Are you new to Cryptos? Confused by the Crypto Terms being used by people on social media?
Fret not. You’re not alone in this.
With the new advent of cryptos, the channels by which information is translated is also different. In cryptos, Twitter, Telegram, Slack and Reddit are the new Bloomberg, CNBC and MSNBC.
With the new channels, also come a new language. In the internet age, abbreviations and cultural memes are used to communicate information even much faster than traditional media could. While that is a plus for people in the space, it presents a hindrance for you if you’re new to this.
I have compiled a list of crypto terms and how they are being used. These crypto terms will help you get into the world of cryptos and decipher some of the language being used.
- Fiat – Government Issued Currency. These are paper currencies currently being printed by Central Banks throughout the world. Examples are US dollar, Euros and British pounds.Example use:
“I have converted 40% of my fiat into Bitcoin and Ether.” - FOMO – Fear of Missing Out. The fear that you will miss out on an opportunity and causing you to take impulsive, greedy action.Example use:
“I just FOMO’ed into buying Ripple. It’s gonna moon!” - FUD – Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt. The opposite of FOMO. FUD is a collective term used to describe the emotions of investors and traders in a period of uncertainty in the crypto market.Example use:
“There’s a lot of FUD right now, especially with China clamping down on ICOs.” - FUDster – Someone who is spreading FUD. Someone who speaks negatively about a cryptocurrency or Bitcoin with the purpose of spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt to investors and traders.Example use:
“John’s a FUDster for XRP. He keeps spamming nonsense on his Twitter Feed.” - HODL – Hold on for Dear Life. A term first created due to a spelling error (the writer was supposed to write HOLD) but has since become a term in crypto describing the act of holding a coin with an ultra-long-term perspective.Example use:
“I’m going to HODL through this China FUD. Cryptos are here to stay.” - DYOR – Do your own research. Often used by influencers who recommend a trade or a cryptocurrency but do not want people to listen to their advice blindly.Example use:
“I’m of the opinion that ARDR is one of the most undervalued coins in the market now. Easy 20x in 2018. DYOR.” - Pump and Dump – Price manipulation for short-term profit. In these early days of Cryptocurrencies, there are many coins with a small market capitalization, which means that small groups of people can significantly influence prices.So the leader of a pump and dump will suggest to their followers to buy a coin, pump up the price, and let unsuspecting investors join in, and then coordinate a sell order with their group. The unsuspecting investors will be left holding a loss.Example Use:
“I was a victim of a pump and dump once. I will never FOMO again into a coin I don’t understand.” - Shitcoin – A coin with no potential value. 90% of more cryptocurrencies have little or no value because they eventually will not be adopted. A Shitcoin is the worse of the lot – designed as a Ponzi with no inherent value or no roadmap.Example Use:
“This token is a shitcoin. Stay far away from it.” - Whale – Someone who has huge amounts of capital and can influence coin prices. In the early days of cryptos, where some coins only have a market capitalization of 50-100 million, it does not take a lot to influence prices. A whale is someone who has the financial ability to move prices of coins by buying or selling huge amounts of it.Example Use:
“I just saw John put in $10 million fiat into Bitcoin. Whale.” - BTFD – Buy the failed dip. A term used when there is a dip in the prices but it is of opinion that the dip is a mere correction in a bullish market, hence the correct action would be to buy the coin at a cheaper price to enjoy greater price appreciation later on.Example Use:
“I’m gonna BTFD. Bitcoin has not broken its upward channel since September last year.” - Moon – Upward movement (burst) of the price. A term used to describe the sudden and upward growth in the price of a coin. Cryptos have done 10 times or even 100 times their value, which is almost unheard of in the traditional markets. A new term was created for that.Example Use:
“When is ETH mooning, sir?” or “XLM is mooning! Woots!” - Pump – Upward price movement. Similar idea to moon, but a much lesser degree. A pump would be usually in the range of 10-30% sudden upward moments of coins.Example Use:
“ETC is getting pumped. It must be airdrop happening in March that’s causing it.”
