Thanks to Jay for contributing to this guide
This is a glossary of web3 terms grouped into several categories. Use search to find a term that you might be wondering about.
Web3 slang
- gm: Good morning
- gn: Good night
- ser: Sir
- fren: Friend
- wgmi: We going to make it
- ngmi: Not going to make it
- FUD: Putting fear, uncertainty, and doubt in a project
- Aped: Buy in to a project without alot of research
- Wen moon: When will the value of the project go super high
- DYOR: Do your own research
- Probably nothing: Implies that a project is probably something big
- Maxi: Someone who believes their cryptocurrency is the best
- Shilling: Pitching your project in an annoying way
- Rekt: Lost all of your money
- Rugged: A project that stole all of a person's money
- LFG: Let’s fucking go
Intro to web3
- Web3: An internet where people can own the upside from their work
Blockchain
- Blockchain: Linked list of transactions stored on a network of computers
- Nodes: Computers with software that can process blockchain transactions.
- Consensus mechanisms: How nodes process transactions without middlemen. Common mechanisms include proof of work and proof of stake.
- Blockchain trilemma: The trade-off between security, decentralization, and scalability that faces blockchains.
- Fork: When a community creates a 2nd blockchain that shares its history with the original but will chart a new direction in the future.
Wallets
- Public key: An address that lets you send and receive transactions
- Private key: Proves that you own the tokens with your public address
- Seed phrase: Easier way to access your public key. Don't share this!
Cryptocurrencies
- Cryptocurrency: Digital money that’s stored on a blockchain.
- Ether: Ethereum’s digital token.
- Gas: Fee for making a blockchain transaction.
- Smart contracts: Code that runs on a blockchain.
- Layer 1 network: Main blockchain for a cryptocurrency.
- Layer 2 network: Process transactions off-chain before bundling and submitting them to the main chain. Roll-ups are how layer 2 achieves this.
- Sidechain: A separate blockchain that uses its own token to pay for gas. You can move tokens between sidechains and the main chain through a bridge.
- DApps: Apps that have a smart contract backend and a UI frontend.
NFTs
- PFP: Profile pic NFT project
- Mint: Issuing an NFT on the blockchain
- Floor price: Lowest price for an NFT collection
- 1/1: A NFT that is not part of a collection
DeFi
- DeFi: Decentralized finance that relies on smart contracts vs. middlemen
- CeFi: Centralized crypto exchanges, interest accounts, and more
- DEX: An exchange that uses smart contracts vs. middlemen (e.g., Uniswap)
- Stablecoins: Coins that are "stable" in price (e.g., pegged to the USD)
- Staking: Depositing a crypto asset to earn yield (APR)
- Liquidity pool: A pool of crypto assets meant to provide liquidity to a cryptocurrency or network.
- Yield farming: Optimizing how you lend your crypto asset to maximize your yield (APR)
- Total value locked (TVL):
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