# Glossary

* **Liquidity Providers ("LPs").** Users providing liquidity to the protocol as peer-to-pool market makers and acting as counterparties to traders' net PnL. 
* **Open Interest ("OI").** The total cumulative position size across traders allowed for a particular side (long/short) on a particular asset.
* **Open Interest Imbalance ("OI Imbalance")**. The difference between long and short OI.
* **Open Interest Skew ("OI Skew")**. OI skew can either be long (OI long>OI short) or short (OI long\<OI short).
* **Ostium Liquidity Provider token ("OLP token")**. An LP's share in the LP Market Making Vault, which accrues rewards directly into the token value.
* **Perpetuals ("Perps").** An onchain primitive enabling price exposure to an asset without underlying ownership thereof. Stated otherwise, a non-expiring future who's cost of holding is governed by a funding rate.
* **Position Size.** The total notional exposure of a trader's position: Collateral x Leverage.
* **Profit and Loss ("PnL")**. Total gains and losses incurred by the position over a specific period. A positive or negative PnL yield a profit or a loss, respectively.
* **Real World Assets ("RWAs").** A catch-all term used by crypto natives to refer to the universe of tradable assets not native to the blockchain.