DeFi and VVS glossary
Every term you'll meet across this site, defined in plain English. If a word on another page tripped you up, it's almost certainly here — from AMM and impermanent loss to xVVS and gas.
These definitions are intentionally short and practical. Where a term has a fuller treatment elsewhere, the relevant page links back to it — for the mechanics behind these words, start with how it works, and for the risks, see risks & impermanent loss.
- AMM (Automated Market Maker)
- A type of exchange that prices trades with a formula and a pool of tokens instead of an order book. VVS is an AMM: liquidity providers supply the tokens, and a mathematical curve sets the price for each swap.
- APR vs APY
- APR (annual percentage rate) is a simple yearly rate that ignores compounding. APY (annual percentage yield) assumes rewards are reinvested and compounded over the year, so APY is higher than APR for the same underlying rate. Farms usually quote APR; auto-compounding vaults quote APY.
- Bridge
- A service that moves a representation of an asset from one blockchain to another. Many tokens trading on Cronos are bridged versions of assets that originate on Ethereum or other chains.
- CRC-20
- The Cronos token standard, equivalent to Ethereum's ERC-20. VVS and most tokens on Cronos are CRC-20 tokens, which is why standard EVM wallets handle them.
- Cronos
- An EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain in the Crypto.com ecosystem. CRO is its native gas token. VVS Finance is built on Cronos.
- Gas fee
- The small network fee, paid in CRO on Cronos, that compensates validators for processing your transaction. It is separate from any trading fee.
- Impermanent loss
- The opportunity cost a liquidity provider can incur when the two pooled tokens change price relative to each other. It becomes "permanent" only if you withdraw while the divergence persists; fees and rewards may or may not offset it.
- Liquidity pool
- A smart contract holding a pair of tokens that traders swap against. Prices adjust automatically as the balance of the two tokens shifts with each trade.
- LP token
- A token you receive when you deposit into a liquidity pool. It represents your proportional share and is what you stake in a Mine to earn farming rewards; you redeem it to withdraw your liquidity.
- Mines
- VVS Finance's yield-farming product, where you stake LP tokens to earn VVS and partner-token rewards. Earlier branding referred to Crystal Farms and Glitter Mine.
- Price impact
- How much your own trade moves the pool's price. Large trades against shallow liquidity have high price impact, meaning a worse effective rate.
- Slippage tolerance
- The maximum price change you'll accept between submitting a swap and it settling. Set it too low and volatile trades fail; set it too high and you risk a much worse fill.
- Swap
- Exchanging one token for another directly against a liquidity pool, rather than through a buyer-and-seller order book.
- Total value locked (TVL)
- The total value of assets deposited in a protocol's pools and contracts. It's a rough gauge of size and is reported live by trackers like DefiLlama.
- VVS
- The native token of VVS Finance, earned through farming and staking and used for rewards and utility across the platform.
- Wrapped token (e.g. WCRO)
- A tokenized, standard-compliant version of an asset so it can be used inside smart contracts. WCRO is wrapped CRO, used so the native coin can trade in pools like any CRC-20 token.
- xVVS
- The yield-bearing governance token received by staking VVS. It can earn a share of protocol revenue and, when locked, grants voting power that scales with lock duration.
Definitions describe general DeFi and VVS concepts for learning purposes; exact platform parameters can change. For current specifics, consult official project documentation and live data sources.