Lachesis is the consensus mechanism employed by the Fantom blockchain network. Lachesis is an asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) consensus mechanism that uses a leaderless Proof-of-Stake (PoS) structure. It provides speed and security to the Fantom protocol.

In The Sandbox game, LAND is a digital piece of real estate in the metaverse measuring 96x96 meters. LAND is an ERC-721 token. When a player combines multiple LANDS into one property, it is called an Estate.

In the blockchain space, "large cap coin" refers to a cryptocurrency asset that has a large market capitalization. The market capitalization, or total value of a cryptocurrency asset and its underlying blockchain enterprise, is determined by the number of circulating coins that are accessible to the public, multiplied by the price per coin. As a subjective term, there is no specific market cap threshold that signifies that an asset is a large cap coin.

The last irreversible block (LIB) is the last block to have been validated on-chain and cannot be modified or altered. Found on blockchain protocols that utilize an Asynchronous Byzantine Fault Tolerant (aBFT) consensus mechanism, the block confirmation process is two-fold. First, block producers propose what's called an irreversible block with a record of transactions. Then, if a majority of block producers acknowledge the proposed block, it achieves irreversible status, and the transactions are considered validated.

Last mile delivery is the final movement of a product from a transportation hub to the final delivery destination. In most instances, this is the most complicated and resource-intensive step of the product’s delivery lifecycle.

In trading, latency (not to be confused with network latency) refers to the time elapsed between the placement of an order and the execution of that order. High latency presents an undesirable delay between actions, while low latency incurs minimal lag that often amounts to just milliseconds. High latency can significantly and negatively affect trading strategies, particularly for dynamic assets, as market prices may fluctuate in the time elapsed between placement and execution.

The “Law of Accelerating Returns” theory developed by Ray Kurzweil in 1999 states that the technological advancement of the 21st century will be 20,000 times that of the previous century. This theory signifies that technological innovation is accelerating at a rate that is unprecedented in human history. The Law of Accelerating Returns has in many ways changed the public's perception of Moore’s Law which states that the number of transistors in an integrated circuit (IC) doubles every year, representing a doubling in technical innovation.

The law of supply and demand is among the most foundational laws of economics used to explain how market economies allocate resources and establish the prices of goods and services. Usually, increased availability of a specific resource means that a lower price will be paid for it. Conversely, if it is difficult to acquire a product or service, its demand will result in an increased price, but if there is a similar product or service that is readily available, its cost will go down. Products and services should ultimately reach a price equilibrium in relation to their supply and demand.

A Layer-1 blockchain is typically a name used to describe a main blockchain network protocol such as Ethereum or Bitcoin. The name Layer 1 comes from its relationship with Layer-2 scaling solutions such as state channels, rollups, nested blockchains, and plasma side chains. Layer-1 blockchains are simply the main network that a Layer-2 scaling solution attaches to in order to improve the scalability and transaction throughput of the main chain, or Layer 1. Layer-1 blockchains can also be known as the parent chain or root chain, among other classifications.

Layer-2 scaling solutions are protocols that integrate into blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum as separate, secondary layers built to increase transaction throughput and reduce transaction costs. Examples of Layer-2 solutions include Bitcoin's Lightning Network and Ethereum's Plasma.

On the Solana network, a leader is the transaction validator that adds entries to the blockchain ledger. To ensure equitability and decentralization, a 'leader schedule' determines which validator becomes a leader at a given time.

Leaf nodes are found at the base layer of a Merkle tree. Leaf nodes represent crypto transactions in the form of transaction hashes — more commonly referred to as transaction IDs (TXIDS).

Doxware is a type of ransomware that first infects a computer, then threatens to leak sensitive or proprietary information held on the machine unless a ransom is paid.

Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS) is a modified version of Proof of Stake (PoS) that allows network participants to lease out their stake to miners making use of the protocol. In return, miners share a certain percentage of their earnings with the leaser, allowing users to profit from mining without actually having to participate in mining themselves. Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS) is the consensus method that the Waves platform makes use of. It combines with the Waves-NG protocol to facilitate scalability and transaction throughput.

A ledger is a record-keeping system for tracking financial transactions. Blockchains are often referred to as distributed ledgers.

A leg is one element of a multi-step derivatives trading strategy in which the trader combines several options contracts, futures contracts, or a mixture of the two, in order to profit from arbitrage or a spread, or to hedge a trading position.

