Crypto Terminology
Airdrop
What does Airdrop mean in Crypto? Airdrop has become a central feature of the cryptocurrency space. It refers to the practice of crypto projects giving away free tokens to the public.
Example: “Those who held their UNI tokens received through an airdrop back in 2020 are now sitting on roughly $12,000!”
By doing so, they plan to increase the project publicity and the token circulation. Getting more people trading in it when it lists on an exchange. From the crypto project perspective, airdrops are often used as a method to diversify the number of holders of that crypto token.
In the ICOs boom in 2017, crypto projects will simply give away some of their tokens. Done as a marketing strategy to raise awareness for their offering among the crypto community. They can be useful in generating initial buzz around a crypto project.
In some cases, people have to complete simple social media tasks. Such as joining the Telegram group of the respective crypto project, retweeting a post on Twitter, or referring friends, before they claim their airdrop token rewards.
This offering creates a win-win scenario because the crypto project gets low-cost (or free) marketing about their project or upcoming token sale, and you get free crypto tokens.
Giving Away Tokens for Free
The claiming procedure differs from project to project. Some “holder drops” will drop tokens automatically into the wallets of users who own a minimum quantity of a specific token. Other projects are snapshot based, and can only be claimed by users who held the required token during the “snapshot”. Which is a record of token holders taken at a particular time.
For example, in July 2017, OmiseGo (later named OMG Network) performed an airdrop to Ether (ETH) holders on the Ethereum blockchain. Distributing 5% of the total number of OMG tokens. Eligible ETH holders (holding more than 0.1 ETH) will receive 0.075 OMG tokens for each ETH tokens that they held at the time of the snapshot.
Some consider airdrops as a kind of dividend for holding a crypto asset.
Beware of Airdrop SCAMS! A legitimate crypto airdrop NEVER seeks capital investment in the cryptocurrency. Some crypto scams involve sending a small amount of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to unsuspecting recipients (known as a “dusting scam”).
Also, the design of some airdrop scams to trick you into giving out the private key to your wallet. A legitimate airdrop asks participants for their wallet’s public address, instead of the private key.
Users should always be vigilant about unsolicited deposits into their crypto wallets. Do not give out your private key for any reason.
Altcoin
What does Altcoin mean in Crypto? An altcoin, as the name suggests, is the “alternative” cryptocurrency to Bitcoin (BTC). Most altcoins take their cues from Bitcoin, while tweaking some of Bitcoin’s technical functionalities. Popular altcoins include Ether (ETH), XRP, Litecoin (LTC), and Dogecoin (DOGE).
Example: “DeFi tokens and altcoins bore the brunt of today’s carnage as Bitcoin price dipped below $48,000.”
The use of Altcoin in Crypto is also broadly to describe a cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin – Bitcoin was the first and original cryptocurrency, the creation of any cryptocurrency after it we treat as an “alternative.”. Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2008, there has been a deployment of more than 2,000 alternative cryptocurrencies.
The creation of some of these altcoins are as modified copies of Bitcoin, through a process known as “Hard Fork.”. They build them using Bitcoin’s open-source, original protocol, with changes to its underlying codes, therefore conceiving an entirely new coin with a different set of features.
Therefore, Altcoins that are variants of Bitcoin’s codes often present a similar mining process, which relies on the Proof of Work consensus algorithm.
‘Digital Gold’ Bitcoin and ‘Digital Silver’ Litecoin
One of the earliest altcoins, Litecoin (LTC), had its launch in 2011 by former Coinbase engineer Charlie Lee. The founder set out to create a new cryptocurrency, based on the Bitcoin-derived blockchain, with improved speed and accessibility.
For example, Bitcoin confirms blocks of transactions every 10 minutes. These blocks have a limit to 1MB in data. Litecoin confirms a block every 2.5 minutes. This faster generation rate matches the increase in total supply versus Bitcoin. There are only 21,000,000 BTC in total supply, and there are 84,000,000 LTC to ever be available in total.
The design is to improve some of Bitcoin’s practicalities, Litecoin is affectionately known as “digital silver” to Bitcoin’s “digital gold.”
