The Simple Guide to Crypto Culture for Nocoiners Pt. III

Continued from Part I – Bitcoin v/s Ethereum (and Other Crypto) Culture Part II – Key Opinion Makers and Cultural Influencers Part III – Lexicon and Memes In , we asked if terms like GM, GN, WAGMI, HODL, DYOR, probably nothing, ser, etc. sounded familiar. In this part, we will discuss crypto-speak and memes. Their roots, meanings, and contexts. Part I Crypto-native lingo and memes have all kinds of origins. 4chan fitness boards. Trading subreddits. Gaming forums. Developer communities. Artist collectives. And so on. As Ekin Genç in VICE, “Memes from one subculture travel to another when an influx of participants occurs.” wrote (Image Sources: , , , ) The Matrix Spiderman Person of Interest Inception They convey greetings. Refer to price action. Express . Or . . Or to . Or they could be . Most of these are intuitive and self-explanatory. Those with more serious undertones ( , ) are closer to Bitcoin culture. camaraderie mockery About oneself state-sponsored hacks shitposts 1 2 (Image Sources: , , , , ) 1 2 3 4 5 Pop culture references or derivations of well-known characters are common. Like , , , (RIP), , the and more. So are animals like the Shiba Inu dog (or ), , , , etc. Inspired by , cartoon avatars of , (or bera), and (or bulla) are recurrent motifs for trading-linked memes. Wojak Yes Chad Hide The Pain Harold Bogdanoffs Rickrolling Guy Fawkes mask Doge Pepe the Frog * Bobo the Bear Honey Badger memestock subreddits apes bears bulls Apes are a frequent theme of NFT collections as well, like , , , , , among others. The Shiba Inu dog, too, is the subject of many dog-themed memetokens (more on that below). Apart from derivations, both CT and also incorporate original imagery. Like , , etc. BAYC MAYC Degenerate Ape Academy y00ts OnChainMonkey BT memes wassies and smoltings # Carlos Matos (BitConnect) Bitcoin Wizards *On a side note, Pepe has had some in non-crypto forums. Pepe artist Matt Furie has since made concerted efforts to its apolitical nature. controversial usage reclaim #Wassie/smolting is explained in . Search for “inversebrah”. Part II ( ) Image Source To the of many crypto OGs, there is an entire category of coins and tokens based on memes. Created as a joke. Think of Dogecoin, which became an inspiration for many to follow. $DOGE was made to satirize price speculation in cryptocurrencies. Its puts it succinctly in Comic Sans: “Much profit many coin wow.” dismay announcement post PS. While some of these memecoins are innocuous, . Trying to make money off of speculative buyers hoping the “joke” would catch on. In (a block explorer for Ethereum), type “Doge” or “Elon” or “Shiba” or “Inu” or “Pepe” in the search bar. Check the suggested results that auto-fill the drop-down list. It will be full of imitation tokens and NFT collections trying to latch on to a fad. many aren’t Etherscan With regard to the thematic tone of crypto talk, there is no set template or subject. , , , ( Context: ), , ( ), (context: , ), and ( ) are cornerstones of CT discourse. are routine. With negative news, scams, and FUD (explained below) being ever-present, are oft-used coping mechanisms (discussed more in Bane of Scams in Crypto in Part VIII). Tragicomedy self-deprecation geek humour dark jokes Trigger Warning: Blood. 5$ wrench attack shitposting ribbing context irreverence 1 2 absurdism trollbaiting context Copy pastas satire, irony, and sarcasm In the months following the collapse of , , and , there was an air of anxiety all around. Fear-mongering about more projects imploding was constant. Names like Solana, WBTC ( ), and WETH ( ) would come up. Countless obituaries of Bitcoin and crypto were written. Add to that a growing perception that regulators and mass media were handling the Terra/3AC/FTX issues with kid gloves at the expense of legitimate crypto entities facing undue heat. So an annoyed CT started to jokingly “break” the news that WETH was failing ( , , , , , , , , , ). Unless you were clued in, you could have been . As anticipated, the did not land with . And CT scoffed ( , , , ) even more. Terra 3AC FTX Wrapped Bitcoin Wrapped Ethereum 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 spooked inside joke some publications 1 2 3 4 ( ) Image Source To be fair, the (Ref: , . ) of certain tropes can confound any unsavvy observer. This often results in non-crypto media being unable to meaningfully report on the goings-on (see Media’s reporting of crypto in Part VIII). A consequence that people in crypto are of. Suffice it to say is permanently in effect ( , , , ) around these parts. A reason why some prominent accounts have “intern” accounts on socials. To post memes. Or for other content that they would not share from their main. obscurity 1 2 Warning: Rabbit Hole well aware Poe’s Law 1 2 3 4 ( ) Image Source Taking inspiration from 6529’s on the NFT lexicon, here are the top 69 crypto phrases and memes: tweet thread As also mentioned in , Crypto Twitter. Unless the context is Twitter in particular, “CT” can mean any crypto community. The being on Twitter. “ ” (BT) and “NFT Twitter” follow from the same nomenclature. Discord, Telegram, and Reddit are also favored hangout spots. And now apps on too; discussed further in Part VI – Politics, Lifestyle, Values. Bitcointalk is a popular forum for more serious banter. CT: Part II most active Bitcoin Twitter Nostr There are, of course, cultural differences between each of these communities. For example, Crypto Reddit wasn’t a big fan of NFTs until the introduction of Reddit Avatars recently. As they came to terms with it, their Twitter brethren watched with . amusement Good Morning. Greeting for any time of the day. GA (Good Afternoon), GE (Good Evening), and GN (Good Night) aren’t as popular. GM: Gonna Make It / Going to Make It. Emotes appreciation and wishing success. “She runs a Bitcoin node? GMI”. GMI: Not Gonna Make It. Opposite of GMI. An expression of disapproval. “Boomer thinks crypto is dead. Lol NGMI”. NGMI: We’re All Gonna Make It. An expression of comradeship and optimism. It came from the late bodybuilder Aziz Shavershian (“Zyzz”), who his followers with this. WAGMI: motivated Hold i.e. holding on to an investment (or a bag) and not selling when markets go south. This came from the misspelled title of a on Bitcointalk. That post is now stuff of crypto legends. SODL (sold) and BUIDL (build) are intentional typos that follow from this. HODL has been retrofitted with a backronym: Hold On for Dear Life. HODL: drunken post PS. HODLers become bagholders when their bags are at massive losses. Buy The F*#king Dip. An advice to buy something that has dipped i.e. dropped in price. BTFD: ( ) Image Source Have Fun Staying Poor. Used in a as NGMI. More familiar on BT. Directed towards a detractor. “Carstens says CBDCs will kill Bitcoin. He can HFSP”. Sometimes it is spelled out letter by letter by different people as a diss response thread. HFSP: similar context Or . When a team abandons a project (exit scam) and/or cashes out of its token. Thereby crashing the price. A metaphorical rug being pulled from under the feet of investors by team members. This is also now a catch-all term for any kind of sketchy insider behavior. “The last deployed contract looks fishy. Think it’s a rug?”. Rug: rug pull A satirical phrase to express the opposite sentiment. It suggests an important piece of development or news. “El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender. Probably Nothing”. Probably Nothing: A portmanteau of “Wen” (i.e. when) and the anticipation of an event. A few examples below. Wen + word: WenBinance – When will this token list on the Binance exchange? WenCoinbase, WenKraken WenKuCoin etc. follow from the same nomenclature. WenMoon – When will this token moon i.e. go up in price astronomically WenLambo – When can I afford a Lamborghini (from this crypto mooning) WenHomeless – When will I lose my home to this crypto investment (satire) The Wen + word phrases have gotten worn out over the years and are not as common anymore. Many of these were born during the . But they are still part of crypto lore. ICO mania of 2017 (Image Sources: , , , , ) 1 2 3 4 5 Funds are safe. Binance founder CZ used to tweet “Funds are safe” after critical security incidents. Crypto YouTuber Bizonacci made a viral video titled “ ” alluding to this. Subsequently, CZ started saying “safu” instead of “safe”. Binance even launched a as a hat tip to the meme. Funds are Safu: Funds Are Safu fund People who HODL their bags through market volatility are said to have diamond hands Diamond Hands: Opposite of diamond hands. People who SODL their bags at the first sign of trouble have paper hands. Paper Hands: Pump is a rapid increase in price. Dump is the opposite. Pump, Dump: A fraudulent scheme that uses FOMO (fear of missing out) to manipulate investors into buying someone else’s bags. It starts with holder(s) of a token spreading misleading hyped-up claims to induce the unaware into frenzied buying. As buy pressure pumps the token, the holders sell their bags fast. This causes the token to dump. Thereby turning the new investors into hapless