An iceberg order is an automated purchasing strategy — usually carried out by large institutional investment firms — that relies on software to divide a large purchase of an asset into several smaller limit orders. The objective of an iceberg order is to buy a large amount of an asset in smaller increments without disrupting the price of the asset with one large order. Iceberg orders are usually purchased in both visible and hidden increments. The name “iceberg” is denoted by the fact that the visible purchases are “just the tip of the iceberg.”

The ICON Incentives Scoring System (IISS) is the method used by ICON for measuring, incentivizing, and rewarding contributions to the network. Examples of contributions include running a node in ICON's Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) network architecture, or developing a decentralized application (dApp). Rewards are denominated in the ICON Exchange Token (ICX).

ICX, or the ICON Exchange Token, is the native asset of the ICON blockchain. The token is minted each time a block is created, and serves various purposes. As a governance token, ICX holders can vote on changes to the ICON blockchain. The ICX token is used as a reward for nodes that maintain the network, to pay for fees and smart contract usage, and as a medium of exchange in the wider ICON ecosystem.

Identity data refers to data that might be used to personally identify a user or party on the internet. Types of identity data might include social security numbers, personal addresses, or other private information. Identity data can encompass many types of private information that might disclose financial details, such as bank account and credit card information.

iExec is a blockchain project that serves as a decentralized marketplace for blockchain-based cloud computing resources. It is one of only a few projects in the blockchain industry that uses a distinct version of the Proof-of-Contribution (PoC) consensus mechanism.

Illuvium Configuration Change Proposals (ICCPs) are a mechanism used by the Illuvium blockchain gaming platform that allow for proposed changes to Illuvium’s System Configuration Variables. ICCPs are documents that are used to propose changes to configurations within the Illuvium platform and its underlying architecture and are usually composed of potential amendments to marketplace fees, balance changes, configurable council values, and capture mechanics within the Illuvium protocol. The authors of individual ICCPs are responsible for building consensus within the community and analyzing various community opinions in relation to the proposal.

Illuvium Improvement Proposals (IIPs) are a method of facilitating the blockchain-based governance structure of the Illuvium blockchain gaming platform. IIPs, like the commonly known Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), allow token holders and network participants to vote on proposed amendments to the Illuvium protocol and its underlying architecture via the network-specific ILV token. While the Illuvium governance structure is similar to Ethereum and other blockchain systems, IIPs make use of their own distinct mechanisms to achieve a decentralized, equitable governance structure, which includes ongoing modifications to the Illuvium gaming platform and its underlying systems.

Immutability is the characteristic of data becoming irreversibly codified in the shared data ledger of a blockchain network after transaction execution. Most non-blockchain computer networks are mutable, meaning that the information inside them can be modified, censored, or controlled by a central party. Immutability allows a blockchain network to ensure the overall trust and integrity of data for a dApp, platform, or cryptocurrency.

Immutable X is a specialized Layer-2 scaling solution for blockchain-based systems. The protocol is designed to enable extremely fast transaction times and zero gas fees on Ethereum, resulting in a framework that is tailored for use within blockchain play-to-earn gaming and non-fungible token (NFT) platforms. These highly sought-after characteristics are achieved through Immutable X’s Zero-Knowledge Rollup (zk-Rollup) technology, a form of privacy-focused Layer-2 scaling. The system also makes use of Zero-Knowledge Proof cryptography which is designed to eliminate the possibility of malicious actors accessing a users’ private keys.

Impermanent loss occurs when the value of tokens held in an algorithmically balanced liquidity pool lose value relative to assets in the open market due to price volatility. The loss is 'impermanent' because the original value of the tokens can be restored if the liquidity pool restores balance.

An index fund is an investment product made up of a collection of investments designed to track an industry segment of the financial market, or a basket of investments accumulated for a particular strategy or risk profile.

An Indexing Server is a specialized computer operating system/database used for indexing (i.e. organizing and measuring) different types of data. Indexing can be used to track and group different data sets from a large number of topics. Theoretically, the most powerful indexing servers have the capability to categorize and access all of the data in the world. This all-important data can then be used for numerous uses in practically any industry imaginable. Indexing servers allow users to type in a search query (or question) that they would like answered, thereby helping them solve a specific problem.

Index tokens are designed to track the index of a specific group of cryptocurrencies or other assets. Index tokens operate in a similar manner to indexes that are used within the traditional stock market. Index tokens are often used to track the market cap of multiple decentralized finance (DeFi) projects (such as Compound, Aave, Uniswap, and MakerDAO) or to track several Layer-1 smart contract blockchain platforms (such as Ethereum, Cardano, Avalanche, Polkadot, and Cosmos). Further, a crypto-based synthetic index token can be used to track stock indexes like the S&P 500 or the NASDAQ.

