Paper Hands

Paper hands describes selling cryptocurrency holdings during price declines, volatility, or negative news rather than holding long-term, often used pejoratively within crypto communities to shame those who take profits, cut losses, or exit positions based on fundamental concerns rather than community sentiment.

While paper hands can accurately describe panic selling during temporary dips in legitimate projects, the term frequently serves as manipulation tactic in fraudulent schemes, where insiders attack sellers to maintain buy pressure and prevent price collapse while orchestrators prepare larger exits. Paper hands shaming creates social pressure discouraging rational risk management, profit-taking, or response to red flags.

Red flag patterns include paper hands attacks on community members who sell after discovering concerning information, paper hands shaming intensifying as project fundamentals deteriorate, moderators banning users for discussing exit strategies, paper hands rhetoric from project teams whose wallets are simultaneously moving to exchanges, and paper hands combined with "NGMI" harassment campaigns targeting critics. Compliance professionals should document paper hands shaming as evidence of community manipulation designed to suppress selling and maintain exit liquidity for insiders. Fraud victims frequently report paper hands social pressure as factor preventing earlier exits that would have limited losses. Investigators analyzing community dynamics should note whether paper hands attacks correlate with insider wallet movements, failed milestones, or suppression of transparency requests. The intensity of paper hands stigma often inversely correlates with project legitimacy, with scams requiring aggressive selling suppression to prevent early collapse.