When navigating the NFT space, you’re inevitably going to run into a mishmash of misspelled words, terms that you’ve never seen before, and some that you have, but they don’t mean what you think they mean.
Words like rug, mint, and ape all have different meanings, and words like wen and fren are the norm. It’s a bit backward, but once you understand this lingo, you’ll be ready to dive into the world of NFT trading.
Popular NFT Phrases
As an active NFT trader, you can expect to run into several of these phrases on a daily basis. Whether you are a traditional investor, or new to investing altogether, much this lingo is unique to NFT trading and is likely new to you.
Here are a handful of phrases worth learning before you dive into trading.
Hopium
Often paired with “copium,” “hopium” is any good news that can provide hope for those invested in a project. When things begin to peter out, people need some hopium to stay hopeful that the project will improve and more news will come. And the best news? Well, it’s probably nothing.
Probably Nothing
If it’s “probably nothing,” it’s likely something. Confusing? You bet! When people say “probably nothing” about an update, news, or a project, they’re bullish on the things that this news will bring. So if you see someone talking about something being probably nothing, it’s probably a good place to start looking.
Alpha
We love alpha. Alpha is the news of project plans that are utilized to gain insight into what the project may do in the future. Usually, alpha is only relevant when the information first drops, so you can almost consider this breaking news about a project that would make an investor bullish. Look out for the alpha when hunting around for new projects. It’s out there; you just have to engage with the communities and find it.
Rug Pull
Rug pulls (or rug, for short) are a very spooky tactic run by some malicious NFT projects. A rug pull refers to someone pulling the rug out from under you; in short, it is when the developers of a project bring people in and have them mint, just to run away with the cash. This also creates a dangerous dynamic because if the rug pullers decide to make a smart contract that has unlimited access to your wallet, you could potentially get drained at any time.
Delist
It’s almost just as sad as a rug pull; delisting is when a project gets taken off of a marketplace (such as OpenSea) mainly because it has infringed on another project. This infringement essentially labels the project in question as an “unapproved derivative,” meaning it is copying another artist’s or project’s work without their consent.
A delist can mean many things, but it is up to the team to decide what happens next. Will they release new art and try to rebuild the community, or will they take the money and run? This is the biggest concern when it comes to delisting. So if there is delist talk, always be wary and ask questions; it will only serve to help you make sound investing decisions.
Mint
Minty fresh, just like minting a brand new NFT. A mint is the first access to an NFT project. This is when you purchase directly from the site rather than the secondary market. The benefit of minting is picking up the NFT at (likely) the cheapest price point. Minting is a flipper’s best friend. If you can get into legitimate mints, you serve to make a pretty penny; for example, Hapebeast minted for 0.2 ETH, and the floor price on OpenSea immediately jumped to over 7 ETH.
While minting can be a great source of revenue, you also have to be careful of projects which are rushing mint or doing a “stealth mint.” make sure you do your research and never ape into a project that you don’t know a lot about. Doing this could serve to hurt you in the long run if you find your way into a malicious project.
Roadmap
Roadmaps are one of the essential parts of a project. While not everything, they can give some fantastic insight into a project and its plans for the future. A roadmap simply lays out all of the details of a project’s immediate future, much of the time listing financial quarters as their key points on the map.
If a project’s roadmap seems too good to be true or is exceptionally vague, that is cause for concern and should signal you to be wary of the project and do more research. Before falling head over heels for a project because of its roadmap, ask yourself, can the team carry out these promises?
Wen
!Wen roadmap?! !Wen alpha?! Wen very simply means “when.” Having its beginnings in Bitcoin, the term “wen” referred to the question of when investments would payout for investors of specific projects. Fast forward to the NFT sphere; this now is just a general way (mainly a joke) to ask when things will occur. So, wen Lambo?
Fren
Want to be my fren? Yet another “shorthand,” if you can even refer to it as one, is fren or “friend.” This showcases the friendly nature of the NFT space, where everyone wants to be frens.
Ape
No, not Harambe (R.I.P). To “ape” (into) something means blindly investing without doing much research. While we never suggest you ape into a project without doing your DD (see our acronym guide), we understand that sometimes (though rarely) it is a good play. Some people like to ape into projects that get a lot of hype, such as the recent resurgence of Cryptoskulls because of Gary V., but the savvy investor will be sure to do the extra digging to see if this play will payout.
Diamond Hands & Paper Hands
Having its origins in the subreddit, wallstreetbets, diamonds, and paper hands refer to trading strategies and risk tolerance to particular projects or assets. Something like crypto or NFT’s that can drop double-digit percentages in a day can be highly volatile. It is in this volatility that these terms were born. If you have “paper hands, ” you are more risk-averse and will want to be wary of any huge dips or gains. Someone with “diamond hands” refers to those who are holding on to their asset for dear life until it (hopefully) takes off.
Airdrops
Incoming! An airdrop when you receive an asset like an NFT or crypto for free. Much of the time, this is concerning a project that you are already a part of. Projects will also use this as an incentive to gain more interest or to expand an already established project. The most textbook example of this is when Bored Ape Yacht Club airdropped ‘Mutant Serum’ to their holders to create an entirely new entity as Mutant Ape Yacht Club.
Degen
Short for “degenerate,” this term refers to people who take minimal precautions in their trades. These individuals tend to ape into projects and flip as much as possible to earn extra bucks. Degen can be tied to the reference of “degenerate gambling,” which has its origins in ordinary betting. To be a degenerate gambler likely means, you’re getting into a bet just for the rush.
A true degen rarely does research and will take most projects on as a gamble, especially if there is a lot of hype around the project. But be careful; being a degen could cost you your funds if you’re not careful.
Devs
Devs refers to a project’s developer team. Developers are the most integral part of an NFT project. From ideation to execution, the developer team has their hands on almost every aspect of the project to ensure a solid rollout with all of the pieces in working order.
Mods
Similar to devs, mods refer to a project’s moderation team. The mods are usually the ones who keep the community in order, answer questions, and point people in the right direction. Without mods, a project would likely be in shambles, especially larger projects such as Hapebeast, which had hundreds of thousands of members in their Discord server.
While new slang and jokes are born every day, this basis will help you start making more sound investments by understanding what the community of a project is talking about. So now that you’re up to speed on the terminology in the space, you can get over to Twitter and start talking shop, making frens, and discussing alpha. We’ll see you there.
