Terms used by cryptocurrency traders

New to the blockchain? Welcome! It’s an enthralling new space but there is so much jargon being thrown around. If you’re a newbie, how are you meant to get on board and ride the wave?!

We’ve put together definitions for some of the most important crypto-terminology to help you get set up in this completely new world.

Altcoin

An alternate coin, that is not Bitcoin.

Blockchain

An online management system that stores information on all cryptocurrency transactions.

Circulating Supply

The price of a coin has no meaning on its own. However, the price of a coin, when multiplied by the circulating supply, gives the coin’s market cap.

DApp

A decentralized application that runs on a peer-to-peer computer network.

Ethereum

A decentralized software platform for smart contracts.

FUD

Short form for ‘fear, uncertainty, and doubt’. Used when somebody is spreading FUD about a coin.

Genesis Block

The first block is created in a blockchain.

HODL

A misspelling of ‘hold’ stuck around to mean ‘keep’. A crypto-trader who buys a coin and plans to keep it for the foreseeable future is called a hodler of the coin.

ICO

Initial Coin Offering. The crowdfunding stage is where tokens or coins are offered in exchange for stable cryptocurrencies.

JOMO

Short form for ‘joy of missing out. It’s the feeling that people have when they miss out on making a decision, which would have turned out badly.

KYC

Short form for ‘know your customer’. The requirement is that businesses must know the identity of their customers.

Limit Order

An order placed at a future price that will execute when the price target is hit.

Market Cap

In the cryptocurrency market, the market cap is the total supply of a coin multiplied by the current price. It is used to illustrate a coin’s dominance in the entire cryptocurrency market.

Node

An interface that handles communication and private keys between wallets, on the Bitcoin network.

Orphaned Block

A valid block that is not a part of the blockchain. These are created when miners create valid blocks at a similar time.

Pump and Dump

Pump and dump is a scheme that attempts to boost the price of a stock through recommendations based on false, misleading, or greatly exaggerated statements.

QR Code

Short form for ‘quick response’ barcodes which can be encoded with data.

REKT

The short form for ‘wrecked’ is used to describe a bad loss after a trade.

SHILL

The act of unsolicited endorsing of the coin in public. Traders who bought a coin has an interest in shilling the coin, in hopes of igniting the public’s interest in that particular coin.

Token

The ‘coin’ of a cryptocurrency can be bought, sold, and owned.

UTXO

Short form for ‘unspent transaction output’.

Virtual

Occurring or existing mostly online.

Whale

A huge player who has a substantial amount of capital. Whales are often the market movers for small alt-coins due to their huge capital. They are believed to manipulate the market.

XBTC

The ticker for Bitcoin. All cryptocurrency tickers start with X.

Yesterday

When you should have bought Bitcoin.

Zero Confirmation Transaction

An unconfirmed transaction.

The blockchain has its own language—hopefully, these definitions of important crypto-terminology make the move onto the blockchain a little easier.

Do you think we’ve missed an important term? Add yours