12 Essential NFT Terms (To Help You Sound Like a Pro)

NFTs are basically the equivalent of the Wild West. Here in this post we are going to get you in the know with NFT terms and NFT slang in this NFT glossary.

It’s a new, lawless, digital-frontier filled with gun-slinging cowboys, bank-robbing outlaws, and fortune-seeking explorers. 

So, if you are planning on adventuring to the Wild West and buying your first NFT – you better be able to speak the language.

The truth is that the NFT community loves their slang. In fact, there are so many unique NFT terms to know that it’s pretty overwhelming for an NFT-newbie. 

Well, that’s exactly why I created this ultimate guide of the most important NFT terms and NFT slang to know. 

In this article, I’ll take the mystery out of the Wild West. I’ll show you the most common abbreviations, phrases, and slang in the NFT world so you can roll into your next Discord server sounding like a pro. 

After all, you don’t want to end up looking like a paper hands spreading FUD, right?

(Don’t worry, it will all make sense soon )

Our NFT Glossary: 12 Most important NFT slang and NFT terms to know 

#1 – Roadmap

Real-life example – “I like the project’s artwork, but the roadmap is average.”

There are many factors that make an NFT valuable. 

In the early days, value used to be determined by two main things – the art and the exclusivity. 

(That’s how Crypto Punks blew up.)

But now, the game has changed. Competition is much fiercer. You can’t just have artwork as your main selling point – you have to have a legitimate roadmap as well.

In essence, a roadmap is a blueprint that showcases the long-term value for NFT holders. 

This can include access to conferences, exclusive networking events IRL (in real life), merch, free NFTs in the future, private mastermind groups, VIP parties, and more. These are all things that would be available exclusively to owners of the NFT. 

The more robust the roadmap, the more perceived value the NFT can have. 

#2 – Whitelist (WL)

Real-life example – “If you invite 15 people to our Discord server, you will automatically be whitelisted.”

Most NFT drops happen in a few stages. First is the whitelist, then sometimes there is a presale, then finally the public sale. 

If you are whitelisted, it means that you get first access to mint a project’s NFT. 

Getting WL can be extremely beneficial, especially if the NFT project is exploding and it’s likely that it is going to sell out quickly (some NFTs can sell out within seconds). 

Getting WL varies from project to project. Oftentimes the NFT owners will incentivize their community to push the project to help build awareness and hype. If members of the community hit a certain criteria (such as inviting people to the Discord server or commenting on a certain number of Tweets), they will be rewarded by getting WL. 

#3 – Minting

Real-life example – “The minting date is October 14th at 12:30 pm Hong Kong time.”

Simply speaking – ‘minting’ an NFT is basically the same thing as ‘buying’ an NFT. It is one of those NFT slang terms you need to know!

Technically speaking – when you mint your NFT, you are publishing it on the blockchain, which means that your ownership rights are solidified and can be tracked. 

Once your NFT is minted, you will be able to view your NFT, as well as list, trade, and sell it on the open market. 

#4 – Gas

Real-life example – “Gas isn’t too bad right now, I only ended up paying 15 bucks to mint.”

In essence, ‘gas’ is a transactional fee.

Most NFTs are built and published on the Ethereum (ETH) blockchain. Anytime you make a transaction on the ETH network – whether you are transferring crypto funds, or minting an NFT – it requires computational effort. 

This computational effort is known as a gas fee (or gas).

The cost of gas will range based on a number of factors – the biggest of which is the amount of traffic there currently is on the ETH network. If there is a lot of traffic, expect gas to be higher. If it’s a quieter day, gas will be lower. 

Gas fees usually range anywhere from $20 USD to $200 USD. 

It should be noted that up-and-coming crypto projects like Solana and Cardano are able to do the same things as Ethereum without charging any gas fees. It is one of those essential NFT glossary terms to know.

#5 – Reveal

Real-life example – “I just minted my NFT! Do you know when the reveal is going to happen?“

Imagine this. You just bought your first NFT. It was scary, but you did it. The transaction is showing up in your Meta Mask wallet, which you then connect to OpenSea so you can finally see your shiny new NFT!

But then you see, your NFT doesn’t look like it was promised. It’s blurred out, or there is some sort of question mark on it…

Don’t worry, you haven’t been scammed – the ‘reveal’ just hasn’t happened yet. It is one of those NFT slang terms you need to know!

Oftentimes, projects will wait to reveal the actual NFT artwork for a few days or weeks after the first days of minting. 

It’s a marketing tactic that helps build up hype, and for some projects, it works quite well to help them sell out. 

#6 – Rugpull

Real-life example – “Did you hear?? Squiggles is a confirmed rugpull!“

You know how NFTs feel like the Wild West? 

