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Common Terms

Mini-dictionary specific to the Dank, its products, and Internet Computer ecosystem!

IC

  • Abbreviation of 'Internet Computer'.

Account

  • An account in the Internet Computer is comprised by a Principal ID (public), and a Seed Phrase or Private Key.
  • Your account is both your wallet, and your identity for IC applications.
  • It holds token balances, referenced from their respective ledgers.
  • When added to XTC, it is considered a XTC User.

Cycles Token (XTC) Users

  • A user's Principal ID or Account as stated above, registered as a balance in the XTC Token's canister.
  • It is the same Principal ID, but integrated to XTC.
  • It is registered in te Cycles Token (XTC) canister and assigned a balance.
  • Because of this, the Principal ID can hold Cycles without a separate Cycles Wallet (canister).
  • It is identified and referenced inside and outside of XTC with the original Principal ID.

Cycles Token (XTC).

  • A cycles token that wraps cycles so users can hold them with just a Principal ID
  • Central piece of Dank's cycles finance open internet services.
  • Registered Principal IDs have assigned Cycles Token (XTC) balances.
  • Cycles in XTC are wrapped into Cycles Tokens (XTC). 1 XTC = 1 Trillion Cycles.
  • The XTC canister handles operations and user requested transactions.
  • The XTC canister is compatible with DFX and has proxy canister management calls.

Principal ID (Public Key)

  • A user's main identifier on the Internet Computer.
  • Your wallet address, used to surface balances and authenticate.
  • It's an address you can send cycles or other assets to.
  • It's an identifier you can use to sign into Internet Computer apps.
  • Also could be mentioned as public key or address.
  • Part of a key-pair, therefore accompanied by a private key.
  • On the Internet Computer, they look like:
  • uncuj-asqp4-whsw6-tcfcz-es7ur-jutew-6oi3s-zti6i-bxxfp-zosth-gae

Private Key

  • The private key of the key pair that makes your Principal ID account.
  • You use it to sign and authorize operations in your behalf.
  • Your private key is used to generate your recovery Seed Phrase.
  • You must not share it in any way with anyone.

Wallet

  • The interface you use to surface your Principal ID account and balances.

Seed Phrase

  • A mnemonic phrase version of your account's Private Key.
  • Composed by 12-words in a specific order that represent your Private Key.
  • They are used to recover or import your Principal ID.
  • Example: table birds have paper granola furniture football country mercury genesis soup holder

ICP

  • The main utility and governance token of the Internet Computer
  • Can be locked in the Network Nervous System (NNS) to create "Neurons" (another IC token) to vote on NNS governance.
  • Can be swapped for Cycles (another IC token), currently the only way to create them.
  • Read this post to learn more about them.

Cycles

  • Cycles are another Internet Computer token that represents computational power.
  • You burn it to use that computational power and memory to power canisters and the software in them.
  • They can only be created from ICP.
  • You can send cycles to other Cycles Token (XTC) Users, or to any canisters.
  • You can deposit cycles from external sources to your balance in XTC.

Neurons

  • NNS token held by users to vote on the Network Nervous System governance.
  • Voting power is equal to the amount of ICP locked.
  • Provides a monthly voting reward based on participation.
  • Can be dissolved to withdraw the ICP locked in it.

Canisters

  • Canisters are computational units that can hold both program and state.
  • It's where all code, data, and software lives and is executed on the Internet Computer.
  • They are powered by burning Cycles, which represent computational power they can use on the network.
  • You can build frontends, backends, apps, services, ledgers, databases, or anything in them.
  • Think Smart Contracts on Ethereum, but evolved to hold entire software services.
  • They are tamper-proof and governed by the Internet Computer Protocol.
  • Learn more about them in this article.

Charging Stations

  • Charging Stations are a type of canister on the Internet Computer.
  • Their purpose is to refill canisters with cycles to fund their functioning.
  • They can be configured to do so in a smart and programmatic way.

Cycles Distribution

  • A configuration setting in charging stations
  • Allows Users to configure cycles distribution for canisters inside their charging stations.
  • Sets priority of cycles distribution based on preference or cycles consumption.

Auto-refill Rules

  • A configuration setting for charging stations.
  • Allows Users to configure triggers and limits on cycles refills for their charging stations.

Open Internet Services

  • A service on the Internet Computer running autonomous code
  • It is managed by open tokenized governance systems that work similarly to NNS
  • They can have their own tokens, specific to each governance system or features
  • Dank is a collection of open internet service with a roadmap towards fully community-owned governance