DON'T CLICK THE LINK: You didn't win anything. There is no surprise mint or limited time deal. Repeat after me: "just don't click the link."
DON'T OPEN THE TEXT: Yep, those random texts are essentially just containers holding malicious code. Do not open it. Delete it and restart your phone.
NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR MNEMONIC PASSPHRASE OR PRIVATE KEY: There is absolutely no reason to send anyone your mnemonic phrase, pass phrase, password, or private key. Never ever do it.
ALWAYS USE OFFICIAL SOURCES: Trust, but verify. Go directly to the source and check for yourself.
🧠Did You Know...
NFTs can steal your crypto. Do not interact with any unknown NFTs in your wallet. You may unknowingly give permission to the NFT collection to transfer your assets. The safest thing you can do is ignore it.
Coins can share names. There is nothing stopping you from creating a coin called DOGE right now. Always check the contract address for verification.
Accounts are derived from the mnemonic phrase. When you create a new account in your wallet, the address created is predetermined by your mnemonic phrase. You can have many different accounts/addresses all derived from the same mnemonic phrase.
🧊 TLDR; definitions
Address: a public, unique mash up of letters and numbers.
Airdrop: A distribution of cryptocurrency tokens to a large number of wallet addresses, often used as a marketing strategy.
Atomic Swap: A smart contract-based process allowing the exchange of different cryptocurrencies across disparate blockchains without intermediaries.
Blockchain: a public ledger of transactions.
Bridge: a smart contract that moves tokens from one blockchain to another blockchain.
Burning: when tokens are sent to an unusable address.
Consensus Mechanism: The protocol through which blockchain participants agree on a common state of the network, such as proof-of-work or proof-of-stake.
Cross-Chain: Mechanisms that enable interoperability between different blockchain networks, allowing assets and data to be transferred or communicated across disparate chains.
Crypto: a catch-all term for blockchain tings.
Cryptocurrency: a digital currency where 1 token is equal to 1 token, like how $1 is equal to $1. This is what makes it a Fungible Token.
DAO: a Decentralized Autonomous Organization is a organization that's managed by its members through smart contracts.
dApp: a "decentralized application", an app or website that connects to a smart contract.
Decentralized: meaning there is no single source of authority.
Decentralized Exchange (DEX): A peer-to-peer marketplace where cryptocurrency transactions occur directly between users without intermediaries.
DeFi: Decentralized Finance are blockchain based financial solutions.
ERC-1155: a standard for creating and issuing NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain where there are duplicated copies of NFTs
ERC-20: a standard for creating and issuing cryptocurrency tokens on the Ethereum blockchain.
ERC-721: a standard for creating and issuing NFTs on the Ethereum blockchain where each NFT is unique
Fiat: traditional government-issued currency not backed by a physical commodity.
Flash Loan: A temporary, unsecured loan requiring repayment within one blockchain transaction, commonly used for arbitrage opportunities.
Fork: a new blockchain that's essentially a copy of an other blockchain but with some notable differences.
Gas Fee: the transaction fee.
Governance Token: Cryptocurrency granting holders voting powers over the direction and development of a blockchain protocol or dApp.
Hot vs. Cold: a cold wallet is offline and requires manual approval of transactions. a hot wallet is always online and does not require manual approval of transactions.
Immutable: referring to something on the blockchain that can't be altered or deleted.
Initial Coin Offering (ICO): A fundraising mechanism where new projects sell their underlying cryptocurrency tokens in exchange for capital, similar to an IPO in traditional finance.
Layer 2: a blockchain that is built ontop of another blockchain.
Liquidity Pool: A smart contract-based reserve providing liquidity for trades, usually in decentralized exchanges, by holding pairs of tokens.
MEV (Maximum Extractable Value): The maximum profit miners can expect by reordering or censoring transactions in a block.
Merkle Tree: a data structure used for efficient and secure verification.
Metaverse: A shared, digital universe combining elements of 3D virtual reality, augmented reality, and blockchain technology, often with its own economy and currency. FWIW, I believe "The Metaverse" is simply anything utilizing web3.
Miners: computers that process transactions.
Mining: when your computer receives cryptocurrency in return for processing transactions.
Mnemonic Passphrase: a secret, unique set of words that are used to access a wallet.
MultiSig: a smart contract that requires multiple wallets to authorize a transaction.
NFT: a digital currency where 1 token is not equal to 1 token, like gold nuggets or pokemon cards. This is what makes it a Non Fungible Token.
Node: a computer that participates in a blockchain.
Optimistic Rollups: Assume transactions are valid by default and only run computation in case of fraud proofs. They rely on validators to challenge incorrect transactions.
Oracle: a service that offers external data to smart contracts, like the temperatue outside.
Pool: a smart contract that manages a group of addresses.
Private Key: a secret, unique mash up of letters and numbers that are used to access an address.
Proof of Stake (PoS): A consensus mechanism where validators stake their cryptocurrency holdings to validate transactions and create new blocks.
Proof of Work (PoW): A consensus mechanism where miners solve complex mathematical puzzles to validate transactions.
Public Key: a public, unique mash up of letters and numbers. More commonly referred to as an Address.
Rollups: Layer 2 solutions that bundle (or roll up) many transactions into a single batch which is then submitted to the main chain, reducing per-transaction cost and increasing throughput.
Security Token: A digital asset representing ownership rights, shares in a corporation, or entitlement to future profits, thus subject to securities regulations.
Sharding: A method of partitioning a blockchain's entire state into smaller pieces or "shards," each capable of processing transactions in parallel to enhance scalability.
Side-Chain: Independent blockchains that are interoperable with a main (parent) blockchain. Assets can be moved between the main chain and sidechain, enhancing scalability and functionality.
Smart Contract: an address that contains an automated program.
Stablecoin: a cryptocurrency programmed to have a stable value, often pegged to a fiat currency like the Dollar.
Staking: when you give your tokens to a smart contract that rewards you for doing so. This is called "Staking".
Sybil Attack: an unethical act where one person creates multiple fake identities to gain disproportionate influence in a network.
Token: a digital unit of value, like a cryptocurrency (Fungible Token) or NFTs (Non Fungible Token).
Tokenomics: The study and design of the economic model of a cryptocurrency, focusing on supply, distribution, and incentives.
Utility Token: A digital token used within a blockchain ecosystem to access specific services or functions, not intended as investment vehicles.
Wallet: an address that can send and receive crypto.
Web3: a catch-all term for blockchain/crypto/AI tings.
Wrapping: the process of converting one cryptocurrency into another cryptocurrency that can be used on a different blockchain.
ZK Rollups: Use zero-knowledge proofs to validate transactions off-chain and submit succinct proofs to the main chain, ensuring all off-chain transactions are correct without revealing details.
Zero Knowledge Proof: a method where one party proves to another that they know a value without revealing the value itself.