bagholders. Beware of Telegram channels and Discord groups that offer “signals”. These are almost always P&D schemes orchestrated by scammers. A dead giveaway of the scam is that they usually target unknown low-liquidity tokens. Pump and Dump (P&D): A mutually beneficial payout for all parties in a competitive setting. Olympus DAO, a project espousing the benefits of staking, made it a widely-used notation. Subsequently, as consensus grew around Olympus being a , its token $OHM went into slow decay. And “(3, 3)” has gone into relative disuse since then. (3, 3): ponzi An acknowledgment that developers cannot solve every crisis. Especially those connected to price. Said ironically. Popularised by a copypasta that was turned into a . “ShibaPepeMonkeyInu keeps crashing hard. My bags are now underwater. Can devs do something?” Can devs do something: Cameo video Fear, uncertainty, doubt. Scare tactics to create panic. FUD: The opposite of a FUDster. An overzealous fan of a cryptocurrency focused specifically on WenMoon. From my experience, when moonbois grow bitter from disappointment, they turn into FUDsters. Moonboi: Do your own research. An advisory to conduct one’s own due diligence before taking risks. DYOR: Not Financial Advice. Used in the same context as DYOR. A disclaimer that the OP of an article or a post or a video is not qualified to give financial advice. Like most phrases in crypto, it can be said either or as a . NFA: sincerely joke When important information or implication of an event is not public knowledge. It can be stated in a similar context as “Probably Nothing”. Few / Few understand this: If You Know, You Know. Being privy to inside information or jokes. Akin to “Few understand this.” IYKYK: A wisecrack for something whose value appreciation is inevitable Up Only: ( ) Image Source An adage about Bitcoin’s role in solving systemic problems. Used both as well as a to parody silver bullet solutionism. Bitcoin fixes this: seriously joke A to exercise plausible deniability. Relating to ownership of things one would like to keep out of the government’s reach. Adapted from gold and gun enthusiast communities. “The President can pass an Executive Order to seize everyone’s Bitcoin? Sad I lost mine to a boating accident”. Boating accident: trope Sarcasm for when one is interested in crypto for price speculation and not for the technology. “Your bio says *Web3 nerd* while your portfolio is an endless list of memecoins. Clearly in it for the tech”. In it for the tech: A copypasta of Satoshi at EOS founder Dan Larimer over a disagreement. Now used to respond to someone being obtuse. Or, as a (that doesn’t land outside of CT). If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry: snapping joke Programmer humor for unintended consequences to a design. Or an earnest argument that a supposed flaw is actually intended by design. “Bitcoin mining requires a lot of energy. It is a feature not a bug”. Feature not a bug: ( ) West Ham: West Ham 1 A fundamental tenet of i.e. trustlessness. It alludes to the preference for directly verifying information. Instead of having to trust a third party or a middleman. How? By checking information straight from an immutable database like a blockchain. Using one’s own node. This is why a true blue Bitcoiner is expected to run a node. Verifying blockchain data by reading it off someone else’s client is for amateurs. Don’t trust, verify: Bitcoinism Strength in numbers. Another popular phrase in Bitcoin communities. Originated from . It is a that means: 1. Bitcoin is backed by maths (i.e. cryptography) and 2. Bitcoin is robust because of its large network of supporters. Vires In Numeris: Bitcointalk double entendre Bitcoin being sound money is a familiar saying among Bitcoiners. Ethereum as ultra sound money is the Ethereum community’s answer to that. It gained after (Ethereum’s transition to PoS / Proof of Stake). PoS is discussed in Part VI – Politics, Lifestyle, Values. Ultra sound money: prominence The Merge ( ) Image Source Like the (bat + speaker) emojis, “.eth” in social media handles is also a gesture of support for Ethereum. It relates to (ENS). A naming system like Domain Name Service. .eth names can be registered and thereafter traded/transferred as NFTs. For example, Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano’s Twitter name says “sassal.eth”. This suggests he may own the “sassal” namespace on ENS and has linked it to a wallet he owns. So apps and services that recognize ENS names can resolve “ ” into (his wallet address). .eth: Ethereum Name Service sassal.eth 