A trader who bets big on little information — used as an insult everywhere else, and as a badge of honour here.
“Degen” originated as gambling slang for someone who places large, poorly researched bets — a shortened, derogatory form of “degenerate.” Crypto culture absorbed the word and inverted its charge: within the community, calling yourself a degen signals a willingness to take real risk on unproven opportunities, treated as adventurous rather than reckless.
It’s a useful word precisely because it’s honest about what it describes — high-conviction, low-diligence speculation — without pretending it’s disciplined investing.