A legacy system in computing is defined as an outdated system or technology that is still in use but that badly needs replacement or upgrades in order to remain relevant in the marketplace. In blockchain, legacy systems may be systems that need to be heavily modified to create lasting value and use for many different purposes. The ongoing upgradability of blockchain systems is critical to the widespread adoption and long-term utility of the technology.

Lending pools are a type of liquidity pool designed to facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) lending. When borrowing from a lending pool, users must provide ample asset collateralization. For example, if the collateralization ratio to borrow against USDC is 200%, and the user supplies $1,000 USDC, the user would be unable to borrow more than $500 USD. In turn, users who lend their assets are rewarded with a certain percentage of the total amount they lent. Smart contracts automate the lending and borrowing process with different predefined lending rates depending on the assets and protocols involved.

In the context of investing, leverage is the use of borrowed money to fund an investment. If a position, individual, or organization is 'highly leveraged,' it means they are utilizing a large percentage of borrowed money. Leverage generally refers to a loan offered through a broker on an exchange that is used to increase the availability of funds for margin trading. It is often used to increase purchasing power for derivatives trading — essentially trading with borrowed funds. While there are potential benefits to using leverage, there is also an increased risk for loss of capital. For example, if a trade is opened with 10x leverage, this means that purchasing power is multiplied by a factor of 10, and that if the price of the asset fluctuates, the investor will lose or gain 10x the normal amount.

Leveraged tokens on the FTX crypto exchange allow traders to put leveraged positions without trading on margin. By purchasing leveraged tokens with USD, traders can get more market exposure without having to micromanage their margin or collateral.

Leveraged tokens essentially have leverage built into the tokens themselves. BULL tokens track an underlying asset with approximately triple the returns and BEAR tokens can do the same with approximately triple the returns when the asset’s value moves downward.

Libp2p is a modular network stack of protocols, libraries, and specifications built for peer-to-peer (P2P) applications and systems designed to allow developers to make use of plug-and-play networking within their distributed applications. The system began as the networking layer for InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), but later evolved into its own project. It is built to solve problems related to data transport, digital identity, security, routing, content discovery, and other uses, and has implementations in JavaScript, Go, Rust, Python, and C++. For example, the Polkadot team created their own Rust implementation of libp2p to operate with Polkadot and Substrate.

In computer science, a library is a collection of specialized resources that are utilized by computer programs for software development. These resources can include documentation, messaging templates, configuration data, and pre-written code among other things.

A light client, or light node, is software that connects to full nodes in a blockchain network. Unlike full nodes, light nodes do not keep a full copy of the blockchain, or communicate directly with the blockchain. Instead, light clients rely on full nodes as intermediaries. Light clients can be used to send some transactions and to verify the balances of accounts, but are significantly less functional than full nodes.

The Lightning Network is a Layer-2 scaling technology that operates on top of blockchains like Bitcoin. It creates a private, two-way channel between users that enables multiple transactions to take place off the main blockchain. These transactions are subsequently recorded as one single transaction on the main blockchain. This process extrapolated over many transactions reduces network congestion and increases scalability.

A limited purpose trust charter is a specialized license issued by a U.S. state government which enables the receiving company to perform a specific set of functions, such as acting as a depositor or safekeeper for specific types of securities. A company which legally operates in accordance with the policies laid out in a limited purpose trust charter is called a "limited purpose trust company."

Common on exchange trading interfaces, a limit order is a function to buy or sell an asset at a specific price. When a trader sets a buy limit order, they typically set the purchase of the asset to be executed lower than current market price in anticipation of a downward move towards a more favorable price. In contrast, when a trader sets a sell limit order, it is typically set higher than the current market price, in anticipation of the asset going up in value. Specified limit orders can remain unfilled if asset price does not behave in the way anticipated by the trader. By contrast, market orders are always filled at the current trading price of a specified asset without a threshold limit price being set.

Linear Processing is a way of processing data in a straight line on a computer infrastructure or a distributed blockchain network. Linear processing typically processes one computation at a time in succession using a single core processor, while parallel processing is able to simultaneously complete multiple computations at the same time to increase transactional throughput and total processing power. This could be compared to having one horse pull your chariot vs. four horses pulling your chariot.

LINK is an ERC-677 token that is the native token of Chainlink's decentralized network of oracles. It is used to reward node operators for providing external data to smart contracts. Additionally, smart contract creators can require nodes to deposit LINK as a penalty fee to ensure that they fulfill requests for external information.

