Through its curriculum and a variety of speakers and panels, the MSL program regularly tackles hot topics at the intersection of law, business, and tech. We recently had the opportunity to delve into cryptocurrencies and blockchain when Patrick Daugherty (COMM ’78) delivered a special MSL seminar entitled, “Crypto Assets: From Bitcoin & Ethereum to Stablecoins & DeFi.”

Patrick Daugherty is a senior partner at Foley & Lardner. He directs a practice that includes corporate, M&A, finance, financial regulation, and fintech matters; his practice focuses on capital formation, innovation, and return on investment. He also leads the firm’s blockchain task force.

Students and alumni learned about the complex and evolving world of distributed finance, crypto assets, and blockchain-enabled financial technologies. One of the highlights of the presentation – at least the part that got the most laughs – was Pat’s glossary of crypto vocabulary. Whether you’re a no-coiner or FUDster, you can learn some things from these entertaining terms of art. Even if you have strong hands, we’re sure some of these are new to you.

Patrick Daugherty’s Crypto Glossary:

• An airdrop is when tokens are given away for free without the recipient knowing.
• Diamond hands (or strong hands) refers to someone who holds assets even when values dip by huge percentages. Someone with weak hands sells right away because they don’t have the stomach to hold on.
• DYOR stands for “do your own research.”
• FOMO, one many of us know, is “fear of missing out.” JOMO is the joy of missing out. When one avoids catastrophe by not investing, they experience JOMO.
• FUD is “fear, uncertainty, and doubt.” FUDsters are people who spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt. Usually FUDsters are no-coiners (see below).
• People say GM, for “good morning,” no matter the time of day. Crypto is a global industry and as Pat said, “the sun never sets on the British Empire or crypto assets industry… and we’re friendly people, we say, ‘good morning!’ I typically say ‘GM, unless you want more regulation.’”
• HFSP stands for “have fun staying poor.”
• HODL started as a typo for “hold on.” Now it means holding it because one has strong hands, maybe even diamond hands.
• Laser eyes is a meme. Everyone in the business tends to have a laser eyes meme somewhere.
• No-coiner or normie is someone who has stayed out of the crypto market and is likely skeptical.
• WAGMI stands for “we are going to make it,” vs. NGMI, which is short for “we’re not going to make it.”
• People say, “When Lambo?” to ask when are you going to buy a Lamborghini?
• “When Moon?” is related to “When Lambo.” It asks when will a token go up in value as high as the moon so people can “When Lambo?”

Our next hot topics special events will focus on intellectual property finance and investment. We’ll recap these events on this blog; please check back soon!