Crypto Glossary
Essential cryptocurrency and meme coin terminology explained in plain English
A
Airdrop
Free distribution of tokens to wallet addresses, often used to promote new projects or reward loyal community members.
Active Addresses
The number of unique wallet addresses that sent or received transactions over a time period. Often used as a simple proxy for network or token activity.
Alpha
Insider information or early knowledge about a project that could lead to profitable trades. "I got some alpha on this new launch."
Ape / Aping In
Buying into a token quickly without doing much research, often driven by FOMO or hype. "I'm aping into this new meme coin."
Approval (ERC-20 Approve)
On EVM chains, a permission you grant to a smart contract to spend a specific token from your wallet. Approvals are required before many swaps and DeFi actions, and should be managed carefully.
APR / APY
Annual Percentage Rate / Annual Percentage Yield. APR is a simple annual rate; APY includes compounding. Often used to describe staking or farming returns.
ATH (All-Time High)
The highest price a cryptocurrency has ever reached. Often used to measure performance and set price targets.
ATL (All-Time Low)
The lowest price a cryptocurrency has ever reached. Sometimes seen as a buying opportunity.
B
Bag / Bagholder
Your holdings of a particular token. A "bagholder" is someone stuck holding a token that has dropped significantly in value.
Based
Slang for approval or strong agreement. "Based" is often used to praise a good take or a bullish move.
Blacklist / Whitelist
Contract rules that restrict who can trade or interact with a token. Whitelists allow only approved wallets; blacklists block certain wallets. Often a red flag in meme coins.
Blockchain
A decentralized digital ledger that records all transactions across a network of computers. The foundation of all cryptocurrencies.
Bridge
A protocol that allows you to transfer tokens between different blockchains, like moving assets from Ethereum to Solana.
Bridge Exploit
A security incident where a cross-chain bridge is hacked or manipulated, often leading to stolen funds or depegged wrapped assets.
BTD (Buy The Dip)
Buying after a price drop with the expectation that price will recover. Often used as a rallying cry during pullbacks.
Bull / Bullish
Optimistic about price going up. A "bull market" is when prices are generally rising.
Bear / Bearish
Pessimistic about price, expecting it to go down. A "bear market" is when prices are generally falling.
Burn
Permanently removing tokens from circulation by sending them to an inaccessible wallet address, reducing supply.
C
CEX (Centralized Exchange)
A cryptocurrency exchange operated by a company that holds your funds. Examples include Coinbase and Binance.
Chad
Meme slang for a confident, high-conviction trader or holder. Often used as praise for someone buying or holding through volatility.
Consensus Mechanism
The process a blockchain uses to agree on the state of the ledger (which transactions are valid). Examples include Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS).
Contract Renounce (Renounced)
When contract ownership is given up so the owner can't change certain settings later. Often shown as “renounced” in token checkers. It can reduce some risks, but it does not guarantee safety.
Copium
Meme slang for over-optimistic coping when a trade or project is going badly. "It's fine, we're still early" is classic copium.
Cult Coin
A token with a highly devoted community that holds and promotes it like a "cult" narrative, sometimes regardless of fundamentals.
Circulating Supply
The number of tokens currently available and circulating in the market. Used with price to calculate market cap.
Cliff (Vesting Cliff)
A period during vesting where tokens do not unlock at all, followed by a larger unlock when the cliff ends.
Cold Wallet
A cryptocurrency wallet that is not connected to the internet, providing maximum security for long-term storage.
CT (Crypto Twitter)
A nickname for the crypto community on Twitter/X, where news, memes, and narratives often spread first.
D
Degen
Short for "degenerate gambler." Someone who takes high-risk trades on meme coins, often proudly. "Full degen mode activated."
DCA (Dollar-Cost Averaging)
Buying in smaller, regular increments over time to reduce the risk of a bad entry price.
Dead Coin
A token that has lost most of its liquidity, volume, and community interest. Often used to describe a project with little chance of recovery.
Delegation
Assigning your stake or voting power to a validator or delegate without giving up ownership of your tokens. Common in proof-of-stake networks.
Dev
Short for developer. Often used to refer to the token creator/team, especially in meme coins. "Dev sold" implies the developer dumped tokens.
DEX (Decentralized Exchange)
A peer-to-peer exchange that operates without a central authority, allowing direct trades from your wallet. Examples include Uniswap and Jupiter.