Linux is an operating system which was originally built and designed by Finnish computer scientist Linus Torvalds in 1991. Linux is famous in technological circles because of its robust security, overall speed, efficiency, free distribution, platform compatibility, diverse hardware configurations, and more. As well, Linux has become well known for excelling in multi-user network environments. Linux is based on the Linux Kernel and is designed in a similar manner to Unix. Linux has a very different user interface compared to traditional operating systems like Microsoft Windows and macOS, but can use both.

The Linux Foundation is a non-profit consortium based in San Francisco that is dedicated to facilitating the growth of the Linux operating system and open-source software development in general. The consortium allows for widespread collaboration and education between members, and hosts numerous events and conferences each year. The Linux Foundation consists of over 1,000 members across the globe, including some of the largest technology companies in the world such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Google.

The term Liquidation refers to the process whereby a trader has an open leveraged position – often via a futures contract – that goes against their intended goal, resulting in the loss of the entire initial position. For example, let’s say a trader opens a position to buy $1,000 USD worth of ether (ETH) at a current price of $2,000 USD per ETH with a leverage of 10X, betting the price will go up, but the market takes an unexpected turn and drops significantly below their $1,500 USD ETH liquidation point — resulting in the loss of their initial $1,000 USD investment.

In regards to an asset, liquidity refers to the ability to exchange an asset without substantially shifting its price in the process, and the ease with which an asset can be converted to cash. The easier it is to convert the asset to cash, the more liquid the asset. With regard to markets, liquidity refers to the amount of trading activity in a market. The higher the trading volume in the market, the more liquid the market. Liquid markets tend to increase the liquidity of assets.

A liquidity aggregator accumulates liquidity from centralized and decentralized sources into one location to increase liquidity, reduce price slippage, and facilitate more efficient trading activity — particularly on decentralized exchanges (DEXs).

A liquidity pool is a crowdsourced pool of cryptocurrencies or tokens locked in a smart contract that is used to facilitate trades between those assets on a decentralized exchange.

A liquidity premium is compensation that is given to investors to encourage investment in assets with poor liquidity. Conversely, a highly liquid asset has high trading volume and is easily converted into cash without affecting the asset's price. For example, long-term bonds may typically have poor liquidity, and therefore usually carry a higher interest rate when compared to more liquid short-term bonds. The higher return on the long-term bond is the liquidity premium given to the investor because it has a higher investment risk. As a rule, the poorer the liquidity of an investment, the higher the liquidity premium.

A liquidity provider is a user who deposits tokens into a liquidity pool. In return for supplying liquidity, users are typically awarded liquidity provider (LP) tokens that represent the share of the liquidity pool the user owns.

A liquidity provider token (LP token) is a token that is created and awarded to a user that deposits assets into a liquidity pool. LP tokens represent the share of the liquidity pool that the liquidity provider owns. LP tokens are ERC-20 tokens that can be transferred, exchanged, and staked.

A liquid market is a market that possesses strong liquidity. Liquidity refers to the ability to buy or sell an asset at the current market price without affecting it. Orders on liquid markets should execute immediately — or shortly — after an order is placed. Examples of liquid markets would include stock, commodity, and fiat currency trading — as well as most large-cap cryptocurrencies. In general, less liquid markets would include fine art and real estate, which typically don’t have as many participants and can’t be sold without waiting (weeks or more) or altering the asset price.

Liquid Proof of Stake (LPoS) is a consensus mechanism modeled after the concept of liquid democracy. Liquid democracy is a system that allows individuals to both vote directly on issues, or to elect delegates to vote on their behalf. Delegates can also transfer the voting responsibilities given to them to another delegate — a process which is referred to as transitivity. If the individual who delegated their vote does not agree with the way their delegate voted, the individual can rescind their vote and vote directly. In LPoS systems, users stake their tokens to earn the right to participate in the blockchain's consensus process, and participate either directly or via a delegate.

Liquid Staking is a feature that allows stakers to mint the sFTM coin on a 1:1 ratio to their staked FTM coins, in order to provide collateral in Fantom Finance, which is a suite of Fantom DeFi apps. This functionality allows users to get more use out of their staked FTM. Collateralized Liquid Staking services through the Fantom network help users participate in Fantom Finance by making use of:

fUSD: a Fantom-based stablecoin that’s pegged to the U.S. dollar

fSwap: a synthetic asset decentralized trading platform

fLend: a liquidity pool from which users can lend or borrow

An exchange listing is when an exchange initially chooses to offer trading pairs for a specific crypto asset. When an asset is listed on a large, reputable crypto exchange and given major trading pairs such as BTC or ETH, it signifies trust in the project and its founders. A major exchange listing also usually signifies that the newly listed asset possesses a sufficient amount of liquidity. Crypto exchange listings are similar to when a traditional company's shares are first listed for trading on a specific stock exchange which similarly signifies that the company is trusted by the exchange.

