The Essential Guide To Crypto Slang

August 11, 2022

August 11, 2022

The Essential Guide To Crypto Slang

So, you've been lurking on Twitter, absorbing the knowledge and vision from some of  the most-followed thought leaders and technologists in the crypto space, and an unfamiliar 3-5 letter abbreviation comes up on the screen.

What do you do? - it might be embarrassing to ask what a seemingly widely-understood term means, particularly when everyone else seems to be in the loop - a quick Google search might not help you out either. 

We've gathered here today to properly define the most common cryptocurrency enthusiast terms like WAGMI, FOMO, FUD, so that no aspiring crypto DEGEN is left behind. 

Let's jump into the world of crypto slang!

Rekt

Rekt is an obvious one, especially for those who've been playing online games in recent years. REKT is essentially a  beautified version of the word Wrecked. 

Cryptocurrencies are volatile, and the increase in new on-chain financial instruments has resulted in broader risk for many newcomers. 

Rekt is the term we use when our actions lead to massive failures or horrific disappointments while playing around in the crypto markets. It's arguably the easiest term, and often the most feared.

Shill

Shill can be both a noun and a verb. The noun version of the term describes an oftentimes irresponsible person who promotes crypto projects or products without concern for possible consequences. 

The verb Shill stands for the process of promoting something irresponsibly. You've probably heard of Spammers, so Shills will be easy to grasp - if you see a person advertising products or services where they shouldn't be advertised, you're likely experiencing the phenomenon of the Shill.

FUD

FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, and is used in situations where either a project or financial outcome possibility results in negative sentiment and actions. FUD is fundamentally a feeling which can result in unfortunate trading decisions. 

For example, FUD can force a crypto enthusiast to sell an asset too early in fear of its price dropping lower than it already has, or overlook a high-quality project because of flash-backs from previous negative experiences.

Degen

Degen, or Degenerate, is a very active participant in the cryptocurrency world, who is often called this way because of their reckless actions in the market. 

The term Degen dates back to the early days of the legendary stock-trading Subreddit r/WallStreetBets, from which the crypto world had borrowed one of its most beloved slangs. 

The Degen is a predatory creature, acting upon the basic instincts of greed and constantly putting themselves in high-risk situations. But, a Degen can also be good-natured and help crypto communities grow by offering fun online collaborative attractions.

FOMO

Fear Of Missing Out, or FOMO, also dates back to the days before mainstream use of cryptocurrencies. The concept of FOMO is simple: "If the neighbour has benefited from this particular phenomenon, I must figure out how to do it too!". 

Events that produce FOMO can be very dangerous to the average crypto trader, because it can lead to making rash decisions - in a similar way to FUD.

Lambo

Who wouldn't want the good ol' sports car crafted by the generational Lamborghini brand! A Lambo is the symbol of one's greatest, best-recognised achievement in the markets. 

No matter if profits come from extremely volatile token trading, or from using a lot of leverage on a life-defining trade, the Lambo is the ultimate status purchase.

Bag-holding

Being a bag holder can be one of the most painful experiences a Degen can have. Say you find out about a token, feel some FOMO, and decide to buy in after seeing how high up the price has gone. 

Shortly after the market entry, however, the price drops significantly, leaving you to wait until it goes back up, which might never happen. That's bag holding.

Whales

Financiers seem to have grown fond of the animal representations in the markets. In the stock market, we have bulls and bears battling about price levels. In startups, a company worth over $1 billion is referred to as a unicorn. 

In crypto, parties who have the ability to purchase or move very large numbers of tokens are called Whales. When a token jumps or drops significantly in price, people enjoy blaming Whales.   

Pump-N-Dump

A Pump-and-Dump scheme is actually a crime that relates to insider trading, market manipulation, and similar activities regulated by authorities like FTC in the centralised world. 

However, the crypto world has not seen much regulation even after 10+ years of existence - and some malicious projects are still able to create pump-n-dumps with seemingly little consequence.

Avoid too-good-to-be-true scenarios.

Rug-Pull

When a project closes its ecosystem down - sometimes citing a technical issue before withdrawing all of its users' funds is called a rug-pull. Anonymous founders and developers, as well as questionable NFT/crypto platforms can be the first red flags.

DYOR

DYOR stands for Do Your Own Research. This can’t be stressed enough by the crypto community, because although someone might say they're not offering financial advice, that's what it is at the end of the day. 

Watching educational videos, reading White Papers or FAQs, can all be included in the process in DYOR.

HODL

HOLDing, or simply holding, is a process enthusiasts take a lot of pride in. When one believes in a project's mission or underlying value hard enough, they can allow themselves to refrain from selling their tokens no matter what happens in the market. The term Diamond Hands stands for more or less the same thing.

Altcoin

Altcoins are all the tokens except Bitcoin. In the broader community, Bitcoin remains the father of crypto, therefore any other token is simply an alternative, non-legacy product.

Airdrop

Free crypto? Well, that's exactly what an Airdrop is! In order to attract attention and spread awareness, new projects often "drop" their tokens to audience members who complete a certain list of actions, like following on Twitter, joining a Discord server, referring friends, and similar.

WAGMI

We Are Going To Make It. WAGMI refers to the idea that the decentralised world is a common place to live where everyone who participates will earn the rewards they deserve.

Thank you for learning some famous crypto slang from Zebu Digital! We hope you enjoyed the brief guide to Web3 terminology and are one step closer to becoming a full-blown crypto expert!

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