Solana terminology glossary
Plain definitions for words you will encounter during wallet setup and early reading. Each entry links to a guide where the term appears in context.
- Account
- A record on Solana that holds data or a token balance. Your wallet address points to an account controlled by your private key. See basics guide
- Associated token account (ATA)
- A dedicated account that holds a specific SPL token for your wallet address. Required before you can receive most tokens besides native SOL.
- Block
- A batch of transactions validators agree on and add to the ledger history. Confirmed transfers appear inside a block.
- Block explorer
- A website that lets you search addresses and transaction signatures on the public ledger. Read our explorer guide
- Confirmation
- The point at which enough validators have voted on a transaction that it is considered settled. Wallets show this as "confirmed" or "finalized."
- dApp
- A decentralized application — a website or interface that connects to your wallet to invoke on-chain programs. You approve each action in your wallet.
- Devnet
- A test network where SOL has no real value. Used for practice transfers before mainnet. See basics guide
- Transaction fee
- A small amount of SOL paid to process a transaction. Failed transactions may still incur a fee. Keep a little SOL in your wallet for fees.
- Keypair
- A public key (your address) and private key (secret) pair. Your seed phrase can regenerate this keypair in a compatible wallet app.
- Lamport
- The smallest unit of SOL. One SOL equals one billion lamports. Explorers sometimes show balances in lamports in raw data views.
- Mainnet
- The live Solana network where SOL and tokens have real market value. Switch carefully from devnet before sending or receiving here.
- Non-custodial wallet
- A wallet where you alone hold the seed phrase. The app maker cannot recover your funds if you lose the phrase.
- Phantom
- A popular non-custodial Solana wallet available on mobile and browser. Compare with Solflare
- Private key
- Secret data derived from your seed phrase. Used to sign transactions. Never share it or enter it on a website.
- Program
- Executable code deployed on Solana. Token transfers and swaps invoke programs through signed transactions.
- Public key
- Your wallet address — safe to share when someone needs to send you funds. Often shown as a base58-encoded string.
- RPC node
- A server your wallet talks to in order to read balances and submit transactions. Wallet apps choose a default; advanced users can change it.
- Seed phrase
- Twelve or twenty-four words that backup your wallet. Write on paper and store securely. Security guide
- Transaction signature
- A unique identifier for a submitted transaction. Copy it into a block explorer to inspect status and details.
- SOL
- The native token of Solana, used for transaction fees and staking. Distinct from SPL tokens like USDC.
- Solflare
- A non-custodial Solana wallet with strong multi-account support. Compare with Phantom
- SPL token
- A token standard on Solana — similar in role to ERC-20 on Ethereum. USDC on Solana is an SPL token.
- Stake / staking
- Delegating SOL to a validator to help secure the network and earn rewards. Not covered in beginner wallet sessions.
- Testnet
- Another non-mainnet environment for developers. Beginners at CoreStream Base practice on devnet, not testnet.
- Validator
- A node operator that proposes and votes on blocks. The network runs on many independent validators worldwide.