Cryptocurrency: What you should know before you buy (Economy)

By Eden Gillespie

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-feed/cryptocurrency-what-you-should-know-before-you-buy

#B2+ #IELTS #Reading #SBS_AU #Business #Finance #Economy

1. Cryptocurrency /ˈkrɪptəʊˌkʌrənsɪ/ (n) a peer-to-peer digital currency that is validated by cryptography; a decentralized digital medium of exhchange which is created, regulated, and exchanged using cryptography and (usuall) open source software

As Bitcoin breaches the $1000 mark for the first time, two experts on the crypto-currency clash over whether bust must follow boom.

2. Baby boomer (AE boomer) (n) a person born during a baby boom, especially after the Second World War

One big unknown is whether fund managers and their baby boomer clients will panic if the market continues to drop.

[Baby boom (n) a period when many more babies are born than usual

There wa a baby boom in the UK and the US after the Second World War.
The study defined parents aged 30 to 50 as being members of the baby boom generation.
In the early years the baby boom carried almost all women before it.]

3. Hype (n-U) (informal, disapproving) advertisements and discussion on television, radio, etc. telling the public about a product and about how good or important it is; attempts to make people think sth is good or important by talking about it a lot on television, the radio, etc. - used to show disapproval

Marketing/media hype
Don't believe all the hype－the book isn't that good.
There's been a lot of hype around/surrounding his latest film.
I've been put off reading the book by all the hype.
Some experts are concerned that the new drug won't live up to all the hype.
Despite the media hype, I found the film very disappointing.

syn: publicity, promotion, build-up, racket

4. Fire sth <-> off (v) to quickly send a message or give instructions {to write or say sth to sb very quickly, often when you are angry}

He fired off a letter of a complaint.
She sent an hour firing off emails to all concerned.
He fired off an angry/a furious letter to the editor.
I sat down and fired off a letter to the newspaper.

5. Millennial /mɪˈleniəl/ (n, usually plural) a person who belongs to the generation who became adults around the year 2000

Millennials are willing to take risks and see career change as normal.
Millennials are used to working in teams and want to make friends with people at work.

6. Jump (n) a big difference or change

There's a big jump from Grade Two to Grade Four.
an actor who made the jump from theater to television.
The new law is a great jump forward for human rights.

7. Asset /ˈæset/ (n) (A) a person or thing that is valuable or useful to sb/sth

In his job, patience is an invaluable asset.
Being able to speak a foreign language is a major asset.
I'm not sure if his forcefulness is an asset or a liability.
She'll be an asset to the team.

(B) (usually plural) a thing of value, especially property, that a person or company owns, which can be used or sold to pay debts

the net asset value of the company
Her assets include shares in the company and a house in France.
asset sales/management
income from fixed asset investments
financial/capital assets
to freeze a country's assets

8. Blockchain (n) (computing) a public record of transactions made in bitcoin or another cryptocurrency in chronological order
{a digital database containing informations (such a records of financial transactions that can be simultaneously used and shared with a large decentralized, publicly accessible network; the technology used to create such a database}

I have the blockchain backed up at least, in case I'll have to do something manually later.

9. Hub (of sth) (n) the central and most important part of a particular place or activity

the commercial hub of the city
The kitchen was the hub of family life.
to be at the hub of things (=where things happen and important decisions are made)
a hub airport (= a large important one where people often change from one plane to another)
a telecommunication hub and business center
Bombay is the financial hub of India.
the commercial hub of the region
Birmingham is at the hub of Britain's motorway network.

10. Bond (n) (A) an agreement by a government or a company to pay you interest on the money you have lent; a document containing this agreement

government bonds
The company raised money through a bond issue.

(B) (law) a sum of money that is paid as bail

He was released on $5000 bond.

(C) (also mortgage bond) a large agreement by which a bank lends you money to buy a house, etc. which you pay back over many years; the sum of money that is lent

to pay off a bond
We had to take out a second bond on the property.
bond rates (= of interest)

11. Meme (n) (A) an idea that is passed from one member of society to another, not in the genes but often by people copying it

Other cultures have similar versions of this meme.
the political and cultural memes of the 21st-century
Some people regard religions as cultural memes.

(B) an image, video, a piece of text, etc. that is passed very quickly from one Internet user to another, often with slight changes that make it humorous

an Internet meme/a blog meme
Memes spread rapidly on the Internet for many different reasons.

