The Lighter Side of NFT Discord: 8 Terms You Need to Know

Navigating NFT communities on the digital distribution platform can be a challenge. This won’t make it any easier.

By Tyler Smith, Content Director at SuperWorld

Seems pretty straightforward, no? Not a chance

In the NFT world, you’ve got to stay up to speed on more than just trending collections and market behavior if you’re going to be in here for the long haul. One way to keep abreast of everything happening in this (up until now) cloistered world of digital assets and profile pic (PFP) projects is to join one of the many communities on Discord devoted to a particular collection. I am currently a member of over 25 Discord communities, and those are just the one’s that haven’t yet banned me.

Of course, every NFT collection is different, each with its own distinct personality, artistic sensibilities and nuanced behaviors. However, some things — like the jargon needed to absorb and understand the meaning of what anybody is talking about — remain consistent across just about every NFT Discord channel. So, I’ll try and break it down for you with some insights.

Let’s get started with an introductory glossary of acronyms and expressions you’re sure to see sooner or later in any given Discord channel, assuming the project has a long enough timeline.

You ready?

1. WAGMI

Are we, though?

One of the first acronyms you’ll need to become familiar with in this space, WAGMI stands for We’re All Gonna Make It (or alternatively, We Are Gonna Make It). It implies just what you think it does — that everybody sitting around in this Discord will soon be filthy rich off of the highly touted NFT project, “OnChain Nostrils.”

OnChain Nostrils #8183

But, if you start to notice WAGMI turning up in the Discord channel with greater and greater frequency — and perhaps urgency — this can either signal that the floor price has risen 0.04% because somebody fat-fingered a “buy” button somewhere, or more often, it can foretell the death rattle of a doomed NFT project, where despite the fact that the devs left 2 months ago to buy lambos, a shared pied-à-terre in Gstaadt and to continue with their passion project — identity theft — the community remains optimistic.

Plus, anybody who knows anything about physics or sundry other arcane cosmic laws knows that you don’t trumpet victory before it happens. That’s not called “making it.” That’s called Cal vs. Stanford:

2. Need liquidity!

You need liquidity. I need liquidity. Everybody needs liquidity. Uttering this in a Discord channel is a sure sign that a.) You’ve just come to the realization that you’re fantastically overextended financially, and that if you don’t sell your bundle of three rare “Zombie Nipple Alliance” NFTs ASAP, you’re back to the internship at your uncle’s hot dog stand in Queens; Or, b.) You instantly regret aping into this project because another project that minted an hour after yours is going parabolic while the Zombie Nipple Alliance, now sitting at a 0.0001< floor, isn’t the gratuitous windfall you’d hoped for, or that the shadowy yet influential influencer indicated it would be.

You won’t be back. None of us will be back.

Need liquidity is the “dog ate my homework” of Discord excuses, so save yourself the embarrassment, learn a few things about life, and get ready for a season of warm hot dog water and shame. We’ve all been there. Ok, I’ve been there.

3. FOMO

Fear Of Missing Out, or FOMO, is responsible for about 97% of poor decision making in the NFT space (the other 3% are typically attributed to drugs and alcohol), and before I explain the sinister nature of FOMO, it will help to know that having FOMO is perfectly natural, and is what in many ways makes us all human, that is to say, susceptible to sophistry and group-think; that is to say, a little stupid.

Alas, yes it is.

For instance, in the time it takes to write this entry, I’ll have missed out on at least 3–4 projects that, if I don’t get in now while the floor is low, I’ll regret. Whether it’s a tweet from an influencer or an announcement in the #alpha channel on Discord, you’ve got to keep an eye out for the new drops. In fact, I’ve just learned that the Metaverse-ready “PhlegmVerse,” stealth-dropped a minute ago, and….

4. Where are the devs?

That bird has flown, frens.

If you have to ask this question, the devs are probably already sitting around in a Jacuzzi in Gstaadt and your hard-earned ETH is going toward invasive spyware and Moroccan hashish.

Ok, but are they even checking the Discord??

5. DYOR

Do Your Own Research (DYOR) has become the passive/aggressive catch-all with those looking to deflect responsibility for shilling their own project/NFT bags in irresponsible and underhanded ways. There is an assumption that anyone who types “DYOR” has actually done their own research, and so the acronym comes with a kind of unspoken gravitas, where any dispute to the given premise (i.e., that the “Loquacious Crab Society” NFT collection is just a poor facsimile of last month’s “Talkin’ Scallops” drop) can be met with an assertive “DYOR,” thus offering the kind of tautological intimidation to which I am particularly susceptible.

