50 Crypto Abbreviations and Terms with their Meanings
With advancements in the cryptocurrency industry, different crypto abbreviations and even term have been used to describe, events, people, and processes in the space. We would look into 50 crypto-related terms, abbreviations, and their meanings in this article.
The cryptocurrency industry is a complicated one. Crypto abbreviations and phrase-filled interactions can be scary to novices. The trend of decentralized money has been described, ritualized, and given significance by Bitcoin enthusiasts during the past ten years.
Cointained in the table below are some of the most typical phrases you will come across in your day-to-day cryptocurrency interactions, making it the perfect resource for anyone new to cryptocurrencies or simply wanting to learn the fundamentals of cryptocurrency terminology.
| Cryptocurrency Abbreviations / Terms | Full Word | Meaning In relation to crypto |
| ATL | All-Time Low | The lowest value reached by a digital asset at any point in its history. |
| ALT | Altcoin | Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. |
| BTC | Bitcoin | The original, largest, and best-known cryptocurrency with the highest market capitalization. |
| dApp | Decentralized application | A decentralized application is an application that can operate autonomously, typically through the use of smart contracts, that run on a decentralized computing, blockchain, or other distributed ledger system. |
| Defi | Decentralized finance | This is an emerging financial technology based on secure distributed ledgers similar to those used by cryptocurrencies which do not rely on intermediaries. |
| ETH | Ethereum | The second biggest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, after Bitcoin. |
| HODL | Holding On for Dear Life | It stems from a misspelling made by a Bitcoin forum user in 2013, in which they declared: “I AM HODLING”. It is a term used by crypto holders to encourage others to keep their faith as prices fall. |
| KYC | Know Your Customer | An identity check exercise exchanges carry out on their customers. |
| MCap | Market Capitalization | This is the total value of all the cryptocurrencies in circulation. |
| NFT | Non-Fungible Token | A digital collectible that uses the same underlying technology as cryptocurrencies. |
| P2P | Peer to peer | Refers to a transaction between two people without an intermediary or central authority involved. |
| BTFD | Buy The F**king Dip | This is used when a trader tells others to pick up a digital currency that has dropped in value. |
| Fiat | – | This is a term used for government-issued currencies or any currency controlled by a central authority. |
| ICO | Initial Coin Offering | This is how blockchain projects raise money and launch their virtual currency networks |
| Pump and Dump | – | This is a form of price manipulation where the price of crypto is boosted based on false recommendations before the assets are sold at a higher price. |
| Stablecoin | – | This is any cryptocurrency or blockchain-based token whose value is pegged to a fiat currency. |
| Whale | – | Individual investors and trading firms with large amounts of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. |
| Bullish | – | The belief that a project is going to gain value over time. |
| To the Moon | – | This phrase or a rocket emoji means the price of a cryptocurrency is going to see a huge increase |
| Rekt | Wrecked | When a crypto trader loses a substantial amount of money caused by a bad trade or investment. |
| Satoshi Nakomoto | – | The is the anonymous founder of Bitcoin. |
| Ape in | – | To invest a lot of money into a new cryptocurrency or NFT project without doing the proper research first. |
| DAO | Decentralized Autonomous Organization | This is an organization constructed by rules encoded as a computer program that is often transparent, controlled by the organization's members, and not influenced by a central government. |
| FOMO | Fear of missing out. | It is an emotional factor that drives someone to irrationally buy into a project due to perceived gains. |
| LFG | Let's F**king go | A term usually used to hype up an NFT project. |
| Paper hands | – | Selling NFTs under pressure |
| DYOR | Do your own research | This is a disclaimer, and honestly pretty good advice for newbies in crypto |
| FUD | Fear, uncertainty, doubt | This is a term used to express concerns about the legitimacy/value of a crypto or NFT project |
| Bearish | – | The belief is that a crypto project is going to lose value over time. |
| NGMI | Not gonna make it | It's used to mock people and projects that won't last long in the NFT space. |
| P2E | Play to earn | When you get paid in crypto/NFTs for playing certain kinds of games. |
| Rugpull | – | This is when scammers construct hype around their cryptos and then abandon the project, sprinting away with the money. |
| Airdrop | – | An event where a blockchain project distributes free tokens or coins to the community |
| AML | Anti-Money Laundering | A legal framework is used by governments to stop financial crimes like money laundering, terrorist financing, and fraud. |
| ATH | All-Time High | The highest value reached by any digital asset at any point in its history |
| Bitcoin maximalist | – | A person who defends bitcoin against all other crypto assets. |
| Dead coin | – | A project that was launched with intentions of being used as a digital currency but failed. |
| DEX | Decentralized exchange | A system that allows for the trustless, peer-to-peer trading of cryptocurrencies without a third party or intermediary taking fees along the way |
| Entry and exit points | – | These are the points at which an investor decides to buy or sell a particular coin/token. |
| Exchange | – | A Platform that allows users to buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrencies for other digital currencies or traditional currencies like US dollars or euros |
| Flippening | – | The moment when a cryptocurrency's market capitalization surpasses that of another crypto. |
| Gas | – | The name is given to the transaction cost of running smart contract functions on Ethereum and other similar platforms. |
| IEO | Initial Exchange Offering | This is when a coin is sold for the first time via a digital currency exchange |
| Mining | The process of creating new cryptocurrency units by solving complex mathematical problems, which are then verified and added to the blockchain network. | |
| PoW | Proof of Work | A Proof that you’ve done the computational work necessary to add a block to the blockchain. |
| PoS | Proof of stake | A type of validation that requires members/nodes to prove ownership over a certain amount of cryptocurrency to guarantee their right to vote on transaction validation |
| Ransomware | A form of malware that infects computers and encrypts files, holding them hostage until the owner pays to get access back. | |
| ROI | Return on investment | The percentage of investment returns over an initial investment |
| Shilling | a type of hype where someone heavily promotes a cryptocurrency by using social media or their influence to draw attention toward it, often with no regard for the quality of the said coin. | |
| Scalping | The process of buying and selling a coin/token multiple times on the same day within short timeframes in order to profit from small price fluctuations over that period. |
Conclusion
There are myriad of crypto abbreviations, terms, phrases, and acronyms used in the industry at large, however, this article only gives a summary of 50 related terms.
