Crypto Slang
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Crypto Slang
Crypto Slang Explained: A Glossary for People Who Hate Feeling Lost
Contents
01
The classics
02
Market behaviour terms
03
People and players
04
Sentiment and psychology
05
Technical terms made simple
06
Stablecoin specific
07
You are ready!
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01
The classics
HODL Originally a typo for "hold" from a 2013 Bitcoin forum post where someone wrote "I AM HODLING" while drunk during a market crash. It caught on and became a philosophy: hold your crypto no matter what the market does. People who HODL believe in the long-term value and refuse to panic sell.
To the moon When people say a coin is "going to the moon" they mean the price is rising dramatically or they expect it to. "Wen moon?" means "when will this coin's price go up?" It is mostly used as a joke now but was completely sincere in 2017.
Rekt Derived from "wrecked." If you are rekt, you lost a lot of money, usually from a bad trade or a market crash. "I got rekt" means your portfolio took a serious hit.
Wen Intentional misspelling of "when." Used sarcastically. "Wen lambo?" means "when will crypto make me rich enough to buy a Lamborghini?" You will also see "wen moon," "wen pump," "wen listing."
Lambo Short for Lamborghini. Became the symbol of crypto wealth after early Bitcoin millionaires actually bought Lamborghinis. Now used mostly ironically.
02
Market behaviour terms
Bull market / Bullish A bull market is when prices are going up and sentiment is positive. Being bullish means you think prices will rise. Bulls attack by thrusting upward with their horns, hence the name.
Bear market / Bearish The opposite. A bear market is when prices are falling and sentiment is negative. Being bearish means you expect prices to drop. Bears attack by swiping downward with their claws.
Pump and dump When a group artificially inflates the price of a small coin (the pump) by buying heavily and generating hype, then sells all at once (the dump), leaving other buyers with worthless coins. It is illegal in traditional finance and common in low-cap crypto.
Dip A temporary price drop. "Buy the dip" is the strategy of purchasing more of an asset when its price falls temporarily, betting it will recover.
ATH All-Time High. The highest price an asset has ever reached. "Bitcoin hit a new ATH" means Bitcoin broke its previous price record.
Correction A price decline of 10% or more from a recent high. Corrections are considered normal and healthy in any market.
03
People and players
Whale Someone who holds a very large amount of cryptocurrency. When a whale buys or sells, it can move the market price significantly. "A whale just dumped" means a large holder sold a big amount, causing the price to drop.
Degen Short for degenerate. Originally an insult, now worn as a badge of honour by traders who take high-risk positions in obscure coins. "Full degen" means taking maximum risk.
Nocoiner Someone who owns no cryptocurrency and is usually sceptical of it. Not necessarily an insult, just a descriptor.
Maxi Short for maximalist. A Bitcoin maxi believes Bitcoin is the only legitimate cryptocurrency and everything else is worthless. Other versions exist too, like Ethereum maxis.
04
Sentiment and psychology
FUD Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. Information (true or false) that spreads negative sentiment about a coin or the market. "That article is pure FUD" means the writer is spreading fear without substance. Can also be used as a verb: "they are FUDing the market."
FOMO Fear Of Missing Out. The anxiety of watching a coin's price rise and feeling like you need to buy before it goes higher. FOMO-driven buying at the top of a rally is one of the most common ways people lose money.
Shill To aggressively promote a coin, usually because you already own it and want the price to go up. "He is shilling that coin hard" means someone is pushing it suspiciously enthusiastically.
Diamond hands Holding your position through extreme volatility and price drops without selling. The opposite of paper hands.
Paper hands Selling your position at the first sign of trouble or price drop. Considered weak by the HODL crowd.
05
Technical terms made simple
Gas fees The cost of processing a transaction on a blockchain like Ethereum. When the network is busy, gas fees go up. This is why many people prefer faster, cheaper blockchains for everyday transactions.
Wallet Where you store your crypto. Not a physical wallet but a software application or hardware device that holds your private keys. Your coins live on the blockchain, but your wallet is what gives you access to them.
Private key A long string of characters that proves you own a wallet. Never share it with anyone. Ever. Losing it means losing access to your funds permanently.
Seed phrase Usually 12 or 24 words generated when you create a wallet. It is a backup of your private key. Write it down on paper and store it somewhere safe offline. If your phone breaks, your seed phrase is how you recover your wallet.
DeFi Decentralised Finance. Financial services (lending, borrowing, trading) that run on blockchains without banks or intermediaries. Higher potential returns, higher risk.
NFT Non-Fungible Token. A unique digital asset stored on a blockchain. Had a massive boom in 2021 and 2022. Still exists but much quieter now.
06
Stablecoin specific
Peg The fixed value a stablecoin is meant to maintain. USDT and USDC are pegged to $1. If a stablecoin "loses its peg" it means its value dropped below $1, which is bad.
De-peg When a stablecoin's price moves away from its intended fixed value. USDC briefly de-pegged to $0.87 during the Silicon Valley Bank crisis in March 2023 before recovering.
Yield The return you earn by putting your stablecoins to work, for example by lending them on a platform. Often expressed as APY (Annual Percentage Yield).
07
You are ready!
Crypto has a learning curve, but the language is not the hard part. Now that you know what people are actually saying, you can focus on what matters: understanding the assets, managing your risk, and making decisions that make sense for your situation.
Start your crypto journey on Freedx, no jargon required, at http://freedx.am