Well, in every cowboy movie there is a bad guy, and in the NFT world, the bad guys are known as ‘Rugpullers’. 

In essence, a rugpull is a scam. If an NFT project is a confirmed rugpull, then it means that it was completely fake, and was only set up as a way to steal people’s hard-earned ETH. It is one of those important NFT glossary terms to know.

Rugpulls are one of the legitimate bummers of the NFT space right now. They happen all the time, especially when it comes to vulnerable first-timers trying to dip their toes into the NFT-waters.

#7 – Floor price

Real-life example – “Can you believe the floor price for Bored Apes is 90 ETH?“

Simply put, the floor price is the lowest amount of money a single NFT in a collection is selling for. It is one of those NFT slang terms you need to know!

For example, check out CyberKongz on OpenSea below.

As you can see, the floor price is 9ETH. That means that out of the 5,000 NFTs available for this collection, the cheapest one will cost you 9 ETH ($23,000 USD as of writing!).

Floor prices are a complicated thing. When you buy into an NFT community, the goal will be to get the floor price as high as possible to help increase the value of the collection as a whole. But this is much easier said than done, especially for NFTs that have thousands of people in their community, and when a lot of people in the NFT game are just looking for a quick flip.

#8 – Sweep the floor

Real-life example – “Anyone who sweeps the floor right now gets a free Airdrop!”

Sweeping the floor is essentially buying one or multiple NFTs at the floor price, which in turn raises the floor price.

You see this happen a lot with new NFT drops that might be underperforming – the mods will incentivize the community to buy the cheapest NFTs in the collection and to re-list them at a higher price (thus, raising the floor).

#9 – Paper hands / Diamond hands

Real-life example – “Paper hands, please leave the server now.”

While these two terms spawned on Reddit in regards to stock investing, the NFT space avidly uses them as well.

‘Diamond hands’ refers to anyone who holds a long-term position in their NFT-investment. It is one of those important NFT glossary terms to know.

For example, buying an NFT at 1 ETH, and then listing it on Opensea for 5 ETH, and holding that position would be a boss move, obviously made by someone whose hands were made of pure, solid-carbon diamonds.

In contrast, ‘Paper hands’ refers to anyone who exits a position quickly.

For example, let’s say you minted an NFT on the day of the public sale for .3 ETH. You expect it to sell out, but it doesn’t, so you decide to put your NFT on the market for .2 ETH to try and cover some of your loss. Anyone who does this would be widely be regarded as someone who has the paper-iest of hands.

#10 – GM / GN

Real-life example – “GM fam”

If you are on an NFT Discord server for longer than 5 seconds, you will absolutely see people greeting each other with gm and gn.

GM = good morning

GN = good night

Hey, you gotta give it to NFT culture – simplicity is key.

#11 – FUD

FUD is a staple term in the crypto and NFT community – it stands for ‘fear, uncertainty, doubt’.

Since the NFT space is still small, NFT projects are actually quite fragile, which is why the prices can be so volatile.

When a little bit of fear, uncertainty, or doubt starts creeping into a project’s Discord Server, it can spread like wildfire in the community and bring even the strongest of NFT projects to its knees.

For these reasons, FUD is not very well-embraced in the NFT community. If you feel you need to voice your opinion about doubts you may have about an NFT project, be sure to communicate those doubts as delicately as possible.

#12 – White Paper

“White paper” is a word that all businesspeople may encounter at some time in their careers. The white paper, whether serious or humorous, has become a crypto industry fixture. It is one of those important NFT glossary terms to know.

But, what exactly is a white paper? White papers have been around for a century or so. It’s the brainchild of the British government.

These papers informed the public about major decisions made by various government bodies. The color “white” denotes that the material is open to the public.

In most NFT projects, the white paper is the single most important marketing instrument as they can share the roadmap of an NFT project to potential buyers and convince them to invest. Most buyers in the NFT community won’t consider buying an NFT unless the white paper is absolutely spot on. They can literally make or break an entire NFT project.

We will get deeper into the topic of white paper development in our future blogs. Meanwhile, don’t hesitate to get in touch with First Page if you need top-quality white paper development for your upcoming NFT project.

Final thoughts

The NFT community is a passionate one. The culture has developed an entire dictionary of words, phrases, and slang – and we are still so early in the process! We hope this NFT glossary helps!

If you are thinking about jumping into the NFT-world, be sure to keep this glossary handy, and you’ll be on your way to being a diamond hand in no time.

If you are interested in launching your own epic NFT project, be sure to reach out to one of our digital strategists – they’ll show you exactly how we can help take your NFT project to the moon.

GN fam!

Disclaimer – this article is meant to educate and entertain, but it is not financial advice. Please always be sure to do your own research. The writer of the article holds Ethereum, Solana, and Cardano.