Altcoin season is a market phase when alternative cryptocurrencies (altcoins) outperform Bitcoin in terms of price growth. This shift usually occurs when Bitcoin stabilizes after a rally, leading traders to rotate profits into smaller-cap coins. Altcoin seasons can produce sharp, rapid gains but also come with increased volatility.

A bear market in crypto is a prolonged period of declining prices and negative sentiment. It often follows a market peak and is characterized by lower lows, reduced volume, and increased fear or uncertainty. Bear markets can last months or years and typically test the patience of long-term investors.

Bollinger Bands are a technical analysis tool made up of a moving average and two bands placed above and below it at a set standard deviation. The bands expand and contract with volatility. When the price touches or breaks the upper band, the asset may be overbought; when it hits the lower band, it may be oversold.

A bull market in crypto refers to a prolonged period of rising prices and investor optimism. It’s typically marked by higher highs, increased trading volume, and strong demand across most assets. Bull markets are often fueled by positive news, institutional interest, or macroeconomic trends favoring risk-on assets like cryptocurrencies.

A crypto exit strategy is a predefined plan for when and how to sell your crypto assets to secure profits, minimize losses, or rebalance your portfolio. It can include setting profit targets, using stop-loss orders, scaling out at key price levels, or exiting based on market conditions. A solid exit plan helps remove emotion from trading and protects gains during volatile swings.

Day trading involves opening and closing crypto positions within the same trading day, aiming to profit from short-term price movements. It requires constant market monitoring, fast decision-making, and often the use of technical indicators, news, and volume analysis. Unlike scalping, day trading allows for fewer trades per day but typically targets larger moves.

Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) is an investment strategy where a fixed amount of money is invested in an asset at regular intervals, regardless of the price. This approach reduces the impact of market volatility by spreading out purchases over time. It’s commonly used for long-term crypto accumulationa and to lower stress.

The drawdown refers to the decline in a trading account’s value from its peak to its lowest point before recovery. It measures the size of a loss during a losing streak or market downturn. Smaller drawdowns indicate better risk control, while large drawdowns can be difficult to recover from.

The Fear and Greed Index measures market sentiment in crypto, ranging from extreme fear to extreme greed on a scale of 0 to 100. It aggregates data such as volatility, trading volume, social media trends, and surveys. Traders use it to gauge whether the market is overly emotional — potentially signaling tops (greed) or bottoms (fear).

Fibonacci retracements are a technical analysis tool used to identify potential support and resistance levels based on key Fibonacci ratios (23.6%, 38.2%, 50%, 61.8%, 78.6%). Traders apply these levels to recent price moves to predict where a pullback might pause or reverse before the trend resumes. It’s often used in swing and trend trading strategies.

A Fixed Range Volume Profile is a technical analysis tool that displays trading activity over a specific price range. It shows the levels where the most trading volume occurred, highlighting key support and resistance zones like the value area low (VAL), point of control (POC) and value area high (VAH) of the range. Traders use ranges to identify areas of strong buying or selling interest.

HODL is a slang term in crypto culture that means holding onto your crypto assets long-term instead of selling, especially during market dips. Originally a typo for “hold” in a Bitcoin forum post, it has since become a rallying cry for long-term investors who believe in the future value of their coins despite volatility.

Ladder trading is a strategy where traders place multiple buy or sell orders at different price levels rather than a single order. It helps manage risk, secure profits gradually, and adapt to unpredictable market movements. Laddering can be applied for both entries and exits.

Leverage trading allows traders to borrow funds to open positions larger than their actual account balance. It increases both potential profits and potential losses. Leverage is expressed as a ratio (e.g., 5x, 10x), showing how many times a position is amplified compared to the trader’s own capital. While it offers the chance for higher returns, leverage also introduces the risk of liquidation.

Liquidation happens when a leveraged position is forcefully closed by the exchange because the market moved against the trader and their margin is no longer sufficient to cover the losses. Liquidation protects the exchange and lenders from losing money, but it usually wipes out most or all of the trader’s margin.

MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence) is a trend-following momentum indicator that shows the relationship between two moving averages of an asset’s price. It consists of the MACD line, signal line, and histogram. Traders use MACD to spot momentum shifts, trend strength, and potential buy or sell signals.

Memecoins are cryptocurrencies created around internet memes, pop culture, or viral humor rather than strong utility or technology. They often gain traction through community hype, celebrity endorsements, or social media trends. While some memecoins reach massive market caps, they are typically high-risk and highly volatile, with prices driven more by sentiment than fundamentals.

Moving Averages are trend-following indicators that smooth out price data over a defined time period. They help traders filter out short-term noise and identify potential support, resistance, and trend direction. The Simple Moving Average (SMA) gives equal weight to all periods, while the Exponential Moving Average (EMA) gives more weight to recent prices, making it more responsive.

PNL (Profit and Loss) refers to the overall financial outcome of trading or investing activities, showing the difference between realized profits and realized losses. Traders track PNL to measure performance across individual trades or an entire portfolio. It can be calculated in absolute terms (e.g., dollars gained or lost) or as a percentage relative to the investment.

Proof of Stake is a consensus mechanism that selects validators based on the amount of cryptocurrency they lock (or “stake”) as collateral. Instead of using computational power, PoS secures the network through economic incentives. Validators are rewarded for confirming transactions correctly and penalized (slashed) for malicious behavior. PoS is more energy-efficient than PoW.

Proof of Work is a blockchain consensus mechanism where miners solve complex mathematical puzzles to validate transactions and add new blocks. The process requires significant computational power and energy. It’s designed to prevent spam and double-spending while ensuring network security. PoW also issues new coins as block rewards to incentivize miners.

Range trading is a strategy where traders buy at support and sell at resistance within a defined price channel. Instead of betting on breakouts, range traders capitalize on price oscillations between predictable range levels like the value area high & low and the POC where most of the volume is exchanged. This approach works best in sideways markets with lower volatility.

Risk-to-Reward (RR) Ratio measures how much risk a trader is taking on compared to the potential profit. A favorable ratio means the potential reward outweighs the possible loss. Traders often set stop losses and take profits based on a predefined ratio to ensure consistency, discipline and long term gains.

RSI (Relative Strength Index) is a momentum indicator that measures the speed and magnitude of recent price changes to evaluate overbought or oversold conditions. The RSI ranges from 0 to 100, with values above 70 typically signaling that an asset may be overbought and values below 30 suggesting it may be oversold. Traders use it to anticipate potential reversals or confirm trends.

Scalping is a higher frequency trading strategy that focuses on exploiting very small price movements over short timeframes, often seconds to minutes. Scalpers rely on high trading volume, tight spreads, and precise technical setups. Most scalping is done using automated trading bots or advanced platforms that support quick order execution. It demands constant attention and low latency.

Stop loss is an order placed with an exchange to automatically sell an asset if its price falls to a predetermined level. The purpose is to limit potential losses by exiting before the market moves further against the trader’s position. Stop losses are a core risk management tool and mandatory when trading with leverage.

Swing trading is a strategy that aims to capture short- to medium-term gains in a crypto asset over a period ranging from a few days to several weeks. Traders use technical analysis to identify entry and exit points based on momentum, chart patterns, and indicators like RSI or moving averages. Unlike day trading, swing trading doesn’t require constant monitoring but still involves active decision-making.

Take profit is an order set to automatically close a trade once the price reaches a specific profit target. It helps traders lock in gains without needing to monitor the market constantly. Take profit orders are often paired with stop losses to create a defined risk-to-reward setup.

Trailing stops are dynamic stop loss orders that adjust as the price moves in the trader’s favor. Instead of staying fixed, the stop price “trails” the asset by a set percentage or dollar amount. This allows traders to protect profits while giving the trade room to grow if the market continues in a favorable direction.

Unrealized gains are profits that exist only on paper because an asset has increased in value but hasn’t been sold yet. They can quickly change with market fluctuations and only become realized when the position is closed. Unrealized losses follow the same logic but reflect decreases in value.