Cryptocurrency has been around for almost a decade, i.e. when Bitcoin was introduced in 2009. There are many terms associated with cryptocurrency and it’s normal not to understand the acronyms that experienced traders use. Even on Reddit, you’ll see plenty of funny terms in the subreddits r/cryptocurrency or r/bitcoin.
Here’s a list and explanation of some of the popular terms in the cryptocurrency world.
1. HODL
HODL is one of the most common terms you’ll see and it means to hold on to your cryptocurrencies (don’t sell). In other words, hold on to dear life! The reason why it’s popular is because the crypto world is so volatile. A coin may be worth $10 today and $1 tomorrow, or vice versa. If you believe in the long-term potential of a coin, then HODL!
2. FOMO
FOMO stands for “fear of missing out”. It works two ways, that is when the market price of coins goes up or it goes down. If it goes up, a lot of people fear of missing out on the bull run and buy in at a high price. If it drops a lot, many will start selling which contributes to a worse drop in price. FOMO is very common among crypto newbies. Many people are into crypto just to get rich quick, and that’s not the mentality to have if you think cryptocurrencies will stay. That is why FOMO gets to them.
3. Pump and Dump
Pump and dump is normally used when you see an abnormal increase in the price of a coin. Some rich investors pump the price of the coin and dump the coins when the price is really high. That’s what pump and dump means.
4. Shitcoins
Shitcoins are what you call cryptocurrencies with no value. Basically they exist for no purpose other than to make money from it. Many people buy shitcoins just to pump the price and dump it with a huge profit. It’s a huge risk to invest in shitcoins as they may have no value the next day.
5. MCAP
MCAP is just short form for market cap. We always look at the cryptocurrency marketcap to compare it with the stock market, tulip market, dot com bubble and so on.
6. Altcoin
Altcoin stands for alternate coins, i.e. any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin is an altcoin.
7. Whales
Whales are the rich investors or people who got rich mining / buying crypto when it was worth almost nothing. They are the ones who are capable of manipulating the market.
8. Minnows
Minnows are people like you and me, the poor dudes in crypto. We basically strive to earn more cryptocurrencies through various platforms like Steemit.
9. ATH
ATH means all-time high and it refers to the price of cryptocurrencies. For e.g. the ATH of Bitcoin is $20,000.
10. Buy the dip
Buying the dip simply means to buy cryptocurrencies when the price has dipped / decreased. Buying the dip and selling when it’s high is pretty much the best advice in crypto?
11. TA
TA is short for technical analysis like the ones you use in forex. I’m not a fan of TA and they’re predictions at best.
12. Mooning / To the moon!
When the price of a coin goes up dramatically, you normally say it’s “going to the moon” and everyone’s getting a Lamborghini!
13. FUD
FUD stands for “fear, uncertainty and doubt” and it’s normally used to refer to news that drives the prices down. For e.g. when China closed certain exchanges, it creates FUD among the investors and the crypto market dropped quite a lot. Another e.g. would be when Jamie Dimon said that Bitcoin is a fraud.
14. Gas
Gas is normally used in transactions involving Ethereum or ERC20 tokens. Think of it as petrol that enables a car to move. If you wish to send Ethereum to another wallet, you need gas to enable the transaction, to ensure that the transaction is actually executed.
15. Wallet
Wallets are what you use to store your cryptocurrencies. There are different types of wallets, i.e. hardware wallets, desktop wallets and online wallets. Hardware wallets are normally the most secure, but you have to purchase them from the legitimate companies themselves.
16. Exchanges
Crypto exchanges are where you buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Think of it as a stock market but they are normally run by non-government companies or some of it are even decentralized like EtherDelta or Bitshares.
17. Fork
I’m sure you’ve heard of the Bitcoin fork or forks on other altcoins. A fork is basically a change in protocol. There are two types of forks, hard fork and soft fork. Soft fork is for optional upgrades that works for users who are running both the old and new version. A hard fork essentially happens when a major part of the community wants a change in protocol (how the blockchain works) which results in two competing blockchains (new and old). Bitcoin Cash and the other alternatives were created by hard forks.
Need help with other cryptocurrency terms? Do leave a comment below.
Do check out other related articles as well:
How To Earn Cryptocurrency With No Investment (2018)
Top 10 Non-Bitcoin Cryptocurrencies In 2018
