10 Crypto Slang Terms Explained
A cryptocurrency slang glossary can help you understand various terms and help you sound intelligent when talking about Crypto with others.
When talking about how people trade crypto coins, the first words that come to mind are “hodl” and “fork.” There are, however, a ton of other terms that might be new to you. To help you better understand some of the jargon, we’ve put together a list of 10 crypto slang terms broken down and explained to help you understand what they mean.
- FOMO
FOMO stands for fear of missing out. FOMO is the scientific name for anxiety over missing out on something fun, and it’s more common than you may realize. People feel FOMO for different reasons, but most frequently because they feel they can’t deal or cope with missing out.
- HODL
HODL is a new term in crypto world. It stands for hold your coins; don’t sell them. “HODL is an acronym for “hold on for dear life.” The crypto community has popularized it to describe their holding on to an asset.
- FUD
FUD, or Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, is a tactic used by those in opposition to cryptocurrency. The so-called fear tactic works, but not in the way many people think. Instead of convincing you not to use cryptocurrency, it convinces you that owning cryptocurrency is a bad idea. Common examples of FUD include claims that cryptocurrency is uncontrolled by governments and can lead to people being robbed or defrauded.
- Shill
The cryptocurrency world is not the only place where words take on new meanings. The Shill is a commonly used term in the crypto world. It refers to a person that promotes a coin or project without putting their own money into it. They essentially use their money to promote the token or coin and get paid for doing so. A shill is usually paid in tokens or coins to promote a coin. And despite being paid to promote the coin, s/he will almost always talk to you in a negative light about other coins.
- Rekt
Rekt is slang for “completely destroyed.” Rekt originated from the cryptocurrency Ethereum. Ethereum was hit by a hard fork, which resulted in the loss of 30 million dollars worth of Ethereum. In Ethereum’s protocol, a hard fork is a code change or upgrade to the Ethereum network.
- Sats
The Sats (short for Satoshis) is the smallest unit of a cryptocurrency. While they may resemble the pennies and nickels you spend daily; the Sats are the building blocks of the cryptocurrency world.
Sats is short for Satoshi, the smallest unit of bitcoin. Sats was popularized by the cryptocurrency community around 2013, but its meaning has crossed into mainstream vernacular.
- Whale
The whale is a special kind of cryptocurrency, and it is getting more and more popular in the world. This term means “a person or group of people controlling a large portion of the cryptocurrency supply.”
The whale is a slang term for an extremely rich person. It’s derived from the original whale, a sea mammal that spends most of its life in the ocean. However, today, the whale is used in context with cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. Crypto whales are cryptocurrency investors who have amassed a hoard of coins and are known for their large market positions. Crypto Whales, a crypto blog, compared the crypto whales and dolphins, and the comparison resonated with many crypto enthusiasts.
- Pump and Dump
Pump and dump is the trading practice of buying up (pumping) or selling down (dumping) a cryptocurrency in order to profit from it. The term was originally used on Wall Street to refer to the practice of buying stocks with no intention of holding them before selling them for a profit.
- Bagholder
Bagholder is a term that refers to someone who has invested or has a significant amount of stake in a company whose stock has plummeted. Bagholder is a term that former Wall Street trader turned journalist David Einhorn popularized and has now become synonymous with investors that lock in gains on stocks, only to see them crash when the public gets a whiff of the turmoil. As you might have guessed, Bagholder is also a term that has gained traction in cryptocurrency.
- When Lambo?
The name Lambo is an acronym for Lamborghini, but it’s an abbreviation that Crypto Slang has adopted into its vocabulary. Crypto Slang is a term that’s been around for a few years, but it’s often hard to define. It is a bit of a catchall term for online terms that relate in some way to cryptocurrency, blockchain, and cryptography. Lambo is, for example, often used to refer to the cryptocurrency Bitcoin (though technically, Lambo, like Bitcoin, is a cryptocurrency).