Glossary

Short definitions for terms used across these docs and the whitepaper.

Term	Meaning
AuxPoW	Auxiliary proof of work. A merged-mining proof that lets a parent chain proof secure an auxiliary chain block.
BIP324	Bitcoin v2 encrypted P2P transport design; Tidecoin adapts transport encryption with ML-KEM-512.
BUFF	Beyond UnForgeability Features, a signature security property discussed in FN-DSA/Falcon standardization.
CRQC	Cryptographically relevant quantum computer: a quantum computer capable of breaking currently deployed public-key cryptography.
ECDSA	Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm. Tidecoin removes it from transaction authorization.
Falcon	NTRU-lattice post-quantum signature scheme selected by NIST for FN-DSA standardization.
FN-DSA	NIST name for the Falcon-derived signature standard under FIPS 206 development.
HNDL	Harvest Now, Decrypt Later. Recording protected data now for future quantum attack.
ML-DSA	Module-Lattice-Based Digital Signature Algorithm standardized in NIST FIPS 204.
ML-KEM	Module-Lattice-Based Key-Encapsulation Mechanism standardized in NIST FIPS 203.
NIST Category	Security-strength category used by NIST PQC evaluations. Categories 1, 3, and 5 roughly align with AES-128, AES-192, and AES-256 key-search references.
NTRU lattice	Lattice structure underlying Falcon/FN-DSA.
PQ	Post-quantum.
PQClean	Portable clean implementations of post-quantum algorithms used as a source for cryptographic code.
PQHD	Tidecoin’s hardened-only post-quantum hierarchical deterministic wallet design.
P2WSH-512	Tidecoin witness v1 script-hash output using a 64-byte SHA-512 script hash.
QROM	Quantum Random Oracle Model. A security model for adversaries with quantum query access to a random oracle.
ROMix	Scrypt’s memory-hard mixing function.
Scrypt	Memory-hard proof-of-work / KDF used by Litecoin and Tidecoin’s post-AuxPoW merged-mining design.
SHAKE	Extendable-output hash functions from the SHA-3 family used by several PQ schemes.
Shor’s algorithm	Quantum algorithm that breaks integer factoring and discrete logarithm assumptions, including ECDSA’s underlying problem.
SIS	Short Integer Solution, a lattice problem used in security arguments for lattice signatures.
UTXO	Unspent transaction output. The Bitcoin-style ledger model Tidecoin preserves.
Witness v1	SegWit witness version 1. Tidecoin uses it for P2WSH-512 after AuxPoW activation.
YespowerTIDE	Tidecoin’s pre-AuxPoW Yespower-family proof-of-work algorithm.

See also: Post-Quantum Primer, Protocol, Citations.