> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.uniocean.io/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.uniocean.io/forecast-platform/introduction/key-concepts.md).

# Key Concepts

This page explains important terms used across Uniocean.

## Core Terms

| Term        | Meaning                                                                             |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Market      | A forecasting challenge for a specific asset and time window                        |
| Asset       | The cryptocurrency, commodity, or forex pair being forecast                         |
| Forecast    | The exact price submitted by a user for a specific market                           |
| Entry Fee   | The amount paid to submit a forecast (minimum 10 USDC/USDT)                         |
| Reward Pool | The total market pool created from entry fees, distributed to rewarded participants |

## Market Lifecycle

| Term           | Meaning                                                                  |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Upcoming       | Market is scheduled but not yet accepting forecasts                      |
| Live           | Market is open for forecasts (first \~70% of duration)                   |
| Locked         | Entry window closed, cooling period active (\~30% of duration)           |
| Settled        | Market finalized, rewards distributed                                    |
| Cancelled      | Market could not settle fairly, all entries refunded                     |
| Cooling Period | Time between entry close and settlement, prevents last-second advantages |

## Settlement & Verification

| Term         | Meaning                                                                    |
| ------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Settlement   | The process of finalizing the market using oracle price data               |
| Oracle       | Independent price source used to determine the actual price                |
| Pyth Network | Decentralized oracle network used for settlement prices                    |
| VAA          | Verifiable Attestation — cryptographic proof of oracle price               |
| Rank         | Position based on forecast accuracy                                        |
| Distance     | Absolute difference between forecast and oracle price                      |
| Tie-breaker  | Cryptographic hash using on-chain data to resolve equal distances          |
| Merkle Root  | A single cryptographic fingerprint representing all reward data            |
| Merkle Proof | Proof that a specific reward is included in settlement data                |
| Validator    | Independent node that verifies settlement results before on-chain approval |
| BFT          | Byzantine Fault Tolerance — consensus requiring majority agreement         |
| Quorum       | Minimum number of validators that must agree (typically 3 of 5)            |

## Rewards

| Term          | Meaning                                                                        |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| UCPRA         | Uniocean Community Price Reward Algorithm                                      |
| Ranker        | Top-ranked forecaster receiving the largest rewards via power-law distribution |
| Bucket Winner | Forecaster in the top 51% who is not a Ranker, receives 1.4x–1.6x multiplier   |
| Power-law     | Distribution where top positions receive exponentially more                    |
| Dynamic Top-K | Ranker count that scales with market size (1, 3, or 1%)                        |

## Blockchain & Transactions

| Term             | Meaning                                                                        |
| ---------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Meta-transaction | Gasless transaction where the platform relays and pays fees on behalf of users |
| Gas fees         | Blockchain transaction costs (covered by platform for all user actions)        |
| Auto Claim       | Automatic reward delivery to user wallets without manual action                |
| Auto Refund      | Automatic refund for cancelled markets without manual action                   |
| Multi-chain      | Platform operates across multiple blockchain networks simultaneously           |
| Audit Report     | PDF document with complete settlement data for public verification             |

## Social & Community

| Term                | Meaning                                                                |
| ------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Referral Commission | Commission earned when referred users participate in markets           |
| Referral Level      | Depth of referral relationships (Level 1 = direct, Level 2 = indirect) |

## Related Pages

* [How Uniocean Works](/forecast-platform/introduction/how-it-works.md)
* [Reward Distribution](/forecast-platform/rewards/reward-distribution.md)
* [Settlement Process](/forecast-platform/settlement/settlement-process.md)
* [Rankings](/forecast-platform/markets/leaderboard.md)
* [Public Verification](/forecast-platform/transparency/public-verification.md)