ATH
What does ATH mean in Crypto? ATH is short for “All-Time High”, which refers to the highest record price that an asset has ever reached in its history.
Example: Ethereum broke through the $1500 barrier and set a new ATH!
As an example, at the time of writing, the highest ever-record all-time high (ATH) of Bitcoin’s price is $48,025, on 9 February, 2021. That means this was the highest price that Bitcoin ever reached, i.e. the highest price that it was traded for on the market.
In the 2020 bull run, many cryptocurrencies set new All-Time High records, with Bitcoin surging by 300% and refreshing new ATHs in December of the year.
Difference in ATHs Among Exchanges
You may also notice that each cryptocurrency exchange has a different ATH value for Bitcoin. When Bitcoin hit the ATH on 9 February, Bitcoin was trading above the mark of $48,025 in some markets. But many consider that Bitcoin’s ATH was approximately $48,025, according to crypto market data providers such as CoinGecko.
Whenever a cryptocurrency price passes its ATH, things can get crazy. Investors should always do research to ensure that there is reasoning behind the value of the coin or token reaching an ATH.
Having mentioned ATH, the opposite of that is the ATL (“All-Time Low”) which refers to the lowest price point an asset has traded at. Similar to breaking an ATH, breaking an ATL also has similar effects but in the other direction. Without any logical evidence or points or an asset to stop, it can just keep going down. Reaching an ATL creates uncertainty for what the future may behold for the asset.
FOMO
What does FOMO mean in Crypto? FOMO in the context of Crypto is short for “Fear Of Missing Out”. FOMO is the feeling of anxiety or the idea that other people are sharing a positive or unique experience. While on the other hand you are missing out.
Example: “Fear and greed—and FOMO—are driving new bitcoin investors.”
In the context of the financial market, FOMO refers to the feeling of fear and anxiety that you might be missing out on a potentially lucrative investment or trading opportunity.
Crypto investors may feel this when they see a bull rally in a coin or token. However, they have yet to buy it. The FOMO feeling is particularly prevalent when a cryptocurrency rises in value significantly over a relatively short period of time. This sentiment will likely trigger a surge in its price.
How to Overcome FOMO
The FOMO feeling may drive individual investors, or the market participants as a whole, to make investment decisions based upon emotion, rather than logic and reasoning. This can result in a big bubble in the asset, incurring in greater risks of financial losses.
Otherwise, FOMO can be a marketing strategy to use, triggering the investors’ fear of missing out, as a way to entice investors to take action.
How to get over FOMO? Getting rid of FOMO is difficult. To deal with it, do your own research in the cryptocurrencies before making investment decisions, create a set of rules for trading, or setting limits on the allowable losses and profits.
FUD
What does FUD mean in Crypto? FUD stands for fear, uncertainty, and doubt. The expression in cryptocurrency describes a psychology trick to spread doubt and fear among investors. Which would cause that certain coin or token to drop in price.
Example of FUD: “After Bitcoin hitting $42K, we started getting a lot of FUD from mainstream media.”
Who does it benefit? Probably the people who have taken a short position of the coin!
FUD occurs quite often when the market is going through a bull market. When the price of a cryptocurrency is rising, it often divides investors into two categories. One group being investors who think that the price will keep rising. And the other group being those who are afraid of the overvalued prices.
The Bitcoin FUD
False news, as well as unfavorable opinions, about the project, startup, or the business, will usually occur when its coin or token is rising, such that investors and customers will lose confidence in it and sell it. Essentially, FUD targets the investors’ emotion of fear.
In fact, the term FUD started to circulate around within the stock market back in the 1970s. But in the nascent crypto market, FUD specifically refers to anything that intends to spread “fear, uncertainty, and doubt” in a cryptocurrency – in particular, Bitcoin.
In the past few years, despite Bitcoin’s significant growth in price and adoption, mainstream media and institutions have repeatedly attacked Bitcoin on its credibility.
Otherwise, FUD can also mean the practice of dissuading people from joining the cause of a cryptocurrency, so that you can drive the price down and buy it cheap. However, sometimes, FUD can also be better characterized as “Facts-U-Dislike.”
