Making sense of the weird words people use in crypto and DeFi
If you’ve ever listened to someone talk about Bitcoin, Ethereum, or DeFi, you might feel like they’re speaking a completely different language. Don’t worry—you’re not alone! Crypto has its own set of terms, and they sound complicated at first. But once you break them down, they’re pretty simple.
Here’s a quick and easy guide to help you understand what people are talking about when they mention HODLing, gas fees, liquidity pools, and all that other stuff.
1️⃣ The Basics: What is Crypto?
🔹 Blockchain
Think of blockchain like a giant notebook where every page is a record of transactions. Once something is written down, it can never be erased or changed—it’s there forever, and everyone can see it. This makes it secure and trustworthy.
🔹 Cryptocurrency (Crypto)
Digital money that lives on the blockchain instead of a bank. It can be used for buying things, saving, or trading—just like regular money, but without a central bank controlling it. Examples: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), USDC (a stablecoin).
🔹 Wallet
A digital “purse” that stores your crypto. There are hot wallets (connected to the internet, like a PayPal account) and cold wallets (offline, like a safe in your house).
🔹 Public & Private Keys
- A Public Key is like your email address—people can send money to it.
- A Private Key is like your email password—NEVER share it, or someone can steal your money!
2️⃣ The Weird Words People Use in Crypto
🔹 HODL (Hold On for Dear Life)
A misspelling of “hold” that turned into a joke. It just means holding onto your crypto instead of selling, even when prices go up and down.
🔹 FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)
When people rush to buy a crypto because they think it will skyrocket in price, sometimes making bad decisions in the process.
🔹 FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)
Scary news or rumors that make people panic and sell their crypto. Sometimes real, sometimes just people trying to manipulate the market.
🔹 Pump & Dump
When people hype up a crypto (pump) to drive the price up, then sell it all at once (dump), leaving others with worthless coins. This is a scam—be careful!
🔹 Whale
Someone who owns a HUGE amount of crypto and can affect the market by buying or selling large amounts at once.
🔹 Rug Pull
A scam where developers create a crypto project, get people to invest, then suddenly take all the money and disappear. (This is why secure liquidity lockers like TNTC exist!)
3️⃣ How Crypto Transactions Work
🔹 Gas Fees
The small fee you pay to send crypto from one person to another. Just like a toll road, you pay this fee to use the blockchain. Ethereum’s gas fees are sometimes high, but networks like Polygon (where TNTC exists) have very low fees.
🔹 Liquidity
Imagine you want to trade a $100 bill for smaller bills, but nobody has change. That means there’s no liquidity. In crypto, liquidity means there’s enough money in the system so people can buy and sell without trouble.
🔹 Liquidity Pool (LP)
A pool of money that helps people trade. Think of it like a bucket of different coins—you put in $10 of Bitcoin and $10 of Ethereum, and now people can trade between the two smoothly.
🔹 Stablecoin
A type of crypto that is pegged to a real-world currency (like the US dollar) to keep its value stable. Examples: USDC, Tether (USDT), DAI.
4️⃣ The World of DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
🔹 DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
A system where you can use financial tools (like lending, borrowing, or earning interest) without banks. Everything runs on smart contracts—computer programs that follow strict rules.
🔹 Smart Contract
A program that automates transactions on the blockchain—like a vending machine. If you put in the right amount of money, it gives you your snack (or in this case, your crypto). TNTC works this way—you lock your liquidity, and the smart contract makes sure only YOU can unlock it.
🔹 Yield Farming / Staking
A way to earn extra money with your crypto by lending it or locking it in special contracts. Be careful—some high-return offers are too good to be true.
🔹 DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization)
A crypto-based group that makes decisions using votes instead of CEOs or bosses. If you own the governance token, you get to vote on how the project runs.
5️⃣ How This All Connects to TNTC (Tantalus Coin)
🔹 TNTC is a personal liquidity locker—a secure way to store your crypto in a trustless, transparent way.
🔹 You deposit an asset, get TNTC in return, and later burn it to redeem your funds—it’s that simple.
🔹 Liquidity Physics: You can never withdraw more than you put in. This is not a magic profit scheme—it’s real DeFi done safely.
🔹 Unlike speculative tokens, TNTC isn’t traded on an exchange—it’s a tool for personal liquidity management.
👉 By understanding how liquidity works, you can make better decisions in DeFi and protect yourself from scams and hype.
Final Thoughts: Crypto is Just a New Kind of Money
Crypto isn’t magic—it’s just digital money using better technology. Once you understand a few key terms, it all makes sense. TNTC is built on the simplest, most important rule of finance:
💡 “You can’t take out more than you put in.”
That’s how real money works. That’s how real liquidity works.
Now that you know the lingo, you’re ready to explore crypto with confidence. 🚀