Glossary

replica

The replica is a collection of protocol components that are necessary for a node to participate in a subnet.

account

A ledger account is a set of entries in the ledger canister, which is a smart contract that mimics the guise and behavior of a regular banking account, whose unit of measure is ICP (Internet Computer Protocol) utility tokens. Ledger accounts are owned by principals, and their ownerships do not change over time. Every account on the ledger has a positive balance measured in ICP with a precision of eight decimals.

address

In the context of transactions on the ledger, address is synonymous with account.

balance

The balance of an account on the ledger is the sum of all deposits minus the sum of all withdrawals. As a degenerate case, it is sometimes useful to say that an account which is not present in the ledger has a balance of zero.

The balance of a ledger account is denominated in ICP and is represented with eight decimals. Thus, the minimum positive balance of an account is 0.00000001 or 10^-8 ICP; this amount is sometimes referred to as one e8.

batch

A batch is a collection of messages whose order is agreed upon by consensus.

beneficiary

The beneficiary of an account is the principal who owns the balance of the account. The beneficiary of an account cannot be changed. The beneficiary of an account may or may not be allowed to make transactions on the account (see fiduciary).

blockchain

A blockchain is a growing list of cryptographically linked blocks, agreed upon by consensus. On the Internet Computer every subnet is a blockchain and these blockchains interact using chain key cryptography.

burning transaction

A burning transaction is the process of "burning" ICP, whereby a certain amount of ICP are destroyed. The main use case is that of purchasing cycles, through which ICP are destroyed while at the same time a corresponding amount of cycles is created, using the current exchange rate between ICP and ( SDR), in such a way that one SDR corresponds to one trillion (10E12) cycles. It is represented as a transaction from the source account to the ICP supply account.