Crypto Lingo - What does it all mean?

Cryptocurrency can be confusing, especially regarding the technical terms and jargon used in the industry. Words like blockchain, mining, and wallet may be unfamiliar, and they can have particular meanings in the cryptocurrency world that differ from their everyday usage. "wallet", for example, in the context of cryptocurrency and the real world, is somewhat different.

You will no doubt come across some of these here on CryptoHogo.com - so let's get unravelling on some of the more common terms and lingo

General technical terms

Blockchain

A decentralized, digital ledger that records transactions across a network of computers. Think of it like a giant, shared spreadsheet that keeps track of every single transaction made with a cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency

A digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security and is not backed by any government or central bank. It's like regular money, but instead of being made of paper or metal, it's just a bunch of ones and zeros on a computer.

Altcoin

A term is used to refer to any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. Altcoins are alternatives to Bitcoin and may have different features or uses.

Mining

The process of using computer power to solve complex mathematical problems and verify transactions on the blockchain. Think of it like a big math puzzle that helps keep the cryptocurrency network secure.

Wallet

A digital place to store your cryptocurrency. It's like a virtual wallet that you can use to send, receive, and hold onto your cryptocurrency.

Exchange

A platform that allows you to buy and sell different cryptocurrencies. It's like a virtual stock market, but instead of buying and selling stocks, you're buying and selling digital currencies.

Private key

A secret piece of information that allows you to access and spend your cryptocurrency. Think of it like a password that only you know and that gives you access to your digital money.

Public Key

A piece of information that allows others to send you cryptocurrency. It's like an email address for your cryptocurrency wallet.

Smart Contract

A smart contract is a self-executing contract with the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller being directly written into lines of code. The code and the agreements contained therein exist on the blockchain network.

Hard fork

A hard fork is a radical change to the cryptocurrency's protocol that makes previously invalid blocks and transactions valid, or vice versa. It requires all users to upgrade to the new version of the protocol software.

Soft Fork

A a soft fork is a change to the cryptocurrency's protocol that is backwards-compatible. It allows new rules to be added to the protocol without requiring all users to upgrade to the new version of the protocol software.

Bullish

A term is used to describe a market or investment that is expected to rise in value. It is often used in the context of cryptocurrency to refer to a positive outlook or expectation for the future value of a particular coin.

Bearish

A term is used to describe a market or investment that is expected to decline in value. It is often used in the context of cryptocurrency to refer to a negative outlook or expectation for the future value of a particular coin.

Acronyms and Lingo

HODL

A term is derived from a misspelling of "hold" and is used to refer to the act of holding onto a cryptocurrency rather than selling it. It is often used to express a long-term investment strategy or a belief that the value of a particular cryptocurrency will increase over time.

FOMO

An acronym stands for "fear of missing out" and refers to the feeling of anxiety or excitement that can drive an individual to buy into a particular cryptocurrency because they believe that they may miss out on an opportunity to profit.

FUD

an acronym stands for "fear, uncertainty, and doubt" and is used to describe negative or misleading information that is spread with the intention of causing uncertainty or fear in the market.

DYR

This acronym stands for "do your own research" and is used to encourage individuals to thoroughly research and understand a particular investment before making a decision. It is often used in the context of cryptocurrency to emphasize the importance of educating oneself about a coin before investing in it.

DCA

An acronym for "dollar-cost averaging". An investment strategy in which an investor divides the total amount they want to invest into equal amounts and invests those equal amounts at regular intervals over a period of time, rather than investing the entire amount at once.

ATH

The highest price of an asset is known as the All-time high (ATH)

DeFi

DeFi is short for Decentralized Finance and refers to financial apps that are built on blockchain technology that are open and accessible to everyone and cutting out middle-men, challenging traditional finance.

PoW

An acronym for "Proof of Work" which is a type of consensus algorithm in which a blockchain network reaches consensus on the state of the next block through a "mining" process. PoW miners compete to solve a computationally expensive problem and are rewarded with a block reward in the form of cryptocurrency.

ICO

An initial coin offering (ICO) is the crypto industry’s equivalent of an IPO in the traditional business world. It's a method to raise funds when a company is trying to raise capital to create a new crypto/token, app, or service.

PoS

An acronym for "Proof of Stake" is a type of consensus algorithm in which the successful "miner" of a new block is chosen in a deterministic way, depending on how many coins they hold (stake) in the network.

SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is an independent agency of the United States Fed. The primary purpose of the SEC is to enforce the law against market manipulation. However in the Crypto industry, many argue the SEC does not provide clarity and takes a heavy hand by enforcement action rather than regulation and providing clarity.

KYC

An acronym for Know Your Customer. It's a process / set of standard designed to help protect financial institutions from fraud, corruption, money laundering, and terrorist financing. It involves a series of steps to verify the identity of customers and understand the nature of their activities, as well as ensure that the source of their funds is legitimate. Many of the larger Crypto exchanges enforce KYC on their users, or limit accounts to certain levels until KYC is performed by the user. In particular those in the United States are often forced to KYC

YTD

An acronym for 'Year to Date' whilst it might obvious to some, it can be confusing if you're not familiar. Simply means everything to date from the 1st Jan

FOMC

The Federal Open Market Committee is one of three branches of the Federal Reserve System. · The FOMC determines the direction of monetary policy by directing the open market.

Commons Phrases and Sayings

Not your keys, not your crypto

This saying is used to emphasize the importance of having control over your own cryptocurrency. It means that if you don't have the private keys to your cryptocurrency, you don't have complete control over it and may be at risk of losing it.

To the moon

This saying is used to express the belief that the value of a particular cryptocurrency will rise significantly. It is often used in a playful or enthusiastic way to express optimism about the future of a particular coin. "When Moon" is often used to describe when will the price rapidly rise often in a jokingly and impatient manner

Lambo

This term is short for "Lamborghini," and it is used to refer to the dream of using profits to buy a Lamborghini sports car. It is often used in a tongue-in-cheek or aspirational way to express the potential financial gains that can come from investing in cryptocurrency. "When Lambo" can be used similarly to "When Moon", meaning when will the price rapidly rise

Buy the dip

This saying is used to encourage buying a particular cryptocurrency when its price has dipped or fallen. The idea is that buying during a dip in price can be a good opportunity to get a good deal on a coin that is expected to rise in value.

Bitcoin Maxi

A Bitcoin Maximalist ('Maxi'), or any maximalist is someone who thinks their choice of asset is the best and most important. They believe it will continue to be the dominant one and often forsake all others assets. Bitcoin Maxi's are sometimes referred to as 'Team Orange' in reference to the color of the Official Bitcoin logo.

Mooning

This term is used to describe a cryptocurrency that is experiencing significant price increases. It is often used in a playful or enthusiastic way to express excitement about the performance of a particular coin.

Shilling

This term is used to describe the act of promoting a particular cryptocurrency in an effort to increase its price or popularity. It is often used in a negative way to describe dishonest or manipulative marketing practices.

Whale

This term is used to describe a large cryptocurrency holder who has the potential to significantly impact the market with their buying or selling activity.

And there's more

If you find yourself on CT (Sorry another one, meaning "Crypto Twitter") you'll no doubt discover more. The Crypto industry is exciting and new and therefore we should expect even more lingo to come. It's fun! Have I missed any? What's you're favorite? Tweet me @CryptoHogo!