WebAuthn

Standard for public key based authentication in browsers using passkeys and hardware authenticators, often used to log into smart wallets without passwords.

WASM VM (CosmWasm, Substrate)

Smart contract runtimes that execute WebAssembly modules with sandboxing and metering, enabling multi language contracts and safer execution than raw EVM bytecode.

WebAssembly, WASM

Portable binary instruction format that runs at near native speed on the web and in many chains; enables smart contracts in languages like Rust, Go, and C++.

Web3

Vision and stack for user owned internet services built on cryptographic identities, smart contracts, and token incentives, contrasting with platform owned Web2.

Watch Only Wallet

Wallet configuration that tracks balances and transactions without holding private keys; useful for monitoring cold storage or multi-sig addresses.

WalletConnect

Protocol that connects dapps and wallets over relays using QR codes or deep links, enabling remote signing without exposing private keys to the dapp.

Wallet Abstraction

UX pattern where smart contract wallets handle gas, session keys, and custom auth under account abstraction standards, reducing seed phrase friction for users.

Wallet Import Format, WIF

Base58Check encoded private key format used by Bitcoin and similar chains to import or export keys; includes network prefix and compression flag.

Wallet (Non-Custodial)

Software or hardware that lets a user control private keys directly to sign transactions; recovery depends on seed phrase or social recovery mechanisms.

Z-score (Standard Score)

Number of standard deviations a value is from the mean; useful for anomaly detection in exchange flows, validator metrics, and AI feature engineering.

Z-order Curve (Morton Order)

Space-filling curve used to map multidimensional data to one dimension while preserving locality. Applied in databases, graphics, and some Merkleized indexes.

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