Cryptocurrency Terms Simplified — 14 Jargons You Need to Know
Along with exciting new technologies, crypto has brought in a host of new terminology and phrases. Learning these nuanced acronyms might help a beginner navigate crypto forums easily, stay alert of false propaganda, and understand the market a little bit better. So here it goes.
1. FOMO
FOMO stands for the “fear of missing out.” It refers to an investor’s state of mind when he is not actively participating in a powerful market move from which others are making profits.
When a sharp bullish breakout happens, rushed investors calculate whether they should buy into an already high-priced market. These anxious investors hope they may sustain the breakout and stay in the market for the remainder of the move.
2. HODL
HODL is a popular crypto meme that stands for “hold on for dear life.” The term originated back in 2013 when an unsettled investor ranted on a Bitcoin forum during market turbulence. He stated that investors are better suited to simply buy and hold instead of trading highs and lows. Since then, HODL has been used to direct investors to hold onto their assets through steep price volatility.
3. FUD
FUD refers to “fear, uncertainty, and doubt.” It is used to inspire negative sentiment around an asset to prevent investors from buying it. It can also be used to urge selling or short-selling. The aim is to pull down an asset’s price so that the FUDer can gather assets at a lower price. It can also be done to cause financial pain to those holding the token of a competing crypto project.
4. Shill
Shilling is an act of spreading false or exaggerated narratives to advertise a service or investment, which is actually of low quality for a financial profit.
Shill is often used negatively in scenarios where an influencer does a paid promotion of a cryptocurrency or service, or a cryptocurrency project developer uses propaganda to help his project succeed. A casual investor may shill a low-performing cryptocurrency from their portfolio to turn a profit.
5. Rekt
Rekt is an intentionally misspelled slang that originally means “wrecked.” It is used to describe an investor’s portfolio that has been financially ruined due to a drop in the value of its cryptocurrency holdings. Social media uses Rekt to alert overleveraged positions being liquidated, resulting in colossal losses.
6. Bear Market
A bear market is a period of time when supply in the market exceeds demand, prices keep falling, and investor confidence hits low. Investors who believe that prices will continue to fall are known as bears. Bear markets are challenging to navigate, especially for inexperienced traders. This is because one cannot predict when the prices hit rock bottom, and the bear market might end.
7. Bull Market
When most investors are buying, demand outweighs supply, causing a bull market kind of situation. In a bull market, prices keep rising, and confidence soars high.
If you witness a price surge followed by investors being optimistic about prices continuing to go further, you are looking at the start of a bull market.
8. WAGMIi
WAGMi is an acronym for “We All Gonna Make It,” used to build confidence and encourage the crypto community to not lose hope.
9. Sats
Named after the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, Sats are the smallest unit of Bitcoin — 1 Sats is equal to 100 millionth of a Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin prices have risen to a great degree since its existence, it’s expensive for new investors to buy one whole Bitcoin, making Sats the next favored choice. They are also useful because Bitcoin is constantly transacted in fractional amounts.
10. Whale
A whale is an establishment that holds an influential position in a specific cryptocurrency. For example, a Bitcoin whale may be an organization that owns 50,000 bitcoins. The company is now in a position to change the course of the market in a single trade.
11. Bagholder
A bagholder is an investor who buys a position at an elevated price but gradually sees the value of their holdings drop. It is advised to sell your positions before the prices drop and avoid being the bagholder.
12. When Lambo
The expensive sports car, Lamborghinis, became a part of the crypto culture because investors making a lot of money from crypto could buy the car. As such, the slang “When Lambo” refers to success in crypto. It is used while asking when an asset will gain enough value so its owner can buy a Lambo.
13. BTD
BTD stands for “buy the dip,” which refers to entering a long position when an asset’s price is suspected of dropping briefly. In bull markets, the term is often used to support rising prices. It is also used in bear markets to buy at good historical value as a long-term investment strategy.
14. KYC
Since 2017, regulatory agencies have imposed certain rules on crypto exchanges and need investors to go through identity verification known as KYC or “know your customers.”
