Scrolling reddit, this site or other cryptocurrency related forums on the internet and having no clue what people are talking about? Well, nor was I when I first started getting involved into cryptocurrencies. Therefore I thought it would be useful to have a glossary of all the terms you may come across.
Exchange (see collection)
Websites where you can buy and sell crypto-currencies. Some popular exchanges in North America are:
Coinbase
FIAT
Government-issued currency, such as the US dollar.
Whale
Someone that owns absurd amounts of crypto-currency.
Limit order / limit buy / limit sell
Orders placed by traders to buy or sell a crypto-currency when the price meets a certain amount. They can be thought of as ‘for-sale’ signs.
Sell wall / buy wall
Using a depth chart, traders can see the current limit buy and sell points.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Market Cap
The total value held in a crypto-currency.
ROI
Return on Investment.
TA
Trend Analysis or Technical Analysis.
MACD
Moving Average Convergence Divergence.
Got a long list but here are the some useful ones.
Thank you!