NFT Glossary

AMA – Ask me anything
ASSET – This is another way to talk about a digital collectible.
BAYC – Bored Ape Yacht club
BAKC – Bored Ape Kennel Club
MAYC – Mutant Ape Yatcht Club
BITCOIN – This is the well-known cryptocurrency that’s used when you buy/sell NFTs.
BLOCKCHAIN – Think of it as an open spreadsheet that everyone in the crypto world has access to, and it records any changes or transactions.
BRIDGE – If you want to trade your NFTs but don’t have a way (such as Shapeshift or Kyber Network), then you can use a bridge service like Rarebits. A bridge will move your tokens from one blockchain to another for a fee, and you can get back your tokens on the new chain.
BTC –  This is an abbreviation for Bitcoin.
BURNING –  If you want to get rid of an NFT, send it to the NFT contract address. This will destroy your tokens and they’ll no longer be transferable.
BURST – These are NFTs you want to buy, also known as assets on the market.
BUYERS – These are people who buy digital collectibles in order to resell them for a higher price. It’s like real-world trading where you try to get more money than what you paid.
CAT – This is short for CryptoKitties and stands for Cryptocollectible Asset Token. It’s one of the most popular NFTs on Ethereum.
CC0 – A CC0 license is a commons creative license that allows for anyone to then use the art for commercial or other purposes and does not need to give attribution to the original artist, team, or creator. Examples of CC0 NFT projects: Cryptoadz, NounsDAO, Timeless. ! vibe. Non-CC0 is a catch-all term for all other licensing options.
COLLECTIBLE – Think of this as something that has value or rarity, such as mini-figures or special edition sneakers.
COLLECTION – A collection is a body of work, like a store or gallery. If you see someone refer to an OpenSea collection as a store or gallery, don’t get confused – it’s all the same. We use the term collection to keep things simple.
COMMUNITY DESIGNATED SELLERS (CDS) – These are people who set up their addresses with specific purposes and fees for others looking to sell their assets.
CROWDSALES – Companies creating an NFT project sometimes will have a pre-sale, allowing allow everyone to use ETH (or their own altcoins to purchase the new tokens). The tokens purchased go to the investors and those who have been around from the beginning.
CRYPTO –  This is another name for cryptocurrencies.
CRYPTOCOLLECTIBLES – These are blockchain assets that aren’t tradable because they represent one-of-a-kind digital items such as crypto art or crypto kitties (yes, the first NFTs).
CRYPTOCURRENCY –  This is a type of digital currency, like Bitcoin, that uses cryptography to secure financial transactions and control the origination of new coins.
CRYPTO WALLET – A crypto wallet is an application or hardware device that allows individuals to store and retrieve digital Items, like cryptocurrency and NFTs.
DAO – A DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization, a type of artificial intelligence that is powered by smart contracts and blockchain technology. They are designed to be completely transparent, inviting everyone with internet connection to take part in the process of decision making.
DAPP (decentralized app) – A blockchain-integrated website that requires you to connect and approve all transactions with your wallet signature. Examples include OpenSea, Uniswap, Zapper.fi. Think of these as apps that run on decentralized networks (and not just Ethereum, but any platform). They’re crypto projects.
DECENTRALISED EXCHANGES (DEX) – These are exchanges that allow for peer-to-peer transactions rather than going through a third party.
DeFi –  Think of this as an acronym for decentralized finance.
DROP –  This is an event where users receive free tokens for holding onto certain types of assets.
DUTCH AUCTION – A Dutch auction is a market structure in which the price of something offered is determined after taking in all bids to arrive at the highest price at which the total offering can be sold. In this type of auction, investors place a bid for the amount they are willing to buy in terms of quantity and price.
ENGLISH AUCTION – English auction is an open and transparent auction as the different bidders, and the value of the bid placed by each bidder is known to others. All the bids should be in ascending order, and the next bidder can place the bid with the amount higher than the previous bid amount only.
ENS – The Ethereum Name Service (ENS) is a domain naming system based on the Ethereum blockchain. ENS domains resolve to wallet addresses, meaning you can send NFTs and cryptocurrency to them.
ETH – This is the currency used to make transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.
ETHER – Abbreviated as ETH. An altcoin with its own blockchain, like Bitcoin has with BTC. Ether runs on the Ethereum blockchain. It’s used as “gas” in order to perform transactions or make Dapps function properly. If you want to buy an asset, then you have to pay more ETH than the actual cost of the asset.
ETHEREUM – The name of one particular cryptocurrency, also known as ETH, and it supports Dapps and smart contracts.
ETHERSCAN – This is the most popular block explorer to check the worth of your digital collectibles. You can also use it to verify balances and transactions.
ETHEREUM VIRTUAL MACHINE / EVM – If a blockchain is EVM-compatible it means it is technically compatible with Ethereum, and tokens can be transferred between them. An example of a EVM-compatible blockchain is Polygon. Just because a blockchain is EVM-compatible does not mean you can directly send tokens from one chain to another. Tokens must be bridged across to the other chain. You can use the same wallet (like MetaMask) on different networks.
