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Crypto

18 concepts in this category.

  • What is Cryptocurrency?

    Cryptocurrency is digital money that exists as entries on a shared, tamper-resistant ledger called a blockchain, rather than in a bank's private database. With Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, no bank checks that you have the funds — a network of independent computers around the world verifies and records every transaction instead.

  • Bitcoin vs Altcoins

    Bitcoin, launched in 2009, was the first cryptocurrency and remains the largest by market value. 'Altcoin' is short for 'alternative coin' and covers every cryptocurrency that came after — from Ethereum, which added programmable smart contracts, to thousands of smaller tokens with widely varying purposes, adoption levels, and track records.

  • Crypto Market Cap

    Crypto market cap = price × number of coins in circulation. Bitcoin at $60,000 with 19.5M coins = ~$1.17T market cap. A rising total crypto market cap means money is flowing into the space.

  • Bitcoin Dominance

    Bitcoin dominance shows how much of all crypto money is in Bitcoin. High dominance (>60%) means investors prefer Bitcoin's safety. Falling dominance during a bull market often signals altcoin season — smaller coins outperforming Bitcoin.

  • Understanding Market Cap

    Market cap answers 'how big is this asset, in total?' A cryptocurrency trading at $10 with 1 million coins in circulation has the same $10 million market cap as one trading at $1,000 with 10,000 coins — price alone says nothing about size, which is why market cap, not price, is used to rank and compare cryptocurrencies.

  • 24h Trading Volume

    24h volume shows how much of a coin changed hands today (in dollars). High volume on a price move = conviction. Low volume on a price move = potentially fake move. Volume is the lie detector of price action.

  • DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

    DeFi (decentralized finance) rebuilds familiar financial services — lending, borrowing, trading, earning yield — using blockchain-based software instead of a bank, broker, or exchange as the middleman. A DeFi lending platform, for example, matches lenders and borrowers directly through a smart contract, which holds the collateral and enforces the terms automatically.

  • DeFi (Decentralized Finance)

    DeFi is like a bank that runs on code with no employees. You can borrow, lend, trade, and earn interest — all automatically through smart contracts. No bank account needed, no identity verification, just a crypto wallet.

  • Staking

    In a Proof-of-Stake network, staking means locking up some of your coins as a deposit that lets you help validate transactions. Behave correctly and the network pays a reward, similar in spirit to earning interest — but the deposit itself isn't guaranteed: its value can fall, and in some networks a portion can be forfeited for misbehavior.

  • Gas Fees

    Every action on a network like Ethereum — sending coins, swapping tokens, using a DeFi app — requires 'gas,' a fee paid to the network for the computing work of processing it. Gas fees rise and fall with demand: the same transaction might cost cents when the network is quiet and much more when it's congested, the way a toll road charges more at rush hour.

  • Staking

    Staking lets you earn rewards by locking your crypto to help run the blockchain. Think of it like a savings account — you lock your coins and earn interest (staking rewards). ETH staking currently yields around 3-4% annually.

  • On-Chain Metrics

    Unlike stocks, crypto blockchains are public. You can see exactly how many coins are moving, who holds what, and how network activity is changing. When on-chain activity rises before price, it can signal upcoming moves.

  • Gas Fees

    Gas fees are what you pay to make transactions on Ethereum. When the network is busy (everyone trading), fees surge. High fees price out small users and signal heavy network activity — often during bull markets.

  • Bitcoin Halving

    Every ~4 years, the reward for mining new Bitcoin is cut in half. This reduces the supply of new Bitcoin entering the market. Historically, each halving has preceded a major Bitcoin bull run within 12-18 months.

  • Liquidity Pool

    A liquidity pool is a pot of two tokens that lets traders swap between them automatically. You provide the tokens and earn a share of trading fees. Risk: 'impermanent loss' if the prices of the two tokens diverge significantly.

  • Market Cap Rank

    Market cap rank orders all cryptocurrencies by size. Bitcoin is #1, Ethereum #2. Top 10 coins have higher liquidity and lower risk. Smaller ranks (lower down the list) mean higher volatility and risk but potentially higher reward.

  • Crypto Risks

    Crypto risk differs from traditional stock and bond risk in kind, not just degree. Prices can move double digits in a single day, transactions can't be undone once confirmed, and losing access to a private key means losing the funds permanently — there's no customer service line that can reset it.

  • Crypto Best Practices

    Common crypto risk-management practices mirror general investing discipline, with a few crypto-specific additions: sizing a position to reflect the asset class's volatility, securing private keys, using two-factor authentication on exchange accounts, spreading purchases out over time rather than all at once, and researching a project before acquiring it.