One day I decided I would become a cryptocurrency day trader. In that quest, I joined a trading chat room on Telegram. There, I was surprised to see that I was not able to understand any of their conversations. The people inside this chat were using jargons and crypto slang and terminologies that I hadn’t ever heard anywhere else in my life.
I looked in my Oxford dictionary and couldn’t find any of these words! Then I asked my good friend Google…
From there, I learned about all these terms, and I was finally able to understand the conversations in the Telegram group.
But if you are also new to Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency space, you may not know what any of these things mean.
Am I right?
Even on cryptocurrency Reddit threads, Telegram groups, WhatsApp messages, and Slack channels, you must have noticed people misspelling “HOLD” as “HODL” despite having an auto-correct feature on their phones or computers.
In these crypto communities, offline or online, with the rise of cryptocurrencies, a new breed of slang has also developed. If you join a crypto-conversation without knowing these jargons, you might feel left out and more than a bit puzzled.
So today, I am going to discuss a few of the popular jargons in this cryptocurrency space.
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What is “HODL”?
The very first time the term HODL appeared on the Bitcoin talk forum was in 2013 and came from a member named GameKyuubi under the thread “I AM HODLING”.
From the look of the post, he was drunk and wanted to convey the fact that he was holding his BTC despite the serious fall that had just happened.
Since then, this misspelled term became very popular in the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency world. Whenever a person says in a conversation that he/she is hodling or suggests to hodl, it means that they believe their coin will be profitable one day, if not today.
So basically, “HODL” was originally a typo which has now popularly earned the status of a humorous backronym:
“HODL” – “Hold on for dear life”
If you’re new to the cryptocurrency space, you’ve probably seen some other jargons that you don’t know about. Here’s a quick reference dictionary for some common crypto-terms:
Popular crypto slang Terms every cryptocurrency day traders must know:
1. FOMO
Fear of missing out. It means the fear of missing out on the profit which might result from an investment or a decision.
The Wiki definition – A pervasive apprehension that others might be having rewarding experiences from which one is absent.
2. ATH
All time high. This means that the price of a certain cryptocurrency or coin has broken all of its past records and is trading at the highest price it has ever achieved.
3. BEAR
This is a term borrowed from the Wall Street people. This means a trader/investor who believes the prices of a particular cryptocurrency or market will fall and wants to profit from that fall.
4. WHALE
This is a term borrowed from gambling people. It means a trader with a fat account, usually one who is bullish (one who thinks the market will rise) on the price of any specific cryptocurrency. These people are also referred to as bullish whales.
5. BEARWHALE
This means a trader with a fat account who is bearish on the price of a cryptocurrency.
6. BAGHODLER
This is an investor or a trader who has been holding (or hodling) for too long on a particular cryptocurrency and now has to face the consequences of that decision.
7. REKT
This is a misspelling of “wrecked”. This term refers to a trader or investor who is utterly ruined and destroyed with losses from the current downfall of a price.
8. TO THE MOON
This refers to a crypto’s upward momentum as it keeps climbing in price, as in, “The price of this coin will one day go to the moon!”
9. ADDY
This refers to a cryptocurrency public address (or key). For example: “Tell me your ADDY, please.”
10. FUD
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. This term usually refers to investors who are unsure of the potential of a situation.
11. CHOYNA
A deliberately distorted way of referring to China. As China is a country which is immensely influential in the Bitcoin space, it has largely dominated mining and trading activities.
12. ALTCOIN = Any cryptocurrency other than bitcoin.
13. ASHDRAKED = A situation where you lost all your money.
14. BTFD = Buy The Fucking Dip (an indication to buy a coin when it has dumped so hard)
15. DILDO = Long green or red candles
16. DUMP = To Sell off a coin
17. DUMPING = Downward price movement
18. DYOR = Do Your Own Research
19. FA = Fundamental Analysis
20. JOMO = Joy Of Missing Out
21. LONG = Margin bull position
22. MCAP = Market Capitalization
23. OTC = Over The Counter
24. PUMP = Upward price movement
25. SHITCOIN = A coin with no potential value or use
26. SHORT = Margin bear position
27. SWING = Zig zag price movement (Upwards and downwards)
28. TA = Technical Analysis
29. REVERSE INDICATOR = Someone who is always wrong predicting price movements.
30. ICO = Initial coin offering
Disclaimer: These terms and crypto slang are all used for fun and humor. I have collected them from the internet and chat rooms via various resources. Moreover, as they are subjective terms, I don’t hold any responsibility for the correctness of exact meanings.
Know some more common crypto jargons that I can add to this list? Let me know about them in the comments below!
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Also read: My crypto portfolio.