Trading & Crypto
Glossary
From API keys to Z-score — understand every trading, crypto, and AI term used by the Telos platform. 75+ terms across 6 categories.
API (Application Programming Interface)
A set of protocols that allows software to communicate with exchanges. In trading, APIs let platforms like Telos place orders, check balances, and read market data on your behalf without human intervention.
Arbitrage
The practice of simultaneously buying an asset on one exchange where it's cheaper and selling it on another where it's more expensive, profiting from the price difference. Telos scans for arbitrage opportunities across prediction platforms.
AI Department
One of Telos's six specialized analysis modules, each using a different methodology: Quantitative (mathematical models), Technical (chart patterns), Sentiment (news/social analysis), Fundamental (on-chain/valuation data), Statistical (probability models), and Qualitative (contextual judgment).
Altcoin
Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. Examples include Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), and XRP. Telos trades altcoin futures across all supported exchanges with pairs like ETH/USDT, SOL/USDT, and XRP/USDT.
Altcoin Dominance
The percentage of total crypto market capitalization held by altcoins (everything except Bitcoin). When altcoin dominance rises, altcoins are outperforming Bitcoin. Telos monitors this as a macro indicator.
AES-256 Encryption
Advanced Encryption Standard with 256-bit keys — the gold standard for data encryption used by governments and financial institutions. Telos encrypts all API keys and sensitive data at rest using AES-256.
API Key
A unique identifier generated by an exchange that allows third-party applications (like Telos) to access your account for trading or data reading. Telos uses API keys with minimal permissions — never withdrawal access.
Backtesting
Testing a trading strategy against historical market data to evaluate its potential performance before risking real capital. Telos provides institutional-grade backtesting with walk-forward validation on 50+ trading pairs.
Basis Points (bps)
A unit of measurement equal to 0.01% (one hundredth of a percent). Used to express small changes in interest rates, yields, or trading fees. For example, a 10 bps fee equals 0.10%.
Bull Market
A market condition characterized by rising prices and positive investor sentiment. Generally defined as a sustained price increase of 20% or more from recent lows. The opposite of a bear market.
Bear Market
A market condition characterized by falling prices and negative sentiment. Generally defined as a sustained decline of 20% or more from recent highs. Traders may use short selling or reduce exposure during bear markets.
Bitcoin Dominance (BTC.D)
The percentage of total crypto market capitalization held by Bitcoin. A rising BTC.D suggests capital flowing into Bitcoin from altcoins; falling BTC.D suggests the opposite. Monitored in Telos's market ticker.
CFD (Contract for Difference)
A financial derivative that lets traders speculate on price movements without owning the underlying asset. When you trade a CFD, you agree to exchange the price difference between opening and closing positions. Telos supports CFD trading for forex, indices, commodities, and stocks via MT4/MT5.
Consensus Trading
Telos's core methodology where 6 AI departments independently analyze markets and vote on trade decisions. When a quorum of departments agrees (typically 4+ of 6), a consensus signal is generated and executed. This multi-perspective approach reduces the risk of any single model's bias.
CIO (Chief Investment Officer) Role
Telos's Qualitative AI department acts as a CIO with veto power. It can block conflicting signals, apply high-level market judgment, and override other departments when market conditions warrant. This hierarchical oversight prevents reckless trades.
Confidence Score
A numerical value (0–100%) indicating how certain an AI department is about its signal. Higher confidence suggests stronger conviction. Telos aggregates individual department confidences into a weighted consensus score. Signals above 80% confidence are typically the strongest.
Consensus Quorum
The minimum number of AI departments that must agree for a trade to be executed. Telos typically requires 4+ of 6 departments to agree before executing. This prevents trades based on a single model's output.
Cold Wallet
A cryptocurrency wallet that is not connected to the internet, providing maximum security against hacking. Hardware wallets (Ledger, Trezor) are the most common type. Telos never has access to your cold wallet — it connects only via exchange API keys.