In the U.S., many financial institutions offer individual retirement accounts (IRAs) that provide tax advantages for retirement savings. Anyone can sign up for an IRA and save money in one. In short: one advantage of a traditional IRA is that your contributions are tax-deductible in the year that they are made.

Inflation refers to the gradual rising of prices in an economy relative to actual value, which can decrease the purchasing power of a currency if not managed correctly. Most cryptocurrencies follow a fixed inflationary policy that decreases token circulation over time.

Information Technology (IT) refers to the use of technology to solve business or organizational problems. IT can also be considered the use of computers, computer networking infrastructure, data storage, cloud computing, software, hardware, and numerous other types of technology to provide services and solve problems for customers. IT intersects with most industries and is used to solve many complex technological challenges by increasing transparency, improving efficiency, enhancing security and privacy, and by giving customers a better user experience (UE).

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) or token sales are a fundraising mechanism made possible by blockchain and Ethereum that incorporates the creation and sale of a token to raise funds for a project — usually a new blockchain platform, decentralized application (dApp), or digital asset product. Instead of providing buyers with equity or shares, an ICO sells tokens that usually claim future utility in the products they are sold to fund. Despite this, ICO-launched tokens may still be considered securities, and are subject to jurisdictional regulation.

Similar to an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) or an Initial Public Offering (IPO), an Initial Data Offering (IDO) refers to the initial public listing of a datatoken asset on the Ocean Protocol blockchain. Instead of providing buyers with equity or shares, an IDO sells datatokens that represent datasets and data services on the Ocean Protocol platform.

An Initial DEX Offering (IDO) is the process whereby a blockchain project initially launches their token through a token sale hosted on a decentralized exchange (DEX). IDOs are sometimes chosen by the teams launching them because they can offer businesses a means to engage potential investors and build their brand through a reputable company (i.e. an established DEX) in a more transparent environment. Initial DEX Offerings are similar to Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs), which are typically hosted on larger and more centralized exchange platforms. IDOs are sometimes preferred to IEOs and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) because they often offer more immediate liquidity, a faster trajectory to trading, and lower listing costs.

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An IEO or Initial Exchange Offering is a token distribution event that is specifically conducted on a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Similar to Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), IEOs are a fundraising method for many blockchain and crypto oriented companies. The SEC has released guidance recommending caution when investing in an IEO and warning that IEOs may be conducted in violation of the federal securities laws and may lack many of the investor protections of registered and exempt securities offerings.

Initial Farm Offerings (IFOs) help new projects get their tokens into the hands of users through yield farming. In exchange for committing their liquidity provider (LP) tokens to the decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol, traders receive access to the new token sale.

An Initial Public Offering (IPO) is a sale of shares of a private company to the public — particularly institutional and retail investors. This process, which takes place on a stock exchange, transforms the private company into a publicly-traded company by selling securities that represent a fraction of ownership. Companies that intend to conduct an IPO must adhere to rules and regulations as set out by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Input-Output Hong Kong (IOHK) is a software development enterprise that is one of the main contributors (along with EMURGO and the Cardano Foundation) to building the Cardano blockchain ecosystem. IOHK builds blockchain solutions for enterprise, government, and private sector clients as well as the Cardano smart contract platform. The company was founded in 2015 by Cardano CEO Charles Hoskinson and co-founder Jeremy Wood. As of Q3 2021, IOHK employs over 400 employees in more than 50 countries.

Insider trading is an illegal activity in which a person who has access to non-public, material information about a company utilizes that information to make advantageous trades of the company's stock.

The term institutional-grade generally refers to infrastructures or products which have features that make them suitable for use by large enterprises.

An institutional investment fund is an investment fund that is accessible only to large institutional investors. Institutional investment funds build comprehensive portfolios for their clients that have a variety of purposes and investment objectives. These often include investment allocation towards non-profit foundations, retirement plans, and educational endowments. Typical contributors to insitutional investment funds include governments, large enterprises, charities, and other constituents. Institutional investment fund offerings can include mutual funds, commingled institutional funds, institutional shares, and separate institutional accounts.

Institutional investors are firms that invest in various asset classes on behalf of other people. Examples of institutional investors include pension funds, hedge funds, and commercial banks among others.

Institutional trading software is software that provides an online interface or exchange platform for institutional trading and portfolio management.

Insurance provides compensation for losses in exchange for the payment of a fee, referred to as a premium. Some digital asset exchanges have insurance for the assets they hold in the event of theft or other circumstances leading to losses.