HODL
What does HODL mean in crypto? HODL is a term the cryptocurrency community use for holding the cryptocurrency rather than selling it.
Example: Don’t sell, never sell, just HODL.
HODL is probably the most famous typo among the crypto community. On December 18, 2013, a user named ‘GameKyuubi’ wrote “I AM HODLING” as the subject line of a BitcoinTalk thread, trying to say hanging on to the crypto holding for the long term. GameKyuubi wrote:
“I type d that tyitle twice because I knew it was wrong the first time. Still wrong. w/e. GF’s out at a lesbian bar, BTC crashing WHY AM I HOLDING? I’LL TELL YOU WHY. It’s because I’m a bad trader and I KNOW I’M A BAD TRADER.”
Hold On for Dear Life
Originally, GameKyuubi yelled out “I AM HODLING” as a warning to newbies in the crypto trading market. Since then, HODL has become a strategy for people who admit they do not have the skills to do short-term trades.
Later, HODL was retrofitted to be an acronym for “Hold On for Dear Life”. During a bear market, investors may “hodl” a certain coin or token, even during the price drop and strong market volatility, and to ride it out until a bullish market returns. A person who does this is known as a Hodler (baghodler, ex-hodler, landhodler).
The term HODL has also inspired the creation of a similar term, BUIDL, which refers to a call to arms for building and contributing to the blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem, regardless of price changes.
Sats
Sats in Crypto, is short for Satoshis, is the smallest unit of Bitcoin (BTC). One Sats/Satoshi equals one-hundred-millionth of a Bitcoin or 0.00000001 BTC.
Example: If Bitcoin’s price ever goes to the moon, then every Sat you own matters!
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at about $48,000 per BTC, thus, one Sats/Satoshi is equivalent to $0.00048. If Bitcoin hits the $1 million mark, one Sats/Satoshi will be worth $0.01.
Sats/Satoshi takes its name from Bitcoin’s pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. It is the smallest fraction of a Bitcoin that we can send.
Just as the existing fiat currencies, Bitcoin, as well as other cryptocurrencies, can also be divided into smaller units. But unlike the physical version of global currencies such as the US dollar, which can be divided into 2 decimal places, a Bitcoin is divisible into 100 million units called Sats/Satoshi.
In fact, all amounts on the Bitcoin blockchain are denominated in Satoshi, but they are typically converted to Bitcoin by most trading platforms for easy readability.
Bitcoin Divisibility for Micropayments
To become a global medium of exchange, a currency needs to be divisible into smaller units. For Bitcoin, among other cryptocurrencies, smaller fractions are vital to ease and facilitate transactions for very specific amounts, such as transaction fee payments and micropayments.
If the protocol restricts it to just two decimal places, that would make Bitcoin impractical for everyday transactions – 0.01 BTC can be worth thousands of dollars.
Also, Bitcoin’s divisibility is crucial for it to accurately reflect the value of every good or service available in the economy, providing Bitcoin a high amount of liquidity if Bitcoin’s price rises. For example, investors can begin investing in Bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies, with fractional amounts. Purchasing $1,000 worth of Bitcoin is just as easily as purchasing an entire coin.
Other units of denomination of a Bitcoin also exist, such as millibitcoins (mBTC), and microbitcoins (μBTC). So, 1 Bitcoin is equivalent to 1,000 mBTC, 1,000,000 μBTC, or 100,000,000 Satoshis.
As a side note, different coins use different terms to describe fractions of a coin. For Ether (ETH), the native token of the Ethereum blockchain, the smallest unit is a wei. Every ETH is 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 wei. To simplify, amounts in fractions of ETH typically deal with in Gwei (1,000,000,000 wei, or 0.000000001 ETH).
Rekt
What does Rekt mean in Crypto? Rekt is the distortion of “wrecked”, coming from online gaming slang. To define something that got completely destroyed or a person that experienced a catastrophic failure.
Example: Are you new to crypto or tired of getting rekt? This space can empty your wallet fast!
