Common Crypto Phrases
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Not your keys, not your coins | If another party controls the private keys, it ultimately controls access to the assets |
| Do your own research — DYOR | Independently verify claims before making decisions |
| Hold on for dear life — HODL | Continue holding an asset through substantial volatility |
| Fear of missing out — FOMO | The emotional pressure to buy because an asset is rising or receiving attention |
| Fear, uncertainty, and doubt — FUD | Negative claims or sentiment that may be accurate, exaggerated, or deliberately misleading |
| Bull market | A broadly rising market |
| Bear market | A broadly declining market |
| Bullish | Expecting positive performance or development |
| Bearish | Expecting negative performance or development |
| Whale | A particularly large holder or trader |
| Retail | Individual market participants rather than institutions |
| Institutional | Banks, funds, corporations, asset managers, and other professional organizations |
| Onchain | Recorded or executed directly on a blockchain |
| Offchain | Occurring outside the blockchain |
| Mainnet | The live production network |
| Testnet | An experimental network using assets without intended monetary value |
| Gas | The cost of blockchain computation |
| Mint | Create or issue new tokens |
| Burn | Permanently destroy tokens |
| Total value locked — TVL | The estimated value deposited inside a protocol or blockchain ecosystem |
| Real-world asset — RWA | An offchain asset represented or administered through blockchain infrastructure |
| Decentralized finance — DeFi | Financial services operating through blockchains and smart contracts |
| Traditional finance — TradFi | Banks, brokerages, securities markets, payment networks, and the existing financial system |
| Centralized exchange — CEX | A company-operated trading platform |
| Decentralized exchange — DEX | A blockchain-based trading protocol |
| Layer 1 — L1 | A foundational blockchain with its own consensus and settlement |
| Layer 2 — L2 | A scaling system built above an underlying blockchain |
| All-time high — ATH | The highest recorded market price |
| All-time low — ATL | The lowest recorded market price |
| Diamond hands | Holding an asset despite severe volatility |
| Paper hands | Selling quickly under market pressure |
| Bag holder | Someone left holding an asset after a major decline |
| We’re all going to make it — WAGMI | An expression of collective optimism |
| Not going to make it — NGMI | An expression suggesting that a decision or behavior is unlikely to succeed |
| To the moon | An expectation or hope for a dramatic price increase |
| Pump | A rapid price increase |
| Dump | A rapid price decline or large quantity of selling |
| Pump and dump | Coordinated promotion followed by selling into the resulting demand |
| Buy the dip | Purchase after a price decline |
| Dollar-cost averaging — DCA | Invest predetermined amounts at regular intervals rather than attempting one perfect entry |
| Ape in | Enter a position rapidly with little research |
| Exit liquidity | Buyers whose demand allows earlier holders to sell their positions |
| Rug pull | Insider abandonment, liquidity removal, or value extraction |
| Rekt | Suffering a severe financial loss |
| Few understand | A phrase implying that an opportunity or idea remains underappreciated |
| Probably nothing | An ironic phrase suggesting that a development may be important |
| Narrative | The market story attracting attention and capital to a category |
| Catalyst | An event capable of materially changing adoption, perception, demand, or price |
| Alpha | Information, analysis, or strategy believed capable of producing an advantage |
| Beta | Exposure that generally moves with the broader market |
| Tokenomics | An asset’s supply, distribution, incentives, utility, and economic design |
| Market cap | Token price multiplied by circulating supply |
| Fully diluted valuation — FDV | Token price multiplied by maximum or intended total supply |
| Unlock | Previously restricted tokens becoming transferable |
| Emission | Newly created or newly distributed tokens entering the system |
| Free float | The portion of supply realistically available for regular trading |
| Liquidity | The ability to buy or sell without significantly moving the price |
| Slippage | The difference between an expected trade price and its actual execution price |
| Staking | Committing assets to support a Proof-of-Stake network |
| Yield farming | Moving capital among protocols to earn fees, interest, or token incentives |
| Impermanent loss | The potential opportunity cost created when assets inside an AMM pool change in relative price |
| Depeg | A stablecoin or wrapped asset moving away from its intended value |
| Bridge | Infrastructure connecting assets or information across blockchains |
| Oracle | A service supplying external information to a blockchain |
| Smart contract | Blockchain-based code that executes according to predefined rules |
| Governance | The process through which protocol decisions are proposed and approved |
| Multisig | A wallet requiring multiple authorized signatures |
| Cold storage | Keeping private keys offline or in specialized hardware |
| Seed phrase | A recovery backup capable of recreating a wallet’s private keys |
| No leverage | Using owned capital without borrowing to magnify a market position |
The most important phrase is also the simplest:
Do not trust—verify.