Must Know NFT & Crypto Terms To Effectively Navigate The Space


NFTexplained.info is a team of long term crypto investors; we are well versed in the blockchain/NFT space and aim at creating valuable, educational content. 

In this article we will examine some of the most commonly used words in this space and provide a brief explanation for each one. 

1. Airdrop

An airdrop is a term used in the crypto and NFT space and refers to the distribution of NFT or tokens for free. Airdrops are an example of utility (i.e. holders of BAYC received mutant serum for free). Our full guide to airdrops can be found here.

2. Rug Pull

A “rug pull” is a term used within the crypto world to describe a scam in which developers/founders of a project don’t fulfill their promises after receiving funds. Essentially, the founders run away after receiving an investment. This scam can occur with crypto currencies as well as NFT projects. 

If you would like to learn more about rug pulls and the red flags to look out for, NFTexplained.info has a full article covering the topic.

3.WAGMI

WAGMI is an acronym for “we’re all going to make it”. It is typically used by people in the NFT and crypto space when they hear positive news that may increase the value of an asset. WAGMI is the idea that everyone in space is going to succeed and that there is enough success for everyone. WAGMI can also be used when there is negative news as it can be a reminder to not sell. 

4. WL or whitelist

An NFT “whitelist” is a spot saved for someone (typically someone who is loyal or very engaged with a project) to mint an NFT before the public sale. Oftentimes, the whitelist decides who gets to mint an NFT in a project with high demand. Whitelist spots are limited and essentially guarantee a mint.

If you are interested in learning more about whitelist and how to get whitelisted, NFTexplained.info has a full article on that which can be found here

5. Diamond Hands

Diamond hands is a term commonly used in both the NFT and crypto space; it is a reference regarding people who do not sell – they hold an asset for the long term. People with diamond hands will continue to hold onto an asset even during long downturns and will only sell once it has reached their target/desired price. 

6. Alpha

Alpha is a term used in both the NFT and crypto space as a way to represent the obtaining of information (e.g. an investment strategy) that will help one beat the market. Alpha could even result from obtaining classified or confidential information.

7. HODL

HODL is an acronym for “hold on (for) dear life” and is often used in the crypto/NFT space as a reminder to continue to hold an asset regardless of bad news or downturns. HODLing an investment simply means keeping an investment regardless of volatility. 

8. Roadmap

A roadmap is essentially a game plan for a NFT or crypto project. It is a timeline of often achievable steps that the developers or founding team has set for themselves. NFTexplained.info has a full article covering the importance of roadmaps, including the key aspects to look for; that article can be found here. Roadmaps are key in NFT projects as it’s important that investors know the plan that will be taken to help their NFT appreciate in value. 

9. Whale

In the NFT and crypto space, a whale is a term used to define someone that has a large amount of tokens or NFTs for a particular project. If a whale was to sell a particular cryptocurrency it is possible that he or she could affect the price due to the amount of supply that would be sold. 

10. FOMO

FOMO is an acronym for “fear of missing out” and is a term that refers to investors who think they have missed the opportunity to invest in a project. NFTexplained.info thinks the best way to avoid FOMO is to be aware of your emotional tendencies and carefully research a project before investing. 

11. FUD

FUD is an acronym often used in the NFT and crypto space that means “fear, uncertainty, and doubt”.  FUD is often used in reference to the market sentiment or releasing of information that will likely cause an NFT project or cryptocurrency to fall in value. A term you may hear in the space is, “buy the FUD and sell the hype.” 

12. GM

GM is a term that means “good morning” and is commonly used in the web3 space as a way to clock in (especially on Twitter). Speaking of Twitter, follow the team so you’re always up to date. GM is also a reminder to be courteous to everyone in the space. 

13. NGMI

NGMI is an acronym for “not going to make it”; it is commonly used by people in the NFT and crypto space to describe a negative person or a person who makes a poor decision (i.e. an investor who does very little research).