In the context of crypto trading, rekt refers to financial ruin – suffering a heavy financial loss from a coin or token that has dropped significantly in its value, caused by a bad trade or investment.
You might say that a crypto investor got “rekt” when he/she is losing big time with a trade, for example, selling their bitcoin right before the price skyrocketed. The term can also refer to the cryptocurrency itself that nosedived in price, or a market that dropped significantly, e.g. “the market is rekt.”
Tired of Getting ‘Rekt’
The term is usually used among the online gaming community describing a player (or team) that was defeated in an embarrassing or silly way. In the crypto community, rekt often refers to margin traders that have a liquidation for making a bad trade.
For example, Alice is trading on margin and opens big leverage on a long position. If the market goes down and she gets liquidated, we may say “Alice got rekt.”
In some cases, being “rekt” does not mean truly losing money, since “rekt” assets can still bounce back.
MOON, MOONING, WHEN MOON
What does Moon / Mooning / When Moon mean in Crypto? mean in Crypto? Moon is a term that is often employed as a verb (“mooning”) that means a cryptocurrency’s price is experiencing a spike.
Example: “Elon Musk is taking DOGE to the moon!”
Another common use of the expression is in the phrase “to the moon”, which is an exclamation to use when a cryptocurrency is about to soar significantly in both price and volume, rising off the charts.
The term also derives a commonly seen question in the crypto community: “when moon?”, asking for the golden time to sell the crypto holding, before its price drops.
However, the people seemingly overuse the term, as token owners often pop out of their shell at any sign of a price increase. They may get excited about minor bumps in price, and boast that their coin or token is heading “to the moon”, when it is not always matching a significant uptrend.
Investors should also bear in mind that crypto influencers in the community state that a certain coin or token is about to go “to the moon”, only in an effort to inflate the price for their own gain.
So now when you hear Moon / Mooning / When Moon you’ll know what it means in Crypto.
When Lambo
Lambo is short for Lamborghini, the high-end cars that typically cost at least $200,000. “When Lambo” (or “Lambo”) is a slang for the type of exotic car that people aspire to buy when their crypto assets rise in value substantially, i.e. “moon”.
Example: “What is a rational crypto valuation when your crypto lands a lambo on the moon?”
We are facing the rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a new asset class. Which most people do not understand, seeing it as an opportunity for speculation, coupled with a popularization involving more and more players of all kinds.
Many people believe that investing in crypto is one way to get rich (fast). And crypto enthusiasts have made the purchase of Lamborghini as a symbolic gesture. “When Lambo?” translates to “When do we get ridiculously rich off of this crypto holding?”. The question always comes up whenever a new coin or token pops up in the market.
Cryptocurrency following aside, Lamborghini has always stood for new money. With Lamborghini model cars appearing in music videos like Kanye West’s “Mercy”, or A$AP Mob’s “Yamborghini High”.
Lambo: Status Symbol of Crypto Boom
In a positive perspective of the cryptocurrency community, many crypto holders saw the digital asset as a means of breaking out of their current financial struggles. They saw it as a new way to live a luxury life and they were determined to make it happen.
In 2013, a user on online forum 4chan posted his purchase after he bought a brand new Lamborghini with Bitcoin. The buyer spent about 216 BTC ($209,000) at that time on a 2014 Lamborghini Gallardo.
The story went viral. And since then, car dealerships in the United States have found themselves having many new customers who want to exchange Bitcoin for a Lamborghini, as a trend of the new rich spending their crypto wealth on the Italian supercar.
Peter Saddington, CTO of VinWiki, who also runs The Bitcoin Pub forum, documented his Lamborghini purchase on his YouTube channel in 2017. First invested in Bitcoin in late 2011, Saddington cashed in 45 BTC to drive away with a $200,000 Lamborghini Huracan. Thanks to an early interest in cryptocurrencies, buying those 45 BTC cost Saddington less than $115.
As a side note, premier automaker Tesla, led by CEO Elon Musk, announced in February 2021 that it invested around $1.5 billion in Bitcoin. It plans to begin accepting the cryptocurrency, expecting to allow customers to pay for its electric vehicles with Bitcoin soon.