12. Doge /dəʊdʒ/ (n) (A) the most important government official of Venice or Genoa in the past

(B) a meme that orginated from the dog breed the Shiba Inu. It features a dog of this breed with two-word captions written in an ungrammatical form of English

That Doge meme is amazing.

13. Of late (formal) recently

I haven't seen him of late.
The situation has  become more confusing of late.
Birth rates have gone down of late.
We haven't spoken of late.

syn: recently, in recent times, not long ago, latterly

14. Satire /ˈsætaɪə(r)/ (n) a way of critizing a person, an idea or an institution in which you use humour to show their faults or weaknesses; a piece of writing that uses this type of criticism

political/social satire
a work full of savage/biting satire
The novel is a stinging satire on American politics.
His latest book is a biting satire on modern bureaucracy.
Her play wa a biting/cruel satire on life in the 80s.
savage/stinging/vicious/biting satire

15. Parody (of sth) /ˈpærədi/ (n) a piece of writing, music, acting, etc. that deliberately copies the style of sb/sth in order to be amusing

a parody of a horror film
His personality made him an easy subject for parody.
There is a hint of self-parody in his later paintings.
a brilliant parody of classical dance
He swung the door wide open in a parody of welcome.


16. Hustle (n-U) busy noisy activity of a lot of people in one place

We escaped from the hustle and bustle of the city for the weekend.
I love the hustle and bustle of the marketplace.

syn: commotion, bustle, liveliness

17. Exclusively (adv) completely; only; without including anybody or anything else

a charity that relies almost exclusively on voluntary contributions
a club exclusively for women
a website devoted exclusively to hip-hop music
This offer is available exclusively to our established customers.

syn: solely, totally, fully, entirely, wholly, completely, only

18. Spike (to sth) (v) to rise quickly and reach a high value

The US dollar spiked to a three-month high.
Their stock prices spiked on news of the merger.
The jobless rate in October spiked to a five-year high.
New telephone orders have spiked in the last two years.

19. Go (n) (also try) an attempt at doing sth

It took three goes to get it right.
I doubt if he'll listen to advice from me, but I'll give it a go (= I'll try but I don't think I will succeed).
Give sth a go ( = try to do it) I'd thought about skiing for some time and finally decided to give it a go this winter.
'I can't open this drawer.' 'Here, let me have a go.'
On the tour, everyone can have a go at making a pot.
I had a good go (= tried hard) at cleaning the sliver.

20. Diversify (sth) (into sth) /daɪˈvɜːsɪfaɪ/ (v) (especially of a business or company) to develop a wider range of products, interests, skills, etc. in order to be more successful or reduce risk

Farmers are being encouraged to diversify into new crops.
The company has been trying to diversify its business.
farmers forced to diversify away from their core business
The company is planning to diversify into other mining activities.
We need to diversify the economy.

syn: branch out, spread out, expand, change, vary, alter

21. Look into sth (v) to examine the facts about a problem or situation

We're looking into the possibility of merging the two departments.
We're looking into buying a new computer.
If you really look into it, you'll probably find it's not such a good deal.
He looked into hiring another secretary, but it would have been too expensive.

syn: investigate, study, research, examine, explore, inspect, scrutinize

22. Scam (n) (informal) a clever and dishonest plan for making money; a dishonest plan, especially for getting money

an insurance scam
He got involved in a credit card scam.
He liked to play scams too much.
Then the scams will be uncovered.

syn: swindle, fiddle, racket, stratagem

23. Pump-and-dump (n) the practice of buying shares, generating favourable publicity about them, especially on the internet, then selling them when the price accordingly rises

24. Whim (n) a sudden wish to do or have sth, especially when it is sth unusual or unnecessary

He was forced to pander to her every whim.
We bought the house on a whim.
My duties seem to change daily at the whim of the boss.
the whims of fashion
She hires and fires people at whim.
I didn't leave just on a whim (= for no good reason).
He appeared and disappeared at whim.

syn: impulse, caprice, vagary, freak, urge

25. Go wrong (A) to make a mistake

If you do what she tells you, you won't go far wrong.
Where did we go wrong with those kids (= what mistakes did we make for them to behave so badly)?

(B) (of a machine) to stop working correctly

My watch keeps going wrong.
Something's gone wrong with my watch.

(C) to experience problems or difficulties

The relationship started to go wrong when they moved abroad.
What else can go wrong (= what other problems are we going to have)?
What went wrong? You were doing really well.