S fintech glossary terms

S&P 500

Index of top 500 US companies.

Sales Tax

Tax on goods sold.

Salt

Random data added to hash.

Sanctions Screening

Checking lists for banned entities.

Sandboxing

Isolating programs for security.

SAR

Suspicious Activity Report.

SBT

Soulbound Token; non-transferable NFT.

SCA

Strong Customer Authentication.

Scalability

Ability to handle growing amount of work.

Scalping

Making many small trades.

SDK

Software Development Kit.

SDLC

Software Development Life Cycle.

SEC

US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Securitization

Pooling debt into investable securities.

Security Token

Token representing investment contract.

Seed Capital

Initial funding for a startup.

Seed Phrase

List of words to recover a crypto wallet.

Seed Round

First official funding round.

Semaphore

Variable controlling access.

Sentiment Analysis

Gauging market mood.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization.

SEPA

Single Euro Payments Area.

SEPA Instant

Instant Euro payments.

Separate Capture

A payment flow where authorization and capture happen at different times instead of in one immediate step.

Sequencer

Node ordering rollup transactions.

Series A

Funding after seed round.

Serverless

Cloud model where provider manages server infrastructure.

Session

Period of user interaction.

Settlement

Finalizing a trade.

Settlement Currency

The currency in which a payment provider pays out funds to the merchant after fees and conversions.

Settlement Delay

The time gap between transaction approval and the moment funds become available to the merchant.

Sharding

Splitting blockchain aimed at scalability.

Shareholder

Person or institution that owns shares in a company and holds economic rights such as dividends, voting rights, and residual claims.

Sharpe Ratio

Risk-adjusted return.

Shell

Interface to the kernel.

Shell Company

Inactive company used for maneuvers.

Short Selling

Selling borrowed securities hoping to buy them back lower.

Short Squeeze

Short sellers forced to buy.

Shorting

Betting against an asset.

Sidechain

Blockchain linked to main chain.

SLA

Service Level Agreement.

Slashing

Penalty for validator misbehavior.

Slippage

Difference between expected and executed price.

Smart Contract

Self-executing contract with code.

Smart Contract Audit

Security review of code.

Smurfing

Breaking large transactions to avoid checks.

Snapshot

Off-chain voting platform.

Social Engineering

Manipulating people into divulging info.

Social Trading

Copying trades of others.

SocialFi

Social media plus Finance.

Soft Cap

Minimum money needed for project success.

Soft Fork

Backwards compatible update.

Solvency

Ability to meet long-term debts.

Sorting Algorithm

Method to arrange data in order.

Soulbound Token

Non-transferable NFT.

Sovereign Debt

Debt issued by a country.

Sovereign Wealth Fund

State-owned investment fund.

SOX

Act protecting investors from fraud.

SPAC

Special Purpose Acquisition Company.

Spoofing

Placing fake orders.

Spot ETF

ETF holding the actual asset.

Spread

Difference between bid and ask price.

SPV

Special Purpose Vehicle; subsidiary for specific risk.

Spyware

Software that spies on user.

SQL

Structured Query Language.

SQL Injection

Injecting malicious SQL code into queries.

SSH

Secure Shell.

Stablecoin

Cryptocurrency pegged to stable asset like USD.

Stagflation

High inflation combined with high unemployment and stagnant demand.

Staging

Environment mimicking production for testing.

Staking

Locking crypto to support network and earn rewards.

Startup

Young company pursuing a scalable business model under high uncertainty, usually focused on product-market fit and rapid growth.

Stimulus

Govt spending to boost economy.

STO

Security Token Offering.

Stock

Security representing ownership in a corporation.

Stock Option

Right to buy stock.

Stop Limit

Stop order becoming limit order.

Stop Loss

Order to sell when price falls to a certain level.

Strike Price

Price option can be exercised.

Subprime

Risky borrower.

Subsidiary

Company controlled by a holding.

Subsidy

Government financial support to a business or sector.

Super App

App offering multiple services in one platform.

Superposition

State of being in multiple states at once.

Supervised Learning

Training with labeled data.

Supply

Amount of goods available.

Supply and Demand

The relationship between the quantity of a commodity and its price.

Supply Chain Finance

Financing the supply chain processes.

Support

Price level where buying is strong.

Suptech

Supervisory technology for authorities.

Surplus

An amount of something left over when requirements have been met.

Swap

Exchange of financial instruments.

SWIFT

Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

Swing Trading

Holding for days or weeks.

Sybil Attack

Creating fake identities to gain influence.

Symmetric Encryption

Encryption using the same key for locking and unlocking.

Synergy

Combined value greater than sum of parts.

Synthetic Asset

Token tracking value of another asset.