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WAGMI meaning: "we're all gonna make it" in crypto (and GMI)

What WAGMI and GMI mean, how the tone flips between sincere and ironic, illustrative posts, the sourced bodybuilding origin, and when the phrase is really a sales pitch.

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WAGMI stands for "we're all gonna make it". Crypto communities use it as a rallying cry of shared optimism, sincerely on green days and often ironically on red ones; GMI, "gonna make it", is the singular compliment paid to one person.

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What WAGMI means

WAGMI stands for we're all gonna make it. On crypto Twitter, in Discord servers and Telegram groups, it is a rallying cry: whatever the chart says today, the group will come out ahead. Decrypt's 2022 slang guide calls it an optimistic term NFT communities use to encourage the idea that everyone will succeed financially. Wiktionary defines it more simply, as an expression of camaraderie.

GMI, "gonna make it", is the singular version. WAGMI is said to a crowd; GMI is said to one person who did something smart. The opposite of both is NGMI, "not gonna make it".

WAGMI is a feeling, not a prediction. Nothing in the phrase says what will go up, by how much or when.

How WAGMI is used

Tone tag: praise when sincere, mock when ironic, and worth a warning when it is doing the work of an argument.

Three illustrative posts, written for this page and not quoted from anyone:

Where WAGMI comes from

The phrase comes from the gym. Know Your Meme traces WAGMI and its opposite to 4chan's fitness board, /fit/, and to Zyzz, a bodybuilder who told followers in a motivational video not to despair over their looks or their critics, because "we're all going to make it". A YouTube upload of that speech dated March 24, 2012 had passed 1.7 million views, and after Zyzz died in 2011 the line kept circulating as a catchphrase among people supporting each other through hard stretches.

Finance borrowed it. Know Your Meme reports that crypto and meme stock communities adopted WAGMI and NGMI around 2020, and that /fit/ vocabulary spread to 4chan's business board, /biz/, during the GameStop episode of 2021. The NFT boom of 2021 made it a fixture: Decrypt's slang guide puts it in its title next to gm and gn.

When WAGMI is a sales pitch

The phrase is friendly, which is exactly why it gets used to sell. Kraken's explainer notes that some people use WAGMI to encourage others to buy into projects they already hold, simply to pump prices, and calls the phrase largely meaningless as market insight. CoinGecko reports criticism that WAGMI works as a promotional slogan, and that the idea that everyone will make it can push new investors toward irresponsible bets, since people do lose money.

A simple test: remove "WAGMI" from the post. If no reason to buy is left, the post was only a mood. And when the account posting it holds the token, read it as you would read any shill.

Sources

Questions

What does WAGMI mean in crypto?

WAGMI means "we're all gonna make it": a statement of shared optimism that the group will come out ahead. Decrypt describes it as an optimistic term used by NFT communities to encourage the idea that everyone will succeed financially. It is a mood, not a forecast.

What does GMI mean?

GMI means "gonna make it". It is the individual version of WAGMI, a compliment for one person's smart move ("read the contract before buying, GMI"). Wiktionary lists GMI alongside WAGMI, with NGMI as their opposite.

Who said "we're all gonna make it"?

The phrase is credited to Zyzz, a bodybuilder who became an internet icon. Know Your Meme traces it to one of his motivational videos and to 4chan's fitness board, where it became a catchphrase before crypto and meme stock forums adopted it around 2020 and 2021.

Is WAGMI a red flag?

It can be. Kraken warns that some people use WAGMI to get others to buy into projects they already hold, to push the price up, and CoinGecko notes critics who call it a promotional slogan that can encourage risky behavior in new investors. When WAGMI is the main argument for a trade, look for a real one.

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