Crypto Slang & CIX Call Language

Words shape decisions.

Knowing the shorthand helps. Checking the meaning matters more.

FROM THE ORIGINAL ARCHIVE

CryptoSlang was one of the first guides posted on 10 April 2019. This edition keeps those familiar terms and connects them to the language used in the original CIX calls.

SLANG IS NOT EVIDENCE

“FUD”, “moon” and “diamond hands” can describe a mood. None proves that an asset is valuable or that a claim is false. Translate the phrase into a question you can investigate.

A CALL IS A PLAN, NOT A COMMAND

Direction, entry, targets and a stop mean little without the asset, pair, timestamp and underlying reasoning. Even a well-written plan can lose.

A NOTE ON THE UPDATE

Some old definitions blurred selling with shorting, or treated a break-even stop as risk-free. This revision separates those ideas and replaces slogans with practical examples.

The community vocabulary.

These words describe behaviour. They do not tell you what to buy.

HODL / BAGHOLDER

HODL began as a misspelling of “hold” and became shorthand for holding through volatility. A bagholder is someone left holding an asset after a major decline. Neither is a rule that you must never sell at a loss.

FOMO / FUD

FOMO is fear of missing out: urgency because others appear to be winning. FUD means fear, uncertainty and doubt. Calling information FUD does not refute it; verify the underlying facts.

MOON / REKT

“To the moon” expresses hopes of a very large rise. “Rekt” describes a severe loss. Both are emotional shorthand, not measurements or explanations.

PUMP / DUMP

A pump is a rapid price rise; a dump is a sharp fall or heavy selling. A pump-and-dump scheme involves coordinated promotion and selling into demand. A rapid move alone does not prove manipulation.

WHALE / DYOR

A whale is a participant with a large holding or order relative to that market. DYOR means do your own research: inspect the asset, incentives, liquidity and counterarguments rather than outsourcing judgment.

Coins, units and pairs.

Read the denominator before reading the percentage.

BTC / ETH / SATS

BTC and ETH are the native assets of Bitcoin and Ethereum. “Sats” means satoshis: 100 million per BTC. A call written in sats is not a dollar price.

ALTCOIN / TOKEN

Altcoin is a loose term for cryptoassets other than Bitcoin. A token generally runs on an existing network. Categories overlap; verify the actual asset and contract rather than relying on the label.

BASE / QUOTE

In TOKEN/ETH, TOKEN is the base asset and ETH the quote asset. A move from 0.001 to 0.0011 is +10% in ETH terms. Your dollar return also depends on the ETH/USD move.

STABLECOIN / MOVE TO TETHER

A stablecoin aims to track a reference value. The old phrase “move to Tether” meant shifting into USDT. That changes exposure; it does not remove issuer, depegging, custody or network risk.

MARKET CAP / FDV

Market capitalisation is price multiplied by circulating supply. Fully diluted valuation uses a broader future or maximum supply assumption. Neither equals the cash invested in the asset or the amount available to exit.

Orders and execution.

The last traded price is not a promise that your order can fill there.

BID / ASK / SPREAD

The bid is a quoted buying price; the ask is a quoted selling price. The spread is the gap between them. A wide spread can make an apparently attractive setup expensive to enter and exit.

MARKET / LIMIT

A market order seeks immediate execution at available prices; the final price can differ from the screen. A limit order sets a maximum purchase price or minimum sale price. It can remain unfilled or fill only partly.

VOLUME / LIQUIDITY

Volume is the amount traded during a period. Liquidity is the practical ability to trade size without excessive price impact. A large daily volume figure does not guarantee usable depth when you need it.

SLIPPAGE / FILL

Slippage is the difference between your reference price and actual execution. A fill is an executed amount. An order touching a displayed candle level does not prove that your order would have filled.

ORDER BOOK / TRADE HISTORY

The book shows current resting orders, which can be cancelled. Trade history shows completed transactions. Use both: advertised depth and actual trading activity answer different questions.

Positions and protection.

Separate the direction of the trade from how it is funded.

LONG / SHORT

A long benefits from a price rise; a short benefits from a fall. Selling coins you already own reduces a long holding. It does not automatically create a short position.

LEVERAGE / MARGIN

Leverage increases exposure relative to committed margin. Margin is collateral supporting the position. A 10x position reacts roughly ten times as strongly to a small underlying move relative to that margin, before costs and margin rules.

LIQUIDATION / STOP-LOSS (SL)

Liquidation is a venue’s forced reduction or closure when margin requirements are not met. An SL is an exit instruction or planned invalidation level. Stop-market orders can slip; stop-limit orders can fail to fill.

PNL / REALISED / UNREALISED

PnL means profit and loss; older shorthand may use PN. Unrealised PnL changes while a position is open. Realised results come from closed exposure, with fees, funding and other costs included as applicable.

BREAK-EVEN IS NOT RISK-FREE

Moving an SL to entry does not guarantee a zero loss: costs, price gaps and execution matter. Taking back initial capital also leaves the remaining holding exposed to loss of its current value.

Read a CIX call.

Illustrative format inspired by the archive. This is not a current trade.

THE EXAMPLE

PAIR: TOKEN/BTC · DIRECTION: spot long · ENTRY ZONE: 248–255 sats · T1: 278 · T2: 300 · INVALIDATION: below the stated range. These example numbers explain the format, not a recommendation.

ENTRY ZONE / TARGETS

The entry zone is an intended buying area. T1, T2 and T3 are successive target levels. They are possible exits, not promised outcomes. State in advance whether you will exit fully or partly at each level.

SIZE / INVALIDATION

Do not infer a position size from a screenshot. Set your own maximum exposure and planned loss. A zone without a precise invalidation rule is incomplete; ask what would make the original thesis wrong.

DATE / UPDATE

Check when the call was made and whether a later message changed or closed it. Once the market has moved, entering at today’s price can produce a completely different reward-to-risk relationship.

YOUR TRANSLATION

Write: “This call concerns [pair], in [quote units]. It would be invalid if [condition]. Its first target is [level]. I still need to verify [missing detail].” That is more useful than repeating LONG or MOON.

Sources & edition

Revised 20 September 2026 from the supplied early CIX guide archive. Historical examples are educational, not current trade recommendations.

• CIX archive: CryptoSlang Words & Stock Words and How To Use C.I.X. Signals, shared 10 April 2019. Historical terminology retained; definitions and risk language revised.
• Investor.gov: order types: Primary source
• Ethereum: wallets and networks: Primary source