If you’re new to crypto, or need a refresher on some key concept, this page is for you!
Here, you will find articles that will teach you about terms that you may come across in your everyday life if you are plugged into crypto Twitter, crypto news, or others. Do you want to learn about how blocks work in a blockchain? What is a block size or block time? Maybe you are curious about the difference between proof of work and proof of stake.
You can also navigate to our stablecoins article and learn how they are programmed to maintain a value approximately equal to another asset. You can also learn about how decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) are community-based entities with a democratized governance structure based on blockchain technology.
Perhaps you’ve heard about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) - unique digital assets representing a piece of media (like art, music, gaming, or membership badges) that exist on the blockchain.
If you are interested in learning more, Bitstamp is here to help you. Start reading about the world of crypto.
As a relatively new and unique asset class, Bitcoin has garnered both fevered adulation and scathing criticism throughout each of its well-documented price cycles. However, the intense speculation and media interest in the broader cryptocurrency sector has led to the proliferation of several myths about the flagship digital asset. Here, we put ten common Bitcoin myths to rest.
Bitcoin’s reliance on energy is often misconstrued as a side effect of its design. On the contrary, it is an integral part of Bitcoin’s design.
Bitcoin Pizza Day, celebrated on May 22, marks the first recognized time Bitcoin was used in a real-world transaction. In May 2010, crypto enthusiast Laszlo Hanyecz paid 10,000 bitcoins to have two pizzas delivered to his house.
Bitcoin and Ethereum have long been unchallenged as the top two blockchain networks. Their early success is undeniable, but what truly sets them apart is their groundbreaking and contrasting technologies.
The Bitcoin Whitepaper was published in 2008 by Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin. Titled “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System,” the paper introduced the concept blockchain technology and explained the basic structure of the Bitcoin network as a way for users to send funds directly to each other (peer-to-peer).
Blockchain technology has several potential use cases in healthcare, including tracking patient data and keeping immutable records, tracking pharmaceutical supply chains, and storing clinical trial data. However, stringent requirements regarding safety and compliance make adoption a long-term challenge.
Coins and tokens are often misunderstood and thought to be the exact same thing. This may be partly because terminology in the crypto universe is not always as straightforward as would be desired. And while they are both units of cryptocurrency, coins and tokens do have different functionalities. At least to some extent.
Many developing countries have high proportions of cryptocurrency users, indicating a desire for an alternative store of value and medium of exchange.
Cryptocurrency portfolio management describes the activities involved in selecting and managing digital asset investments according to the desired outcomes.
While both fiat money and cryptocurrencies serve as mediums of exchange, their origins and underlying mechanisms set the two apart.
The DAO was a decentralized autonomous organization launched on the Ethereum blockchain in spring 2016 as an investor-led capital fund. One of the largest crowdfunding campaigns in history, The DAO raised $150 million in Ether before being hacked due to vulnerabilities in the code base, with the attacker siphoning millions out of the project.
Since the release of Bitcoin in 2009, the Bitcoin community has had many different ideas on improving the Bitcoin blockchain. A lot of these improvements were not compatible with one another and ended up creating something called hard forks.
FTX was one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges with a $32 billion valuation at its peak and collapsed over a 10-day period in November 2022. The company filed for bankruptcy and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, faced criminal charges. The collapse resulted in the loss of $8 billion in funds, affecting over one million customers.
HODL is a cryptocurrency slang term used to describe holding on to your coins amid rising and falling crypto prices.
To transfer cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, a fundamentally different infrastructure is needed from traditional payment systems. The Bitcoin network is the first infrastructure to enable peer-to-peer transfers of digital money, putting the advantages of blockchain technology and public-key cryptography into practice.
Smart contracts are pieces of code stored within a blockchain that specify a number of conditions and can only be executed once these conditions are met. They come in many different shapes and sizes, from those that move around coins or tokens within the blockchain environment, to those that rely on external data to satisfy their conditions.
Cryptocurrency wallets are a must-have for self-custody and interacting with decentralized applications. With so many available, it’s important to know which features will meet users’ needs.
Privacy coins are a category of cryptocurrency with built-in features designed to make transaction data as anonymous as possible.