What is NGMI in Crypto, and tips to protect yourself

NGMI is an acronym that stands for Not Gonna Make it.

It's a popular crypto slang term used in the crypto space, investing and NFT online communities to describe poor financial decision-making.

Key Takeaways:

• What NGMI is and what it means
• Who uses NGMI and when
• How to protect yourself from NGMI

Spend any significant amount of time in the crypto world and, chances are, you'll come across 'NGMI' sooner rather than later.

In fact, you'll quickly realize it's one of the many terms crypto traders use on a regular basis.

But what exactly is this NGMI thing all about? Let's dig a little deeper to find out.

What does NGMI mean in crypto?

Essentially, NGMI is a way to describe instances where someone or something makes a bad decision or shows poor judgment.

NGMI means failure is on the horizon, most likely of the financial kind.

When the crypto community uses NGMI, it has a strong negative connotation, implying a lack of intelligence and forethought.

The crypto and NFT communities often use it to refer to people outside the community who don't see the potential value in, or express doubt about, investing in cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

As far as they're concerned, these people's failure to invest in the crypto market is nothing less than poor financial decision-making.

But NGMI can equally refer to crypto community members as well.

That could mean crypto investors who offload a cryptocurrency that's expected to appreciate in the long-term or an investor who sells an NFT at a loss when others firmly believe the project is destined for long-term success – both considered poor investing choices in cryptoland.

It could even be a company that launches a new cryptocurrency without any kind of unique selling point.

People sometimes also use NGMI in a self-deprecating way to bemoan a perceived poor decision on the user's own part, often as a kind of self-admonishment when sharing the experience with other people on social media.

Basically, if you make bad financial decisions, then you're NGMI.

Inversely 'GMI' and 'WAGMI', meaning "gonna make it" and "we're all gonna make it" respectively, have a positive connotation and are used to express excitement and describe positive events, decisions or optimism, or can even just be employed as a good old-fashioned rallying cry!

Example of NGMI being used

Imagine an instance where you've made a bad decision in cryptocurrency trading (we've all been guilty of it at some point, after all).

Perhaps you want to share that with other people on social media platforms, a crypto Twitter community maybe (yes, yes, X, we know), in a attempt to exorcise those daemons.

We can imagine it going something like this:

Crypto and NFT influencers

Since the term NGMI is such a key part of crypto culture, that means it's also integral to an any NFT or crypto influencer's lexicon.

For example, an NFT influencer might use it to call out some practices they want to warn their followers against, or perhaps even steer them away from investing in certain tokens or meme coins currently making waves in the crypto markets.

Here are just a few things you might hear them say:

This all poses the question, 'how can you avoid falling into the NGMI trap yourself?'

In this next section, we'll take a better look.

Eight tips to protect yourself when investing in crypto or NFTs

It's never a happy moment when you realize that you're NGMI. So, here are some tips to help make sure that never happens.

Protect yourself against scams

Crypto has its share of nefarious actors, so it pays to keep your wits about you.

As of June 2023, $656M has already been lost in crypto hacks, scams and rug pulls across the year.

Always look out for:

Fake crypto giveaways

Crypto giveaway scams are online posts, usually on social media, that invite users to deposit crypto to an address with the promise the sender will receive double or more back.

Look out for fake Twitter profiles (including big profiles) with fake accounts flooding the comment section with positive sentiment.

Trading bot scams

In these scams, trading platforms try to draw people in by offering a very high rate of return. However, they are ponzi schemes, and once they've accumulated enough money, they ride off into the sunset.

The iEarn bot, for example, built up a substantial client base across the world fueled by supposedly reputable referals (claiming as many as 800,000 customers in Indonesia alone).

Then, they suddenly announced a period of maintenance with people finding that they were unable to withdraw funds – the BBC even undertook an investigation into what happened.

Malicious wallet software

If you download a disreputable wallet, it's possible that there's malicious code in there that can access and steal your precious crypto.

In some cases, fake apps have even managed to weasel their way into official, legitimate app stores like Google Play, so it's best to stick with tried-and-true names.

Fake Projects

With thousands of coins, tokens and NFTs to pick from, inevitably some criminals try their luck by posing as real, authentic projects when they're anything but to steal your identity or even your hard-earned money.

Check out the individual team members of a project and do your own research to understand if it's likely to be legit.

Get security right

One of the easiest ways to avoid getting labelled NGMI is to take safety and security seriously. Even tech investing billionaires like Mark Cuban can get caught out when not staying vigilant.

He had nearly $1 million drained from his wallet after clicking a phishing link.

Keep in mind not to make a digital copy of personal crypto details, always enable two-factor authentication, and make sure to use a different password for every crypto platform you use.

#DYOR: Do your own research

Not every coin and crypto token are created equal.

Crypto enthusiasts worth their salt will do the proper research before committing to any specific cryptocurrency.

Read the whitepaper, check the tokenomics, and research what other investors are saying about it (just make sure you don't take their crypto predictions as gospel).

Diversify your investment

It pays to spread out risk when investing. This means making multiple different investments. That way, if one or even a couple of them tank, you won't lose everything.

There's a good reason your grandma told you never to put all your eggs in one basket.

Only invest what you can afford to lose

Never, ever overstretch yourself financially. Given the inherent risks of investing, the possibility of losing everything you put in is always there.

So, make sure you have plenty of capital elsewhere to carry on life as normal should the worst happen.

Take a long-term view

It's all-too-easy to get panicked into selling when prices are low.

Especially in the crypto world, where volatility is a given, it can be better to resist your emotions. Instead, think of crypto as a long-term investment that will pay off over the coming months and years. That way, you are more likely to reap the rewards.

If you're interested in more tips around investing in crypto, why not check out our guide on how to invest in decentralized finance in 2023.

Conclusion: NGMI isn't the end

So, now you know what NGMI is all about and how to avoid some common crypto pitfalls when you're investing, your chances of being labeled NGMI have just plummeted.

But even if at some point that NGMI finger gets pointed at you, don't worry, we pretty much all get labeled NGMI at some point in our crypto journey.

If NGMI doesn't sound like you're cup of tea, then why don't you join the WAGMI movement with us at Creditcoin!

This article has been updated on September 25th by Benedict Clark.