FOMO, BTFD, DYOR, and other crypto-terms you should know

The cryptocurrencyA digital currency running on a blockchain and built with cryptography. Contrary to central-bank issued currency, cryptocurrency issuance rules are... world might look complicated at first sight, but isn’t that hard. Especially when you know what are they talking about, since the crypto-users seem to have their own kind of code.

Don’t worry: is fun, is easy and it works for every specific situation inside cryptocurrency management and investment. The crypto-users are prone to use acronyms and some animal metaphors, which were mainly inherited from the traditional markets. Let’s check them quickly and learn once and for all those crypto-terms you should know by now.

FOMO

“Fear of Missing Out”. Alludes to that moment when an investor (or a massive group of them) buy a cryptocurrency on the rise, just because is afraid of missing the opportunity. This usually doesn’t end very well, because the FOMO is guided by temporal tendencies.

JOMO

“Joy of Missing Out”. Very related to FOMO, it’s said when a crypto-investor is glad that they didn’t take part in the recent trendy investments because the participants lost money when they did it.

ROMO

“Regret of Missing Out”. As you might imagine, this the antonym of JOMO. In this case, the aforementioned trendy investments went very well and probably the cryptocurrency increased its price after a slight tumble. That’s why the investor may regret not buying it on time.

FOLE

“Fear of Losing Everything”. This is the exact opposite of FOMO because it happens when a cryptocurrency price is going down, and the investors fear it’ll go to zero. Then, out of fear, they sell or withdraw their positions before the price establishes again.

BTFD

“Buy The Fucking Dip”. Contrary to FOLE, BTFD is about buying cryptos precisely when their price is going down because it’s expected with almost certainty that it’ll go on the rise again, and the investor will keep the difference when that happens.

DYOR

“Do Your Own Research”. It reminds everyone that they should, indeed, investigate very well a platform/brand/group of people before investing any cryptocurrency. If they don’t make their own research and only trust them, it’s probably that they get scammed.

HODL

“Hold On for Dear Life”. Actually, the acronym was made up after the misspelling of a user in the Bitcointalk forum, when they were talking about “hold” bitcoins in their wallets, without selling it, even if the price was going down. Now, that’s the general meaning of “hodl” and “hodler”.  

FUD/FUDster

“Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt”. Those are the feelings scattered among the investors when the prices are going down, and the general anxiety might be empowered by malicious actors (FUDsters), who spread rumors or fake news about that specific cryptocurrency to manipulate the market and buy cheap when everybody is selling.  

OCD

“Obsessive Cryptocurrency Disorder”. This is a parody of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and it’s used to allude to those cryptocurrency users that are always checking the prices with anxiety.

TLT

“Think Long Term”. It’s an investment strategy in which the cryptocurrency should be held in the long term because immediate earnings aren’t expected. Instead, bigger gains are expected for the distant future.  

ELI5

“Explain Like I’m 5”. As it sounds, it’s used to ask for easier descriptions when someone is talking about new platforms or technical concepts related to blockchains and cryptocurrencies.

SFYL

“Sorry For Your Loss”. It’s said humorously to somebody that just made a bad cryptocurrency investment, even if they haven’t lost funds yet. That’s because the person invested in a known bad platform/coin.

YABC

“Yet Another BitcoinBitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency. It was created in 2009, by an anonymous founder or group of founders... More Company”. It refers to the fact that the mentioned company has nothing in particular, but it’s another one of the many that work with Bitcoin and cryptos in one or another way.

Bitcoin Maximalist

The term is applied to all Bitcoin investors (bitcoiners) who firmly believe that the first cryptocurrency is the only viable of its kind, or it’s the only one that worth it. They’re generally against altcoins and tokens.

Lambo

This is short for “Lamborghini”, the car brand. In the cryptocurrency world, it’s used to say that somebody is getting rich with cryptocurrencies, to the point to be able to buy this kind of expensive car.  

Early birds

It refers to the (lucky) people that bought BTCAn abbreviation for Bitcoin. in its early years (2009-2012). By then, the price per unit was some pennies; therefore, those people might be rich to the date.

Bull/bullish

When we have a “bull/bullish market” or a “bull investor” this means that the price perspectives for an asset are very good, tending to rise for a season; or the investor is betting on it by buying more. The term derives from the way the bull thrusts its horns up into the air when attacking.

Bear/bearish

Opposite to bull, when the market or investor is bearish, that means the prices are going down for a season, or the investor is betting that they will and selling. The term comes from the bear that swipes down its claws when attacking.

Bloodbath

The red numbers in the market are always bad, and when a cryptocurrency or even the entire market is suffering from them after the bears attacked, then we say we’re in the middle of a bloodbath.

The Flippening

It’s a potential event in which some altcoin (Ethereum, especially) surpasses Bitcoin (BTC) in price, market capitalization, transactions, nodes, or mining. It’s also used when any altcoin reaches the first 10 positions by market cap, thus dismissing another.

Whales, dolphins, fishes, and minnows

All of them are investors inside the cryptocurrency ocean, but they have different sizes (in funds). A whale owns a very big quantity of cryptos (million dollars); a dolphin has a considerable stake and influence inside a cryptocurrency community without reaching yet the whale status; a fish owns an average quantity, and a minnow barely owns some cryptos.  

Weak hands

As the name suggests, it’s an investor that gives away easily their holdings either buying or selling out of excitement or fear. This is the kind of investor that can’t fight against FOMO and FOLE.

This is gentlemen

The term derives from a typo by a Reddit user, who pretended to write “This is it, gentlemen” to announce the last price increase of Bitcoin. The crypto-community love typos to make some fun, so the term stayed to announce the good news.

To the moon/mooning

When a cryptoasset price is increasing steadily and even surpassing its own historical records, we say that is going to the moon or mooning. This term is related to the bull market and Lambo, and it may cause some FOMO as well.

And this is it, gentlemen (and ladies). Now you can go and make good use of the crypto-terms when you want to share with the community.

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