Degen
Short for degenerate gambler, a trader who chases high-risk bets with little regard for fundamentals.
The label started as an insult and became a badge. A degen piles into new tokens and leveraged bets within hours of launch, often before reading anything.
The behavior is high-risk by design. Most degen plays lose money; the wins get screenshotted and the losses get deleted. Crypto Twitter wears the term with a wink, but the losses are real.
Related terms
Crypto slang for getting financially destroyed, usually after a leveraged position blows up or a token collapses.
Ape InTo buy a token impulsively and in size, usually without research and often near a hype peak.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out)The urge to buy an asset because its price is climbing fast and you dread missing the gains.
LeverageBorrowed money used to control a larger position than your own capital would allow, amplifying gains and losses.