Crypto & Us : Bite 14 (Common Terms)

When you start reading and learning about cryptocurrencies or any new thing for that matter, you come across certain terms and jargon very specific to that industry. So for a quick Sunday bite, I’ll list down a few terms and their meanings to make your research a little easier.

1. FUD: If you want to know what is going on in the cryptocurrency markets right now. I would say there is a lot of FUD or ‘Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt’. The news about how the markets will crash, crypto is worthless, the whole thing is a scam, etc. is all FUD. My advice, do your research and stay away from the FUD.
2. Node: A node is a computer that is connected to other nodes or computers which are connected in order to synchronize the entire blockchain and effectively share information between the nodes.
3. Hard Fork: Any major change being done on a blockchain’s network protocol is called a Hard Fork. It requires all the nodes or users to upgrade to the latest protocol in order to go ahead smoothly with the transactions.
4. Capitulation: The last few months in the crypto markets have been an extended period of capitulation. Capitulation is defined as the period during which the traders or investors liquidate their positions because there is a fear of the decline of prices even further and the assumption is to prevent big losses.
5. CBDC: CBDCs or Central Bank Digital Currencies are being created by the government in order to discourage the users from getting into cryptocurrencies. In simple terms, they are just eliminating the paper currency and converting it into a digital coin. It is still serving no purpose as it will be heavily regulated and its supply will be infinite
6. HODL: In 2013, a drunk Reddit member wrote, ‘I AM HODLING’ as there was a sudden crash in the prices because of the Chinese government. a misspelled word today translates to ‘Hold On for Dear Life’ encouraging the buyers not to sell their coins.
7. Diamond Hands: Diamond Hands refers to people who have the stomach to handle the great swings and volatility of the crypto market. They say Diamond Hands never sell.
8. Hashing: Hashing is a process, generally a cryptographic process that is used for validating the integrity and authenticity of the transactions and activities in the cryptocurrency space.
9. Satoshi: It is the smallest unit of bitcoin which is 0.00000001 BTC. It is believed that as owning a bitcoin gets harder every year, stacking satoshis will make more sense as it will have a great value of its own. To give you a comparison, 1 Million Satoshis = 0.01 BTC = $316 as of today. So, please do some research and start stacking satoshis.
10. Whales: Any individual or an entity that holds 1000 or more bitcoins is termed a whale. So this includes all the large corporations holding 1000 BTC or more and individuals like Michael Saylor, CEO of Microstrategy, The Winklevoss Twins, Tim Draper (an American Venture Capitalist) among others.

Congratulations, now what you read on platforms and see on YouTube will not be complete jibber-jabber. There is still a lot more to learn, but till then, keep stacking!