There’s a lot of jargon to learn when it comes to web3. Let us help!

A

Address/Addy/Public Address: a unique string of characters which identifies the location of a wallet capable of sending and receiving funds on the blockchain. Ethereum, for instance, uses 42 hexadecimal characters beginning with 0x as their address standard. Other blockchains use different formats for their public addresses.

Airdrop: the distribution of NFTs, coins, or other tokens to a wallet address. Can be used effectively as a marketing tactic to promote a project or reward token holders, but it may also be used maliciously to spam users with unsolicited items they do not want. As a general rule, do not interact with an airdrop (not even to move, or delete it) if you do not recognize or trust the sender.

Allow List: A list of people who have been granted access to mint/buy a project before it goes to public sale. Alternate terms include mintlist and presale list.

Alpha: any information, advice, strategy, or insider knowledge meant to give you a competitive edge in the market, or which could be leveraged for financial gain. It is also informally used to talk about the sharing of otherwise unknown information.

Anon: abbreviated form of “anonymous”, denoting an unknown individual; some rando on the internet.

Ape In: to buy into a project (generally crypto or NFT related) without doing any research beforehand.

Artdrop: a more specific term for an airdrop containing a piece of art. Many communities (such as Curious Addys or World of Women) reward their NFT holders with periodic artdrops.

ATH (All Time High): The highest price that has ever been achieved at any point in a project/token’s history.

Avatar: a digital representation of yourself or your persona.

B

Bag(s): the collective assets one owns; a tidy sum of money.

Bear Market: when the NFT/Crypto space experiences a steep price decline, and is hesitant to spend money. As a result, crypto prices may fall dramatically over a prolonged-period of time.

Bitcoin: abbreviated BTC, it was the first cryptocurrency (a decentralized form of currency). Created in 2008 by the pseudonymous creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin allows for users to send funds over the blockchain — a digital public ledger.

Blue Chip: projects which are trusted, well known in the public eye, and have generally achieved a great deal of stability and consistent financial success. Crypto Punks was objectively the first blue chip NFT project, but today, many others exist: World of Women, BAYC, etc.

Block: a piece of data containing varying and specific bits of information on transactions at a given point in time. These blocks are what make up the blockchain.

Blockchain: the accumulated total of a sequence of blocks (data containing varying and specific bits of information regarding transactions at a given point in time) stored on a public ledger. This is the basis for all major cryptocurrencies (Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.)

Block/Blockchain Explorer: a site which gives the ability to view transactions of any given address on the blockchain. Examples include Etherscan and Polygonscan.

Bridge: the means by which you convert your tokens from one blockchain to another. One of the most common forms of bridging can be seen on OpenSea, where people may convert Ethereum to Polygon. As many different marketplaces, apps, and wallets have been built to interact with a variety of differing assets, bridging is occasionally required before you may spend your assets.

BTFD (Buy the Fucking Dip): A mantra advising one to make purchases during a price decline (such as when the price of crypto falls), allowing an individual to capitalize on the volatility of the market.

BUIDL: intentional typo of “build”, likely meant to reflect HODL (which itself originated as a typo for “hold”). This has become common advice to build things of substance and use, even when crypto prices are falling, so as to have something of value ready to go when things rebound.

Bull Market: when the NFT/Crypto space experiences a steep price increase, and is optimistic in spending money. As a result, crypto prices may rise dramatically, over a prolonged-period of time.

Bullish: to strongly support, be in favor of, or believe in something (usually in reference to an NFT project or a cryptocurrency).

Burn/Burning: permanently removing a token from circulation by sending it to an unretrievable address that nobody can access. Burning happens for a number of reasons, including: removing problematic or unwanted inventory, eliminating unsold stock, decreasing supply (thus increasing scarcity and the value of the remaining tokens), or being used as a gaming mechanic.

Burner Wallet: a secondary wallet, separate from your main account, primarily used for minting, signing permissions, connecting to unfamiliar sites, or any other interactions you’d rather shield your main account from.

