Web3 Bible – A list of 50+ Web3 terms for new converts

Concept by Rachid Coutney
Artwork by Midjourney

In the beginning, there was the web

Many of us have seen the internet evolve from its basic dial-up days to wireless satellite access. Its latest evolution, web3, is destined to be the most dramatic yet. As we embark on this new journey, we want to equip you with a way to decipher the cryptic world of crypto: introducing the Web3 Bible.

To say we’re bullish is an understatement. As an agency built by founders, for founders, we’ve always lived at the edge of tomorrow. As such, we love to immerse ourselves in what’s next. We think this new era of the internet will shape much more than our experiences. It has the potential to change entire economies.

We’re also humble enough to say that we don’t know what we don’t know. As a result, we want to credit the person responsible for this list: journalist and writer Misha da Vinci. Thank you, Misha, for your great list.

NEW – WEB3 Bibl3

Web3 lingo is confusing.
Misha da Vinci. (@mishadavinci Twitter)

The Slang

APEING IN – buying into an NFT project, perhaps without due diligence

BTFD – buy the f’ing dip. When a crypto price is dropping hard, that’s the time to buy in

BUIDL – build useful stuff. When crypto is dipping, building useful stuff proves that it’s still valuable

DEGEN – degenerate/gambler, someone shooting at all chances, possibly taking extreme risks

DYOR – do your research before you invest in cryptos, buy NFTs, etc.

FOMO – fear of missing out

FREN – friend

FUD – fear, uncertainty, and doubt

GM – good morning

GN – good night

GMI – gonna make it

NGMI – not gonna make it

WAGMI – we’re all gonna make it

HODL – holding on for dear life when a crypto price tumbles

IRL – in real life

PROBABLY NOTHING – often used sarcastically to mean the opposite. It probably is something

REKT – wrecked, refers to a crypto trader who is ruined due to losses from a price crash

RUGGED – when developers market a project to generate sales and then abandon it, taking existing profits and the project value (and buyer’s NFT) goes to zero

SHILL – unsolicited endorsing in public, promoting an NFT you’re dropping or a coin you’ve invested in

SWEEP THE FLOOR – buying NFTs in bulk at the floor or base price

WEN – when

WHALE – individuals, institutions, or exchanges that hold significant amounts of tokens of a particular cryptocurrency

Basic Terms

ADDRESS – a string of characters that represents a wallet that can send and receive cryptocurrency

AIRDROP – a marketing campaign that distributes a specific cryptocurrency or token to an audience via wallets

BLOCK EXPLORER – an interface that lets you see transactions on the blockchain eg. @etherscan

BLOCKCHAIN – a sequence of blocks, or units of digital information, stored consecutively in a public database. The basis for cryptocurrencies eg. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche

BURN – NFTs or coins are considered “burned” when they have been purposely and permanently removed from circulation

CRYPTO – cryptocurrency, a digital currency that is secured by cryptography, which makes it nearly impossible to counterfeit or double-spend

DAO – decentralized autonomous organization, a blockchain-based org where all involved can have ownership and engage in decision-making

DAPP – decentralized app, any practical application of blockchain and/or cryptocurrencies, like mobile games or social sites eg. @CryptoKitties

DECENTRALIZATION – the transfer of control and decision-making from a centralized entity (individual or organization) to a distributed network

DEFI – decentralized finance, removes the control banks and institutions have on money, financial products, and services

FIAT – a term for government-issued currencies, like the US dollar or any currency controlled by a central authority

FLOOR – the lowest price available for an NFT in a collection, the minimum amount you need to buy one.

GAS – the fee required to conduct a transaction or execute a contract on the Ethereum blockchain

GWEI – denomination used to define the cost of gas in transactions on Ethereum

MAXI – maximalist, someone who believes that one particular crypto is the only viable one by far and predominantly invests in it

METAVERSE – a digital universe with all the aspects of the real world—real-time interactions and economies.

MINT – the creation of a new NFT token turns a digital file into a crypto collectible or digital asset

NFT – non-fungible token, a unique digital object that confers ownership of a virtual good, like a digital artwork or online collectible

PERMISSIONLESS – often used to describe blockchains, a system where no entity can regulate who can use it and how

P2E – play to earn, as in games like @AxieInfinity

PFP – profile pic, as in @worldofwomennft

SEED PHRASE – a series of words that unlocks your crypto wallet. It’s like your bank account number, social security number, date of birth, home address, and ATM pin—all in one. If someone gets it, they can take all your Crypto assets.

SELF-CUSTODY – only you have possession of your digital assets because you control the private key, versus holding assets at an exchange like Coinbase

SMART CONTRACT – a piece of code that self-executes once certain conditions are met, like a vending machine but online

SOCIAL TOKEN – a type of cryptocurrency that a brand, community, or influencer can use to monetize themselves

TOKEN – a representation of an asset that can be held, traded, or staked to earn interest

TRUSTLESS – an environment where there is no centralized authority, such as a bank

WALLET – a place to store crypto assets

COLD WALLET – stores digital assets off-line, making them secure from bad actors but more difficult to use @Ledger

HOT WALLET – is online and easily accessible but also more susceptible to hackers @MetaMask

WHITE/ALLOWLIST – a list of addresses that get early and guaranteed access to mint NFTs at a specific date and window of time

Level 2 Terms

BLOCK – file with information on transactions completed during a given period. Blocks are the constituent parts of a blockchain

ERC-20 – a simple interface that allows for the creation of tokens on Ethereum that can be reused by other applications, from wallets to decentralized exchanges

ERC-721 – defines non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on Ethereum, allows anyone to create unique tokens

IMMUTABLE – data cannot be changed or modified by anyone after its creation, the core defining feature of blockchain

INTEROPERABILITY – the ability to see and share information across multiple blockchains

LAYER 2 – a scaling solution that promotes mass adoption of the Ethereum platform, provides tools to create scalable dapps that prioritize performance, user experience, and security eg. @0xPolygon

MINING – a process where blocks are added to a blockchain, verifying transactions, also how new bitcoin or some altcoins are created

NODE – the most basic unit of blockchain infrastructure that stores data

PROOF OF STAKE – a crypto mining system that rewards mining power to miners based on how many tokens they have, is more energy efficient than 👇

PROOF OF WORK – a mining system involving solving computationally intensive puzzles to validate transactions and create new blocks

STABLECOIN – a cryptocurrency with extremely low volatility that has its market value pegged to some external reference such as the USD

STAKING – putting your tokens in to serve as a validator to the blockchain and receive a reward