Diamond Hands
Slang for investors who hold their position despite significant price drops or volatility, refusing to sell.
Dip
A temporary price drop. "Buy the dip" means purchasing when prices fall, expecting them to recover.
Dump
Selling a large amount of tokens quickly, often causing the price to drop significantly.
DYOR (Do Your Own Research)
A reminder to investigate projects thoroughly before investing. Never rely solely on others' opinions or hype.
E
Emissions
New tokens distributed over time as rewards (often for staking or liquidity). Higher emissions can create sell pressure if demand doesn't keep up.
Exit Liquidity
Being the buyer that others sell into. "Don't be exit liquidity" is a warning to avoid buying late into a pump.
F
FDV (Fully Diluted Valuation)
A valuation assuming the maximum token supply is in circulation, calculated as price × max supply. Used to understand dilution risk vs market cap.
Fren
Friendly meme slang for a community member. Often used in greetings like "gm frens."
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
The anxiety of missing a profitable opportunity, often leading to impulsive buying decisions at poor entry points.
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)
Negative information or rumors spread to drive down prices, whether legitimate concerns or deliberate manipulation.
Front-Running
When a trader or bot places a transaction ahead of yours (often by paying higher priority fees) after seeing it pending, to profit from the price movement your trade will cause. Often associated with MEV and sandwich attacks on DEXs.
Floor
An informal price level where buyers are expected to step in. If the floor breaks, price can fall quickly.
G
Gas Fees
Transaction costs paid to process trades on a blockchain. Fees vary by network congestion and blockchain used.
Gas Limit
The maximum amount of gas units a transaction is allowed to use on EVM chains. Too low can cause a transaction to fail.
Gas Spike
A sudden jump in gas fees due to congestion, popular mints, or high volatility, making transactions more expensive.
GM / GN
"Good Morning" and "Good Night" - common crypto community greetings on social media.
H
HODL
Originally a typo for "hold," now means holding cryptocurrency long-term regardless of price fluctuations.
Honeypot
A scam token designed so you can buy but cannot sell. The contract blocks sell transactions, trapping your funds.
Hot Wallet
A cryptocurrency wallet connected to the internet, convenient for trading but more vulnerable to hacks than cold storage.
Holder Distribution
How a token's supply is spread across wallets (whales vs many small holders). Often used to assess concentration risk and potential sell pressure.
Hopium
Meme slang for extreme optimism about a coin pumping soon, often without strong evidence. The opposite vibe of doom and gloom.
Howey Test
A legal test used by the SEC to determine if an asset qualifies as a security. If you’re promising profit from someone else’s efforts, you’re probably violating securities law. Relevant for token launches and marketing claims.
I
Impermanent Loss
A potential loss compared to simply holding tokens when providing liquidity to a pool, caused by price changes between the paired assets.
J
Jeet
Slang for someone who sells early or panic sells, often dumping on a pump or at the first sign of volatility. "Don't jeet" means don't sell too soon.
K
KOL (Key Opinion Leader)
An influential account or personality whose posts can move attention and liquidity. Sometimes used interchangeably with “influencer.”
L
Layer 1 (L1)
A base blockchain network (like Ethereum or Solana) that provides the core security and consensus for transactions.
Layer 2 (L2)
A scaling network built on top of a Layer 1 that aims to make transactions faster and cheaper while inheriting some L1 security (for example, Optimism or Arbitrum on Ethereum).
LFG
"Let's F***ing Go!" - An expression of excitement and bullish sentiment in the crypto community.
Limit Order
An order to buy or sell at a specific price or better. Unlike a market swap, a limit order may not fill immediately.
Liquid Staking
Staking where you receive a liquid token representing your staked position, allowing you to trade or use it in DeFi while still earning staking rewards.
Liquidity
How easily a token can be bought or sold without significantly affecting its price. Higher liquidity means smoother trades.
Liquidity Lock
When a token's liquidity is locked for a period of time, reducing the risk of a rug pull via LP removal. Also commonly shown as “LP locked” or “liquidity locked.” Not a guarantee, but a common safety signal.
Liquidity Pool
A collection of funds locked in a smart contract that enables trading on DEXs. Providers earn fees from trades.
