Tech, NFT and Crypto terms you see and should know

Tech terms that come up during discussions, Twitter trends on your TL, social media at large and at meetings can be very difficult to understand if you don’t know the terms going around these days for some subjects. For rookies, learners, passerby, or for curiosity’s sake, I have posted words/terms I hear or read that gets me confused and rushing to get answers from google. These are words we see everyday on our phones, social media, latest trends, etc. as someone concerned with the topic in question (Tech, nft, crypto) but have zero knowledge of.

It has become somewhat important to be kept abreast of these Tech terms because Tech, nfts and cryptos has becoming our new world.

These are some terms that will help you understand and relate better during conversations.

NFT

Airdrop

In an ‘airdrop,’ you automatically receive some cryptocurrency or a new NFT for free. For NFT projects, it has become a popular method to reward early adopters with new artwork, for example. It’s been a long-standing practice in the cryptosphere.

Burn

To burn an NFT essentially means to destroy it. If only 5,000 NFTs are sold in a collection that was intended to consist of 10,000, for instance, the team may decide to ‘burn’ the remaining 5,000. Other projects let their owners ‘burn’ two NFTs to receive a new and more rare one.

Minting

When you’re buying a completely new NFT from the creator, you’re ‘minting’ it. It’s basically the process of creating that NFT on the blockchain.

Moon 

Often used in the NFT space, ‘going to the moon’ or ‘mooning’ refers to an asset’s value increasing by a lot.

NFT

This is a digital asset that represents real-world items such as art, music, items in video games, and videos. Most of them are bought and sold online, frequently with cryptocurrency, and they are encoded with software similar to many cryptos.

Reveal

In NFT world this means the art only reveals itself after it’s purchased. For new generative projects, the artwork won’t be created until the NFT is minted, you never know what exactly you’re getting until after you buy it. It’s up to the creators behind the collection to reveal almost immediately  or when the collection sells out, or with a delay of 24 or 48 hours for instance.

Wallet

A place to store your cryptocurrency holdings. Many exchanges offer digital wallets. Wallets may be hot (online, software-based) or cold (offline, usually on a device).

Whitelist

In NFTs, whitelisting is the process of getting a crypto wallet address pre-approved for a future NFT on specified dates/times (usually a date/time window). Its Like being on a guest list, it means that you you have early access, buying an NFT at a lower price, reward early supporters and avoiding “gas wars”. To get whitelisted for a project, you usually need to join a project’s Discord group to learn the criteria for getting whitelisted.

Gas war

Gas wars occur when a large number of people compete to get their hands on an NFT project launch that’s of high-value sales . Essentially, the demand will be higher than the number of transactions the Ethereum network can process at a time.

Crypto

Block

A blockchain consists of groups of data. Blocks on cryptocurrency blockchains contain records of transactions made by users. They can only contain a limited amount of data. After reaching this limit, the chain is continued with a new block.

Blockchain

Records kept digitally, and the technology behind cryptocurrencies. Blocks build upon one another to create a permanent and unchangeable ledger of transactions (or other data).

Coin

Symbolic representation of digital value on a blockchain or cryptocurrency network. There are blockchains in which the coin and the network have the same name, such as Bitcoin.

HODL

Stands for “Hold On for Dear Life”. It is a passive investment strategy in which people buy and hold onto cryptocurrency instead of trading it hoping that it increases in value.

TECH

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Machine or software technology that mimics human intelligence. AI can learn, recognize speech, plan & solve problems, and self-correct.

Bytes

Bytes are the smallest basic units of information in computer storage and processing.

Cache

A computer’s way of storing information temporarily for it to be quickly accessed.

Mining

The process whereby new cryptocurrency coins are made available and the log of transactions between users is maintained.

Cloud

A system of storing data on a different server and accessing it via a network whether its offsite or onsite.

Token

A unit of value on a blockchain that usually has some other value proposition besides just a transfer of value (like a coin).

Cookie

We see this 90% of the time we visit a website for the first time, this is a small text file from that website to your computer. It helps that new website recognize you when you return, access the file and add information. Cookies can be used to track your activity across different web sites.

CSS (CASCADING STYLE SHEETS)

CSS is a language for adding style to documents created with HTML. While HTML lays the groundwork for a page, CSS creates the layout, color, fonts, etc. for the page.

Data Analytics

It is a science that examines raw data with the purpose of drawing conclusions about that information.

Decentralization

The principle that distributes power away from a central point. Traditional blockchains are decentralized because modifications require majority approval from all users, rather than a centralized authority.

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

Financial activities conducted without the involvement of an intermediary, like a bank, government, or other financial institution

Decentralized Applications (DApps)

This is an application developed by developers and deployed on a blockchain to execute actions without middlemen. Apps used for decentralized finance often eliminate middlemen. The Ethereum network supports the majority of activities in decentralized finance.

Firewall

This is a piece of computer software or hardware that restricts the data that is allowed to flow through. it blocks undesirable traffic with the intention to prevent infection by malware

HTML (HYPERTEXT MARKUP LANGUAGE)

A web page is created using HTML, a standard language. It’s the most basic building block you’ll need for developing websites. You might remember basic HTML tags from early personal websites like Myspace, where you could customize your page with commands inside <>.

Hybrid cloud

Combination of both Public and private cloud.

Machine learning (ML)

ML is the use of algorithms to help machines “learn” new information without having to be programmed. Machine learning is a subset of AI that guides things like product recommendations a user gets based on past purchases.

Metadata

Simply a set of data that describes and gives information about other data. For clarity, an image file metadata will include the creation date, image resolution, and file size

Natural language processing (NLP)

Another subset of AI that allows machines to understand human language as it is spoken. NLP is used both in systems that understand human commands, like Alexa or Siri, and in systems that read text.

Private cloud

Cloud services provided for an individual organization or company to serve only its users.

Public cloud

Using cloud services that are open to the public to store applications or files and access them via the internet.

Spam

These are Unsolicited email messages sent out in bulk and mostly for commercial purpose.

 Spoofing

It’s a type of scam where an intruder attempts to gain unauthorized access to a user’s system or information by pretending to be the user. He tries to trick the user into releasing sensitive information in order to gain access to his or her bank account, computer system or to steal personal information like passwords.

Stack

A process of combining (or stacking) programs and software to create a new program. There are Back-end stack who works behind-the-scenes programs, while the front-end stack works on interfaces the user sees.

Two-Factor Authentication

It is an electronic authentication method where a user is granted access to a website or application only after successfully presenting two or more pieces of evidence to an authentication mechanism.  Known as 2FA, ii is an extra layer of security after the normal password.

User Experience (UX)

Refers to the way a user interacts with a product. In the tech, UX refers to designing technology that’s easy and intuitive experience for users.