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Sometimes it feels like a whole other language so here’s a glossary of trading and general Crypto terms as we like to call it
“Crypto Lingo”:
Trading Related Terms:
Exchange
Websites where you can buy and sell crypto-currencies. Some popular exchanges are: Coinbase, Bittrex, Kraken, Bitfinex etc..
FIAT
Government-issued currency, such as the AU dollar.
Whale
Someone that owns absurd amounts of crypto-currency.
Sell wall / buy wall
Using a depth chart, traders can see the current limit buy and sell points. The graphical representation on the depth chart looks like walls:
Market order / market buy / market sell
A simple purchase or sale on an exchange at the current price. Market buys purchase the cheapest ETH available on the order book, and market sells fill the most expensive buy order on the books.
Margin trading
The act of ‘magnifying’ the intensity of your trades by risking your existing coins. (NOTE: Very risky, only for experienced traders and only on certain exchanges even then)
Going long
A margin trade that profits if the price increases.
Going short
A margin trade that profits if the price decreases.
Bullish
An expectation that price is going to increase.
Bearish
An expectation that price is going to decrease.
ATH
All-Time-High. We’ve gotten a lot of these the past couple months.
Altcoin
Generally any crypto-currency other than Bitcoin or Ethereum. (Though some Bitcoin folks would probably still say Ethereum is an altcoin)
Tokens
Refers to the ‘currency’ of projects built on the ethereum network that have raised money via issuing their own tokens. Examples:
GNT – Golem
REP – Augur
BAT – Basic Attention Token
ICN – Iconomi
ICO
Initial Coin Offering, somewhat similar to an IPO in the non-crypto world. Startups issue their own token in exchange for ether. This is essentially crowdfunding on the ethereum platform.
Shilling / pumping
Someone essentially advertising another crypto-currency. If a coin is promised to cure cancer or be the second coming of Jesus, it’s being shilled.
Stable coin
A crypto-currency with extremely low volatility that can be used to trade against the overall market.
Arbitrage
Taking advantage of a difference in price of the same commodity on two different exchanges. Often mentioned when it comes to comparing ETH prices on Korean exchanges against US exchanges.
FOMO
Fear Of Missing Out. The overwhelming sensation that you need to get on the train when the price of something starts to skyrocket.
FUD
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. Baseless negativity spread intentionally by someone that wants the price of something to drop.
FUDster
Someone that is spreading FUD.
Pump And Dump
The recurring cycle of an altcoin getting a ton of attention, leading to a fast price increase, and then of course followed by a huge crash.
Bagholder
Someone still holding an altcoin after a pump and dump crash. Can also just refer to someone holding a coin that is sinking in value with few future prospects.
TA
Trend Analysis or Technical Analysis. Refers to the process of examining current charts in order to predict which way the market will move next.
Bollinger Band
A margin around the price of a crypto that helps indicate when a coin is overbought or oversold.
General Cryptocurrency Terms:
Blockchain
The classification of technology that Ethereum falls into. Blockchains are distributed ledgers, secured by cryptography. They are essentially public databases that everyone can access and read, but the data can only be updated by the data owners. Instead of the data residing on a single centralized server, the data is copied across thousands and thousands of computers worldwide.
Node
A computer that possesses a copy of the blockchain and is working to maintain it.
Mining
The process of trying to ‘solve’ the next block. It requires obscene amounts of computer processing power to do effectively, but is rewarded with ether.
Mining rig
A computer especially designed for processing proof-of-work blockchains, like Ethereum. They often consist of multiple high-end graphic processors (GPUs) to maximize their processing power.
Fork
A situation where a blockchain splits into two separate chains. Forks generally happen in the crypto-world when new ‘governance rules’ are built into the blockchain’s code.
PoW
Proof-of-work. The current consensus algorithm used by Ethereum.
PoS
Proof-of-stake. The proposed future consensus algorithm to be used by Ethereum. Instead of mining in its current form, people that own ETH will be able to ‘lock up’ their ether for a short amount of time in order to ‘vote’ and generate network consensus. The plan is that these stakeholders will be rewarded with ETH by doing so.
Sharding
A scaling solution for blockchains. Typically, every node in a blockchain network houses a complete copy of the blockchain. Sharding is a method that allows nodes to have partial copies of the complete blockchain in order to increase overall network performance and consensus speeds.
Software wallet
Storage for crypto-currency that exists purely as software files on a computer. Software wallets can be generated for free from a variety of sources. MyEtherWallet (MEW) is one of the popular. (more on MEW below)
Hardware wallet
A device that can securely store crypto-currency. Hardware wallets are often regarded as the most secure way to hold crypto-currency.
Ledger Nano S / Trezor
Two of the most popular hardware wallet models.
Cold storage
The process of moving crypto-currency ‘offline’, as a way of safekeeping your crypto-currency from hacking. There are a variety of ways to do this, but some methods most commonly used:
—Printing out the QR code of a software wallet and storing it somewhere safe, such as a safety deposit box.
—Moving the files of a software wallet onto a USB drive and storing it somewhere safe.
—Using a hardware wallet.