Glossary

🧾 Trading & Market Structure

Term	Definition
Spot Market	A market where goods are traded for immediate delivery.
Futures Market	A market where the delivery of the asset happens at a future date, at a price agreed today.
Order Book	A real-time list of all buy and sell orders in the market, sorted by price.
Limit Order	A trade that only executes at a specific price or better.
Market Order	A trade that executes immediately at the best available price.
Iceberg Order	A large order broken into smaller visible parts, while most of it remains hidden.
Stop Order	A trade that activates only when the market reaches a certain price.
RFQ (Request for Quote)	A method to ask for and receive a quote before executing a larger or negotiated trade.
OTC (Over-the-Counter)	A private trade between two parties, done outside the exchange.
TAS (Trade At Settlement)	An order to buy or sell a contract at the market’s official closing price for the day.
Market Maker (MM)	A participant that continuously provides buy and sell orders to keep the market liquid.
Liquidity	The ease with which an asset can be bought or sold without affecting its price.
Collateral	Cash or assets required to back a trade in case of default.

🏛️ Institutional Access & Infrastructure

Term	Definition
Self-Trading Entity	A participant that trades for its own compliance or exposure, not for others.
Clearinghouse	A financial intermediary that guarantees and settles trades in traditional markets.
Finality	The moment a trade becomes irreversible and fully settled.
Onboarding (KYB)	The process of verifying and approving a participant before they can trade.

🧩 Infrastructure

Term	Definition
PvD (Payment vs Delivery)	A mechanism where payment and delivery of assets happen at the same time. Either both occur, or neither does.
Fiducie	A legal trust that temporarily holds assets or cash to secure settlement—used instead of a clearinghouse.
CometBFT	A fast, secure engine for confirming transactions and consensus in a blockchain.
Cosmos SDK	A modular toolkit used to build Initiativ’s custom blockchain infrastructure.
Application-Specific Blockchain	A blockchain tailored for one use case—in this case, regulated commodity trading.

🌍 Environmental & Commodity Market Terms

Term	Definition
Carbon Allowance (EUA / EUAA/UKA)	A tradable permit that allows a company to emit a certain amount of CO₂. It is not a carbon credit, but a carbon allowance. EUA = EU Allowance EUAA = EU Aviation Allowance UKA = UK Allowance
EU ETS	The European Union Emissions Trading System, the world’s largest carbon market.
CBAM	The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which applies carbon pricing to certain imported goods.
ETS2	An upcoming expansion of the EU ETS that will include road transport and buildings.

🪙 Digital Currency & Tokenization

Term	Definition
Stablecoin	A digital currency pegged to fiat (like EUR or USD), used for trading and settlement.
CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency)	A digital version of a country’s official currency, issued by its central bank.
Tokenization	Creating a digital representation of a real-world asset.