When the market moves in a matter of minutes, a short BTFD or SL carries more meaning than a whole paragraph of explanation.
Open X — and it’s all WAGMI, LFG, and FUD. Go into Discord — and there’s GM, GN, WL. Read an analysis — and you’ll run into DCA, R:R, and REKT. It feels like everyone around you is speaking some secret language. And they are.
We put together a basic dictionary, but it’s definitely incomplete. Because the market invents new words faster than we manage to record them. Still, it’s enough to understand what’s going on around you.
Why you need to know this
First, so you don’t fall into traps. Exit Liquidity is not a technical term — it describes what happens to a person who bought at the top out of FOMO, because they didn’t know that the Pump had already happened and now the Dump is starting.
Second, so you can communicate in the community. X, Discord, and Telegram all move at their own pace, and if you reply 15 minutes later because you were looking up what WL means, you’ve already missed the mint.
Third, so you can assess risk. Knowing terms like IL, MEV, or Slippage can literally save you money in the most direct sense.
Categories of terms
All abbreviations can be divided into five groups, and each one has its own logic.
- Basics: KYC, AML, DYOR, EOA, Smart Contract, Multisig, Seed phrase. This is not crypto slang, but the technical and legal reality of blockchain.
- DeFi — decentralized finance with its own mechanics: DEX vs CEX, AMM, LP, Oracle, Slippage, Impermanent Loss, MEV. If you’ve ever provided liquidity or traded on a decentralized exchange, you’ve come across these terms.
- NFT — not just “pictures worth a million dollars.” PFP, Mint, WL, Floor Price, Royalties — the whole cycle from a collection launch to the secondary market is described through these six words.
- Trading — HODL, FOMO, FUD, DCA, R:R, SL, TP, Pump/Dump. A classic set that is equally relevant in traditional finance and in crypto. The only difference is the speed at which everything happens here.
- Slang and culture — GM, GN, LFG, WAGMI, NGMI, REKT, Based, Bagholder, Crab Market, Exit Liquidity. This group is valuable not only for understanding texts, but also for feeling the market mood. When everyone is shouting WAGMI and LFG, it’s worth being careful. When mass NGMI starts, maybe it’s exactly time to BTFD.
No matter how many terms you learn, start with DYOR: Do Your Own Research. Knowing abbreviations is not the same as understanding the market. An influencer shouting LFG has already entered the position. The question is whether they’re exiting it at your expense.
Basics
DYOR: Do Your Own Research
Do your own research — don’t blindly trust influencers and chats
KYC: Know Your Customer
Identity verification on exchanges and platforms
AML: Anti-Money Laundering
A mandatory requirement for regulated services
EOA: Externally Owned Account
A regular wallet controlled by a private key
SC: Smart Contract
A smart contract — self-executing code on the blockchain
Multisig: Multi-Signature Wallt
A wallet with multiple signatures — a higher level of security
Seed / Mnemonic: Seed Phrase
A set of words used to recover a wallet. Never share it with anyone
NFT: Non-Fungible Token
A non-fungible token — a unique digital asset
PFP: Profile Picture
NFT avatar — the digital face of a Web3 community
Mint: Minting
NFT minting — the moment a token appears on the blockchain
WL: Whitelist
A whitelist — the right to mint before the public sale
Floor Price
The minimum price of an NFT in a collection
Royalties
The percentage from resales that goes to the creator
DeFi
DEX: Decentralized Exchange
A decentralized exchange — trading without intermediaries
CEX: Centralized Exchange
A centralized exchange — Binance, Coinbase, etc.
AMM: Automated Market Maker
An automated market maker — a pricing algorithm instead of an order book
LP: Liquidity Provider
You deposit assets and receive fees
IL: Impermanent Loss
Impermanent loss when providing liquidity in AMM pools
MEV: Maximal Extractable Value
Validator profit from manipulating the order of transactions
Oracle
An external data provider for smart contracts (prices, weather, results)
Slippage
Price Slippage: The difference between the expected and actual trade price
HODL: Hold On for Dear Life
Hold an asset despite market volatility — a long-term strategy
Trading
FOMO: Fear Of Missing Out
Fear of missing out on growth — a dangerous emotion for a trader
FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt
Often used for manipulation
DCA: Dollar Cost Averaging
Regular buying in equal amounts regardless of price
R:R: Risk to Reward
The ratio of risk to potential profit in a trade
SL: Stop Loss
Automatic closing of a position when the loss level is reached
TP: Take Profit
Automatic profit-taking when the target is reached
Pump / Dump: Pump and Dump
A sharp artificial rise in price followed by a crash
Slang
REKT: Wrecked
Got wrecked hard — a total loss of funds
BTFD: Buy The F*cking Dip
Buy the dip hard — an aggressive entry strategy
NGMI: Not Gonna Make It
Not gonna survive the market — how people talk about inexperienced or overly greedy traders
WAGMI: We All Gonna Make It
We’ll all make it — an optimistic battle cry of the crypto community
LFG: Let’s F*cking Go
Let’s go — an expression of euphoria and readiness to act
GM / GN: Good Morning / Good Night
Crypto greetings and goodbyes — a daily ritual in Twitter/Discord
Based
Cool, truly, respect — a compliment for being principled
Crab Market
Sideways market — the market is going neither up nor down, like a crab
Bagholder
Someone left holding tokens after a dump and waiting for recovery
Exit Liquidity
The one who provides the exit liquidity for big players.
These are not all the terms that exist in crypto, but you already know the basics. Use this minimal crypto dictionary so you can always stay in context and not get lost in the information flow. Follow us on social media to understand more.
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