Cryptocurrency Terms And Phrases

The Most Popular Cryptocurrency Terms And Phrases

 

Altcoin

An Altcoin is a digital currency other than bitcoin. There were more than 1,000 altcoins listed on data source CoinMarketCap at the time of this writing. Another way of describing the term "altcoin" is referring to it as an alternative protocol asset, meaning that it follows a protocol (set of rules) that's different than that of bitcoin.

FOMO

The term "FOMO" stands for the phrase "fear of missing out." This occurs when investors start buying up a particular asset based on their expectations that it will rise in value. Market participants can easily flock to an asset should that asset experience sharp gains.

Getting caught up in FOMO can be dangerous. More specifically, buying up an asset because it has recently enjoyed some notable upside can cause one to fall victim to market manipulation.

FUD

Fear, uncertainty and doubt can be summed up using the term "FUD." The idea behind this is that market participants may spread misleading or inaccurate information in order to cause an asset's price to decline. A trader may want an asset's price to fall so they can either short it successfully or buy in at a lower price and increase their chance of generating a gain.

HODL

Cryptocurrency investors developed the term "HODL," which stands for "hold on for dear life." The acronym originally came from a misspelling of the world "hold." Digital currencies can be highly volatile, so when they start experiencing significant price fluctuations, some market participants state that they should simply "HODL."

Moon/Mooning

When a digital currency moons, that means it rises sharply in value. For example, a crypto trader could talk about how an altcoin is going "to the moon!"

Pump and Dump

A "pump and dump" is a type of investment scheme where a market participant—or several—work together to inflate the price of an asset so they can sell it when its value is artificially high. This practice may be particularly pervasive when it comes to digital currencies, as traders can easily get together using Telegram groups with the goal of causing specific cryptocurrencies to rise sharply in value.

Rekt

The term "rekt" is crypto trader slang for "wrecked." Basically, it means that a trader lost substantial amounts of money.

Whale

The term "whale" is used to describe a trader who makes sizable bets. This term is a good one to know because market participants with the ability to execute very large transactions can potentially manipulate the market—or "make waves in the ocean."

White Paper

The developers who create digital currencies usually provide white papers for these innovative assets. These documents generally offer comprehensive information on the digital token in question, as well as its underlying technology.

For example, the bitcoin white paper provided information on a "peer-to-peer electronic cash system. "Investors who are considering taking part in ICOs can benefit greatly from reviewing any available white papers on the subject.

Private Key

A private key is a piece of information—presented as a string of numbers and letters—that an investor can use to access their digital currency

Noob

Newcomers are frequently described as "noobs" by industry insiders. If you are this person, you may want to sit back and observe before "jumping in with both feet." Digital currencies are highly volatile, so those who are newer to these assets should keep their risky nature in mind.

Mining

Mining is the process for creating new units of a digital currency. For example, the bitcoin network releases new bitcoins every time a block is mined. In this instance, mining involves confirming transactions and combining them in to blocks.

This verification requires hardware and electricity, and miners are rewarded with digital tokens for contributing these needed resources.