# Glossary of Terms ### Cardano (ADA) Cardano is the widely-adopted, scalable Proof-of-Stake (POS) layer-1 blockchain, founded by Charles Hoskinson. ### Decentralized Exchange (DEX) **Decentralized Exchanges** (DEXs) allow users to trade cryptocurrencies in a non-custodial manner without relying on intermediaries to facilitate the transfer and custody of funds. ### Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Decentralized finance or DeFi is a financial system that reimagines financial transactions by removing intermediaries and is based on blockchain technology. Various financial transactions are possible with DeFi's 'smart contracts' that execute financial transactions under certain conditions. ### Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) An NFT is a digital asset representing real world objects like art, music, videos, and in-game items. NFTs are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and are encoded with blockchain technology. ### Initial Stake Pool Offering (ISPO) An ISPO is a new revolutionary fundraising mechanism that allows for investors to participate in upcoming protocols launching on Cardano. ### Impermanent Loss (IL) Impermanent loss describes the temporary loss of funds occasionally experienced by liquidity providers because of volatility in a trading pair. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.cswap.fi/information/glossary-of-terms.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.