Maybe you can get behind minting, but sharding doesn’t sound quite right. Gas fees might feel reasonable, but surely tokenization can’t be a good thing. If you’re new to web3, the jargon alone might be enough of a barrier to send you packing back to web2. Before you decide to go, let us give you a quick and dirty rundown.

You might call us your web3 terminology oracle, considering that in web3 speak, an oracle is merely a data provider. Read on for an alphabetized list of 40 common web3 terms and their simplified meanings — you’ll be talking like a degen in no time!

• Airdrop refers to rewards, like a free NFT or payment in cryptocurrency.

• Blue-chip projects refer to NFT collections that are considered reputable, stable, and valuable for the long term.

• Blockchain networks are servers comprised of permanent, immutable blocks of data with traceable history.

• Cryptocurrency is a digital coin stored on blockchain, like BTC (bitcoin) or ETH (Ethereum).

• DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) are like small, self-governing communities.

• Decentralized internet is the appeal of web3, which allows users to own their data.

• Degen (dGen) is how people involved in web3 might identify themselves, like a friendly term for “crypto nerd.”

• DeFi (decentralized finance) refers to the ownerless peer-to-peer financial system enabled by web3 blockchain technologies.

• DEX (decentralized exchange) is a peer-to-peer marketplace for crypto transactions (no financial institution intermediates necessary!)

• ETH refers to Ethereum, the cryptocurrency Umoja builds on.

• Faucets are turned on to gain access to small amounts of crypto funds, oftentimes “play” currency that can be used exclusively in a test environment.

• FUD stands for fear, uncertainty, and doubt, a dirty tactic to influence market perception.

• Gas is the marginal cost of running the blockchain servers that’s incurred each time a user makes a change.

• GM, meaning Good Morning, is a greeting within the web3 community symbolizing being ahead of the curve toward a bright future.

• Interoperability is the standard for compatibility and communication across various blockchain networks and applications.

• Layer 1 is the foundational internet protocol of web3, serving as the digital currency.

• Layer 2 is a network or program built on top of the Layer 1 base for scalability.

• Mainnet is the fully live and operational version of a blockchain production environment (as opposed to testnet, the test environment).

• Miners refers to the people who are compensated to run blockchain servers on specialized hardware.

• Minting is the process of immortalizing an asset on blockchain, be it a new unit of cryptocurrency or an NFT.

• NFT (non-fungible token) is a term for a unique, traceable media asset immortalized on blockchain.

• NFT marketplace is where NFTs are traded and sold. For instance, Umoja’s NFTs are available exclusively on Rarible.

• Node refers to an individual server that acts as the gateway to the blockchain.

• Non-custodial refers to the decentralized nature of web3. Unlike your custodial financial entity (say, your Chase bank account), non-custodial means that your assets are never being moved or invested — your funds are entirely in your control.

• Non-fungible means unique and irreplaceable, unlike fungible assets like physical or cryptocurrency that can be traded and exchanged.

• Oracles are data providers, sort of like the middleman between blockchain servers and off-chain data.

• Private key is simply the term for what web2 knows as a password.

• Public key is the term for what we know as a username.

• Royalties refer to the incremental percentage-based payments garnered from any subsequent resales of NFTs in perpetuity.

• Seed phrase is a password comprised of a unique string of words that should remain completely private to its owner.

• Sharding is a method to improve a network’s execution by breaking the database into smaller chunks (or shards) that can be processed simultaneously.

• Shilling is the act of pushing a project to a wider audience to generate attention and sales.

• Smart contracts are like software programs to build on a blockchain network under a particular set of rules or conditions.

• Stakers refers to the people who are compensated to protect and store tokens.

• Testnet is a test environment that mimics the mainnet, where fake cryptocurrency can be used for testing without real consequences.

• Token is simply a digital asset, be it an image, animation, audio clip, or cryptocurrency.

• Tokenization is the digitalization of a media asset.

• Wallet refers to a fund storage account, like Rainbow or Metamask, Umoja’s preferred wallet.

• Web2 refers to the type of internet we’re accustomed to using today, which largely consists of owned entities that exchange free use of their platforms for use of user data.

• White papers are detailed written reports of web3 projects for people to read through before they decide to invest. Read Umoja’s here!

Like any pivotal emerging technology, web3 might feel like an intimidating wild west — remember New Year’s Eve 1999? However, with a little education, we can dissolve our FUD to adopt and integrate it for our greater social good.

Harnessing the boundless benefits of web3 technologies, Umoja is modernizing philanthropy and ushering in the mass adoption of NFTs.

Build your social credit: Umoja’s debut charity NFT collection drops November 28 in celebration of Giving Tuesday, exclusively on Rarible.