Hot wallets live on connected devices and are ideal for everyday transactions and dApps, while cold wallets keep private keys offline for strong protection against remote compromise. Most investors get the best of both worlds by using a hot wallet for spending and a cold wallet for savings, moving funds between them as needed.
What a crypto wallet actually does
A wallet…
Why 2FA is non-negotiable for crypto
Attackers don’t need to “hack blockchains” to steal assets—they phish or reuse compromised passwords. Adding a second factor blocks most automated takeovers and many targeted ones. Google’s published research found that basic two-step verification dramatically reduces successful account hijacking attempts, and U.S. cyber authorities urge moving toward phishing-resistant methods as the long-term fix.
The main…
Your wallet doesn’t store coins; it holds the private keys that authorize transactions on a blockchain. Most modern wallets derive those keys from a human-readable recovery phrase using well-documented standards such as BIP-32 (HD wallets) and BIP-39 (mnemonics). Understanding these basics helps you set things up safely the first time.
Choose the right wallet design for your needs
Hardware walletA small, dedicated…
Crypto scams evolve fast, but their tells rarely do. Guaranteed returns, pressure to move the conversation off-platform, requests to pay “taxes” or “unlock fees” before withdrawals, unsolicited support calls, and wallet-connection prompts that ask for broad token approvals are classic red flags. In 2024, victims of investment fraud involving cryptocurrency reported more than $6.5 billion in losses to the FBI,…
What a crypto wallet really does
Crypto wallets don’t “store coins.” They manage private keys that authorize on-chain transactions. Most modern wallets generate keys from a human-readable recovery phrase using the BIP-39 standard and derive many addresses via hierarchical deterministic (HD) paths defined in BIP-32.
Seed phrases, passphrases, and backups
A seed phrase is your single point of recovery. Some wallets let you…
Crypto theft in 2024–2025 has increasingly come from social engineering and “wallet drainer” kits that trick people into approving malicious transactions. Phish-resistant authentication, hardware wallets, careful seed backups, and tight control of smart-contract permissions are the most reliable ways to reduce risk.
Why wallet safety matters in 2025
Scammers and organized groups continue to refine crypto-theft playbooks. Chainalysis reports that crypto scam…
“Yield farming” is an umbrella strategy for maximizing onchain returns by moving assets across DeFi protocols (DEXs, lending, vaults) to harvest fees, interest, and token incentives. “Liquidity mining” is one (very common) incentive mechanism within that world: protocols reward users for supplying liquidity—often with newly issued governance tokens, plus a share of fees. In practice, yield farmers may participate in…
Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) coordinate people and capital using smart contracts instead of executives and boards. Good governance blends three layers: decision-making (who votes and how), execution (how decisions trigger code and payments), and safeguards (how emergencies are handled). In 2025, most serious DAOs combine token or delegated voting with timelocks, multisig treasuries, and optional “security councils”—and many run low-cost,…
Web3 finance is moving from speculation to utility. Dollar-pegged stablecoins have passed roughly $275–278 billion in circulating value, tokenized U.S. Treasuries sit around $7.4 billion, and real-world assets (RWAs) excluding stablecoins are now in the mid-$20 billions. Regulation is finally catching up, with the U.S. GENIUS Act and the EU’s MiCA defining how stablecoins and service providers operate. On the…
In proof-of-stake (PoS) networks, validators lock up crypto (“stake”) to help order transactions and produce blocks. In return, they earn protocol rewards and a share of fees; misbehavior can be penalized (“slashing”). On Ethereum, for example, validators stake ETH and earn rewards from issuance, transaction fees, and MEV (maximal extractable value).
How staking rewards are generated
Rewards generally come from three sources:…
2025 is the year crypto’s consumer UX, institutional rails, and regulation finally converge. Expect smart-account wallets to make onboarding feel Web2-simple, modular blockchains to supercharge throughput, tokenized RWAs to keep climbing, and the Bitcoin ecosystem to expand beyond “digital gold.” Meanwhile, ETFs broaden access and new laws set clearer rules, especially for stablecoins.
1) Real-world assets (RWA) go mainstream
Tokenized assets…
DeFi replaces intermediaries with open smart contracts, enabling 24/7 markets and programmable money; TradFi anchors trust via licensed institutions, deposit insurance, and established payment networks. In 2025, regulation tightened on stablecoins in the U.S. with the GENIUS Act on July 18, while the EU continues rolling out MiCA. Major incumbents are adopting blockchain rails for settlement and tokenization, narrowing the…
Table of contents
What Layer-2s are and why 2025 matters
How rollups work
Milestones since 2024
The two big designs: optimistic vs. ZK
Data availability in 2025: Ethereum blobs and alt-DA
Sequencers and the push to decentralize ordering
How to choose an L2 in 2025
Beyond Ethereum: OP Stack chains and SVM L2s
FAQs
What Layer-2s are and why 2025 matters
Layer-2 networks scale Ethereum by executing transactions off-chain and periodically…
Table of contents
What a smart contract is
How execution works on Ethereum
Core properties and trade-offs
Token standards that power Web3
Oracles and the “oracle problem”
Common use cases in 2025
Security pitfalls and best practices
Upgrades and proxy patterns
Fees and scaling with rollups
Account abstraction and smart-contract wallets
Getting started
FAQs
What a smart contract is
A smart contract is program code plus state stored at an on-chain address; when a…
What is a stablecoin?
A stablecoin is a crypto token designed to maintain a fixed value—most commonly one US dollar—by holding reserves or using other mechanisms that stabilize its price. Stablecoins circulate mainly on public blockchains and promise redemption at par, which is why they are often used like digital cash inside crypto apps.
As a quick snapshot of scale, the combined…