With cryptocurrency gaining popularity amongst both novice and veteran investors, it is important to keep up with the slangs associated with it and investing. As this form of investment owes its roots to the internet, users on Reddit and Discord who first began coining terms as jokes are now responsible for legitimate terms that are used amongst investors today. If you’re planning to foray into the world of investments, then it’s important to understand these terms so that you don’t inadvertently make the wrong move.
| Term | Meaning |
| FUD | Short for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, FUD is a term used to indicate that people are spreading false information about a coin to decrease its value. The people who spread such information are known as FUDDERS and their goal is to get people to sell their coins quickly so that the value of the currency drops. |
| HODL | What started out as a typo for ‘Hold’ is now a legit term used to describe an investment strategy. It means that you are holding onto a currency even after the value decreases, in the hopes that it will shoot up again. This is a popular investment strategy also used amongst stock market investors. |
| Pump and Dump | This refers to a strategy used by market manipulators – the goal is to get people to invest in a coin by hyping it up, and then manipulating the currency once it has enough investors. |
| Mooning/ To the Moon | This means that a currency has hit its peak value and is going off the charts. It can be used when a currency crosses over a 100% increase in value in a short time. |
| Whale | A whale is an adjective used to describe investors who hold a large amount of a specific currency. There isn’t a set number, and it can vary from one currency to the next. However, when it comes to Bitcoin, anyone who holds at least a 1000 coins is considered a whale. |
| Shiling | Shilling is a very commonly used term even outside the crypto community. It refers to the practice of hyping up a commodity/entity with the hopes of gaining large scale support. It leverages implicit advertising strategies, with credible personalities backing up coins in public while creating the notion that they haven’t been made to promote it. |
| Sats/Satoshis | Named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym of the inventor of Bitcoin, Sats is the smallest fraction of Bitcoin that can be sent. 1 Sat = 0.00000001 of a Bitcoin. 1 Bitcoin = 100,000,000 satoshis. |
| Paper Hands | This term is used to describe investors with a low risk profile. Typically, such investors cannot tolerate market volatility and sell coins at the first sign of trouble. |
| Bagholders | This term is an adjective used to describe someone holding a large amount of a specific coin irrespective of its value. Bagholders believe that the value of their coins will rise someday, or are unaware of the price drops in the market. |
| OCD / Obsessive Cryptocurrency Disorder | This term is used to describe investors who become obsessed with their coin’s performance. |
Now that you know these basic cryptocurrency terms, it is important to determine your risk appetite and investment goals. Once that’s done, you can start investing!
Also Read: Cryptos to be allowed as assets in India, could be banned as currencies for transactions: Report