Web3 Glossary

Overview

Plain-language definitions of 43 Web3 terms, written for people who build. Each entry gives the short answer first, then how the concept actually shows up in a builder's work, with links to the projects, jobs, grants, and bounties it relates to on Dapping.

  • Accelerator

    An accelerator is a fixed-term programme that backs early teams with funding, mentorship, and ecosystem access, usually in cohorts and usually in exchange for equity or tokens.

  • Account abstraction

    Account abstraction turns a user account into a smart contract, so a wallet can add social recovery, spending limits, batched actions, and sponsored gas without changing the underlying chain.

  • AMM

    An AMM is an exchange that prices trades with a formula against pooled reserves instead of matching buyers to sellers in an order book. Anyone can supply the liquidity it trades against.

  • Attestation

    An attestation is a signed statement by one party about another, such as a company confirming someone held a role. It converts a self-reported claim into checkable third-party evidence.

  • Block explorer

    A block explorer is a search interface for a blockchain. It lets anyone inspect transactions, addresses, and contract source without running a node.

  • Bounty

    A bounty is a scoped, paid task published by a project and open to anyone who delivers it. Payment follows accepted work, so no interview or long-term commitment is required.

  • Bridge

    A bridge moves assets or messages between blockchains, usually by locking on one side and issuing a representation on the other. Bridges have been the single largest source of losses in Web3.

  • Bug bounty

    A bug bounty pays independent researchers for responsibly disclosing vulnerabilities, with rewards scaled to severity. It turns an ongoing security budget into continuous review.

  • DAO

    A DAO coordinates a shared treasury and decisions through onchain voting rather than a corporate hierarchy. Membership and voting power usually come from holding a governance token.

  • dApp

    A dApp is an application whose core logic runs on a public blockchain through smart contracts rather than on a single company server, so its rules and history stay independently verifiable.

  • DeFi

    DeFi is financial infrastructure built from public smart contracts: lending, exchange, derivatives, and stablecoins that anyone can use or build on without applying to a gatekeeper.

  • EVM

    The EVM is the runtime that executes Ethereum smart contracts. Chains described as EVM-compatible run the same bytecode, so one contract and one toolchain can serve many networks.

  • Gas

    Gas is the fee paid for the computation and storage a transaction consumes. The price floats with network demand, so identical actions cost different amounts at different times.

  • Governance

    Governance is the process by which a protocol changes: who may propose, who votes, what thresholds apply, and how an approved decision reaches the contracts it modifies.

  • Grant

    A grant is non-dilutive funding from a foundation, DAO, or ecosystem programme to build something specific. It funds work without taking equity or tokens in exchange.

  • Hackathon

    A hackathon is a time-boxed build competition, often with prize pools and sponsor tracks. In Web3 it is a primary hiring and grant funnel, not only a weekend contest.

  • IPFS

    IPFS is a content-addressed storage network where files are retrieved by a hash of their contents. The hash changes if the data changes, so references are tamper-evident.

  • Karma

    Karma is Dapping’s proof-led reputation signal. It reflects verified work and independent validation across the platform, and it is a summary of evidence rather than a popularity count.

  • Layer 2

    A Layer 2 is a network that processes transactions off a base chain such as Ethereum, then posts proofs or compressed data back to it. Users get lower fees while settlement stays on the base layer.

  • Liquidity pool

    A liquidity pool is a smart contract holding two or more assets that traders swap against. Depositors earn a share of trading fees and take on the pool’s price exposure.

  • MEV

    MEV is the profit available from choosing the order, inclusion, or exclusion of transactions in a block. It covers benign arbitrage as well as extraction that comes directly out of user trades.

  • Multisig

    A multisig wallet requires several independent approvals before a transaction executes, so no single compromised key can move funds on its own.

  • NFT

    An NFT is a token with a unique identifier, so each unit is distinguishable from every other. It is used for ownership records where individual identity matters, not interchangeable value.

  • Node

    A node is a computer running blockchain client software, keeping a copy of the ledger and relaying transactions. Running one lets you verify the chain rather than trust a provider.

  • Onchain

    Onchain describes data or logic recorded on a blockchain, where it is publicly readable and independently verifiable. Offchain describes anything held in ordinary systems.

  • Private key

    A private key is the secret that signs transactions for an address. Whoever holds it controls the funds, and no one can reverse or recover a transfer it authorised.

  • Proof page

    A proof page is a professional profile where each claim is connected to evidence: shipped products, verified roles, grants, hackathon results, and connected accounts rather than a list of adjectives.

  • RPC endpoint

    An RPC endpoint is the network interface an application uses to read chain state and submit transactions. It is the connection between a frontend and the blockchain.

  • Rust in Web3

    Rust is the primary language for Solana programs and for much core blockchain infrastructure, chosen for memory safety and performance without a garbage collector.

  • Seed phrase

    A seed phrase is a list of words that regenerates every private key in a wallet. It is a master credential: anyone who reads it can take everything the wallet controls.

  • Slippage

    Slippage is the gap between the price a trade is quoted at and the price it actually executes at, caused by pool depth, price movement between quote and confirmation, or transaction ordering.

  • Smart contract

    A smart contract is code deployed to a blockchain that executes automatically when its conditions are met. Once deployed it runs the same way for everyone, and anyone can read it.

  • Smart-contract audit

    An audit is a structured security review of contract code by specialists who look for exploitable flaws. It reduces risk and documents findings, but it never proves code is safe.

  • Solidity

    Solidity is the dominant language for writing smart contracts on Ethereum and other EVM chains. It compiles to EVM bytecode and is the baseline skill for onchain engineering.

  • Stablecoin

    A stablecoin is a token designed to hold a steady value, usually one US dollar. Backing may be cash reserves, other crypto assets, or an algorithm, and those models carry very different risks.

  • Staking

    Staking locks tokens to help secure a proof-of-stake network in return for rewards. The stake is collateral, so it can be reduced if the validator behaves badly.

  • Token

    A token is an asset issued by a smart contract on an existing chain, as opposed to the chain’s own native coin. Fungible tokens are interchangeable; non-fungible ones are not.

  • Tokenomics

    Tokenomics is the design of a token’s supply, distribution, and incentives: how many exist, who receives them, on what schedule, and what holders can actually do with them.

  • TVL

    TVL is the total value of assets deposited in a protocol at a point in time. It measures how much capital currently trusts the contracts, not revenue, profit, or user count.

  • Validator

    A validator is a participant that proposes and confirms blocks on a proof-of-stake network, putting up stake as collateral. Misbehaviour can cost part of that stake.

  • Wallet

    A wallet stores the private keys that authorise transactions and prove ownership of an address. It holds keys, not coins: balances live on the chain and the wallet signs for them.

  • Yield farming

    Yield farming means moving capital between protocols to capture the highest available return, often boosted by token incentives rather than by underlying fee revenue.

  • Zero-knowledge proof

    A zero-knowledge proof lets one party prove a statement is true without revealing the underlying data. Verifying the proof is far cheaper than redoing the computation.