Major Cryptocurrency Abbreviations Explained

Cryptocurrency is an encrypted form of virtual currency. Even if you’re a nocoiner who has no Bitcoin, it’s important to know what various cryptocurrency abbreviations mean when you read them in the news or on trading sites. Keep reading to learn all about the main acronyms and terms for using cryptocurrency.

2FA – Two Factor Authentication
AMA – Ask Me Anything
AML – Anti-Money Laundering
ATH – All-Time High
ATL – All-Time Low
ALT or Altcoin – Alternative Cryptocurrency (cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin)
BCH – Bitcoin Cash
BFA – Brute Force Attack
BTC or XBT – Bitcoin
BTD or BTFD – Buy The Dip or Buy the F****** Dip
BTM – Automatic Teller Machine for Bitcoin
BUIDL – “Build” (purposeful misspelling for ironic meaning)
CT – Crypto Twitter
DAPP or dApp – Decentralized Application
DCA – Dollar Cost Averaging
DeFi – Decentralized Finance
DOGE or XDG – Dogecoin
DYOR – Do Your Own Research
ELI5 – Explain It Like I’m 5
ETH – Ether (also known as Ethereum)
FOMO – Fear of Missing Out
FUD – Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt
FUDster – A person who spreads Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt
HODL – Hold On for Dear Life (purposeful misspelling of “HOLD”)
IBO – Initial Bounty Offering
ICO – Initial Coin Offering
ITO – Initial Token Offering
JOMO – Joy of Missing Out
KYC – Know Your Customer
Lambo – Lamborghini (cryptocurrency term for getting rich)
LTC – Litecoin
OCO – One Cancels the Other
P2P – Peer to Peer
PoA – Proof of Authority
PoB – Proof of Burn
PoD – Proof of Developer
PoS – Proof of Stake
PoW – Proof of Work
REKT – “Wrecked” (meaning major losses)
SATS – Satoshis (the smallest denomination of a Bitcoin: 0.00000001 BTC)
TLT – Think Long Term
TOR – The Onion Router (one who sends anonymous data)
Tx – Transaction
USDC – USD Coin (stablecoin)
USDT – Tether coin
WP – Whitepaper
XRP – Ripple coin
XLM – Stellar coin
YTD – Year to Date