Who We Are

Nvak Collective is a next-generation record label and artist advocacy collective that fully embraces web3 to uplift creators. We believe that the operating system of the music industry is broken, and our mission is to make the music industry more equitable, profitable, and diverse. Our small team has already discovered talent from remote regions around the globe and launched them to billions of streams and hundreds of thousands of fans, all while providing artist-friendly deals and artist care.

Unlocking Web3: Your Friendly Guide to Decoding the Jargon

If you’re anything like us, when you first began to explore the waters of web3, you were bombarded with technical terms and jargon that felt intimidating, tough to understand, and like a major roadblock on your way to making your voice heard in the space.

Like jumping into anything new, not understanding the language can have a real impact on your confidence, relationship building & networking, and ability to progress forward.

However, fret not, we’ve created a comprehensive web3 glossary with the key terms and phrases you’re likely to hear most to help you reach your goals:

• Airdrop (noun, verb): distributing a free token directly to a select wallet

• Altcoin (noun): any cryptocurrency with a small market cap

• Bear Market (noun): a period where market prices are decreasing

• Blockchain (noun): a digitally distributed, decentralized database that exists across a network and maintains infinitely growing records called blocks

• Bullish (adjective): fully committed to a project / token / etc. and believing its success is imminent

• Bull Market (noun): a period where market prices are rising; opposite of a bear market

• Burn (verb): destroying an NFT; removing it from the total supply. Once an NFT is burned, you cannot recover it.

• Centralization (noun):  a setup or network in which authority and the ability to make decisions are centralized within one entity or a small group of entities

• Coin (noun): a cryptocurrency built on its own native blockchain, intended to be used as a store of value and medium of exchange within that ecosystem

• Consensus (noun): the state of agreement amongst the nodes on a blockchain. Reaching consensus is necessary for new transactions to be verified and new blocks to be added to the blockchain

• Cryptography (noun): the practice or study of secure communication techniques that protect information from unauthorized access or manipulation

• Cryptocurrency (noun): type of virtual currency that uses cryptography for security. They are decentralized and typically operate on the blockchain.

• DAO (noun): Decentralized Autonomous Organization; an org based on open-source code on blockchain. Governed by its users and focused on a specific mission.

• DeFi (noun): Decentralized Finance; borderless and trustless peer-to-peer financial tools built on public blockchains without the use of banks

• Delist (verb): To remove your NFT sale listing from a marketplace

• Doxx (verb): to reveal your own identity or to publish identifying information about another individual on the internet

• Decentralization (noun): concept that involves the transfer of power, control, or decision-making authority from a central authority or organization to smaller, more localized entities or individuals

• Ethereum (noun): a public blockchain serving as the foundation for decentralized applications. Ethereum is a turing complete language, allowing for users to write and deploy complex, self-executing smart contracts which live on the blockchain

• Fiat (noun): legal tender, typically regulated / backed by the government, like USD

• Floor Price (noun): the lowest price someone is willing to sell their NFT on a secondary marketplace

• Fork (noun, verb): a change to a blockchain’s protocol. When these changes are minor, this results in a soft fork. When the changes are more fundamental, this may result in a hard fork, leading to the formation of a separate chain with different rules.

• Fungible (adjective): interchangeable; exchangeable with something else of the same kind

• Gas (noun): fee paid by user to make a transaction, dependent upon the transaction's complexity

• Genesis Block (noun): the very first block of a blockchain network

• Metaverse (noun): virtual space(s) where users can interact with a digital environment and with other users

• Mining (verb): in a Proof of Work system, this is the process of verifying transactions, organizing them into blocks, and then adding blocks to the blockchain. Participants who perform this process are called miners.

• Minting (verb): validating and registering information onto the blockchain, typically in relation to initial NFT ownership

• NFT (noun): non-fungible token; a non-interchangeable unit of data stored on the blockchain, a form of digital ledger, that can be sold and traded

• PFP (noun): profile picture, usually in reference to NFTs

• POAP (noun): digital collectible issued as a gift typically around events; "minted memories"

• Private Key (noun): a secret code that allows users to access their digital assets on a blockchain network

• Smart Contract (noun): self-executing code on the blockchain that allows for trustless transactions to be made without an intermediary

• Token (noun): a unit of value that represents an asset or utility on a blockchain network

• Wallet (noun): software used to access and control Ethereum accounts and interact with smart contracts

• Web1 (noun): "read-only," no UGC or user-interaction

• Web2 (noun): "read-write," started in the 90s, blogs / social media platforms, applications. The system we are most familiar with today

• Web3 (noun): "read-write-trust," leverages blockchain, decentralized data and info; the latest tidal wave in tech advancement

• Whitelist (WL) (noun): a list of members who receive early and guaranteed access to mint at a specific date and time

• Whitepaper (noun): a document outlining the technical details of a cryptocurrency or blockchain project.

Bonus Jargon:

• GM - Good Morning

• GN - Good Night

• WAGMI - We’re All Gonna Make It

• PFP - Profile Picture; Type of NFT project meant to be used as your profile picture on socials

• FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out, especially on a project or token

• HODL - Holding On For Dear Life

• IRL - In Real Life

• FUD - Fear / Uncertainty / Doubt

• Alpha - Valuable information; typically learned before everyone else

• Rug - A scam; A project with less value than previously expected or hyped up to have

• DYOR - Do Your Own Research

• NFA - Not Financial Advice

Have additional terms or jargon you’d like to include in the list? Reply to our thread on Twitter to add yours!