Hopium

Hopium is the optimism that keeps traders buying dips and posting bullish targets even when the evidence is thin. It peaks during relief rallies in bear markets, before major events such as ETF decisions or network upgrades, and in communities around tokens that have fallen sharply. Influencers sometimes describe their own bullish threads as hopium, half-ironically.

The term is closely related to copium. Hopium looks forward, to the next pump; copium looks back, rationalising losses already suffered. Both are common in market slang because crypto prices move fast and emotionally, and both are often served by accounts with something to sell.

Hope itself is not the problem; unfounded hope that replaces analysis and risk management is. Bull traps and dead cat bounces are typical moments when hopium leads traders to add to losing positions or use leverage, turning a drawdown into a liquidation.