What do Bitcoin slang terms like HODL, FUD, and FOMO mean?

Author : Paxful Team

1. FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)

FOMO stands for Fear of Missing Out and can be applied to everyday life. It refers to the urgency to buy Bitcoin when everyone else is talking about it.

2. Shill

Shilling refers to promoting cryptocurrency for personal gain. Although the term did not originate in cryptocurrency, its usage has become widespread in the field.

A shill may have invested in a particular cryptocurrency, but its performance is underwhelming, so they try to persuade others to buy it, driving the price up. Ultimately, it’s all for personal benefit.

3. FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt)

FUD stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, referring to the negative feelings people spread about Bitcoin.

4. HODL

HODL might be the most popular slang in the Bitcoin community. It refers to holding onto your BTC regardless of price fluctuations. The term originated from a misspelling where a user intended to type "hold" but accidentally misspelled it—possibly due to excitement. People then embraced the mistake, turning it into an acronym for "Hold On for Dear Life."

5. Rekt

Rekt refers to the feeling of being at a low point when people suffer significant losses due to a cryptocurrency's value plummeting. The term comes from the word wrecked, often used in scenarios where gamers are completely destroyed. Thus, when someone loses a lot of money in cryptocurrency, they say they got rekt.

6. Going to the moon

Going to the moon refers to the belief that Bitcoin's price will experience a significant surge in the future.

If you say Bitcoin is going to the moon, it means you believe your investment will yield great returns in the future.

7. Whale

A whale refers to a person who holds a large amount of cryptocurrency (typically 5% or more of the total supply).

8. Pump and dump

Pump and dump is a strategy used by a group of cryptocurrency users to manipulate market sentiment.

Effective pumping means hyping up a cryptocurrency with false or misleading information, and when the price rises due to investor enthusiasm, the group will dump, selling all their cryptocurrency, which then causes the price to drop again.

9. Bagholder

A bagholder refers to someone who holds a cryptocurrency that has plummeted in price—sometimes to the point of being worthless.

This concept is somewhat similar to hoarding: bagholders will keep their coins even when they are worthless.

10. Sats

Sats is short for satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin. One satoshi is equivalent to 0.00000001 BTC.

11. No-coiner

A no-coiner refers to someone who believes Bitcoin is either destined to fail or will have negligible value in the future. Under this belief, they do not hold any cryptocurrency themselves.

12. Vaporware

Vaporware refers to software projects that were never actually developed, including cryptocurrencies. It is often marketed and hyped to the point where everyone is discussing it, but ultimately, it is never completed.

13. Cryptosis

Cryptosis refers to an insatiable thirst for knowledge about cryptocurrency. While it sounds like a disease, don’t worry—it’s not life-threatening. Symptoms include searching forums, forcing friends to discuss cryptocurrency, and minimizing risks while trading.

14. ICO (Initial Coin Offering)

An Initial Coin Offering, or ICO, is akin to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the cryptocurrency space, raising funds by selling securities or stocks to the public for the first time.

Basically, it refers to fundraising projects by cryptocurrency companies. The company will disclose information about the cryptocurrency, the team behind it, and raise investments to help build it. As a reward, they will provide new tokens to investors, some of which may have actual utility in the project, while others merely represent shares in the company.

15. Market cap

Market cap is short for market capitalization, referring to the total value of a cryptocurrency. It is calculated by multiplying the current price of the cryptocurrency by its circulating supply.

16. KYC

KYC stands for Know Your Customer or Know Your Client, referring to the verification of user identity. Most cryptocurrency exchanges implement such rules not only to verify traders' identities but also to comply with regulations and ensure market safety.

17. NFT (Non-Fungible Token)

A Non-Fungible Token, or NFT, is a unique one-to-one crypto asset with a built-in special identifier. NFTs come in various forms, including tweets, digital artworks, audio, and more.

18. WAGMI (We’re All Gonna Make It) / NGMI (Not Gonna Make It)

WAGMI is short for "we're all gonna make it." In the cryptocurrency community, this slang is often used to build confidence and encourage everyone not to lose hope.

NGMI is short for "not gonna make it." It refers to the feeling that you made the wrong decision and that your investment will not succeed.

Both terms are used in the cryptocurrency space but are more widely used in the NFT realm—especially in Twitter and Discord groups.

19. Diamond hands / paper hands

Similar to HODL, diamond hands refer to those who hold onto Bitcoin even under significant selling pressure.

Paper hands refer to investors who sell too early—this behavior is primarily due to fear of risk and being easily panicked.

20. Bullish / bearish

Bullish and bearish represent market trends. Initially applied mainly to traditional stock markets, they are now widely used in the cryptocurrency space.

A bullish market will show an upward price trend, while a bearish market will show a downward trend.

21. Buy the dip (BTD)

Buy the dip, or BTD, refers to buying after an asset's price has dropped. The belief behind it is similar to shopping during sales at a mall.

Buying the dip means purchasing Bitcoin at a lower price, hoping it will rise again in the future.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or any other advice. It does not represent the stance of RunesCC.