0x648aA14e4424e0825A5cE739C8C68610e143FB79 The late hacktivist Aaron Swartz was an of a blockchain-based naming system for Bitcoin. No native naming service ended up being widely adopted, though. But you might still notice some accounts sporting the “.btc” tag as a hat tip to Bitcoin. beloved early proposer PS. Coincidentally, , a naming system on the Stacks blockchain, sells .btc namespaces that happen to work with some clients of Nostr. btc.us Twitter users who display their NFTs as profile pictures. Twitter Blue subscribers can link their Ethereum wallets to their profiles. They can then put up an NFT in that wallet as their Twitter pfp. This makes their profile picture shaped into a hexagon. [Hexagon profiles on Twitter]: 0x is a prefix for hexadecimal naming convention on Ethereum. On crypto socials, you will find account names starting or ending with it. This is an indication of their involvement in crypto. 0x- / -0x: A popular profile picture aesthetic among Bitcoiners. Signals support for Bitcoin. It went viral with the meme. While Bitcoin price did not cross 100k USD during that run, laser eyes continue to have high approval. So much so that political campaigns using it to critique Bitcoin’s energy usage often into getting by Bitcoiners instead. Leading to further . Embracing pejoratives ( , ), criticisms ( , , ), and dunks ( , ) is not unusual in Bitcoin (and other crypto) circles. [Laser eyes in profile pics]: #LaserEyesTill100K backfire adopted derivatives and memes 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 When markets could start to look up from gloom and doom. Sometimes used as a dismissive retort to blow off steam. As in, things couldn’t possibly get any worse than what someone said or did. E.g. Whenever Jim Cramer predicts anything negative about crypto, the replies are overwhelmingly jubilatory. Including the occasional “ .” We are at the bottom / Bottom is in / Bottom signal: bottom is in Similar to “bottom is in” ( ) We are so back: 1 The opposite of bottom signal. Typically a for frivolous activity. Or if Jim Cramer anything even remotely positive about crypto, lol. Top signal / We are so far from the bottom: rebuke says Used in a similar sense as “top signal". That is, as a scolding or teasing for embarrassing behavior ( , , , ; see Oracle Problem in Part V). Send it all to zero / We deserve to go to zero: 1 2 3 4 An observational remark about crypto not being part of the popular cultural zeitgeist. Sometimes said disappointedly in response to egregious misunderstandings of basic concepts ( , , ). We are so early: 1 2 3 When you take an L i.e. experience a defeat, you are down bad. When you take a massive L, you are rekt (wrecked). Down Bad / Rekt: A headline from on 3rd January 2009. It was in Bitcoin’s first block ( ) and has now achieved iconic status. There are many Easter eggs like these stored in Bitcoin ( , ). Chancellor on brink of second bailout: The Times included Genesis Block meme 1 2 ( ) Image Source Or “Not your keys, not your cheese”. Easily one of the top of BT (and CT). If you do not control the keys to the wallet (that holds your Bitcoin), you do not have control over your Bitcoin. This is explained further in Self-Custody in Part V. Not your keys, not your coin: mantras Bitcoin. Boston University’s Prof. Mark T Williams’ mispronunciation of Bitcoin on two separate occasions ( , ) spawned the Bitcorn . He is now fondly called . Corn: 1 2 meme Professor Bitcorn Similar to red pill but for Bitcoin. A nocoiner on being orange-pilled turns into a Bitcoiner. Orange pill: WenLambo, WenMoon, WenDump, Up Only, NGU and other crypto-speak for price action is sometimes in OG Bitcoin circles as short-term distractions. Immaterial in the long run. The most ardent supporters believe that Bitcoin will end up becoming a unit of account. Assets will be denominated in Bitcoin. So its price (in fiat terms) will be inconsequential. A situation known as Bitcoinization or . Hence, the only conversion rate that will count is 1 BTC = 1 BTC. 1 DOGE = 1 DOGE (for Dogecoin) and 1D = 1B (for Cryptodickbutts NFT) are on similar lines but with a comedic effect. 