Cryptocurrency Slang An Illustrated Glossary for Beginners

FUD is another acronym that stands for ‘Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.’ Part of the reason why cryptocurrency markets are so volatile is that they are vulnerable to public perceptions. Whenever there is negative press coverage, the value of the entire market will fall and the reverse is true. The strategy 195 eur to mxn exchange rates has proved right for the most part, as some of the larger assets have seen incremental value gains over a number of years. However, if an analyst could zoom into the monthly price action of most of these assets it would be evident that most experienced wild rides in short-term durations.

  • In his post, he writes that he continues to hold BTC coins, ignoring the fall in its rate.
  • It is the kind of mindset that will help you learn and contribute more positively to the community.
  • Private keys can be thought of as a password; they must never be revealed to anyone, as they allow you to spend the bitcoins from your bitcoin wallet through a cryptographic signature.
  • We are not aware of where this or any of the other misspellings come from, but both come with their own memes.

LFG can also refer to the Luna Foundation Guard, the controversial organization that controls the recently failed stablecoin TerraUSD and the Luna blockchain ecosystem. In the example above, Twitter user Chadlink, asks the Twitter public whether the FUD currently surrounding a token actually indicates a strong “buy” signal. In some cases, the promoters of a specific NFT project will say that those who invest are NGMI, as shown in the tweets below. There is also a $NGMI meme token built on the Avalanche network, which currently sells at a fraction of a cent. NGMI is also sometimes used by NFT owners or investors to refer to themselves in a self-deprecating manner after they have made a bad NFT investment. It can also be used after a specific project or company has announced a positive decision around NFTs .

We don’t know where the expression originated and how it turned into a meme, but it has become one of the most ubiquitous memes in the web3 space. Other versions of GM (or Gm/gm) are gn and sometimes ga and ge . Calling a coin a shitcoin is another way of saying it’s worthless. The term is used quite liberally, so depending on who you ask, even some of the most valuable coins may be shitcoins to them. Usually, though, shitcoins refer to cryptocurrencies without any obvious use case.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

HODL has become so prevalent that many have included the term in their profile names, social media handles, or even businesses. One Twitter influencer has even called himself “American HODL” due to his early and steadfast attitude toward Bitcoin investing. The phrase makes more sense when used to refer to worthless coins or tokens – also called ‘shitcoins’ – that have little to no utility outside speculation. Mooning is a related term to ‘When Lambo’ that also refers to stratospheric price rallies.

  • The person may disguise himself as a fellow investor or enthusiast, but most often it’s the developer who is trying to pump up the price and then run with the profit.
  • Many commonplace words like whale and moon, have different meanings in the crypto context.
  • If there is a belief that prices have started to rise, it is considered to be a “bullish” situation.

HODLing also helps investors avoid reacting greedily or fearfully, and prevents them from attempting to buy low and sell high, since most investors are not successful at timing the market. Justin crafts insightful data-driven stories on finance, banking, and digital assets. His reports were cited by many influential outlets globally like Forbes, Financial Times, CNBC, Bloomberg, Business Insider, Nasdaq.com, Investing.com, Reuters, among others. There are several more words that we did not cover in this guide but we are sure you will run into as you interact with other community members. Be observant, keen, and keep an open mind when interacting with other enthusiasts in chat forums and on social media. It is the kind of mindset that will help you learn and contribute more positively to the community.

Crypto Slang Terms You Need To Know (Part

A type of scam, pump-and-dump schemes involve artificially inflating the price of an asset through false or misleading positive information. Typically, a group of people will buy large quantities of a particular asset at a low price all at once, driving up the demand and price of the respective asset. WAGMI, on the other hand, stands for ‘we’re all gonna make it.’ The acronym is widely used by the crypto community to inspire both positivity and confidence in a project.

Literally means “profile picture,” but in the NFT world, also means a project that often doesn’t have utility beyond use as an avatar on social media. For a while, CryptoPunks was the only “PFP project,” but by the end of 2021 there were thousands of them. They are often released in editions of 10,000, where each NFT will have unique characteristics. Now you no longer have to deep dive into Reddit and feel confused by all the slang presented to you. Knowing these five slang terms can help you navigate the crypto world better. Bitshaming is when someone makes fun of someone who invested in bitcoin and has not become rich yet.

Diamond Hands & Paper Hands

The fee required to complete a transaction or execute a smart contract on the Ethereum Blockchain. The unauthorized use of someone’s computer to mine cryptocurrency. Mathematics creates codes and ciphers in order to conceal information. Cryptography is used as the basis for the mathematical problems used to verify and secure transactions on the Blockchain. A trader that has a negative sentiment about the market and expects it to decline. ’ It’s used ironically to mock people who are focusing only on a coin’s price.

For instance, The Angel Investoooor is being made fun of for the group’s perceived excessive use of humble-bragging, educatory tweets, and risk diversification. -oooor memes are ubiquitous and spring up almost every other day, depending on what the sentiment in the scene is like. Refers to a game-theoretic payout beneficial to both parties.

crypto slang terms

Take this into account when buying crypto, and you’ll make better decisions than most people. AirDrop is a free distribution of tokens to everyone for signing up. Tokens can be used to popularize a completely new coin, which is not yet on the exchanges, and so far only preliminary sale of tokens is carried out. This is the name of a trader with huge financial opportunities who is pessimistic about some cryptocurrency and expects its quotes to fall. A distortion of China, a country that is hugely influential to bitcoin because it’s where the most trading and mining activity occurs.

An Illustrated Glossary of Cryptocurrency Slang (Infographic)

They tend to have extreme views and are stubborn about their outlook. Essentially it’s a theory that one day bitcoin will become the world’s currency and replace all the other world currencies. A way that funds are raised for a new cryptocurrency project.

A lurker or somebody who lurks is a person that joins a message board or chat group, but does not actively participate in the conversations. This can have various reasons, like for example not having the confidence of knowing enough about the topic. It could also be that this person joins a crypto chat group to is day trading the right strategy for you analyse the overall market sentiment or that of individual coins. A ‘51% attack’ refers to a possible attack on a blockchain by a group of ‘miners’, who hold more than 50% of the hash rate. In such a situation the ‘miners’ can deliberately not confirm transactions or to issue transactions twice (double-spend).

This is especially important, since the Bitcoin price has risen dramatically and in order to welcome new investors to the market, the ability to offer tiny fractions of Bitcoin is essential. A new market usually means a new lingo, and cryptocurrency is certainly an example of that. Words, acronyms, memes and other language to describe the world of crypto have sprung up, and for newbies, it can be confusing and at worst intimidating to make sense of it all. Many bitcoin holders may scoff at you for not relishing its potential.

Block

Your wallet’s address, which is similar to your bank account number. You can share your public wallet key with people or institutions so they can send you money or take money from your account when you authorize it. Non-fungible tokens are units of value used to represent the ownership of unique digital items like art or collectibles. There are a few prerequisites we recommend before you buy into crypto, like stocking your emergency fund, paying down high-interest debts, and securing a traditional retirement plan.

The term HODL is also used as an acronym for the phrase “Holding On Dear Life” whose significance we’ll discuss in the next section. In many circumstances, a trader with paper hands has such a low-risk hargreaves lansdown vs trading 212 tolerance in the market that they will lose out on significant profit by selling before the price rises. An investor with paper hands sells their stock at the first hint of difficulty.

To equip yourself with up-to-date cryptocurrency slang, here’s a quick glossary of important terms you should know. For starters, get used to hearing the word “whale” thrown around. Whales are investors who own five percent or more of any cryptocurrency coin.