An intangible asset is any asset that cannot be physically touched. Examples of intangible assets include intellectual property rights, computer software, design patents, medical data, and contractual agreements such as a land title transfer or mortgage, among others. As they relate to blockchain, intangible assets include decentralized identities (DIDs), smart contracts, decentralized oracles, databases, application programming interfaces (APIs), software development kits (SDKs), and more. The classification of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) is ambiguous because they can be stored in a digital wallet or crypto exchange and have characteristics that are both tangible and intangible.

An Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is a software program that provides developers with developer tools to design applications in a single, easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI). IDEs usually consist of a source code editor, code debugger, and build automation tools. Sometimes IDEs consist of an interpreter, class browser, object browser, class hierarchy diagram, and compiler as well as other tools to simplify software development.

Intellectual property (IP) is a wide-ranging categorization of intangible assets like property rights (such as trademarks or copyrights), computer software, design patents, trade secrets, medical data, and contractual agreements such as land title transfers or mortgages, among other assets. IP can also include musical tracks, ebooks, paintings, images, film, and other artistic mediums. IP laws in different jurisdictions vary substantially, and are widely needed to give businesses and individuals rights to the information and intellectual goods they create to mitigate potential data theft. In a blockchain context, examples of intellectual property include non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and tokenized cryptocurrency assets.

The Inter-Blockchain Communication Protocol is a protocol that facilitates interoperability between different blockchain networks by enabling cross-chain interaction and value exchange. It was designed by technologists from Tendermint, Agoric, and the Interchain Foundation.

Inter-chain communication, which is most commonly called cross-chain communication, is a process that facilitates communication between different blockchain networks to enable mutual interaction and value exchange, often in the form of token and cryptocurrency asset exchange. Cross-chain and inter-chain communication are one of the main technologies that enable blockchain network interoperability. There are many inefficiencies related to inter-chain communication, but as blockchain proliferation grows, many experts believe that it will become increasingly more efficient to exchange data in new ways, such that one day full data sharing capabilities between hundreds and even thousands of blockchains may be possible.

The Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) is an American Fortune 500 company formed in 2000 that helps facilitate the operation of global exchanges and clearing houses to provide financial, mortgage, and technology data and listings services. The ICE operates and owns asset exchanges for financial, derivatives, and commodity marketplaces around the world, operating under 12 specific regulated exchanges and marketplaces including ICE futures exchanges in the US, Canada, and Europe. The Intercontinental Exchange was built to help facilitate the trading of derivatives and various asset class types on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the former London International Financial Futures and Options Exchange (LIFFE), subsequently renamed as ICE Futures Europe.

Traditionally, an interest-bearing asset, is any asset that earns interest for its holder. Interest-bearing assets typically consist of liquid assets (mainly cash and balances, interest due from banks, trading and available-for-sale securities), non-liquid assets (various financial assets designated at fair value, held-to-maturity investments, and gross loans), and other interest-bearing components of assets. Interest-bearing assets in the blockchain and crypto industry are quite common, and can include any cryptocurrency or crypto-related financial instrument that earns interest for their holder. Interest bearing assets are often utilized through blockchain’s advancing financial paradigm, decentralized finance (DeFi).

Interest is the amount of money that a lender charges for borrowing money. Interest rates are expressed as a percentage of the amount lent and are typically calculated on an annual basis known as the annual percentage rate (APR).

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is an international financial institution and a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in Washington D.C. It is made up of 190 representative countries from around the world. The IMF is built to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote sustainable levels of economic growth, and reduce global poverty. The IMF periodically depends on the World Bank and other international resources to help make this vision a reality. The idea for the organization was formed in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, and the IMF became operational in 1945.

The International System of Units (SI) is the international standardization for measurement, commonly known as the metric system. The SI is made up of seven base units including length (meter-m), time (second-s), amount of a substance (mole-mole), electric current (ampere-A), temperature (kelvin-K), luminous intensity (candela-cd), and mass (kilogram-kg). The system is used by nearly every country in the world and was officially signed into existence in Paris during 1875.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) is an international body that keeps track of the IP addresses, domain names, Domain Name Systems (DNSs), and protocol parameter identifiers used on the internet. IANA also keeps track of specific numbers, symbols, and different types of media (video, audio, text, etc.) on the internet. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is responsible for upholding many of IANA’s standards for websites in the United States and around the world.

The Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) is the name of the underlying blockchain system of the DFINITY project. ICP is an Ethereum, Polkadot, and Cardano competitor that claims it is capable of running at web speed while possessing the potential to become infinitely scalable with the ability to reduce computational costs to less than a millionth of the current industry standard. The Internet Computer Protocol is designed to host decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, enterprise IT systems, websites, and a multitude of other types of Internet infrastructure. The ICP consists of a network of sub-blockchains governed by an ownerless master blockchain called the Network Nervous System (NNS).