- Dump – Selling away your coins / Downward price movement. Opposite of Pump, but could range up to 90% loss in value of a coin.Example Use:
“BCC just got dumped. Looks like what I said finally came true.” - Wall – A limit order set to buy a set number of coins at a certain price. Commonly used with ‘Buy’ and ‘Sell’. i.e. Buy Wall, Sell Wall. In the crypto exchanges, the orders set by other parties can be transparently seen by everyone, so the buy and sell walls give everyone an idea of the support and resistance levels of particular coins.Example Use:
“There’s a huge 1000 BTC sell wall at 15000 satoshis. Looks like we’re not getting past that level tonight.” - Shilling – Creating hype around a coin. It means to hype up or to market a certain cryptocurrency. People who hold certain cryptocurrencies will naturally talk positive things about them on social media, in the hope that someone else would buy and push up the price.Example Use:
“John is just can’t stop shilling his favourite XVG on Twitter.” - Bags – another word for “set” or “number of” in the crypto world. i.e. I’m holding a bag of NXT. Bags, on the other hand, represent the sum total of all their coins in a crypto portfolio.Example Use:
“I’m going to shill my bags. You can take it or leave it. DYOR.” or “How are my bags doing today?” - Bagholder – An investor who is holding a certain type of coin that is losing money. Usually, after a price dump, there will be investors who are ‘stuck’ with a coin because they refuse to sell them at a loss. However, that also means they lose the opportunity to trade the market, hence the term a bagholder.Example Use:
“I’m an NXT bagholder. I got dumped on after the IGNIS airdrop. I’m gonna HODL it out.” - Rekt – an internet term for ‘wrecked’ which is to indicate someone has been defeated or embarrassed. Usually used by others after a coin is dumped on.Example Use:
“BCC bagholders just got rekt. 80% dump in 2 hours. Goodness.” - Flippening – a term to describe a coin overtaking Bitcoin’s market capitalization, hence dethroning it symbolically as the king of cryptos. Over the past year, there have been three main coins that have had, for a brief moment, the belief it could overtake Bitcoin as king: Ethereum, Ripple and Bitcoin Cash. References the iCloud leaks of celebrity nudes called the Fappening in Aug 2014.Example Use:
“BCH just spiked to US$9K on Coinbase. It’s the flippening!” - ATH – All time highs. A term used to describe a coin that has reached new price levels, either in a particular currency like USD, or in terms of Bitcoin.Example Use:
“OMG. TRX has just reached its USD ATH and it’s doesn’t look like stopping! To the moon!” - POW – Proof of Work. It is a method to mine cryptocurrencies by leverage on processing powers of computer and graphics cards. Cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum are Proof of Work coins; you’ll need a computer or a mining rig to process transactions on it to earn new supply.Example Use:
“POW makes sense to me. Yes, it consumes electricity but so do banks!” - POS – Proof of Stake. Instead of earning new cryptocurrencies by leveraging on processing power, Proof of Stake means to validate or verify transactions based on the number of coins he/she owns. Peercoin and NXT were the first Proof of Stake coins.Example Use:
“POS is just the greener and more sustainable option compared to POW.” - Lambo – short form for Lamborghini. Many people have become millionaires because of Bitcoins meteoric rise over the past 10 years. The Lambo represents success or achievement in the crypto world because they have made enough money to buy the most luxurious car on the market.Example Use:
“When Lambo, sir?” or “What happened to all the lambo talk? Let me guess, Bitcoin just got dumped.” - Nocoiner – a term used by cryptocurrency traders and investors to describe someone who does not own a single cryptocurrency. Often used in a condemning or condescending tone.Example Use:
“Oh look, another day, another nocoiner spreading FUD.”
- Alts – A short form for altcoins, which is a made up of two words: alt, which is short for alternate and coin, which means any currency. Any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin is an altcoin. This is basically every cryptocurrency (except Bitcoin).Example Use:
“I’m holding mostly alts now. I now hold less than 5% of my bags in Bitcoin.”
Have more crypto terms to add on to this list? Feel free to COMMENT below, and SHARE this with your crypto newbie friends!
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