FUD is an expression and stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
It is the spreading of misinformation of a cryptocurrency by uninformed sources.
Many of these sources have their own nefarious reasons for doing so. It may be to promote an alternative coin, or they may have shorted (bet on the price falling) the mentioned cryptocurrency.
Legitimate criticism of a certain cryptocurrency is a fair game and should be encouraged to motivate technical improvements.
FUD, on the other hand, is mostly slander and baseless accusations about a cryptocurrency (such as bitcoin) as a technology, the people behind it, or the people invested in it.
How can you avoid FUD?
Seek cryptocurrency news from reliable sources, who don’t have a vested interest one way or another. Also, it is important to use multiple sources to get a well-rounded perspective.
The term is also used to describe a set of negative sentiment that spreads around traders and investors when bad news comes out or when the market presents a strong bearish downtrend.
The expression “Fear, uncertainty, and doubt” dates back to the 1920s, but the acronym “FUD” started to be used around 1975.