EXCHANGE – If you want to trade your crypto assets in order to get other crypto assets, then you’ll need to go through an exchange like Binance or Coinbase. You can buy with credit cards here, too.
FARM –  Instead of buying NFTs with money, you can “farm” them by using your GPU to mine their tokens. Your computer will join with other computers on the blockchain that are also mining.
FIAT –  This is the name for currencies like USD, Euro, and GBP.
FLEX – Status symbol.
FUNGIBLE TOKENS (FT) – These are interchangeable, tradable tokens, such as ETH and BTC.
GAS FEE – An amount required to perform cryptocurrency transactions on the blockchain. Every time you buy an asset, send ETH, or set up a smart contract, then gas has to be paid in order to run the transaction. Think of gas fees as Ethereum blockchain transaction costs. OpenSea and other marketpaces have no say in setting gas fees – they are determined by supply/demand across the network (blockchain).
GDN – Global Designer Network DAO.
GPU –   This is a graphics processing unit, which is needed to mine certain types of cryptocurrencies, such as Ethereum.
GM – stands for “good morning”, but in the crypto and NFT world, it is more than a greeting as it expresses the idea that “we are early” and our future is bright.
HASHRATE – A measure of the speed at which your GPU can mine crypto tokens.
ICO (Initial Coin Offering) – Think of this as an event where a company sells digital assets to early adopters.
IPFS – IPFS is a peer-to-peer (p2p) storage network. Content is accessible through peers located anywhere in the world, that might relay information, store it, or do both. IPFS knows how to find what you ask for using its content address rather than its location.
KYC – Know Your Customer . You know those annoying forms for new users where they ask for your name and all your personal information? It’s just something blockchain companies do in order to comply with KYC regulations. It’s also known as Know Your Customer.
LIQUIDITY PROVIDERS –  are those people who add funds to a crypto liquidity pool. A liquidity pool is a large amount of money that traders can trade against. In exchange for providing liquidity to the protocol, LPs receive fees from trades that occur within their pool.
LP STAKING – is the process by which you transfer your tokens to blockchain maintenance in exchange for Rewards in the form of new tokens. In simple words — you “deposit” your tokens and receive Rewards on top of them.
MINER – A person who uses their GPU to mine tokens on a blockchain network.
MINING –   This is the process of solving cryptographic problems. The first one to solve it gets to add the current block on the blockchain and receive newly minted tokens as a reward.
MINT – There are two different types of minting: Mint-A-Token is when an asset creator chooses who can create tokens/NFTs. Burn Minting gives all NFTs another digital wallet private key so they become locked forever and no longer destroyable or transferrable.
MINTING –  Think of this as the creation process.
MINITING INTERVAL – This is how often you can mint or create tokens.
MMO – Massive multiplayer online. An MMO is a game which a large number of people can play simultaneously. You don’t play with or against just a handful of players, but thousands, sometimes even millions of them at the same time. MMORPG means “Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game.”
MODS – Community Moderators.
NFT – Stands for Non-Fungible Token. It’s a unique, one-of-a-kind digital asset that’s stored on a blockchain. No other token or cryptocurrency can replace it.
NONCUSTODIAL WALLET – Simply referred to as a Wallet. Think of this as an online wallet that you control using private keys stored in your own computer. One example is MetaMask, which is also a browser extension that lets you run Dapps in your regular web browser (instead of a centralized app).
NOOB or NOOBIE –  Someone who’s new to this whole blockchain thing and doesn’t understand how it works.
NUCLEAR NFTs – Sometimes they’re rare collectibles with over 1,000 owners. You can’t send them to anyone without their permission first because you have to ask everyone on the list if it’s okay before each transaction. If someone forbids the NFT from being traded even once, then it’ll never leave its original wallet again.
ON-CHAIN – On-chain transactions are transactions that occur on a blockchain that are reflected on the distributed, public ledger. On-chain transactions are those that have been validated or authenticated and lead to an update to the overall blockchain network.
OFF-CHAIN – Off-chain transactions refer to those which occur outside of the blockchain itself.
OG – OG means original gangster. First become popular through 1990s hiphop, the super-Lindy term just flows through community after community. It means the folks who were here early and earned respect.
PEER TO PEER (P2P) – If you need to make a transaction without going through an exchange, then you’ll use P2P trading instead. It’s also known as person-to-person or direct trade.
PERMANENT RECORDS – The Ethereum blockchain permanently stores digital collectibles, so your crypto collectibles will never disappear unless you remove them yourself off the ledger.
PFP – A profile picture, or PFP for short, is a type of NFT that has grown in popularity. They’re tiny pieces of artwork that you might see as a Twitter profile photo. Celebrities and influencers are getting attention for their large purchases. The first PFP NFT was CryptoPunks, which launched in 2017.
POLYGON –  Polygon is a decentralised Ethereum scaling platform that enables developers to build scalable user-friendly dApps with low transaction fees without ever sacrificing on security.
PRIVATE KEY – Think of this as a password that’s separate from usernames or email addresses. It gives you access to information or digital property on blockchains. You can always see your public address on Etherscan, but you might need to use a private key to access wallets or assets stored on the blockchain.