Correlation Blocking
A risk gate that prevents Telos from opening multiple positions that are highly correlated (e.g., BTC and ETH long simultaneously). This prevents overexposure to the same market movement direction.
Consensus Vote
The process where each of Telos's 6 AI departments casts a BUY, SELL, or HOLD vote on a potential trade. Votes are weighted by confidence and historical accuracy. A quorum (typically 4+ votes) is required for execution.
DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging)
An investment strategy where you invest a fixed amount at regular intervals regardless of price. This reduces the impact of volatility on your average cost. Telos can automate DCA strategies across supported exchanges.
Drawdown
The peak-to-trough decline in your portfolio value before a new peak is reached. Measured as a percentage. For example, if your portfolio drops from $10,000 to $8,000, that's a 20% drawdown. Telos has built-in drawdown limits as a risk gate.
Decentralized Exchange (DEX)
A cryptocurrency exchange that operates without a central authority, using smart contracts to facilitate trades directly between users. Examples include Uniswap, dYdX, and Raydium. Telos primarily connects to centralized exchanges for futures trading.
Dashboard
The main Telos web interface showing live positions, P&L, AI signals, exchange connections, and performance analytics. Accessible from any modern browser at app.telos.kentaursoft.com.
Entry Price
The price at which a trade is opened (buy or sell). This is the starting point from which profit or loss is calculated. Telos's AI signals include recommended entry prices based on current market conditions.
Exit Price
The price at which a trade is closed, realizing profit or loss. Can be set via take-profit orders, stop-loss orders, or manually. Telos can automatically manage exit points based on AI analysis.
Execution Latency
The time between signal generation and order placement on the exchange. Telos achieves sub-second latency through optimized WebSocket connections and proximity to exchange servers. Lower latency reduces slippage and improves fill quality.
EA Bridge (Expert Advisor)
A free MetaTrader plugin that connects Telos's AI signals to MT4/MT5 brokers. Enables automated trading of forex, indices, commodities, stocks, and energy through traditional CFD brokers.
Funding Rate
A periodic payment exchanged between long and short perpetual contract holders to keep the contract price aligned with the spot price. Positive funding rates mean longs pay shorts (bullish sentiment); negative means shorts pay longs.
Grid Trading
An automated strategy that places buy and sell orders at preset intervals around a fixed price. As the price oscillates within the grid, each pair of orders captures a profit. Works well in sideways or ranging markets.
Gas Fee
The cost of executing a transaction on a blockchain network. On Ethereum, gas fees vary based on network congestion. Not applicable to centralized exchange trading on Telos, but relevant for on-chain prediction markets.
Kill Switch
An emergency mechanism that immediately halts all trading activity and closes open positions. Available in one click from the Telos dashboard. Essential safety feature for automated trading systems.
Leverage
Borrowing capital to amplify your trading position. With 10x leverage, a $1,000 margin controls a $10,000 position. This magnifies both profits and losses. Telos supports leverage up to 125x on supported exchanges, controlled by risk gates.
Limit Order
An order to buy or sell at a specific price or better. A buy limit order executes at the specified price or lower; a sell limit order executes at the specified price or higher. Provides price control but may not fill if the market doesn't reach your price.
Long Position
A trade that profits when the asset price increases. You buy the asset (or a derivative) expecting its value to rise. "Going long" is the traditional form of investing. Telos signals include LONG recommendations when AI departments predict upward movement.
Liquidity
The ease with which an asset can be bought or sold without significantly affecting its price. High liquidity means tight spreads and minimal slippage. Telos monitors liquidity conditions across exchanges as part of its risk assessment.
Live Trading
Trading mode where AI signals are executed with real capital on connected exchanges. Available on Standard ($5/mo) and Plus ($10/mo) plans. All risk gates and safety features are active during live trading.
