VEYRNOX · Learn
Crypto Wallet Security Glossary
Plain-English definitions for the concepts behind modern self-custody. Every entry is a short standalone explainer — how the concept works, why it matters to a wallet user, and how Veyrnox handles it. If you have hit a term in a phishing warning, a security review, or a wallet setup screen and want a straight answer, start here.
The glossary covers five areas. Security covers attack classes (wrench attacks, drainer contracts, address poisoning) and the countermeasures. Cryptography covers the primitives underneath — Shamir Secret Sharing, KEKs, Argon2id, AES-256-GCM — and hardware roots of trust. Wallets covers seed phrases, custody models, and hardware vs software. Blockchain covers on-chain building blocks: WalletConnect, ERC-20, SPL, UTXO. DeFi covers dApps and DEXs — the surface area where most user losses happen.
Security
Duress PIN
Secondary passcode that unlocks a decoy wallet under coercion.
Wrench Attack
Physical-coercion crypto theft; hardware wallets do not stop it.
Coercion Resistance
Wallet property that limits loss a user can be forced to authorise.
Drainer Contract
Malicious contract that sweeps approved assets after a phishing signature.
Phishing Site Detection
Wallet-level block on fraudulent domains before signing.
Address Poisoning
Lookalike-address attack exploiting truncated history display.
RASP (Runtime Application Self-Protection)
In-app defence against jailbreak, debugging, and tampering.
Threat Intelligence Platform (TIP)
Backend feed of real-time phishing and drainer signals.
Panic Wipe
Emergency erase of on-device keys; recovery needs an external backup.
Transaction Simulation
Pre-signing preview of a transaction’s net asset change.
Cryptography
Shamir Secret Sharing
Splits a secret into shards; any T-of-N reconstruct it.
iOS Secure Enclave
Apple silicon coprocessor for hardware-isolated keys.
Android StrongBox
Tamper-resistant hardware backing Android Keystore.
KEK (Key Encryption Key)
Hardware-bound key used to encrypt other keys, not user data.
Argon2id
Memory-hard password-hashing function; OWASP default.
AES-256-GCM
Authenticated symmetric encryption; industry default.
Biometric Authentication
Face/fingerprint gating for hardware-held keys.
Wallets
Seed Phrase
12/24-word backup encoding every private key in a wallet.
Self-Custody
Holding your own keys instead of trusting a custodian.
Non-Custodial Wallet
Wallet where the user, not the provider, holds keys.
Custodial Wallet
Wallet where a third party holds keys on your behalf.
Hardware Wallet
Dedicated device that signs on-chip; keys never leave.
Software Wallet
App-based wallet using hardware-backed key storage.
MPC Wallet
Computes signatures across parties without reconstructing the key.
Blockchain
WalletConnect v2
Encrypted protocol pairing mobile wallets to desktop dApps.
ERC-20 Token
Ethereum fungible-token standard behind USDC, USDT, DAI, and more.
SPL Token
Solana’s fungible-token standard, backed by one shared program.
UTXO
Bitcoin’s accounting unit; each coin is spent whole.
DeFi
Where to go next
If you are new to self-custody, start with self-custody and seed phrase. If you are evaluating security models, read Shamir Secret Sharing and coercion resistance. Veyrnox itself is a self-custody wallet for iOS — see features or plans.