Shill
A shill, or shilling, refers to the person or the act of enthusiastically promoting a cryptocurrency or a crypto project, for their own personal gains.
Example: “Of course he tells you to buy it, he’s a total shill!”
As a popular term in this space, a “shill”, or “shiller” encourages others to invest in a cryptocurrency. So that the interest grows, people buy it, and the price of the coin or token increases.
A shiller is basically a scammer in the crypto-world. They may have bought some crypto and hope to sell it at a profit. Also, many crypto projects allot bounties for influencers who “shill” their crypto.
The word “shill” didn’t originate in the crypto world. For example, the use of shills are pretty regular by casinos around the world. The collaborators are given a stack of chips to play, so that the other gamblers don’t have to feel alone in losing.
Everyone has their own opinion on what constitutes a shill. Sometimes, we can se the use of shilling when a person makes negative, sometimes false, accusations about a specific cryptocurrency. A shiller may want a competing crypto to fail, so that his or hers becomes more valuable.
John McAfee and Elon Musk
If you’re familiar with the cryptocurrency space, you’ve likely heard of John McAfee, the creator of the eponymous anti-virus software. He has an infamous wager where he promised to ingest his (…) if Bitcoin didn’t reach a price of $1 million by December 31, 2020.
As a typical crypto influencer, John McAfee monetized his fame to promote crypto projects and tokens in the ICOs boom in 2017. He admitted to charging $105,000 per tweet, and reportedly took a massive percentage of a token’s total supply to promote it.
This isn’t to say that all crypto influencers are shills. Influencers play a vital role in the crypto space, as they implant an idea into the minds of their community.
While some promote projects that they hold positions in, others serve as advocates for crypto in a broader sense. For some, Bitcoin influencers, like Saifedean Ammous (author of the book The Bitcoin Standard), the Winklevoss twins (founders of crypto exchange Gemini), MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor, as well as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, play an important role as defenders of crypto against its detractors.
Musk’s name pops up every time Bitcoin influencers are mentioned. Tweets from the tech billionaire about Bitcoin (and Dogecoin) have moved markets in crypto and beyond. Driving millions of engagements and hundreds of thousands of comments.
Pump and Dump
What does Pump and Dump mean in Crypto? A “pump-and-dump” strategy is a form of market manipulation that has been around long before cryptocurrencies existed. If you’ve seen the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, then you already have some idea of how a pump-and-dump scheme works in the stock market.
Example: “If Dogecoin is a joke, why is Elon Musk pumping this meme cryptocurrency?”
“Pump” happens when a coin or token’s attention and demand in the market goes up, leading to a price increase. Then, everyone “dumps” the cryptocurrency and sells, coupled with a spread of negative emotions towards it. This will result in big waves in the crypto’s value.
Similar to FUD, pump and dump is another tactic they use to manipulate the sentiments of the crypto market. In many cases, traders artificially inflate the price of cryptocurrencies with the hope of making a quick profit at the expense of other investors.
'Wolf of Wall Street'-style Pump And Dump
In the crypto space, pump-and-dump schemes are often orchestrated through messaging apps like Telegram. The practice is an “open secret among many cryptocurrency traders”, according to a Business Insider report in 2017. Business Insider observed five apparent “pump and dumps” of tokens in a week.
Most of those tokens have smaller market cap and thin trading volumes (like penny stocks). Making them ripe for pump-and-dump manipulation. Amid the speculative trading frenzy in the ICO boom, the new population of investors coming into the crypto space are prime to participate in pump and dump.
Though pump-and-dumps have become less frequent than back in 2017, they’re still around on the crypto markets.
To avoid pump-and-dump schemes, a simple rule of thumb is that you should never listen to one particular influencer’s opinions about investment decisions or price predictions. Even if they present their predictions as accurate most of the time.
Instead, take in as many different opinions as you can, do your own research (DYOR). Always verify and validate market news and information, and base your investment decisions on your own conclusions, not simply trusting others.