CRYPTO TERMINOLOGIES AND ABBREVIATIONS
- FIAT – Government-issued currencies i.e Naira, Dollar
- BLOCKCHAIN – the technology of cryptocurrency that keeps the system secure and decentralized.
- DEFI – (Decentralized Finance) is an ecosystem that operates independently, free of third parties or exchanges.
- CEFI – (Centralized Finance) had always been the standard for trading Crypto before DEFI. CEFI involves the use of companies operating exchange platforms like Binance, FTX etc
- WHITE PAPER – A white paper is a document that outlines what a cryptocurrency is created to do and how it will achieve it.
- TOKENOMICS – This is a combination of Token & Economics. It helps understand the supply and demand characteristics of a cryptocurrency
- ICO – Stands for ‘Initial Coin Offering’, which is where a new cryptocurrency gives away some coins at a discounted rate usually to finance the project.
- IDO – Stands for ‘Initial DEX Offering’ refers to the launching of a cryptocurrency on a decentralized exchange (DEX) usually at a price lower than the listing price in order to raise funds.
- COIN – There is a difference between Coins and Tokens. A coin is an asset that is native to its own blockchain. E.g Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana
- TOKENS – Tokens are created on existing blockchains. I.e Every cryptocurrency created under BSC, SOL, ETH or any other blockchain is not a coin but a Token. E.g $cake (Bsc), $rope (Sol), $UNI (Eth). Tokens are the backbones of DEFI & exist to be used with DEX.
- MARKET CAPITAL – The total trading value of a cryptocurrency. Calculated by (Current Price x Circulating Supply= Mcap)
- STABLECOIN – A cryptocurrency that is tied to the value of the US dollar to make it more stable and less volatile. E.g USDt, Busd
- PUMP AND DUMP – This is kind of like a scam where people who own a large share of a Coin encourage others to buy to artificially pump the price. Once the price reaches a high point, they sell off all that they own and the price falls drastically.
- BAGHOLDER – This term is for someone left with a cryptocurrency after a pump and dump. E.g Everyone holding Shitcoins after they fall
- GAS FEE – A fee for validating a transaction.
- REKT Slang for ‘wrecked’. It implies that the user lost a lot of money on cryptocurrency.
- MOON – A belief that a Cryptocurrency will rise exponentially in price.
- HODL – A drunken misspelling of the word ‘hold’ which is now a slang people use when they say they are going to wait and hold onto a cryptocurrency.
- NFT – (Non Fungible Tokens) NFTs enable people to buy and sell collectibles like art, music and trading cards using smart contracts. NFTs can work like any other speculative asset, where you buy it and hope that the value of it goes up one day, so you can sell it for a profit.
- DYOR – (Do Your Own Research) often aims to reduce the number of uninformed investors in cryptocurrency. It encourages them to research and understand a cryptocurrency before investing.
- NFA – (Not a Financial Advise) The term is also often used as a disclaimer when cryptocurrency traders and enthusiasts make public posts or share their market analyses on social media platforms.
The market cannot be 100% predictable and even a “Correct” analysis can fail so it’s important that users apply discretion while investing. - WHALE – A crypto whale is wealthy individual or a company that can move large amounts of cryptocurrency in one go. This can have a big impact on the market.
- FUD – (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) Events and news that create a negative effect on the market
- BULLISH – The upward movement of a market
- BEARISH – The downward movement of a market
- ATH – All time high
- ATL – All time low
- STAKING – the act of locking up your cryptocurreny to help secure the network and validate transactions
- FARMING – mostly same as staking