FUD, FOMO, JOMO, SHILL & TROLL – what do these mean?

Welcome to another post from my short series “Crypto Jargon”.
In these series, I break down the complex terminology we use in reference to cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

In this article of Crypto Jargon, we break down the terms:

FUD
FOMO
JOMO
SHILL
TROLL

You’ve probably seen FOMO and FUD a lot lately as these acronyms made it into the mainstream and are used a lot not only on social media but also in the mainstream publications. They are not restricted to the crypto industry, but they do apply to it big time.

FUD stands for FEAR, UNCERTAINTY, and DOUBT: a term directed to any negative news or information that appears to confuse, scare you or put you off from a certain product, service or anything really. In the crypto space it is used in regard to any news that are “warning” about the dangers of crypto or new regulations coming (like the China ban on ICOs or India’s ban on Bitcoin per se) also when people predict yet another crash of the market… Pretty much anything that is negative or that can have a negative effect on the prices of crypto is considered FUD.

The opposite of FUD is the FOMO effect. It stands for “Fear Of Missing Out” and it describes that moment of sudden exhilaration you feel when you just found out about something and want waste no second in the fear that you might otherwise miss on potential gains. FOMO goes hand-in-hand with hype and it happens a lot during Bull markets, when coins experience huge gains and the mainstream media coverage brings in attention from the general public, attracting even more buyers just like in late 2017 when so many people rushed to buy Bitcoin at the inflated price levels of $15k, $17k and even higher just because it was on the news pretty much on a daily basis. Typically, this is just a hype that later subsides and it’s best to avoid buying anything while in FOMO mode but to take a step back and be more rational.

FOMO is also a strategy used by experienced marketers to “Shill” coins or ICOs that they are invested in or are being paid to promote. “Shill” can also serve as a verb referring to the act of promoting under the pretense of being sincere, while in reality, you have been paid to do so and it’s a term thrown at pretty much anyone who speaks well of a certain coin on social media, chat forums or on Youtube. The most infamous Shill out there must be John McAffee who has been known to promote many a coin to his 800k followers on Twitter and most recently another very public figure – Elon Musk was also seen shilling – he made a post about Dogecoin, which drove its price up by 30% in a matter of hours. This was short-lived as there are less and less nooks in the crypto space these days.

Along with the Shills, there are also the Trolls who spread all kinds of misinformation online and engage in fake “price predictions” about coins in order to create hype or engagement, purely because of their vested interest. Some exchanges even call their chatrooms “Trollbox” in reference to those users.

JOMO is the last acronym for this article, as I want to end on a positive note. It stands for “Joy Of Missing Out” and it’s what the more experienced traders and investors say when they see people caught up in the hype and manipulation of the markets.

These and many more terms are explained in my eBook “Crypto Jargon A-Z: definitions of crypto terminology” which is the most up-to-date publication of its kind. With over 700 terms, acronyms and trading slang, it contains everything related to cryptocurrencies and blockchain tech: a must-have guide for every crypto investor. It’s an Amazon bestseller and it’s available for Kindle here.