14. Ape In

Ape in is a term used in the crypto space to define an investment that is done with little research or in a hasty manner. This term became popular with the rise of Bored Ape Yacht Club – one of the most successful NFT projects.  

15. Ape follow ape or “x” project follow “x” project

Ape follow Ape or Top Dogs follow Top Dogs is a term primarily used by holders of the same NFT project. This term is commonly used on Twitter where members of the same community will follow one another. Due to the rise of spam bots and fake accounts, this has become less prevalent in the space but it is nonetheless still quite common. 

16. Community

Community is a term primarily used in the NFT space and refers to the holders of an NFT project. These are the people who hold the same project as you. The community can make a NFT project far more successful or even unsuccessful. NFTexplained.info has a full article covering the importance of community and ways to spot a strong community; that article is linked here.

17. Sweeping The Floor

Sweeping the floor is a term used in the NFT space. It refers to someone – often a person from the founding team – purchasing NFTs (typically numerous) that are being listed for the lowest amount on the secondary market. 

18. Floor Price

Floor price is the lowest amount an NFT project can be bought for. The floor price is set by the person in an NFT project that is undercutting all other sellers. NFTexplained.info has a full article covering this metric; that article can be found here.

19. Paper Hands

Paper hands is a term used in both the crypto and NFT space as a way to describe someone who doesn’t hodl; it refers to someone who sells an asset early on. An example of a person with paperhands is one who sells at the first sight of bad news. The opposite of this is diamond hands, a term we previously covered.

20. To The Moon

To the moon is a term said by holders of a project who think a project or asset will exponentially increase in value.

21. Wen Moon

Wen moon is a commonly used term is the space and it means, ‘when will my asset increase in value’?

22. Burn – Burning Tokens Or NFTs

Burning is a term used in both the NFT and crypto space and it refers to the removal of an asset from circulation. NFTexplained.info has a complete guide to burning NFT and that article is linked here.

23. Mint

Minting is a term used to describe the creation of an NFT or a token. NFTexplained.info has an article on minting and we highly recommend checking it out; that article can be found here.

24. Gas Or Gas Fee

Gas is required for transactions to occur on the Ethereum network. Gas or gas fees are what miners receive for verifying a transaction on the blockchain. Some blockchain consensus algorithms take more gas than others. NFTexplained.info has an article in which we break down the most commonly used proof of work and proof of stake algorithms along with the energy an NFT consumes; that can be found here

25. Gas War

A gas war is a term commonly used in the NFT space and occurs when a large number of people are trying to transact at the same time. Miners choose to verify the transaction with the biggest reward; this means they choose to verify the transaction with the highest gas fee first. If many people are looking to mint an NFT at the same time – there will be multiple transactions going out – a gas war may occur. 

26. DYOR

DYOR is an acronym for “do your own research”; it is a term commonly used in the crypto space. Many people with a following often point to projects while still recommending you to complete your due diligence before investing. 

27. NFA

NFA is an acronym for “not financial advice”; many people in the crypto space who have a following point out good projects but include NFA as they want you to make your own decision before investing.

28. NFT Degen

In the NFT Twitter space, the term “NFT degen ” is often thrown around and simply refers to those who are overexposed to NFTs or don’t fully research a project before making an investment.

29. Digital Wallet

A digital wallet is a wallet that stores cryptocurrency as well as NFTs. The most commonly used wallet in the NFT space is MetaMask. NFTexplained.info has a full article covering MetaMask, including a step by step tutorial on how to set it up. That article is linked here.

30. Name.ETH

In the NFT and crypto space many people, especially on Twitter, have a .ETH name. .ETH is an NFT which can be purchased from the official Ethereum Name Server or ENS website. Once a name is purchased it can then be linked to your public wallet address (i.e. 0x76r…) People will then have the option to send you crypto/NFTs directly to your registered ENS domain name instead of typing in your long public wallet address. 