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an international body based in the U.S. that is in charge of maintaining many of the internet’s databases and their relationships with names and numbers on websites, often through domain name service (DNS) providers. ICANN is made up of many international partnership organizations and contributors from around the world that help maintain the operational efficiency and integrity of the internet. It is also largely focused on maintaining international policies that help uphold the transparency, utility, privacy, and security of the internet.

The internet layer is made up of the main data transmitting communication components that allow the internet to operate, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP). The internet layer, along with the link layer, are the layers that the rest of the internet are built on. While somewhat ambiguous, the internet layer typically attaches to routing systems, telecommunications infrastructure such as electronic circuits, the Ethernet, and networking centers that host and transmit much of the data that makes up the internet.

A meme is an image, video or piece of text, often intended for humor, that is rapidly reproduced and circulated by internet users through a variety of social media platforms, often with minor changes over time in engagement with wider meme culture.

The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to physical objects that are connected to the internet to enable features. IoT devices include appliances, home media systems, and security systems among a rapidly increasing list of others. IoT products offer increased functionality, share data, and interact with each other.

An Internet Service Provider (ISP) is a term for a company or organization that provides users with access to the Internet. The services they provide range from simple internet access to domain name registration, web hosting, and other more advanced services. ISPs are typically private companies, but in many countries, they can also be nationalized services.

As initially designed, many early blockchains couldn’t communicate with each other. Interoperability is the ability of various blockchain protocols to work and interact with each other (Bitcoin and Ethereum for example). The ability to send crypto (coins, tokens) and data between chains is a primary goal of interoperability systems that will expand the reach and network effects of the blockchains that can interact with each other. Other features that increase interoperability include wrapped cryptocurrencies, Layer-2 solutions and sidechains, and the ability of smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) to communicate between chains.

The InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) is a network for storing files and transferring verifiable data peer-to-peer. Developed by Protocol Labs, the IPFS is complementary to Filecoin, which is a blockchain designed to incentivize persistent data storage. Both protocols, while complementary, can be used separately.

'In the money' refers to an option that has a market price that is higher than its 'strike' price, which is the set price at which the option owner can buy or sell the security or commodity that underlies the option. Conversely, 'out of the money' refers to an option that has a market price lower than the strike price.

In finance, intrinsic value refers to an estimation of the value of an asset or company that has been calculated through financial modeling. The intrinsic value of an asset is not always the same as its market value.

Inverse synthetic cryptocurrencies are synthetic assets offered on the Synthetix protocol that inversely track the price of the cryptocurrency they represent, and are represented with an 'i' prefix, as in the case of iBTC. If the price of bitcoin increases, the price of iBTC decreases.

An investment trust, or closed-end trust, is a financial enterprise that pools shareholde r funds for investment in certain asset types that make up a diversified larger portfolio. Investment trusts differ from mutual funds or unit trusts because they represent real shares in a company itself, rather than units in each individual stock within the portfolio. The demand for investment trusts is often quite high because of the limited number of shares offered by the company providing the service. Most investment trusts have full control over the portfolio they invest in, which is subject to change through certain legal amendments.

The Invisible Internet Project (I2P) is a distributed, encrypted private network layer that exists on top of the internet. I2P anonymizes user traffic on the network and enables communication resistant to censorship and third-party monitoring. I2P is integrated with the privacy-centric Monero cryptocurrency to optimize anonymity on its network.

IOTA is a distributed ledger system that focuses on transactions serving the Internet-of-Things (IoT). IOTA utilizes a Tangle, which is a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) data structure instead of a blockchain-based architecture. Its DAG structure places transaction confirmation on IoT nodes rather than the block-based system of blockchain. IOTA offers zero-fee transactions and claims to have a high transaction throughput.

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical identification that is assigned to all devices connected to a computer network that make use of the Internet for online communication. Generally, an IP address has two main purposes: to provide a host or network interface identification tag and also to identify the device’s current location. IP addresses are always calculated algorithmically and allocated to devices by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), a division of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Isolated margin is a form of margin trading that allows the trader to limit their losses to the initial margin set, thus limiting the amount of margin being allocated to each position. Because highly leveraged positions are much more likely to be liquidated in volatile markets, traders are able to limit their risk for individual positions by using isolated margin. For example, if a trader’s position is liquidated using isolated margin mode, only the isolated margin balance is liquidated, instead of the entire available account balance. The opposite of isolated margin trading is cross margin trading.Initial Exchange Offering (IEO)