WAGMI stands for “We’re All Gonna Make It” — one of the most recognizable pieces of crypto/NFT slang. The acronym expresses collective bullish optimism: a belief that believers in crypto who hold or participate long enough will eventually achieve financial success. It functions variously as genuine encouragement, ironic humor, tribal identity signaling, and motivational rhetoric. Its counterpart NGMI (“Not Gonna Make It”) is used to mock or criticize someone who is perceived as making a mistake or having the wrong worldview.
How It’s Used
As genuine bullish sentiment:
> “ETH under $2,000? We’re all buying the dip. WAGMI.”
>
> “Just staked my first crypto. WAGMI.”
As ironic humor (self-aware about losses):
> “Down 80% on my altbag but I’m still holding. WAGMI (probably NGMI).”
As community cohesion:
> Posted in NFT Discord during a floor price drop: “Stay strong, WAGMI.”
NGMI in action:
> “He sold his BTC at $20,000 in 2020. NGMI.”
>
> “Trusting a protocol with no audit? NGMI.”
Origin
WAGMI’s originator is often attributed to bodybuilding and fitness culture — the phrase dates back to at least Aziz “Zyzz” Sergeyev, a fitness influencer who popularized “We’re all gonna make it brah” in the early 2010s fitness community. The phrase migrated into crypto and NFT culture around 2020-2021 as common internet slang adopted by a new subculture.
By 2021, it was ubiquitous in NFT communities on Twitter, Discord, and Reddit — particularly during the NFT boom when collections like Bored Ape Yacht Club made cultural markers and community vocabulary central to identity.
WAGMI vs. NGMI
The WAGMI/NGMI binary is a moral-cultural taxonomy in crypto:
| WAGMI | NGMI |
|---|---|
| Buying dips | Panic selling |
| HODLing long-term | Trading in and out |
| Being early to good projects | Aping into obvious scams |
| Having conviction in crypto | Choosing fiat savings |
| Community participation | Being a skeptic |
| Doing your research | Trusting hype blindly |
Importantly, the taxonomy is self-reinforcing: community members police each other using NGMI as social pressure toward behaviors valued by the community.
Cultural Context
WAGMI became more than slang — it was:
- NFT Discord culture: Every major NFT project’s Discord used WAGMI as a rallying cry, especially during floor price declines
- Twitter/CT (Crypto Twitter) identity: Including WAGMI in one’s Twitter bio or profile was a community signaling behavior
- Marketing: NFT collections and DeFi protocols adopted WAGMI in naming (there is a DeFi project called “WAGMI Finance”)
- Bear market coping: During the 2022 bear market, WAGMI became simultaneously sincere (long-term bullish) and ironic (gallows humor)
Common Misconceptions
“WAGMI is only used seriously”
Much of WAGMI’s use is self-aware irony. Crypto natives often deploy it humorously, knowing they’re using hyped slang, as part of in-group communication.
“WAGMI originated in crypto”
The phrase predates crypto — it migrated from fitness culture (most notably from Zyzz) into crypto. Crypto adopted and transformed it into its current usage but did not create it.
Social Media Sentiment
WAGMI is almost universally recognized within crypto communities. It appears in portfolios, Discord usernames, NFT project names, and casual everyday communication. Outsiders and crypto critics often mock WAGMI culture as cult-like groupthink that discourages critical thinking about risk. Within the community, it’s a nuanced tool — sometimes sincere, sometimes ironic, always in-group signaling. The 2022 bear market added a layer of dark humor to WAGMI usage that made it more textured and less naive than its 2021 bull market deployment.
Last updated: 2026-04
Related Terms
Sources
- Chainalysis. (2022). NFT Market Culture Report. Chainalysis.
- Internet Archive / KnowYourMeme. (2021). WAGMI — Know Your Meme. KnowYourMeme.com.
- Chohan, U. W. (2022). Meme Coins and the Financialization of Internet Culture. SSRN.