The basics
Three explainers that start from zero: the record, the keys and the fees.
Read these three first
About twenty-five minutes in total.
A shared record of payments that many computers keep in step, and why nobody can quietly edit it.
8 min
A wallet holds keys, not coins. What a recovery phrase is and who can move your crypto.
10 min
What a fee pays for, why it changes by the hour and what “6 confirmations” means.
7 min
Six words you will meet
The terms that appear in nearly every story, in a sentence each.
Blockchain
A shared record of transactions, added to in blocks, that many computers keep identical copies of.
Wallet
An app or device that holds your keys and signs payments. It does not hold coins; the ledger does.
Private key
The secret that lets you move crypto. Whoever has it controls the coins.
Recovery phrase
Twelve or twenty-four words that rebuild your keys in a new wallet. Never type them into a website.
Confirmation
Each new block added after the one with your payment. More confirmations, harder to reverse.
Stablecoin
A token meant to keep the value of a currency. Only as safe as what stands behind it.
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