# Glossary
### ANT
Common shorthand for [Autonomi Network Token (ANT)](#autonomi-network-token-ant).
### ant
The command-line interface (CLI) for direct interaction with the network. It is part of [`ant-client`](https://github.com/WithAutonomi/ant-client).
### antd
The local daemon used by the SDKs and language bindings. It is part of [`ant-sdk`](https://github.com/WithAutonomi/ant-sdk).
### Autonomi
An autonomous data network built on the Autonomi Protocol that supports a rich application ecosystem to be created by developers and enjoyed by participants.
### Autonomi Network Token (ANT)
The network's ERC-20 utility token on Arbitrum One. It is commonly known as ANT. On decentralized exchanges it trades as `$ANT`, while some centralized exchanges list it as `$AUTONOMI`. It is spent and earned by using and supporting the Autonomi Network.
### Autonomi Foundation
Often referred to just as *the Foundation.* A Swiss non-profit that facilitates, supports, funds and promotes the research and development of the Protocol, as well as enables the ongoing delivery, maintenance and adoption of the Network and its technologies. Formerly known as the Safe Network Foundation.
### Autonomi Protocol
Often referred to just as *the* *Protocol*. A collection of open source algorithms, libraries and components that allows computers to form an autonomous data network
### Arbitrum One
A layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, enhancing speed and reducing costs for transactions while maintaining Ethereum's security.
### Asynchronous
Not time-dependent. A system that supports asynchronicity should come to consensus no matter what order the various messages arrive in.
### Boneh-Lynn-Shacham Distributed Key Generation (BLS-DKG)
A cryptographic system that authenticates the sender of a message, allows for multiple parties to quickly come to a consensus, and can enable multi-signature transactions and n-of-k credentials
### Byzantine Fault Tolerance
The ability of a decentralized network to function properly even if up to a third of the nodes (plus 1) is corrupt or faulty
### CashNote
Encrypted digital ‘cheque’ for a given value containing all the necessary information for the owner of the associated secret key to spend that value.
### Churn
Nodes joining and leaving the Network
### Chunk
An immutable data type
### Client
Software that allows users to connect to the Network and make use of its services
### Close Group
A Close Group is a small number of nodes that look after a specific piece of data, and that only exist as a group for that specific data.\
\
This system of close groups allows nodes to act independently, but together to form a strong autonomous global network, capable of storing and retaining data in perpetuity.
### Conflict-free Data Types (CRDTs)
Data structures that obey certain mathematical rules which ensure that when multiple versions of data exist across a distributed network, eventually these will always converge onto one ‘true’ version
### Data map
A record of content chunks and their corresponding locations on the Network. Only users in possession of the data map can recreate the file
### Data payment
A one-time payment made upfront for data storage, distributed to Nodes as [Resource Supply Rewards](#resource-supply-rewards).
### Distributed hash table
A map of where data is stored on a distributed network
### FIAT
FIAT currency is money declared by a government to be legal tender, not backed by a physical commodity. "Fiat" comes from Latin, meaning "let it be done," indicating it’s value by decree.
### Fault detection
Detecting nodes that are acting suspiciously and removing them from the routing table.
### [Kademlia](/how-it-works/network-architecture/building-on-kademlia.md)
A distributed hash table (DHT) protocol which provides a way for millions of computers to self-organize into a network.
### L2 / Layer 2
A scaling solutions built on top of a blockchain (Layer 1) to increase transaction speed and reduce costs.
### MaidSafeCoin
A cryptocurrency token created during a crowd-sale in April 2014 that supported the development of Autonomi.\
There are both Omni (MAID) and ERC-20 (EMAID) variants of MaidSafeCoin.
### Maximum Supply
Total number of whole Autonomi Network Tokens created over the Network’s lifetime: 1,200,000,000 (1.2 Billion) tokens.
### MASQUE relay
A relay path used as a last resort when direct connection and hole punching cannot connect two peers.
### Multiaddress
A unique locator for a peer that encodes multiple networking protocols into a single address
### Native Token
A non-blockchain token running on Autonomi to be introduced after the early phase/launch of The Network.
### NAT traversal
The set of techniques that help devices behind routers and firewalls connect to each other without manual port forwarding.
### [Node](/how-it-works/fully-autonomous-data-network/nodes.md)
A machine that connects with others using Autonomi's Protocol to form the Network.
### PeerId
The node's network identifier. Other nodes use it to recognize a node and measure how close it is to other peers and data in the network.
### Proof-of-Resource
A system that rewards nodes based on the quality of the service they provide, making it economically disadvantageous for them to misbehave
### Proof of Work
The consensus algorithm used by the Bitcoin blockchain and others to confirm that transactions are valid and to deter attacks.
### Proof of Stake
The consensus algorithm used by the Etherum blockchain and others in which voting power is proportional to wealth.
### RPC (Remote Procedure Call) endpoint
Allows a program to execute code or perform operations on a remote system as if it were a local function call. RPC is designed to hide the details of the network communication from the programmer. You call a function as if it's local, but it's executed remotely.
### QUIC
A modern transport protocol built on UDP. Autonomi uses it for secure peer connections and NAT traversal coordination.
### Resource Supply Rewards
Payment to the operators of resource-providing nodes in return for storing data. Also referred to as Data Payments.
### saorsa-transport
The shared transport layer used by Autonomi and [x0x](https://github.com/saorsa-labs/x0x) for peer connections, NAT traversal, and relay fallback. The source repo is [`saorsa-transport`](https://github.com/saorsa-labs/saorsa-transport).
### Safe Network
The former name for Autonomi
### [Self-Encryption](/how-it-works/encryption-and-authentication/self-encryption.md)
The client-side process that breaks uploaded content into encrypted chunks and creates the Data Map needed to reconstruct it later. It uses BLAKE3 for chunk hashing and ChaCha20-Poly1305 for authenticated encryption.
### Spend
Transaction information stored on the Network.
### Stigmergy
An indirect mechanism of coordination between actors, in which the trace of an action stimulates the performance of a subsequent action.
### Storage Reward Rate
An adjustable factor that determines the rate of pay of participating nodes; it is increased when more storage is needed, decreased when there is an excess of storage space
### Tokens
The Autonomi Network Token (’ANT’) are earned by storing data and spent by uploading data. For purposes of these docs they may simply be referred to as ‘tokens’.
### Token Generation Event (TGE)
The Token Generation Event represents both the Genesis of the Autonomi Network Token *and* the point at which its distribution begins.
### Tokens Emissions
240,000,000 tokens, representing 20% of the Maximum Supply, will be emitted at a diminishing rate over a period of 12 years.
### Transfer
A monetary transaction on the Network.
### XOR address
A unique 256-bit number; every entity on the Network has an XOR address
### x0x
A complementary layer for realtime, mutable, or collaborative behavior. Autonomi stores permanent, immutable data; [`x0x`](https://github.com/saorsa-labs/x0x) handles live interaction and shared state.
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