Litecoin (LTC) is a cryptocurrency that was introduced in 2011 by Charlie Lee. Litecoin was created by forking Bitcoin's code and retains many characteristics of Bitcoin, while being optimized for lower cost transactions. It is considered to be the first altcoin, and was the second cryptocurrency to be widely accommodated on digital currency exchanges and accepted in the wider economy.

As it relates to concurrent computing, liveness refers to an application's ability to execute in a timely manner, so that a distributed system is able to continually execute computations. This property allows a system to make progress despite the fact that its computational processes may need to take turns to be completed correctly instead of being carried out in a simultaneous manner. The opposite of liveness is idle, meaning that a system is unable to perform computations quick enough for the system to operate optimally.

Livepeer Token (LPT) is the native token of the Livepeer network. Users who wish to carry out the work of transcoding and distributing videos on the network must hold LPT.

The Loan-To-Value (LTV) ratio is a financial term expressing the ratio of a loan (often in US dollars) to the total value of collateral — usually in the form of a percentage. In other words, the LTV is a balance of the loan when compared to the value of the collateral asset. In a traditional financial context, lenders assess a borrower’s credit score to determine their creditworthiness. In a blockchain-specific context, a similar process is executed algorithmically via a blockchain protocol, and usually no credit assessment is completed — lowering the barrier for entry for prospective users. The LTV ratio is determined as LTV = LA ÷ CA, where LA = the Loan Amount and CA = Collateral Amount.

Locker Ransomware is a type of ransomware that locks victims out of their devices until a ransom fee is paid.

The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) is an international trade association that represents the world's Over-the-Counter (OTC) gold bullion market. The LBMA has over 150 member firms which trade, refine, produce, buy, sell, store, and transport precious metals.

Set by the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA), the London Good Delivery is a specification of the required attributes of the gold and silver that is used for settlement in the London Bullion Market. The specification also defines the ways in which gold and silver bars should be weighed, packed, and delivered, while also delineates requirements and standards for approved refineries.

The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) is one of the world’s largest financial companies and the largest stock exchange service provider in the United Kingdom and Europe. LSEG is made up of several subsidies, major stock exchanges, and related entities in Europe and the United States, which includes acquisitions and mergers with Deutsche Börse, FTSE Russell, and others. The corporation was founded in 2007 and offers products and services to customers around the world in several disciplines including clearing and settlement, infrastructure, data and analytics, custody, and more.

Going long (also known as "longing") is an investment process whereby an investor purchases a security, derivative, cryptocurrency, or other asset type that they believe will increase in value (especially over the long term), as opposed to shorting where the investor expects the price of a specific asset to drop in value.

Loom is an Ethereum-based platform that was initially focused on providing scalability for decentralized applications. It later pivoted to focus on enterprise blockchain applications for industries such as healthcare.

LoRaWAN is a Low Power, Wide Area (LPWA) networking protocol that enables Internet of Things (IoT) devices to connect to the internet. LoRaWAN relies on patented LoRa technology, which uses radio frequency to provide long-range connectivity. LoRa stands for long range, and the network serves as a wireless platform for widely distributed IoT devices.

The low, or lowest price, is one of four main data points used for day trading on the stock market. The other three are called opening price, high, and close — and all four are collectively known as OHLC. The low is generally classified as the lowest price obtained during the last 24-hour trading period since the markets opened. Cryptocurrency markets are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year unlike the traditional stock market, which is closed for trading on weekends.

Low-level programming languages are programming languages that have very little abstraction of programming concepts, which means they tend to be more complex and less efficient than high-level programming languages. They are written using a structure similar to machine code or assembly language. They are written similarly to a processor’s instructions and often take much longer to execute when compared to high-level programming systems because of their complexity. Other characteristics of low-level programming languages include memory efficiency, lack of portability (the ability to be used with different computing systems), and higher difficulty for debugging and maintenance.

A lump sum is an amount of capital that pays an outstanding fee in one installment.