Daisy Watts
Nov 16, 2023
Bitcoin — the world's largest cryptocurrency — has been making headlines for the last many years, however, not many people know about the nitty-gritty of the digital currency.
Let's take a look at some of the Bitcoin jargon as well as crypto-specific usages of other market terms.
Crypto lingo
FOMO
The fear of missing out is a powerful force in all markets but is especially potent in a field where there’s no such thing as fundamental value. Crypto fans often cite FOMO as one of the reasons investors might buy cryptocurrencies when they’re in the midst of a rally.
FUD
Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Another term used in other investing contexts was adopted by the crypto community to denounce what supporters see as the intentional spread of misinformation. Sceptics see it used as a way to brush off anything negative.
Halving
This is sometimes referred to as having — a planned reduction in rewards miners receive (the term is mentioned in Bitcoin’s code). Halvings happen once every four years or so — more precisely, every 210,000 blocks of transactions.
As the name suggests, each one cuts the amount of Bitcoin miners receive per block reward in half. The practice serves to maintain scarcity. This year, Bitcoin’s halving was followed by a steady rise in its price over the subsequent weeks.
Hodl
“Hold” was misspelt by a frenzied Bitcoin trader on an online forum in 2013. It’s become the mantra of cryptocurrency believers during market routs, meant to reassure nervous traders that they should ride out any given slump because of what they see as Bitcoin’s long-run advantages. Anyone willing to stomach the volatility is thought to be hodling.
Weak hands
This phrase is used to describe cryptocurrency newbies who, instead of hodling, nervously panic-sell their coins in response to market jitters or negative headlines that wouldn’t faze experienced traders. Some weak hands bail out of Bitcoin in favour of so-called altcoins, cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin.
Whale
In a wide range of markets, whales are investors whose holdings are so large that their every trade makes waves. It’s a term that comes with suspicion of market manipulation.