PROOF OF STAKE (PoS) – Another way crypto projects verify transactions, which means you’re rewarded with tokens if you hold on to them for a certain period. Like mining, this process also requires some computing power and electricity usage.
PROOF OF WORK (PoW) – This is one way of verifying transactions, which means miners must solve hashing problems to do their job. This method makes it difficult for hackers to crack the network since they’d need over 51% of all computing power available worldwide.
PUBLIC KEY – Similar to private keys, it’s a cryptographic key that allows people to access your wallet or NFTs. The difference is it doesn’t need to be kept secret. It’s posted in open spaces so the blockchain knows who you are and what you can do with your tokens.
QR CODE – If you’re using a mobile wallet that supports scanning QR codes, then this is the easiest way to send NFTs or Ethereum since all you have to do is scan a code and confirm everything before hitting “send.”
QUANTITY – This means how many of a certain asset are available.
RARITIES – Items with different rarities get assigned with a certain number on the Ethereum blockchain. They’ll have unique IDs and metadata and get labeled as “Legendary” or “Mythic.”
RE-MINT – Minting coins or tokens on a blockchain means giving out digital wallets’ private keys so they’re locked forever, meaning no one destroys or transfers them except for the original wallet owner.
RING SIGNATURE – A type of transaction that only lets the sender know someone signed it but not who, which means they can’t spend funds unless another signer provides their approval as well.
ROADMAP – An NFT Roadmap is a document that maps out the goals and strategies of an NFT project you are currently looking into, in order to communicate its long-term value. NFT roadmaps usually include key project milestones, short and long-term goals, and plans for marketing and growth.
SATOSHI – It’s the smallest unit of Bitcoin (0.00000001 BTC) named after Satoshi Nakamoto, credited with anonymously creating Bitcoin and the first blockchain developer.
SECONDARY MARKETS – The primary market is where the first sale of digital artworks (NFTs) takes place. All subsequent resales of digital collectibles are considered as part of the secondary market.
SEED HASH – A 32-byte random value that allows you to regenerate public and private keys.
SEED PHRASE – Your seed phrase is a list of words (usually ranges from 12-24 words) that can be used to recover your crypto should you forget your password or lose access to your wallet. When you first begin trading with your wallet, find your seed phrase and back it up somewhere safe, in multiple locations if possible. You’ll receive a seed phrase to write down when you first create a crypto wallet. This is how you can back up your key without actually holding the numbers. Also known as a “mnemonic phrase” or “secret recovery phrase.” Don’t store your seed phrase on an online cloud storage service and never share it with anyone.
SHILL CHATROOM – Each Discord server has multiple chat rooms that are used for different purposes. When promoting an NFT project on other NFT Discord servers, only post in the “shill” chat room of the server. “Shill” means to show off in the NFT world.
SMART CONTRACT – An agreement that automatically executes between two or more parties under certain conditions. They’re enforced on the blockchain network, irreversible, and not subject to change. They are simply programs stored on a blockchain that run when predetermined conditions are met. They typically are used to automate the execution of an agreement so that all participants can be immediately certain of the outcome, without any intermediary’s involvement or time loss.  Dapps are powered by smart contracts – buying and selling NFTs on OpenSea relies on smart contracts.
SOLIDITY – A programming language for Ethereum-based crypto token smart contracts. It stands for “Secure Interoperable  Datamarketplace,” which is what this language does when people design any new NFT on the blockchain, including illustrations and 3D models with metadata underneath to describe each asset’s unique history or story.
SOP – A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations.
STAKING – The process of locking up tokens in a wallet for a certain amount of time. The more you lock up, the more chances you have to win a reward as long as other stakers are also taking part. This usually happens on PoS blockchains where users stake their tokens and get rewarded every few seconds or after processing a certain number of blocks.
TOKENOMICS – The branch of economics that deals with the design, issuance, trading, and regulations of crypto tokens.
TOKENS – These are digital assets that allow people to raise money for projects through crowdfunding/ICO protocols, such as ERC-20 tokens.
WALLET – This is where your tokens live while they’re not in use. Think of it like a house that you store all your digital collectibles in until you want to sell them or send them somewhere else. A wallet could be a cold storage wallet, but also any place where you can send and receive items from using something like Metamask with MyEtherWallet.
WALLET ADDRESS – Also known as your “public key”. Your wallet address is unique. It’s the address people will use when they are sending cryptocurrency or NFTs. Your NFTs and cryptocurrency do not live in your wallet—they exist on the blockchain, under your wallet address. Your software or hardware wallet only contains the key to that address. On Ethereum, your address starts with a “0x”. You can also use an ENS domain.
WEB 3.0 – Web 3.0 is the third generation of internet services for websites and applications that will focus on using a machine-based understanding of data to provide a data-driven and Semantic Web. The ultimate goal of Web 3.0 is to create more intelligent, connected and open websites.
WHITELIST – A whitelist in the NFT world is a list of people who get early and guaranteed access to mint at a specific date and window of time.