# Ledger Terminology Guide

This document provides terminology mappings between common distributed ledger concepts and Web4's preferred terms. Web4 uses neutral, enterprise-friendly language that emphasizes trust and accountability over speculation and computation.

## Why This Matters

The term "blockchain" has acquired significant negative connotations due to:

- Association with cryptocurrency scams and fraud
- Regulatory concerns in major markets (effectively restricted in China)
- Confusion with speculative financial instruments
- Overclaiming of capabilities by bad actors

Web4's ledger technology provides **immutable record-keeping** and **distributed agreement** - valuable capabilities that predate and transcend the crypto era. We use terminology that accurately describes functionality without triggering these associations.

## Core Term Mappings

| Industry Term | Web4 Term | Rationale |
|---------------|-----------|-----------|
| Blockchain | **Ledger**, **Chain**, **Record Chain** | Neutral, established in accounting |
| Block | **Entry**, **Record**, **Event** | Business language |
| Mining | **Witnessing**, **Attestation** | Trust-based, not compute-based |
| Proof of Work | **Witness Agreement** | Emphasizes observation, not competition |
| Proof of Stake | **Trust-Weighted Agreement** | Connects to T3 tensors |
| Consensus | **Agreement**, **Validation** | Simpler, less technical |
| Smart Contract | **Policy**, **Rule**, **Governance Rule** | Business language |
| Gas | **ATP** (Allocation Transfer Packet) | Biological/energy metaphor |
| Token | **Allocation**, **Credit**, **Unit** | Non-speculative |
| Wallet | **Registry**, **Account**, **Identity Store** | Traditional finance terms |
| DeFi | **Trust Economics** | Academic framing |
| NFT | **Unique Record**, **Attested Asset** | Describes function |
| DAO | **Distributed Governance**, **Federation** | Organizational language |
| Fork | **Chain Branch**, **Divergence** | Technical without baggage |
| Mainnet | **Root Chain**, **Primary Ledger** | Hierarchical framing |
| Testnet | **Development Chain**, **Staging Ledger** | Software dev language |
| Oracle | **External Witness**, **Data Attestor** | Witness vocabulary |
| Airdrop | **Allocation Distribution** | Neutral distribution term |
| HODL | (Do not use) | Speculative culture term |
| Moon/Lambo | (Do not use) | Speculative culture terms |

## Chain Hierarchy Terms

Web4's fractal architecture uses biological metaphors:

| Technical | Friendly Name | Time Scale | Purpose |
|-----------|---------------|------------|---------|
| Compost Chain | Working Memory | ms - seconds | Ephemeral, auto-pruning |
| Leaf Chain | Session Records | seconds - minutes | Short-term, selective |
| Stem Chain | Team Memory | minutes - hours | Pattern consolidation |
| Root Chain | Permanent Record | Forever | Global truth |

## Witness Types

| Industry Concept | Web4 Witness Type | Description |
|------------------|-------------------|-------------|
| Timestamp authority | **Time Witness** | Trusted timing |
| Compliance oracle | **Audit Witness** | Policy verification |
| Execution proof | **Action Witness** | Operation confirmation |
| Quality attestation | **Quality Witness** | Performance metrics |
| Existence proof | **Existence Witness** | Liveness check |
| State attestation | **State Witness** | Status confirmation |
| External data | **Oracle Witness** | Off-chain information |

## Phrase Translations

When discussing ledger concepts:

| Instead of... | Use... |
|---------------|--------|
| "On the blockchain" | "In the ledger", "Recorded" |
| "Blockchain technology" | "Distributed ledger", "Immutable records" |
| "Blockchain-based" | "Ledger-backed", "Chain-verified" |
| "Decentralized" | "Distributed", "Federated" |
| "Trustless" | "Trust-verified", "Witness-backed" |
| "Immutable blockchain" | "Append-only ledger" |
| "Mining rewards" | "Witness incentives" |
| "Gas fees" | "ATP cost", "Operation energy" |
| "Token economics" | "Trust economics", "Allocation mechanics" |
| "Crypto wallet" | "Identity registry", "LCT store" |

## Writing Guidelines

1. **Avoid "blockchain" entirely** - Use "ledger", "chain", or "record system"
2. **Emphasize function over mechanism** - "Verifiable history" not "consensus algorithm"
3. **Use biological metaphors** - "Metabolic timing", "Witness ecosystem"
4. **Connect to trust** - "Trust-anchored", "Accountability chain"
5. **Be specific** - "Hash-linked records" not "crypto technology"

## Examples

### Before (Industry Language)

> "Our blockchain uses proof-of-stake consensus with smart contracts for DeFi applications. Users hold tokens in their wallets and pay gas fees for transactions."

### After (Web4 Language)

> "Our ledger uses trust-weighted agreement with governance rules for distributed economics. Participants hold allocations in their identity registry and pay ATP for operations."

## Context-Specific Usage

### Technical Documentation
Use precise terms: "hash-chained entries", "cryptographic witnesses", "append-only storage"

### Business Communication
Use functional terms: "verifiable records", "audit trail", "tamper-evident history"

### Regulatory/Compliance
Use established terms: "immutable ledger", "distributed record-keeping", "cryptographic integrity"

### Academic/Research
Use neutral terms: "distributed consensus system", "append-only data structure", "witness-based agreement"

## Terms to Avoid Entirely

These terms carry too much cultural baggage:

- HODL, moon, lambo (speculative culture)
- Crypto (ambiguous - could mean cryptography or cryptocurrency)
- Web3 (overloaded, often associated with NFT speculation)
- Metaverse (marketing term with unclear meaning)
- Decentralized (often used misleadingly)

## See Also

- [README.md](README.md) - Ledger overview
- [spec/fractal-chains/](spec/fractal-chains/) - Chain hierarchy details
- [spec/witness-protocol/](spec/witness-protocol/) - Witnessing terminology
