Crypto

Cryptocurrency Terms You Really Need To Know

Cryptocurrency is fast becoming mainstream as words like Bitcoin are included in dictionaries – but are you up to scratch with the jargon?

Most investors have a handle on the main currency names, but do they know their HODL from their DYOR?

If not, here’s a list of some of the most frequently used cryptocurrency slang:

Altcoin –All cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin are altcoin – short for alternative coins

Cold storage –A secure electronic vault for cryptocurrency that is separate from any online network

DYOR –Do Your Own Research – If you are told to DYOR, take the advice and don’t follow the crowd

Exchange – An interface between cryptocurrencies and the banking system where coin traders can convert their cryptocurrencies into cash

FOMO – Fear Of Missing Out – When a coin moons (see below) investors flood in because they are worried they might miss making money

HODL –This comes from misspelling ‘holding’ on a cryptocurrency forum. A hapless investor wanted to say he was holding, but told the world he was ‘hodling’ and the term slipped into common use, meaning ‘Holding On for Dear Life’

ICO –initial coin offering – ICOs are new coin offerings selling their tokens to establish a foothold in the market by raising capital.

Mining –the process that generates cryptocurrency

Moon – To moon, reach for the moon or mooning – is when a cryptocurrency price continually rises

No coiner –Someone who does not hold any cryptocurrency

OCD –Obsessive currency disorder – is when someone has some money invested in cryptocurrency and constantly checks how the price is changing

Ponzi –Ponzi schemes have crossed the gap from the real investing world to cryptocurrency and mainly relate to exchanges that promise to pay out impossible returns and disappear with any cash placed by investors

Satoshi Nakamoto –named as the inventor of Bitcoin, but believed to be a pseudonym

Whale –A whale is someone holding a large amount of cryptocurrency

To brush up on cryptocurrency jargon in more detail, try the The Ultimate Dictionary Of Cryptocurrency & Bitcoin Terminology & Slang,  which has a comprehensive list of the more common terms.

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