Degens is shorthand for degenerate. This term has traditionally been used to refer to gamblers, betters and stakers who bet a large amount of money and take large risks without any solid knowledge.
In the blockchain space, it points to people who take high risks investing in digital assets like NFTs and cryptocurrency without proper research and know hows of market trends.
This term gained popularity as the hype around crypto and NFTs went up. Increasingly, as the crypto industry expands, it attracts more people seeing crypto as a shortcut to getting rich overnight.
Ethereum needs to grow beyond DeFi for degens
Founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin
This guy, for example, was able to earn millions because of degens.
Ghozalo Ghozalu a 22-year student minted his selfies of four straight years as NFTs on Opensea. Since it was an unusual thing for NFT degens, they jumped and started investing, resulting in Ghozalu earning around 1.1 million dollars.
So, degens made him rich in just a matter of days.
Another degen example can be found in famous YouTuber Logan Paul who jumped on a trend without much knowledge and bought an NFT for $623k. That NFT is now worth only $10.
He later admitted his mistake.
A year ago, I spent $623,000 on an NFT. Today, it’s worth essentially nothing. I’ve immortalized this mistake in 99 Originals with an exact replica helmet & outfit.
Logan Paul
Both examples are perfect representations of how degens work. They take a high-value risk that can go both ways. Either you can make a lot of money or lose a lot of money hence it is always better to DYOR before investing.
Example sentence: Being a degen is a risky way of life 🫡
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