31. Dutch Auction

A dutch auction is a way in which NFT projects can be auctioned off; in this auction, the price of an item starts high and is then lowered a certain amount after a specified amount of time has passed. Dutch auctions can even hit the price of zero on some rare occasions. 

32. Shill Or Shilling

Shilling is the act of promoting your NFT or crypto project to others. Influencers who shill an NFT or crypto projects and are not well versed in the space is often a red flag. We’d recommend checking out our article on rug pulls and the additional red flags to look out for; that is linked here

33. DOA

DOA stands for decentralized autonomous organizations and is a way in which something like an NFT project can be governed. This is done by the community or holders of the project who can help in making decisions based on the smart contracts within the DOA. DOA are an alternative way to govern something; DOA can make decisions instead of high up executives in an organization. They work through smart contracts which NFTexplained.info has a full article covering; find that here

34. PFP Collection

PFP collection is a term you will commonly hear in the NFT space; PFP collection stands for “profile pic collection”. These collections often have a set number of pieces and are often created using generative art which contains multiple different traits that vary in rarity.

35. 1/1 Or One Of One

In the NFT space, the term one of one is often used to refer to an NFT that is not in a collection. While each NFT is unique and each one is one of one, this term is typically used to define an NFT that is not part of a collection. 

36. Metadata

Metadata is a term used in the NFT space and can be defined as data about data. Metadata includes important data about the NFT; these aspects could be visual, when the document/item was created, or the file size. When a collection first comes out the metadata is often the same for everyone (e.g. a gray outline) and NFTexplained.info has an article explaining why; that article can be found here

37. Metaverse

The metaverse is the idea of a highly immersive digital word. It is highly likely that NFTs will be bought and sold in the metaverse. Metaverses already exist (i.e. Decentraland) and we have an article covering that virtual world which we will link to here

38. 10,000

10,000 refers to the amount of NFT in a project. Projects do not always include 10,000 NFTs however the majority of them do. Some projects include 500 while others include 8,888. 

39. Axie

Axies are the NFTs from the game Axie Infinity; Axies are used in the game to breed as well as a myriad of additional features. More on the popular play to earn game can be found here

40. Founding Team

Founding team refers to the creators or developers of an NFT or cryptocurrency project. The founding team is an important aspect to consider. NFTexplained.info has an article on aspects to look for in successful NFT projects and the founding team is likely the most important. That article can be found here.

41. Utility

Utility is a term commonly used in the NFT space and refers to the benefits that buying an NFTs brings to the consumer. Examples of utility include access to real world events and different metaverses. We have a full article covering utility and the many ways an NFT project can offer utility; we will link that here

42. Web3

Web3 is the idea of a fully decentralized web; it is a web that is built atop blockchain technology. Since it is decentralized, many think it will be more secure and help in combating the large influence that technological companies have. 

43. Historical NFTs

Historical NFTs are NFTs that were launched at the beginning stage (when NFT technology was first introduced). Many historical NFTs have enormously appreciated in value and NFTexplained.info has a full article covering the history of NFTs. You can find that here.

44. Blue Chip NFTs

Blue chip NFTs are NFTs that are a reliable store of value. We have a full article on blue chip NFTs, including ways to spot them; that article is linked here

45. Secondary Market

The secondary market is a term used in the NFT space and refers to marketplaces like OpenSea. A primary market is one that is (generally) owned/controlled by the author or founders of a project. A real world example of a primary market is Yankee Stadium, where a Yankees’ cap can be purchased. A secondary market is by definition one that is not controlled by the Yankees – like eBay.

46. Bull Market

A bull market is a market in which prices are rising. 

47. Bear Market

A bear market is a market in which prices are falling.

We hope you are just as excited as we are and continue to stay informed at NFTexplained.info. To get the latest news in this rapidly evolving space, follow our team on Instagram & Twitter!

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