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If you are a technophobe wanting to understand crypto, a casual investor exploring investment opportunities, or a business looking to get ahead of the curve on user adoption we can help.
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Browse our free educational content covering everything you need to know to understand the world of crypto: from buying your first crypto coin to blockchain and crypto mining and Central Bank Digital Currencies to NFTs.
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Just like interest from your bank account accrues as income, it is possible to earn interest through holding cryptocurrency. Our NFA guide will describe the many strategies available and illustrate the risks and reward you need to be aware of.
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The acceptance of cryptocurrency as a means of payment for good and services is in its infancy. But change happens fast. Forward thinking businesses are planning ahead and implementing crypto payment rails to ensure they are ready for the introduction of government backed CBDCs.
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FAQ
Crypto Basics
Cryptocurrency is an amalgamation of two terms: crypto, which is short for cryptography and is reference to the scientific study of techniques that secure communication between a sender and a recipient, and currency which is
a medium of exchange for goods or services.
Crypto, therefore, is a digital means of exchange which uses cryptography as it’s method of securing the transaction/network.
Cryptocurrencies can generally be divided into two categories: coins and tokens.
A crypto coin, such as Bitcoin, usually operates on their own blockchain and can be used for transactions or used as a store of value.
A token tends to operate on another coin’s blockchain and provides some form of utility, governance, or security benefit to apps that are running on that blockchain.
Mining in crypto is the activity carried out by powerful super computers that verify blocks of transactions that occur on the network. Once a block of transactions is verified and accepted by all network participants it is added to the end of a chain, called the Blockchain.
A Blockchain is a bit like a database, but where traditional databases allow records to be added, deleted, or modified, with Blockchain only new transactions can be added once they have been verified by all network participants (super computers).
The reward for doing all this, and thus upholding the integrity of the blockchain is freshly minted coins when a new block is successfully added.
Stablecoins are fundamental in crypto.
They are a cryptocurrency that is pegged/ tethered to a Fiat currency and act as the glue providing stability to the entire eco-system. A stablecoin can have multiple uses, from being used to trade with Bitcoin or another
coin/ token or to provide liquidity to a smart contract platform in return for yield.
The more common stablecoins that exist are USDT, USDC, and DAI.
As stablecoins are pegged to a fiat equivalent they do not fluctuate in value, e.g., 1 United States Dollar should always = 1 USDT. This peg is maintained either by reserve currency itself or algorithmically via a smart contract protocol depending on the stablecoin.
Many countries are developing Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) but they should be viewed distinct to cryptocurrencies.
A cryptocurrency relies on a decentralised system to verify and mine new units based on a defined protocol whilst CBDCs are a digital form of the money controlled by centralised banks.
A key difference between the two is illustrated by the supply of a CBDC and a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin: there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoins minted (mined), whilst CBDCs are just digital forms of fiat money and thus subject to quantitative easing and inflation, etc.
Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency coin of limited supply.
Born out of the financial crisis in 2008, it was designed as a peer-to-peer electronic money system that could be used for transactions over the internet, sent directly from person-to-person without the need for third party involvement. Unlike your Pound, Dollar, Euro, or Yen there is no central bank controlling the Bitcoin network or no government who can freeze or lay claim to it.
Instead of a central bank, the bitcoin network is run by a decentralised network of computers participating working to record and verify every transaction that takes place.
Cryptocurrency coins and tokens are either stored online or offline. When stored online they will be linked to a particular address such as your crypto wallet or exchange that you used to purchase them.
Some people move their cryptocurrency offline and download them to a physical hardware wallet which acts a bit like a USB stick.
NFTs are a type of cryptocurrency token which has inherent attributes making each NFT different to each other (i.e., they are non-fungible).
In contract, Bitcoin, like a £50/$50 paper note, is fungible as a Bitcoin that was mined yesterday is inherently the same as a Bitcoin that was mined today.
This difference makes NFTs popular with a whole host of emerging new use-cases as things like digital art, music, imagery, voting/ governance rights, concert tickets, etc., can be made into NFTs.
Ethereum is a decentralised open-source blockchain that is home to a new digital economy. Powered by it’s native currency called Ether, the Ethereum platform allows for anyone to deploy decentralised applications onto it which
anyone can interact with.
Ethereum is the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalisation and has been the key driver in the development of decentralised finance.
Decentralized finance (DeFi) applications are typically built across one or more blockchains provide a broad array of financial services without the need for the typical financial intermediaries like brokerages, exchanges, or banks. Thus allowing cryptocurrency users to borrow against their holdings or lend them out for interest.
Smart contracts are simply programs stored on a blockchain that run when predetermined conditions are met. They typically are used to automate the execution of an agreement so that all participants can be immediately certain
of the outcome, without any intermediary’s involvement or time loss.