1 BTC = 1 BTC: shrugged off Hyperbitcoinization This follows from the idea of hyperbitcoinization. The growth of Bitcoin as an asset will make it a dominant store of wealth absorbing the value of other asset classes. Since Bitcoin’s total supply is capped at 21 million, this would mean 21 million coins will assume the value of around it. Hence, (formula on the left in the linked image is for ). ∞/21M: everything ∞/21M Bitcoin’s supply ( ) Image Source An with a notable community (the miladies). Crowned as one of 2022’s most influential communities . With a distinctive contrarian antihero presence on crypto socials ( ), the miladies can alternatively be described as the . Or . Due to their mysterious and (and ) combined with the general complexity of crypto lore, miladies have always been mired in controversy. As a result, subterfuge allegations ( , ), , and retractions ( , ) are routine affairs in their “ .” Milady: NFT collection by CoinDesk 1 4chan of Web3 CT’s agents of chaos origins associations confessions 1 2 rebuttals 1 2 schizo life The hypothetical event of Ethereum crossing Bitcoin’s total market capitalization Flippening: Cope + Opium. Mocking someone (or oneself) who takes an L and then uses rationalizations to cope. Copium: Hope + Opium. When you hope for redemption after taking an L, you are living on the drug of hopium. Hopium: (Image Sources: , ) 1 2 “…oooor” is added as a suffix to poke fun at a behavior or character-type that CT finds annoying. Eg. replyoooooor, thinkoooooor, extractooooor, etc. A (“Hearing from sources that Bitcoin may be banned”) would become the . -ooooooor: regulatooooor rumour-mongerer Hearoooor Friend Fren: Sir. A gender-neutral address like Fren. There are two possible origins for this: 1. Fantasy fandoms like Game of Thrones, 2. South Asians who say “Sir” quite often. Ser: A snitch / narc / spook Fed: Degenerate. A term of comradeship that refers to risk-takers in jest. Or as a tongue-in-cheek joke for absurd recklessness. People calling themselves “ ” or “apes” (apeing into a trade, apes together strong) has a similar connotation. Degen: autists Short for plebeian. An average Joe in crypto. Like “degen” and “ape,” “pleb” is a term of that refers to . Pleb: kinship fellow coiners The opposite of a pleb. “Suit” is an umbrella term ( , ) for elites, feds, , and mercenaries. An unreliable character type. Someone whose self-interest could harm crypto. Even the simple act of wearing a suit to crypto events can throw up red flags for . Suit: 1 2 corporates good reason Being anonymous in crypto is commonplace and not seen as an oddity. So crypto people often address each other as “anon” ( , ). A term of endearment like “pleb.” Anon: 1 2 ( ) Image Source A person with a high net worth portfolio. Or if they own a large share of a cryptocurrency or an NFT collection. Whale: After the implosion of the FTX exchange and its sister trading firm Alameda Research, their founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), tried to come clean on Twitter. He started with a saying “1) What,” followed by a trail of cheeky ones spelling out “H-A-P-P-E-N-E-D” letter by letter over a span of two days. And subsequently, a series of explanations spread over another two days. 1) What: post Understandably, dangling the carrot of confession irked many ( , ). Especially considering CT was already baying for his blood due to the huge loss of funds and market crash caused by FTX’s collapse. “1) What” became CT’s go-to phrase for WTF ( , , , , , ). 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 PS. The FTX saga is discussed in Part V – Centralisation v/s Decentralisation. Another copypasta that originated from a fallen entity. In June 2022, crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) went into liquidation after failing to service loans. Ensuing lawsuit docs revealed 3AC’s chat transcripts. A few weeks before their bankruptcy filing, a creditor had requested repayment. 3AC’s COO Edward Zhao, at a loss for words, replied “Yo Uhh Hmm”. Like “1) What”, this is now slang for dismay and puzzlement ( ). Yo Uhh Hmm: 1 ( . See Page 192) Image Source Decentralised in name only. Centralized projects that masquerade as otherwise ( ). DINO: 1 Buying off all the NFTs of a collection listed at the lowest price (floor) Sweep the floor: When an NFT has attributes that are rare in a collection Looks Rare: Oxford’s Word of the Year for 2022, goblin mode is the quintessence of CT. Indulging in behaviors that defy societal expectations and disregard others' opinions. The default setting of a milady. Goblin Mode: Whew! These should be a good starting point for a well-stocked crypto vocabulary. If you find an arcane reference outside of these or don’t get a meme, there is nothing wrong in asking. And expect a few and jokes besides the helpful responses. Ligma Deez Nuts Up Next – Part IV: Satoshi and the one true Bitcoin NOTE: Also published . here Disclaimer: NFA. None of the information mentioned above should be construed as financial advice.