Maker Fee
A trading fee charged when your order adds liquidity to the exchange's order book (e.g., a limit order that doesn't match immediately). Maker fees are typically lower than taker fees because makers help create a liquid market.
Market Order
An order to buy or sell immediately at the best available current price. Executes instantly but with no price guarantee — you get whatever the market offers. Used when speed of execution is more important than price precision.
Market Cap
The total value of a cryptocurrency: current price × circulating supply. Used to rank cryptocurrencies by size. Bitcoin's market cap exceeds $1 trillion; Telos tracks market cap changes as a fundamental indicator.
Max Drawdown
The maximum peak-to-trough decline allowed before the system automatically stops trading. Configurable per account. If your portfolio drops below this threshold, Telos pauses all activity and alerts you.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
AI technique used to analyze human language in news articles, social media, and reports. Telos's Sentiment AI department uses NLP to gauge market sentiment from news feeds, X/Twitter, Reddit, and Telegram discussions.
On-Chain Analysis
Examining data recorded on the blockchain — transactions, wallet movements, smart contract interactions, and network metrics. Telos's Fundamental AI department uses on-chain data to assess market conditions and whale activity.
Order Book
A real-time list of buy and sell orders for an asset on an exchange, organized by price level. Shows market depth and liquidity. Telos reads order books across exchanges to assess market conditions.
Paper Trading
Simulating trades with virtual money in real market conditions. Allows testing strategies without risking actual capital. Telos offers free paper trading on all plans so you can evaluate AI signals before going live.
Perpetual Contract
A futures contract with no expiration date. Traders can hold positions indefinitely, paying or receiving a funding fee to keep the contract pegged to the spot price. The most popular derivative in crypto — Telos trades perpetual contracts on all supported exchanges.
Position Sizing
Determining how much capital to allocate to each trade based on your risk tolerance, account size, and strategy. Proper position sizing is critical for risk management. Telos automates this through configurable risk gates.
Perpetual Futures
See Perpetual Contract. The most traded crypto derivative, representing the majority of crypto futures volume. Available on Binance, Bybit, OKX, and all exchanges supported by Telos.
Position Cap
A limit on the maximum size or number of open positions allowed at any time. Prevents over-leveraging and concentration risk. Telos enforces position caps as part of its multi-layer risk gate system.
Paper Trading Mode
Trading mode where AI signals are simulated without real money. Available on all Telos plans including Free. Use paper trading to evaluate AI performance, test risk settings, and build confidence before going live.
Performance Analytics
Telos's built-in reporting system showing win rates, ROI, Sharpe ratio, per-department performance, per-exchange breakdown, and trade history. Available on the Performance page and dashboard.
Prediction Market Scanner
Telos's tool that scans 11 prediction platforms simultaneously (Polymarket, Kalshi, Manifold, etc.) to find arbitrage opportunities, odds discrepancies, and high-value bets across platforms.
Quorum
The minimum number of AI departments (typically 4 of 6) that must agree before a trade is executed. This multi-model consensus prevents trades based on a single AI's potentially biased analysis.
ROI (Return on Investment)
A measure of investment profitability: (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) × 100. A 15% ROI means you gained 15% on your initial investment. Telos tracks ROI across all connected exchanges and AI departments.
Reinforcement Learning
A type of machine learning where an agent learns optimal actions through trial and error, receiving rewards or penalties. Some of Telos's AI departments use reinforcement learning to improve signal quality over time based on trade outcomes.
Read-Only Access
An API key permission level that allows data reading but prevents any trading or withdrawal. Telos supports read-only mode for users who want to receive AI signals without automated execution.
Risk Gate
An automated safety check that evaluates every trade signal before execution. Telos has 4 risk gate layers: position sizing, drawdown limits, correlation blocking, and volatility guards. Signals that fail any gate are blocked.
Risk Dashboard
A dedicated section of the Telos dashboard showing real-time risk metrics: current drawdown, position exposure, leverage usage, correlation matrix, and risk gate status. Essential for monitoring your account health.
