Glossary of Legal Terms

TLDR:An acquisition is a corporate strategy where one company purchases most or all of another company's shares to gain control....

An Advisory Board is a group of external experts formed to provide strategic advice and insights to the management of...

The free distribution of tokens and coins to wallet addresses in order to promote a new digital asset or project,...

Anonymization is the process of transforming personal data in such a way that individuals cannot be identified from the data,...

Antitrust law regulates the establishment, utilization, and exploitation of market dominance. In certain regions like the United States, it is...

Articles of incorporation are a legal document that establishes the formation of a corporation. Entities file them with the appropriate...

A Board Observer holds a non-voting position that allows them to attend and observe board meetings, providing an opportunity for...

TLDR:The Board of Directors is a group of individuals elected to represent shareholders and oversee the activities of a corporation,...

TLDR:A capitalization table (cap table) is a comprehensive spreadsheet or table that shows the equity capitalization for a company. It...

A cold wallet is an offline cryptocurrency wallet, making it one of the safest methods for storing digital assets. This...

What is Consent? As defined by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is a lawful basis for processing personal data....

What is Corporate Venture Capital? Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) refers to the investment of corporate funds directly into external startup...

What is Crowdfunding? Crowdfunding is a method of raising capital through the collective effort of a large number of individual...

A crypto exchange is a platform where customers can trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional...

A data breach involves the unauthorized access, disclosure, or misuse of sensitive information, including personal data, financial records, and intellectual...

Data encryption is a method used for confidentiality and security of the stored data by transforming it into an unreadable...

What is Data Privacy Data privacy is the aspect of information technology that deals with the ability of individuals and...

What is Data Protection? Data protection encompasses all the strategies and practices that organizations use to ensure that personal and...

Who is Data Protection Officer ("DPO") ? Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a Data Protection Officer (DPO) is...

What is DeFi? Decentralized Finance, or DeFi, refers to the transition from traditional, centralized financial systems to peer-to-peer finance enabled...

What is Due Diligence Process for Startups Due diligence is a critical step in the startup lifecycle, involving a comprehensive...

TLDR:An Employee Stock Option Plan (ESOP) is a benefit plan offering employees the right to purchase company stock at a...

What is GameFi? GameFi integrates blockchain technology with video gaming, allowing players to earn cryptocurrency and NFTs through their in-game...

TLDR:A General Assembly in the context of corporate governance refers to a formal meeting of the shareholders of a company....

What is GDPR? General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a comprehensive data protection law that came into effect on May...

TLDR:Governance tokens are digital assets in decentralized networks that grant holders voting rights on project decisions, allowing for a decentralized...

Health data is defined as any personal data related to the physical or mental health of an individual. This includes...

The Howey Test is a legal standard used in the United States to determine whether a transaction qualifies as an...

A Joint Stock Company (JSC) is a type of business entity where the capital is divided into shares owned by...

A joint venture (JV) is a strategic alliance where two or more parties, usually businesses, agree to collaborate by pooling...

Key personnel are crucial employees or team members whose skills, expertise, and actions are critical to a startup's success. These...

Liquidation preference is a critical term in venture capital agreements that determines the payout order among shareholders if a company...

The lock-up period is a predetermined span of time following an Initial Public Offering (IPO) during which major shareholders, such...

Market capitalization ("Market Cap"), is the total market value of a company's outstanding shares of stock. It is calculated by...

TLDR:A merger is a strategic move in corporate finance where two companies combine to form a single entity, aiming to...

TLDR:A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the most basic version of a new product that allows a team to collect...

TLDR:A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is a legal contract between two or more parties that outlines confidential information the parties wish...

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are blockchain-based digital assets representing unique items or content, transforming digital ownership and value perception. Unlike traditional...

TLDR:Phantom stock is a financial incentive mechanism provided by companies to their employees, offering benefits tied to the company's stock...

Post-money valuation refers to the value of a company immediately after it has received external funding or investments. In venture...

Pre-money valuation is the value of a company before receiving new investments. It is a critical metric used by venture...

Pre-seed funding is the initial financing round that a start-up raises to develop its idea, build a prototype, and prepare...

TLDR:Preferred stock is a class of ownership in a corporation that has a higher claim on its assets and earnings...

What is a Privacy Notice? A privacy notice, is a document provided by an organization to individuals whose personal data...

What is a Privacy Notice A privacy notice is a public document that explains how an organization collects, uses, shares,...

A royalty is a term usually used in intellectual property (IP) law. It refers to payments made by the party...

A shareholders' agreement is a legally binding contract among a company's shareholders. It outlines the rights, responsibilities, and obligations of...

TLDR:Smart contracts are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into lines of code, hosted on blockchain...

A Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), also referred to as a Special Purpose Entity (SPE), is a subsidiary company that a...

Tag Along rights, also known as co-sale rights, are a legal agreement commonly used in venture capital and private equity...

A term sheet outlines the fundamental terms and conditions of a potential investment. It's a non-binding agreement (usually) between a...

Tokenomics involves the study and design of tokens or cryptocurrencies, focusing on the economic principles that govern their issuance, distribution,...

TLDR:Utility tokens are digital assets designed for specific use within a particular blockchain ecosystem. Unlike cryptocurrencies purely used for financial...

Startup valuation is the process of determining the worth of a startup business. This assessment is crucial for attracting investments,...

What is Venture Capital Venture Capital (VC) is funding provided by investors to early-stage startups with high growth potential in...

Web3 represents the third generation of internet services for websites and applications. It leverages blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, and token-based economics...

Whitepaper is a blockchain term used for comprehensive documents that outline a blockchain-based project's concept, technology, features, and roadmap. It...