What is crypto?

Many people don't realize the term "crypto" refers to both digital assets and the blockchain technology they run on.

Before we dive deeper, we have to demystify the engine under the hood: the blockchain.

Think of it as a giant, digital notebook that everyone in the world has an identical copy of. Whenever a transaction happens, it’s written into everyone’s notebook at the exact same time.

Here's how it works:

Each page in this notebook is a "block" of information.
Once a page is full, it gets a unique digital seal (which is mathematically impossible to fake).
Every new page links to the one before it. This creates a chain of pages or blocks.

The reason this is a game-changer is that everyone has their own copy of the truth. It's not possible for someone to just "fudge the numbers." If anyone tries this, their notebook won't match the hundreds of thousands of others online. The system, the blockchain, will reject their attempt as fake.

Even the word “crypto” comes from cryptography – the science of using mathematics to secure data, verify identity, and prove ownership.

It's the first time in history we’ve had a system where you don't have to "trust" a person or a bank – you trust the maths.

Navigating crypto can involve navigating a lot of jargon.

To make things easier, let's start by looking at the three main groups of crypto assets. Once you see how people actually use crypto, the buzzwords begin to make more sense.

“Store of value assets” exist. These include bitcoin, which many believe will maintain its value over time and now serves a role similar to gold.
“App-store assets” include Ethereum and Solana. Some people refer to these as “smart contracts”. We say they have “utility” as they can act like digital operating systems (such as iOS and Android) on your smartphone: Developers can launch decentralized applications on their blockchains. Example applications include financial services similar to Paypal and Revolut.
“Stablecoins” are assets like USDC and USDT. These are digital dollars. They closely track the value of a traditional currency, such as the US dollar. This helps keep a steady value for daily transactions like paying for groceries.

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