Scalping
A trading strategy that profits from small price changes, typically holding positions for seconds to minutes. Requires high frequency and tight spreads. Telos can execute scalping strategies via its sub-second signal latency.
Short Position
A trade that profits when the asset price decreases. In crypto futures, you can short by selling a perpetual contract. Telos signals include SHORT recommendations when AI departments predict downward movement.
Slippage
The difference between the expected price of a trade and the actual execution price. Occurs when market orders execute at a different price than expected, often during high volatility or low liquidity. Telos uses smart order routing to minimize slippage.
Spread
The difference between the best bid price (highest buy) and the best ask price (lowest sell) on an exchange. A tighter spread indicates higher liquidity. Spreads widen during volatile or low-volume periods.
Stop Loss
A preset price level at which a losing trade is automatically closed to limit losses. Essential risk management tool. Telos supports both fixed and trailing stop losses configured through risk gates.
Signal
A recommendation generated by Telos's AI system to buy (LONG), sell (SHORT), or hold an asset. Signals include the asset pair, direction, confidence score, individual department votes, and recommended entry/exit parameters.
Stablecoin
A cryptocurrency designed to maintain a stable value relative to a reference asset (usually USD). Common examples: USDT (Tether), USDC (Circle), DAI (MakerDAO). Most crypto futures pairs are quoted in USDT or USDC.
Taker Fee
A trading fee charged when your order removes liquidity from the order book (e.g., a market order or a limit order that matches immediately). Taker fees are typically higher than maker fees.
Take Profit
A preset price level at which a profitable trade is automatically closed to lock in gains. For example, buying BTC at $60,000 with a take-profit at $65,000 would automatically sell when the price reaches $65,000.
Trading Volume
The total amount of an asset traded during a specific period. High volume indicates liquidity and interest; low volume may signal indecision. Telos monitors volume as a key signal across AI departments.
TLS 1.3
Transport Layer Security version 1.3 — the latest and most secure protocol for encrypting data in transit. All communications between Telos and exchanges are encrypted with TLS 1.3.
USDT (Tether)
The most widely used stablecoin in crypto trading, pegged 1:1 to the US Dollar. Most perpetual futures contracts on exchanges are denominated in USDT (e.g., BTC/USDT). Telos primarily trades USDT-margined contracts.
Volatility Guard
A risk gate that detects abnormally high market volatility and automatically reduces position sizes or pauses trading. Protects against flash crashes, pump-and-dump schemes, and black swan events.
Weighted Signal
A trading signal where each department's vote is weighted by its historical accuracy and current confidence. Departments with better track records have more influence on the final decision. This prevents underperforming models from driving trades.
Whale
An individual or entity holding a large amount of cryptocurrency, capable of influencing market prices with their trades. Telos's AI monitors whale wallet movements and large exchange deposits/withdrawals as sentiment signals.
Withdrawal Permission
An API key permission that allows moving funds out of an exchange account. Telos NEVER requests or requires withdrawal permissions. Your funds stay on your exchange at all times — Telos can only trade within your account.
Win Rate
The percentage of trades that close in profit. Telos maintains a 73% average win rate across all AI departments. Win rate is one of the key metrics in the Performance Analytics dashboard.
Deep Dive Into Telos
Explore the technology, security, and capabilities behind Kentaur Capital.
AI Features
Explore the 6 AI departments and consensus voting.
Learn more →Security & Privacy
AES-256 encryption, risk gates, and kill switch.
Learn more →Trading Performance
Transparent win rates, Sharpe ratios, and illustrative performance data.
Learn more →How It Works
The 4-step autonomous trading pipeline.
Learn more →Supported Exchanges
See all 8 exchanges with setup guides.
Learn more →Pricing Plans
Free, Lite, Standard, Plus, and Enterprise plans compared.
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