Crypto glossary
NFA (not financial advice)
NFA, short for not financial advice, is a disclaimer crypto users add to posts recommending tokens or trades, though it offers little legal protection.
NFA appears at the end of posts that clearly suggest buying something, often paired with DYOR, do your own research. It began as a reflex disclaimer, a way of saying the poster is not a licensed adviser and readers are responsible for their choices, and became a running joke because it is attached to messages that are obviously advice.
Legally, the label does not change what a message is. Regulators look at the substance: whether someone was paid to promote a token, whether they disclosed holdings or conflicts and whether they presented speculation as fact. In the EU and Spain, paid crypto promotions fall under advertising rules, and in the US undisclosed paid touting has led to SEC enforcement. Saying NFA does not cure an undisclosed conflict.
For readers, NFA is a useful reminder that nobody on social media is responsible for their losses. A post with NFA from someone who holds a large, cheap allocation in the token they praise is promotion, whatever the disclaimer says.
Example
An influencer posts that a small token will do 50x this month, then adds NFA, DYOR. On-chain data later shows his wallet sold its holdings into the buying that followed the post.