C

CC0 (Creative Commons 0): also known as “No Rights Reserved”, effectively relinquishes one’s held rights, waiving them in favor of benefiting the public domain. Anyone is free to use CC0 works however they wish, even for commercial purposes.

Coinbase NFT: a new NFT marketplace developed by the cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase, and launched on April 20th, 2022.

Cold Wallet: a hardware connected device which secures the wallet by requiring a manual button press before transactions can be processed. Cold wallets are not connected to the internet by default. This combination ensures a much higher level of security, as a malicious actor would generally require access both to the account and the device in order to move/transfer any funds/tokens. A lost or destroyed cold wallet’s assets may still be recovered (or stolen), so long as the user knows their seed phrase. The two most common cold wallets are manufactured by Ledger and Trezor.

Crypto: short for “cryptocurrency”; any form of digital currency on a blockchain, and protected by cryptography. Unlike fiat currency, cryptocurrency is nearly impossible to forge or counterfeit.

D

DA (Dutch Auction): a method of selling wherein the price starts at the ceiling, and begins to lower in gradual increments until a natural price point is found, and the market buys in.

DAPP (Decentralized Application): any application which uses blockchain technology or cryptocurrency, operating similarly as a peer-to-peer network would, rather than through one computer alone. Their decentralized structure removes them from control of a single point of authority. Some notable examples include CryptoKitties, Axie Infinity, and Decentraland.

DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization): an organization managed on the blockchain; members who participate in a DAO have partial ownership of the organization (usually represented by some sort of governance token), thereby granting them the ability to participate (usually by vote) in decision making for the direction of the organization.

DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging): an investment strategy proven to minimize volatility and optimally capture long term gains. Instead of trying to time the market, DCA makes purchases at regular periodic intervals, regardless of the current price, which, over time, averages out all of the short term price fluctuations to ensure that one captures a truer price of the market.

Decentralization: delegating operational control of a group or organization to a network of localized bodies, as opposed to a singular, centralized body. Blockchains (Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.) are decentralized by design.

DeFi (Decentralized Finance): finances which are not beholden to a central authority such as banks, or a federal reserve. Online, defi generally refers to cryptocurrencies/blockchain technologies where users may manage their own assets.

Degen: a “degenerate”. Despite being an adjective normally used for pejoratives (“degenerate gambler”, etc) with the meaning of someone who hasn’t done their due diligence and gets in over their heads/takes extreme risks, this is a title that many people in the space wear proudly today, mirroring other reclaimed pejoratives like stan or otaku.

Derivative: a project which is an obvious derivation of another. Some derivations are not supported by the original community (such as CryptoPhunks), and other derivations are welcomed, or even planned by the original community (such as Mutant Apes).

Diamond Hands: somebody who holds onto their assets through thick or thin, regardless of market conditions.

Discord: one of the two most popular messaging platforms for the NFT and crypto communities (the other one being Twitter).

Doxed: to make one’s identity known to the public. Although not a guarantee of success or a team’s ability, doxed projects are generally well regarded in the space, due to operating transparently out in the open. Doxed projects may also carry a lower risk of being scammed or falling prey to a rug-pull, as they leave you with a point of contact, should issues arise.

DYOR (Do Your Own Research): a shorthand advising people to think carefully and to do their due diligence before investing into a project. Some aspects of DYOR may include: researching a team, examining their roadmap and past projects, determining whether or not they are doxed, and many other factors which may influence the viability of their project or its ability to succeed.

E

ERC (Ethereum Request for Comment)

Ether: the token of the Ethereum blockchain; as the native cryptocurrency of the platform, it is what is bought and sold on the market. In terms of market cap, Ether is second, after Bitcoin.

Ethereum: A decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality, founded in 2013 by Vitalik Buterin. A common misconception is that Ethereum is what is bought and sold on the market, but that is incorrect – it is actually Ether. A wide variety of applications and other tokens have been built upon the Ethereum blockchain.