatically adjusted based on its price to stabilize or manipulate value. Examples include Ampleforth.
Recovery Seed
A sequence of 12–24 words generated during wallet setup. This seed can recover all wallet contents and must be securely stored offline.
Recursion
A programming function or algorithm that calls itself, often used in smart contract design or layered blockchain logic.
Redundancy
The inclusion of backup components in a system to ensure continued operation during failures — essential in decentralized network reliability.
Regenerative Economy
An economic system focused on restoring and regenerating natural and social capital. Blockchain-based carbon markets are one application.
Regenerative Finance (ReFi)
A financial movement using crypto to fund climate-positive projects, regenerative agriculture, or community goods through mechanisms like tokenization and smart contracts.
Regens
Crypto participants involved in ReFi projects aiming to regenerate ecosystems or social systems, as opposed to pure speculation (contrast: “degens”).
Regional/Local/Community Currencies
Cryptocurrencies designed for use within a specific locality or community, often aimed at strengthening local economies or incentivizing cooperation.
Regulated
A condition where financial or crypto activity is governed by legal and compliance standards enforced by regulatory authorities.
Regulatory Compliance
The process of adhering to laws and rules applicable to financial services, including KYC, AML, and data privacy in crypto contexts.
Rehypothecation
The practice where financial institutions reuse collateral posted by clients to secure their own borrowing or leverage — a controversial topic in crypto lending.
REKT
Crypto slang for “wrecked,” used when a trader suffers a significant loss.
Relative Strength Index (RSI)
A momentum oscillator used in technical analysis to measure overbought or oversold conditions. RSI values range from 0 to 100.
Relay Chain
Polkadot’s main blockchain, which coordinates the network and connects various parachains with shared security and consensus.
Relay Nodes
Nodes that validate and relay data between block-producing nodes without creating blocks themselves — important for communication integrity.
Renewable Energy
Energy derived from resources like wind or solar. Several crypto mining operations are shifting toward renewables to address sustainability concerns.
Repair Miners
Proposed nodes in the Filecoin network responsible for restoring lost or damaged storage data.
Replay Attack
A cybersecurity attack where previously valid data transmissions are maliciously repeated to deceive or exploit the receiver.
Replicated Ledger
A synchronized copy of a blockchain or distributed ledger that exists on multiple nodes to ensure fault tolerance and trustlessness.
Replicated Security (RS)
A Cosmos ecosystem feature that lets smaller chains share validator sets and security mechanisms with larger chains via IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication).
Resistance (Line/Level)
A chart level at which price repeatedly struggles to break above. Often used by traders as a signal for potential reversal or breakout.
Restaking
A mechanism allowing stakers to reuse their stake across multiple chains or protocols to improve capital efficiency and extend security guarantees.
Retargeting
An algorithm used in PoW blockchains to adjust mining difficulty in response to changes in network hash rate, ensuring consistent block times.
Retire Your Bloodline
A humorous crypto meme or expression meaning to earn enough profit that you, your children, and future generations never have to work again.
Revenue Participation Tokens
A two-token model where one token represents participation rights and the other delivers revenue distribution. Common in tokenized finance models.
Reverse ICO
A method where an established company issues a token to decentralize governance, monetize their user base, or move toward Web3 infrastructure.
Reverse Indicator
A person or signal that tends to be consistently wrong about market direction. Traders might use them (ironically) as contrarian indicators.
Ring CT (Confidential Transactions)
A privacy feature used in Monero that hides transaction amounts by grouping multiple transactions together with decoy outputs.
Ring Miners
Participants in the Loopring protocol who bundle multiple orders into circular order rings to maximize efficiency and liquidity.
Ring Signature
A cryptographic method that enables a signer to prove they are part of a group without revealing exactly which member signed a message. Used in privacy coins.
Roadmap
A public timeline showing planned feature releases, milestones, or project goals — essential for setting expectations in crypto project development.
Roger Ver
An early Bitcoin evangelist and investor. He later became a leading supporter of Bitcoin Cash after disagreements about scaling solutions.
ROI (Return on Investment)
A financial metric that measures the profitability of an investment, calculated as a ratio of net profit to the cost of investment.
Rollups-as-a-Service (RaaS)
A service model offering turnkey rollup deployment (e.g., zkRollups or optimistic rollups) with no-code tools, integrations, and infrastructure for custom blockchain scalability.
Roth IRA
A retirement investment account with after-tax contributions and tax-free withdrawals. While not crypto-native, some investors use self-directed Roth IRAs to hold digital assets.
Rough Consensus
A governance approach where decisions are made based on general agreement without needing unanimous support — common in decentralized communities.
Ruby (Programming Language)
A dynamic, object-oriented programming language valued for simplicity and readability. Occasionally used in blockchain development environments.
Rug Pull
A scam where project developers withdraw all funds and abandon the project after attracting investors, often via a DeFi token or NFT drop.
Rust
A fast, memory-safe programming language popular for building secure blockchain components (used in Solana, Polkadot, and others).
Ryuk Ransomware
A notorious ransomware strain targeting enterprises, often demanding payment in Bitcoin to decrypt data. It gained attention for its sophistication and high-profile attacks.