Web3 lingo for beginners | A glossary of crypto lingo and jargon

Corey Barchat also contributed to this article.

One difficulty people have coming to grips with Web3 is the fact that there’s quite a lot of jargon. To “normies” (definition below), this may seem like a way to keep people out—a means of exclusion—in a field that can already feel like an insular circle. But really, the expansive lingo is just a reflection of the fact that Web3 has its own culture, and that culture is partly expressed through its vocabulary. 

Rather than shy from terms like “WAGMI” and “flippening”, newcomers can embrace them as a fun way to learn. Like slang in any language, these words exist for a reason, and they provide a glimpse into the way this new and fast-changing landscape is developing. 

Here are some of the most common terms used in crypto and Web3:

Altcoin - Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. Popular altcoins include Ethereum, Binance Coin, and Solana.

Airdrop - A strategy used by certain crypto projects to raise marketing awareness by sending free tokens to new and existing users.

ATH - “All time high”. A milestone in a token’s trajectory when it reaches its highest price yet. Curiously, "ATL" hasn't quite caught on as an abbreviation for all time low. 

Bagholder - An investor who is holding an asset that has significantly depreciated in value. 

Bear market - Decreasing crypto prices and investor pessimism = bear market.

BTD - “Buy the dip”. To purchase a cryptocurrency when its price drops. 

Bull market - Increasing crypto prices and investor optimism = bull market.

Cold storage - An offline wallet that stores private keys and cryptocurrency in a hardware device for greater security.

DeFi - Abbreviation for decentralized finance. DeFi uses distributed blockchain technology to make banking and financial services accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Dev(s) - Short for developer(s), the individual or team behind a specific cryptocurrency or NFT project. 

Diamond hands - Someone who staunchly holds (or "HODLs") onto their cryptocurrency, despite market conditions and the temptation to sell. 

Dust - The small amount of crypto leftover in a wallet after a completed transaction. Also synonymous with dusting attacks, where malicious actors send tiny amounts of crypto to many wallets in an attempt to track activity and uncover the identity of a wallet address' owner.

DYOR - “Do your own research”. Used to warn fellow community members that they should always do their due diligence before investing in a cryptocurrency or NFT collection. DYOR is usually employed as a caveat to commentary that shouldn't be construed as financial advice.

Flip - A strategy employed by short-term holders to buy an asset and sell it quickly for profit. 

Flippening - The moment Ethereum potentially surpasses Bitcoin as the world’s largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. 

FOMO - “Fear of missing out”. FOMO is the uncomfortable sensation of sitting on the sidelines while everyone else is seeing big returns. The danger with FOMO is that it can cause well-intentioned users to make ill-advised investments.

Fork - An event where a blockchain splits and creates two new cryptocurrencies, when there was only one before. Examples include BTC and BCH, and ETH and ETC.

FUD - “Fear, uncertainty, and doubt”. Used by market "bears" to dissuade others from investing. 

Gas - The fees required by users to pay to have their transactions validated and processed. Blockchains like Ethereum are known to have high gas fees.

GM - “Good morning”. The universal greeting of Web3, whether it’s morning or not. GN is still catching on. GA not so much. 

HODL - A misspelling of the word “hold”. The term originated in the Bitcoin Talk forum, where a user wrote adamantly about their refusal to sell BTC.

Hot wallet - A cryptocurrency wallet that connects to the internet for storing private keys and crypto assets.

KYC - “Know your customer”. A set of compliance guidelines used in both Web3 and traditional finance that require businesses to verify the identity of their users. 

Maxi - Maximalist, or someone who doesn’t compromise on their views. A Bitcoin maxi believes every cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin is inferior. 

Meme coin - A cryptocurrency that originates from a meme. Prominent examples of meme coins include Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu (SHIB).

Mining - The process whereby Proof-of-Work (PoW) cryptocurrencies validate transactions to add them to the blockchain—and earn their mining reward in the process.

Moon (n) - The symbolic destination of a project or asset that has attained success or reached a high price point. Used most often in the phrase “to the moon”, and occasionally adopted for the name of companies that are onboarding the world to Web3. 

Moon (v) - When a cryptocurrency peaks in value. If a cryptocurrency is on its way to the moon, it’s “mooning”. If it has reached the moon, it has “mooned”. 

Normie - A sometimes derogatory term used to describe people who have no experience with Web3. 

NGMI - “Not gonna make it”. NGMI is frequently used to call out or shame people for their actions, e.g. if someone sells an asset instead of hodling. 

No coiner - Someone who does not own any cryptocurrency.

Paper hands - A pejorative used to describe someone who sells at the slightest hint of a price downturn. 

Pump and dump - A scam in which a cryptocurrency is purchased in large quantities by an individual or group, only to be sold for profit when it reaches a peak. The purchase “pumps” the price up, and the sale “dumps” the asset so its price plummets. 

Rekt - “Wrecked.” If someone is liquidated or loses a significant portion of their portfolio’s value, they’re “rekt.”

Roadmap - A detailed plan that cryptocurrency, NFT, and DeFi projects publish to outline things like their vision, goals, timeline, and milestones for community members and future investors to understand the initiative's short and long term goals.

Rug pull - A scam where cryptocurrency devs "rug" (abandon) a project and leave users holding the bag of depreciated or worthless assets.

Sats - Satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin. A Sat is equivalent to 0.00000001 BTC. Bitcoin enthusiasts often talk of “stacking” their Sats.

Shill(n) - A social media influencer, celebrity, or other prominent user that attempts to get others to invest in a specific cryptocurrency or NFT project.

Shill (v) - To hype a certain crypto or NFT project on social media in the hopes of getting investors to buy in.

Sh*tcoin - A disparaging word for a cryptocurrency that has no fundamental value or purpose. For Bitcoin maxis, all coins other than Bitcoin are sh*tcoins. 

TradFi - Traditional finance. Encompasses all of the financial sector that predates and doesn’t intersect with Web3.

WAGMI - “We're all gonna make it.” A rallying cry used to encourage others that their investments will inevitably pay off in the long-run.

Wen - An alternative spelling of "when" used by community members to ask about release dates and project updates.

Whale - Someone who holds an amount of cryptocurrency large enough to influence the market. E.g., a Shiba Inu crypto whale caused the price of SHIB to tumble by 11% when they moved more than $2.3 billion from a dormant wallet.

Whitepaper - A document, usually published online, where a cryptocurrency project officially explains its goals, technology, and tokenomics.