Liquidity Sweep
A quick move that pushes through nearby liquidity (stop losses/limit orders), often creating a wick. Sometimes used to describe manipulation or stop-hunting.
Lockup
A period where tokens are restricted from selling or transferring. Lockups are common for team allocations, vesting schedules, and some staking programs.
LI.FI
A cross-chain bridge and DEX aggregator protocol that powers token swaps on OkMemeCoin. LI.FI finds the best routes across multiple bridges and exchanges to give you optimal rates when swapping tokens across different blockchains like Ethereum, Solana, Base, and more.
M
Market Cap
Total value of a cryptocurrency, calculated by multiplying the current price by total circulating supply.
Market Dominance
The percentage of total crypto market cap attributed to a coin or sector (often used as BTC dominance). Used to gauge market regime and narrative rotations.
Market Order
An order to buy or sell immediately at the best available price. On DEXs this typically happens via a swap with slippage tolerance.
Max Supply
The maximum number of tokens that can ever exist for a cryptocurrency, if capped.
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)
Profit that can be extracted by ordering, inserting, or censoring transactions in a block. Often related to front-running and sandwich attacks on DEXs.
Meme Coin
A cryptocurrency inspired by internet memes or jokes, often community-driven with value based on social sentiment rather than utility.
Moon / Mooning
When a token's price skyrockets dramatically. "This coin is going to the moon!" means expecting huge gains.
MPC (Multi-Party Computation)
A cryptographic method where private keys are split across multiple parties, so no single party has full access. Used by Dynamic.xyz for wallet security.
Mint Authority
A permission (common on Solana) that controls whether new tokens can be minted. If a mint authority is still active, supply may be increased.
N
Narrative
The story or theme driving attention and liquidity (for example: AI coins, dog coins, L2 season). Narratives can rotate quickly.
NFT (Non-Fungible Token)
A unique digital asset on a blockchain representing ownership of art, collectibles, or other items.
NFA (Not Financial Advice)
A disclaimer used when sharing opinions about trades. Protects the speaker from liability for investment decisions.
NGMI
"Not Gonna Make It" - Used to describe someone making poor decisions or a bad trade. Opposite of WAGMI.
Node
A computer running blockchain software that helps validate, relay, or store blockchain data. Nodes power the network and enable decentralization.
Non-Custodial
A wallet where you control your own private keys. No third party can access or freeze your funds.
O
On-chain Activity
Signals from blockchain data such as transfers, swaps, volume, active addresses, and holder growth. Often used to assess real usage vs hype.
Order Book
A list of buy and sell orders at different prices on an exchange. Unlike AMMs, order books match buyers and sellers directly.
P
Paper Hands
Slang for investors who sell at the first sign of trouble or small profits, opposite of diamond hands.
Permit
An EVM feature (EIP-2612 and similar) that allows approvals via signature instead of an onchain approve transaction, sometimes reducing gas and clicks.
Price Impact
How much your trade moves the price, often higher in low-liquidity pairs or with large order sizes. High price impact can lead to worse execution.
Proof of Stake (PoS)
A consensus mechanism where validators stake tokens and are selected to produce blocks. Generally more energy-efficient than PoW.
Proof of Work (PoW)
A consensus mechanism where miners use computing power to secure the network and produce blocks (for example, Bitcoin).
Private Key
A secret code that gives you access to your cryptocurrency. Never share it - whoever has it controls your funds.
Pump
A rapid price increase, often driven by hype or coordinated buying.
Pump and Dump
A manipulation scheme where a group artificially inflates a token's price then sells, leaving other investors with losses.
R
Rekt
Slang for "wrecked" - having lost a significant amount of money on a trade. "I got rekt on that rug pull."
Rug Pull
A scam where developers abandon a project and run away with investor funds, often by draining liquidity pools.
RPC
Remote Procedure Call endpoint. The node URL your wallet/app uses to read blockchain state and send transactions. Slow or unreliable RPCs can cause failed or delayed transactions.
S
Smart Contract Audit
A review of a smart contract's code by a security team to find vulnerabilities. Audits reduce risk but do not guarantee safety.
Sybil Attack
An attack where one actor creates many fake identities (wallets/accounts) to game rewards, governance, or reputation systems.
Seed Phrase
A 12-24 word recovery phrase that can restore your wallet. Store it securely offline - it's your backup to all your funds.
SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)
The U.S. federal agency that regulates securities markets. The SEC enforces laws against fraudulent token offerings and unregistered securities. If you promise investment returns, you’re likely in SEC territory.
Sandwich Attack
A type of MEV where a bot front-runs your swap and back-runs it to extract profit, often causing worse execution for you.
Shill
Aggressively promoting a token, often for personal gain. Can be genuine enthusiasm or paid promotion.
Ser
Playful misspelling of "sir," used in meme/crypto slang. Example: "ser, wen moon".
Slippage
The difference between expected and actual trade price, usually due to low liquidity or fast price movements.
Slippage Tolerance
The maximum price movement you're willing to accept during a swap. Too low can cause failures; too high can expose you to worse execution (including MEV on some chains).
Smart Contract
Self-executing code on a blockchain that automatically enforces agreements when conditions are met.
Staking
Locking or delegating tokens to help secure a network (or a protocol) in exchange for rewards. Common on proof-of-stake chains and DeFi.
Staking Rewards
Tokens earned from staking, typically funded by inflation/emissions and/or protocol fees.
Stop Loss
A risk management order that sells (or closes) a position if price falls to a certain level. Used to limit downside.
Stablecoin
A cryptocurrency pegged to a stable asset like USD. Examples include USDC and USDT, used to avoid volatility.
T
Token Standard (ERC-20, SPL)
A set of rules for how tokens behave on a blockchain. Examples include ERC-20 on Ethereum and SPL tokens on Solana.
Token
A cryptocurrency built on an existing blockchain (like ERC-20 on Ethereum) rather than having its own network.
Take Profit (TP)
Selling part (or all) of a position to lock in gains. Often done in stages to reduce the chance of round-tripping profits.
Team Tokens / Vesting
Tokens allocated to the team/advisors that unlock over time according to a vesting schedule. Watching upcoming unlocks can help assess sell pressure risk.
Token Tax
A fee taken on buys/sells/transfers by the token contract. Taxes can reduce profits and, in some cases, be abused by malicious teams.
Tokenomics
A project's token design: supply, emissions, allocations, vesting, utility, incentives, and how value/fees flow.
U
Unlock (Token Unlock)
When previously locked or vested tokens become transferable/sellable. Large unlocks can create sell pressure.
V
Volume
The total amount of a cryptocurrency traded in a given period, indicating market activity and interest.
Volume Spike
A sudden increase in trading volume, often signaling a new catalyst, coordinated activity, or a shift in demand/supply.
Validator
A node/operator that participates in block production and consensus on proof-of-stake networks. Validators may receive delegations and share rewards.
Vesting
A schedule that releases tokens over time instead of all at once. Vesting is common for team, investor, and incentive allocations.
W
WAGMI
"We're All Gonna Make It" - An optimistic phrase expressing belief that everyone in the community will profit.
Wallet
Software or hardware that stores your cryptocurrency private keys and allows you to send and receive tokens.
Wallet Clustering
Analytics that groups wallets believed to be controlled by the same entity, to better understand holder concentration and flows.
Wash Trading
Fake trading where the same entity buys and sells to inflate volume or create the illusion of demand.
Wrapped Token
A tokenized representation of an asset on another chain (for example, WETH or wrapped BTC). Wrapping relies on custody/bridge assumptions.
Wick
The thin line on a candlestick chart showing the high/low reached during a time period. Large wicks can signal volatility or rejected prices.
Whale
An individual or entity holding a large amount of cryptocurrency, capable of significantly influencing prices with their trades.
Wen
Intentional misspelling of "when." Commonly used in questions like "Wen moon?" (When will the price go up?)
Wen Lambo
Meme phrase meaning "when will this make me rich?" Used jokingly to ask when a coin will pump.
Y
Yield Farming
Earning rewards by providing liquidity or staking in DeFi protocols, often moving funds to chase higher APR/APY.
Z
Zero-Knowledge Proof (ZK Proof)
A cryptographic proof that lets someone prove a statement is true (for example, a transaction is valid) without revealing the underlying data. Commonly used in privacy tech and some Layer 2 scaling systems.
Zombie Coin
A token that is effectively inactive or “dead” (little development, liquidity, or volume) but still exists and occasionally trades or gets pumped by leftovers of the community.
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