Crypto basics
New to crypto? These plain-English guides explain what cryptocurrency is, what gives it value and why its price moves so much. You will learn how market cap, volatility and market mood are measured, how many people own crypto and what common crypto words mean. Each guide sticks to facts and explains the risks: crypto prices can fall sharply, and nothing here is financial advice. When you are comfortable with the basics, move on to Bitcoin, wallets and how buying works.
Start here
How do you read crypto prices?
A crypto price is always quoted against another currency, such as BTC/USD, and it moves with supply and demand. These guides explain price quotes, what drives them and how market mood is measured.
What should you learn after the basics?
Most beginners go on to learn about Bitcoin, blockchains, wallets and how buying works. Each guide below opens a topic of its own.
Key terms
- Circulating Supply Circulating supply is the number of coins or tokens publicly available in the market now, excluding locked, reserved or not-yet-created coins.
- FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) FUD is short for fear, uncertainty and doubt: negative news, rumours or claims that can push people to sell or avoid a crypto asset.
- Shilling Shilling is promoting a cryptocurrency, usually while holding it or being paid to, to push up demand and its price without clearly disclosing that interest.
- Capitulation Capitulation is a burst of heavy, panicked selling in which many holders give up at once, driving prices down sharply on very high volume.
- Pump and Dump A pump and dump is a scam where promoters hype a coin or token to push its price up, then sell at the inflated price.
- BRR BRR is crypto slang from the "money printer go brrr" meme, which jokes that central banks can create new money at will.
- Altcoins An altcoin is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin, from large networks such as Ethereum to stablecoins and meme coins.
Frequently asked questions
What is cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency is digital money that runs on a blockchain, a shared record kept by many computers instead of one bank. You control it with private keys held in a wallet, and the network, not a single company, checks each transaction.
What gives cryptocurrency its value?
Most cryptocurrencies are not backed by a government, cash or gold. Their price depends on what buyers and sellers agree to pay, which reflects supply, demand and how useful people find the network. Stablecoins are the main exception: they are designed to hold a fixed value, often one US dollar.
What is market cap in crypto?
Market cap is the price of one coin multiplied by the number of coins in circulation. It shows how large a project is compared with others. It does not tell you whether a coin is cheap, expensive or a good buy.
Why do crypto prices move so much?
Crypto prices react quickly to news, to changes in demand and, for smaller coins, to markets with few buyers and sellers. Prices can rise or fall sharply in a short time. Crypto assets are at risk of losing substantial (or all) value, and past performance does not predict future results.
