As is the case with many industries, the crypto / NFT world has its own vernacular. Have you ever been to a doctor who doesn’t know how to communicate with regular humans? Doctor: “You seem to be suffering from borborygmus.” You: “Oh no!” …and then you panic until you learn it means rumbling from an upset stomach. Remember the Computer Guy episodes on SNL? Yeah. That.
Online-only industries that have had to rely on texting, tweeting and DMing as their primary means of communication have resorted to using their own abbreviations, acronyms and newly minted words. These were necessary due to character count limits (e.g. texting limits and Tweets) and the need to communicate efficiently. The resulting vernaculars have become so divergent from standard English that they are often unintelligible to the uninitiated. Your trusty dictionary won’t help because this space and its terminology move so fast Merriam-Webster and Oxford can’t keep up.
We’ve put together a guide to help keep you abreast of common terminology in the NFT and crypto space. While not comprehensive, this list will have you speaking, or rather typing, like an NFT expert in no time. While these are the most used acronyms, we have also included a few of the most important NFT-specific terms you’ll need to understand. We will be adding a comprehensive glossary to Nifta.com in the near future.
1. AMA
"Ask Me Anything" is usually a live session, whether text, audio, or video where anyone who is interested in learning more about a project can ask questions to the principals of the project. They are often done on the discord server for the project, twitter space, or zoom.
2. Doxxed
While being doxxed traditionally has a negative connotation, it has a different meaning in the NFT vernacular. A doxxed person or team is known, credible and transparent.
3. Drop
An NFT collection release is called a drop. The provider announces the exact date, time, and the minting price of an NFT drop for collectors. Purchase limits apply to the number of NFTs minted.
4. DYOR
Do Your Own Research - All investors should do their own diligent research before making NFT investments. This is true for any investment, but is especially important in nascent markets such as the NFT world. You will often find veteran users reminding noobs (aka newbies or new at it) via this acronym.
5. FCFS
First Come, First Served - The earlier you get in on or start following an NFT project, the more likely your opportunity to purchase it. They call this "getting white listed" similar to being able to pre-purchase stock prior to the IPO instead of waiting for it to go public.
6. Floor Price The price of the least expensive NFT in an NFT Collection, regardless of the number of NFTs in that collection. For example, within the Bored Ape Yacht Club collection the cheapest price for a Bored Ape NFT is over 100 E which fluctuates depending on the price of Ether but at the time of this blog was trading in excess of $300,000 USD.
7. FOMO
Fear Of Missing Out - A FOMO buyer purchases an NFT because it may be the next big thing nobody wants to miss. Usage: “I FOMOed into Beans and Crypto Kitties.”
8. fren
Shorthand for “friend” - You use fren to address anyone in the crypto community, since many assume all community members are your friends, and have the shared mission to make the blockchain ecosystem a better place. While it may seem true, there are many who are using the crypto space to cheat from their “frens”.
9. FUD
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt - This acronym is used in many industries but is especially common in the NFT world. People outside of the NFT or crypto community may have FUD about NFT’s for not understanding what they really are or how tokenomics work. Next time an outsider tells you NFTs are a bubble waiting to burst, or just generally throws shade on the whole idea, HODL your assets if you’ve DYOR on the NFT .
10. HODL
Hold On for Dear Life - HODL, a misspelling of “hold”, originated in 2013 with a post sent by a drunk Bitcoin investor to the Bitcointalk forum. The misspelling had inspired a ton of HODL memes among crypto enthusiasts and has come to mean “hold on for dear life.”
Regardless of FUD outside the community, we HODL the NFTs we value as an investment or just because we like the art.
11. IRL
In Real Life
12. Gas
The virtual fuel (which roughly equates to human and computing resources) used for any activity on the blockchain. Gas fees change all the time, just like IRL. It takes electricity and engineers to keep the blockchain systems humming. These costs are covered by virtual gas. Gas is required to buy an NFT. The cost could be $5 or $100 depending on the resources needed.
13. GM or GN
The shorthand of “Good Morning” or “Good Night.” GM/GN is used to initiate a conversation or simply express your excitement for another beautiful day shared with global community members in the blockchain metaverse.
14. GMI or WAGMI
Gonna Make It & We All Gonna Make It - Used to express confidence in your investment decisions & NFT purchases. Usage: "The floor price on Fwens is over 5 ETH. WAGMI!”
15. Mam
An alternative to “Ma’am.” A term to address a sister in the community, just as you would use Sir or Ser.
16. Mint
A verb meaning to publish your token (NFT) on the blockchain and make it purchasable.
17. NGMI
Not Going to Make It - The opposite of GMI.
"I was rug pulled by Squidcoin, NGMI.”
18. NFT
Non Fungible Token - A unique crypto token that exists on a blockchain and cannot be replicated. Niftia is all about NFTs. There is a more detailed explanation in our blog post Introduction to NFTs.
19. Probably Nothing
A sarcastic phrase meaning “probably something." When you see a fantastic new NFT collection, you say it is “probably nothing” to FOMO the other community members to buy.
20. Ser
An alternative to “Sir”, originating in works of fiction. Use Ser to address a buddy in the community. You also use Ser when you want to be polite while sharing an opposing opinion of an argument with another community member.
21. szn
Season or market cycle - The world of cryptocurrency can move rapidly. Some products have an extremely short szn, unlike the life cycle of tangible products IRL.
22. Utility
This is the tangible value one can have for owning the NFT. For example, owning the BAYC NFT allows you to attend their IRL parties and mingle with the rest of the BAYC elite. In the music industry, some artists are now selling or even giving away NFTs to the community via NFT music marketplace www.royal.io. One such artist, Chainsmokers, gave away free NFTs and the utility of it will be in the form of actual revenue (1% of the sales of the album) paid to the holders of the NFTs.
23. Wallet
A virtual container for your digital assets such as NFTs and cryptocurrencies. There are many kinds of wallets and you can read more details about them specifically for NFT's here on the Fool.com investor website.
24. Whale
“Whales” are entities with substantial cryptocurrency holdings. Whales will sometimes swoop in on an NFT drop and buy all the outstanding available NFTs. This is generally considered a sign the NFT has potential for large gains.
Any other acronyms out there we absolutely need to know in the NFT world? Please share some old or new ones with us.
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