Web3 Music Lingo

GM frens and fam! Joining the Web3 community may be a challenge. While some language you hear and read is self-explanatory to natives, it may be harder to understand for new joiners and those who don’t live in English-speaking countries. We collected a few commonly used crypto and NFT definitions and abbreviations to help you speak the same language as the global Web3 Community, specifically the Web3 music lingo.

 

Web3

the evolution of the internet from Web2, where the creators capture all the value as opposed to having big platforms share it with the creators. It is using the benefits of blockchains.

 

Blockchain

the distributed technology that allows capturing transactions data on a bunch of independent computers, which solves the problems like double-spending for BitCoin, and extends this effect to validate ownership on the net

 

NFT

non-fungible tokens – now that you can validate ownership over something, you can get the unique value it brings, given that each piece you own may have its own features, and even the fact that you alone own a particular piece is its unique feature. With this, you can distinguish between the Mona Lisa in Louver and the $1 poster of the Mona Lisa on the wall.

 

Marketplace

eg. OpenSea, SolSea, etc. can also be secondary marketplaces, as people can re-sell items originally bought from the creator on other platforms that only do primary sales.

Minting

is the process of creating an NFT (bringing it on the blockchain), in music this process can be compared to pressing vinyl.

 

Gas

transaction fee to validate minting, sales, etc. whatever you have to do on that blockchain. It gets destructively expensive, so many blockchains and networks introduce tech to enable less expensive (eg., Solana) or even free minting (like Polygon).

 

Floor price

the lowest price in the collection of NFTs

Floor sweeping

buying all NFTs in the collection at floor price to drive up the floor price value

 

1/1 or 1/5 or 1/x

you may mint just one edition (1/1) or multiple, and sell the same NFT in as many pieces as you want. Having them minted as 1/1 adds scarcity bringing up the price value.

 

Wallet

software (or sometimes hardware) for storing cryptocurrencies and tokens, including NFTs. Metamask is the most popular option these days, but there are tons of good and trustworthy ones. 

 

Airdrop

sending the tokens or NFTs

 

Utility

typically a promise of value beyond the token itself, eg. owning NFT reserves a ticket to a concert, or a meeting with the performer or artist IRL, etc.

 

IRL

in real life, aka Meatspace

 

Split

many platforms now offer a way to split the royalties from the sales of NFTs among artists, labels, featured performers, etc. 

 

DAO

Decentralized Autonomous Organization, communities owned by their members with no central authority

 

DYOR

Do Your Own Research – turned into a well-known abbreviation because of the number of times it had to be repeated to silly folks who trust somebody they’ve never met with their money

NFA

Not Financial Advice. Used synonymously to DYOR

 

Fiat

regular money, like dollars and euros

Bear Market

the value of crypto goes down against fiat currencies

Bull Markets

the value of cryptocurrency goes up against fiat

 

LFG

Let’s F*#@g Go

FOMO

fear of missing out

WAGMI

we’re all gonna make it

GM

Good morning

HODL

Hold On for Dear Life

FUD, fudder

Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (opposite of HODL)

 

Paper hands

people who sell too quick

Diamond hands

the opposite of paper hands, people who hodl despite volatility

Rug pull

Scam or unfair behavior with NFT project, like abandoning the project that depends on you and not meeting the expectations of those who bought your NFT.

 

Whales

Rich folks with so much invested in crypto that their transactions can impact currency values