Learn crypto with Be1Crypto.com

01 Start here

• Explainers What Is Bitcoin? A Plain-English Guide to How It Works Bitcoin is a shared ledger that nobody owns, a fixed supply schedule, and a set of rules that thousands of computers enforce at once. Here is how the pieces fit.
• Explainers What Is Ethereum? Smart Contracts, Ether and Gas Explained Bitcoin is a ledger for money. Ethereum is a ledger that can also run programs. That one difference explains ether, gas, smart contracts and most of the risks.
• Explainers Is Crypto a Trading Platform? What the Word Actually Means Crypto is what you buy. A platform is where you buy it. Getting that distinction right is the first defense against losing money to a clone site.

03 Go deeper

• Guides What a Trade Platform for Cryptocurrency Actually Is (And How to Pick One) Four platform types, one honest comparison: what separates a venue that fills your order cleanly from one that quietly costs more than its fee schedule admits.
• Explainers What a Blockchain Based Trading Platform Really Is (On-Chain vs Off-Chain) Every fill is a transaction, or none of them are. The difference decides what you pay, who holds your keys, and how fast a trade is final.
• Guides Best Crypto Trading Platform With Lowest Fees: The Honest Math Zero commission is usually the most expensive way to buy crypto, and the math that proves it takes about ninety seconds to follow.

Crypto glossary

Blockchain

A shared ledger copied across many computers, where new records are added in blocks and linked to the ones before, making past entries very hard to alter.

Bitcoin (BTC)

The first cryptocurrency, launched in 2009, with a hard cap of 21 million coins and a proof-of-work consensus system.

Ethereum (ETH)

A blockchain that runs programs called smart contracts. ETH pays for computation and secures the network through staking.

Altcoin

Any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin.

Stablecoin

A token designed to hold a steady value, usually one US dollar, backed by reserves or managed by an algorithm.

Wallet

Software or hardware that stores the private keys controlling your crypto. It does not store the coins themselves; those live on the blockchain.

Seed phrase

A list of 12 or 24 words that can restore a wallet. Anyone who has it controls the funds. Never share it.

Custody

Who holds the keys. Custodial means a company holds them for you; self-custody means you hold them yourself.

Exchange

A platform that matches buy and sell orders. Centralized exchanges hold user funds; decentralized exchanges settle trades on-chain.

Gas fee

The fee paid to process a transaction on a blockchain such as Ethereum. It rises when the network is busy.

Halving

The scheduled cut in new Bitcoin issuance, roughly every 210,000 blocks or about four years.

Proof of stake

A consensus method where validators lock up coins as collateral to propose and confirm blocks, instead of using mining hardware.

DeFi

Decentralized finance: lending, trading and other financial services run by smart contracts rather than companies.

Market cap

Price multiplied by circulating supply. A rough size measure, not the amount of money invested.

Volatility

How sharply a price swings. Crypto is far more volatile than most stocks or currencies.

Rug pull

A scam where a project's creators drain its funds or liquidity and disappear.