Crypto Slangs Explained
The cryptocurrency space is constantly growing and evolving and it can get quite overwhelming. Thankfully, these slangs make navigating the crypto space more manageable.
FOMO
FOMO also known as the “fear of missing out” is used to describe the emotional state in which an investor feels when he or she misses out on a powerful rally from which others around them are benefiting.
FOMO is generally the most intense when the crypto markets are rising very fast and powerfully.
How to use it in a sentence: “I bought the cryptocurrency at its highs yesterday because of FOMO. Now I’m regretting it.”
HODL
HODL is one of the more popular crypto slang and it means “hold on for dear life.” HODL originated from a Bitcoin forum in which a trader with the username GameKyuubi, ranted:
“I AM HODLING,” during a period in which BTC was experiencing relatively higher volatility.
What started as a misspelling of the word “hold” became immortalized into a term in which crypto investors refer to buying and holding for the long term. HODL is used as a rallying cry for crypto investors to hold on through bull and bear markets.
How to use it in a sentence: “Bitcoin has drop more than 40% off its peak, but I plan to HODL through it.”
FUD
FUD stands for “fear, uncertainty, and doubt.” FUD is a public relations and propaganda method to spread misinformation in order to elicit negative emotional responses or FUD towards cryptocurrency as a whole or a particular crypto.
FUD is usually carried out by opponents of cryptocurrency or by investors who deliberately want to drive the prices of crypto down in an attempt to buy and accumulate them at a lower price.
How to use it in a sentence: “All of this news are FUD created by people who want you to sell your positions. Don’t fall for it!”
Rekt
Rekt is a misspelling of the word “wrecked.” Rekt originated from the gaming space and to get rekt means losing badly. In crypto slangs, rekt is used to describe when an investor’s portfolio is down heavily.
Rekt is also used with the meaning “financially ruined”. This typically happens to an investor who either takes up too much leverage or allocates
How to use it in a sentence: “During the recent crypto bear market, my portfolio was rekt.”
Whale
Investors or entities with large holdings of a specific cryptocurrency are called whales. According to BitInfoCharts, the top 100 wallets held around 18% of all Bitcoin as of Q2 2021.
With their large holdings, whales have the potential to manipulate the prices of cryptocurrency. Thus, many investors pay attention to any movements made by these whales as they have the ability to affect the crypto markets.
How to use it in a sentence: “The whales are selling their Bitcoin, this might affect the price of Bitcoin in the coming days.“
Pump and Dump
“Pump and dump” is a coordinated effort by a group of traders, usually insiders, to artificially drive up the price of an asset before selling it at the height of the excitement to unsuspecting retail investors.
In crypto terms, it is usually the coin’s founders who, through different means, will pump up the price of their coin only to then dump their stake on retail investors who do not know any better. This can cause retail investors to suffer huge financial losses.
How to use it in a sentence: “This crypto project seems dodgy. I think the current huge price increase of the crypto is a pump and dump.”
Rug Pull
Rug pull is a type of exit scam where crypto developers hype their project to pump the price of their project’s token before abandoning the project and running away with investors’ funds. The ease of creating new tokens and getting them listed on decentralized exchanges (DEXes) without a code audit is one reason why rug pull scams are so prevalent.
According to Chainanlysis, in 2021, rug pulls defrauded investors of $2.8 billion and formed 37% of all cryptocurrency scam revenue.
How to use it in a sentence: “The developers of that crypto project ran away with their investors’ money, doing a rug pull on them.“
Bagholder
A bagholder is someone who bought a cryptocurrency at a high price and continues to hold positions even after prices have fallen substantially. In most cases, bagholders stubbornly hold on to their crypto even while other investors sell their positions thus leaving the bagholders as the last owners of a failing investment.
How to use it in a sentence: “He was left as a bagholder as prices of that crypto plunged soon after he bought it.“
Diamond Hands
The term “diamond hands” is most commonly found in the crypto and stock traders’ threads on Reddit. Diamond hands or 💎🙌 is a philosophy that supporters and proponents of a particular cryptocurrency or stock used to band together so as to drive up the price of that asset.
Being a diamond hand means holding the asset through its ups and downs and not selling the asset at the first sign of trouble.
How to use it in a sentence: “She has been holding Bitcoin since 2015 through all the volatility. She has diamond hands.“
When Lambo?
As the crypto space gained traction and attention, many people were able to make a lot of money just from buying and selling crypto. Some of them were so successful that they were able to purchase lamborghinis off the profits they made from cryptocurrency.
It was not a question of whether it was possible but rather when the owner of the crypto was able to purchase a lambo. Thus, the term “when lambo” was born and it became synonymous with the success of crypto.
How to use it in a sentence: “I bought into that crypto before all its hype. Now that everyone is wanting a piece of the action and prices are skyrocketing, when lambo?“
BTD/BTFD
Supporters and believers of a particular cryptocurrency and its project think that any price decline in the price of the crypto is a good opportunity to buy the dip (btd)/ buy the f****** dip (btfd).
These cryptocurrency bulls believe that the price of their cryptocurrency has all but one destination: the moon. So any opportunity to buy the dip is too good to be missed out.
How to use it in a sentence: “I have been waiting for Ethereum to drop in price, now that it has, it’s time to BTD/BTFD.“
Flippening
As of the writing of this article, Bitcoin (BTC) remains the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization with Ethereum (ETH) in second place. The “flippening” refers to the scenario where Ethereum overtakes Bitcoin as the number one cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin has always been the number one cryptocurrency so some say that the “flippening” is all but a hypothetical scenario. On the other side of the fence, there are people who believe that with the rise of Ethereum and the decline in Bitcoin’s market dominance over the years, the “flippening” is not only a possibility but an inevitable outcome.
How to use it in a sentence: “Ethereum has outperformed Bitcoin for quite some time now. The flippening will happen sooner rather than later.“
KYC
KYC, or “know your customer”, is the process of verifying the identity of customers required by many crypto exchanges since regulations were implemented in 2017.
KYC is implemented to confirm the identity of the customer and prevent illegal activities, such as money laundering, funding terrorism and tax evasion.
How to use it in a sentence: “With the new regulations, most cryptocurrency exchanges now require KYC from their customers.“
To the moon/Mooning
“To the moon” or “mooning” indicates when the price of cryptocurrency sees a rapid increase in its price usually in a short period of time. If you take a look at the charts, the parabolic rise in price would correspond to a “to the moon” or “mooning” event.
Many traders tend to be drawn into cryptos which have “mooning” potential as this would allow them to see a big return on their investment.
How to use it in a sentence: “I’ve just read the project’s whitepaper and I’ve bought their coin. I believe it will go to the moon in the future.“