Wait…I thought you were supposed to do my research for me?

But don’t be confused. It’s absolutely essential to DYOR if you’re going to thrive in the NFT space, but is in no way obligatory, which is where we get into trouble, and why I’m asking anybody who’s interested in getting in on my extensive collection of “Crypto Urinal Cakes” NFTs please DM me. Lots of rares. Going to moon soon, I guarantee. But DYOR.

Looks rare!

6. HODL

I don’t know about you, but there’s nothing like a screaming gladiator or centurion or really anyone wearing facepaint and a kilt to reinforce the importance of staying true to my convictions, and my NFTs. HODL is short for “Hold On for Dear Life,” and when you’re in Discord and you see HODL start to appear, be wary: For me, HODL is often shorthand for “I’m spread too thin again and don’t have enough ETH left to FOMO into this other NFT project everybody else is aping into.”

If I scream it, it will be so.

Likewise, if the HODL memes and GiFs are taking over the Discord channel, I can be pretty certain that this project is headed straight for mediocrity, just like the mediocrity of using over-saturated tropes and images of Hollywood warriors to get my desperate point across.

Please continue to waste your money. Do it for me. And for Scotland!

7. NGMI

When somebody in the Discord channel tells me that I’m NGMI (Not Gonna Make It), I know I’m making all the right moves. NGMI is, in theory at least, the polar opposite of WAGMI, but the two acronyms function in deceptively similar ways. Upon reading a NGMI epithet thrown in my direction, I like to analyze why I’m being antagonized like this.

Only time will tell!

Is it really a nota bene designed to have me reassess the wisdom in undercutting the floor of “Mutant Troll Lubrication Alliance,” or is that user actually coming to realize that the three of us left in this Discord channel are fighting a losing battle against time and common sense? Perhaps, if they are being honest and self-reflective, they’ll realize that they’re just looking to take their aggression out on anybody but themselves. Or am I the only one who tries to intimidate users with NGMIs in this self-defeating way?

8. Gary Vee (alt. Gary V)

Nothing strikes hope into the hearts of the NFT community like the words “Gary Vee.” Gary Vee is short-form for Gary Vaynerchuk, the wildly successful entrepreneur and NFT enthusiast who functions as a kind of non-fungible messiah to thousands of us looking to avoid doing any real research, relying solely on the off chance we might catch a glimpse of a project mentioned in one of Gary’s Tweets before its been digested by the millions of other people… doing exactly what we’re doing.

And if he doesn’t, it’s ramen noodles and mayonnaise sandwiches until the next pay cycle.

In short, much of people’s time spent on Discord is waiting to see if Gary Vee will pay a visit, or has Tweeted about your project in a favorable way. If he hasn’t tweeted about your project, there’s always hope. It’s kind of like a Schrödinger’s cat scenario, where you’re alive and dead at the same time. However, waiting for Gary Vee to promote the merits of “Death Row Dinos,” may indeed take a lifetime, so the Schrödinger’s cat analogy doesn’t really work because of this soul death I’m feeling just waiting around in the somber and mostly empty DR Dinos Discord.

Does this look mean you’re buying or selling? Gimme a sign, Gary Vee!

And call it the measure of celebrity, but no matter how many times I tweet AT Gary Vee that my Ted Bundy brontosaurus with rare traits (bratwurst horns + 3D glasses) belongs in his collection, he probably won’t even give a “like” to my fourteen-Tweet précis on how I also like the NY Jets. Trust me.

So now you should have a more nuanced idea of how to navigate the squall that is NFT Discord communities. I think you’ll find that to some degree, the glossary above will offer insights into the how, why, and what everybody is talking about, and how you too can find meaning in the chaos. If you do, though, please let me know. I’m more confused than ever.

*All opinions expressed in this ridiculous article are explicitly those of the author and are not necessarily representative of SuperWorld, nor representative of our feelings toward the NFT Discord community, who we love.

About SUPERWORLD 🌎❤️

SuperWorld is a virtual world in augmented reality (AR), digitally mapped over the surface of the Earth. Plots of SuperWorld land are represented as 64.8 billion non-fungible tokens (NFT) corresponding to real world space. Any user in SuperWorld can explore and create AR content, engage in a virtual real estate marketplace, or buy and sell NFTs in the SuperWorld NFT Salon. To learn more, visit SuperWorldapp.com

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