CRYPTO | PERRY

A moment of sanity: This season we are being particularly blown off, although nothing unique, as in the past we experienced a COVID-dump, and FUD was no less, it's just that everyone has forgotten everything In general, modern (and not only) society has a tendency to remember only the good things over the years. For example, you can remember your first relationship, it seems to you that everything was so radiant and happy, then the rhetorical question: - Why are you not together? This is something akin to the fact that the grass is always greener at the neighbor's. So accept the fact that it has always been equally difficult and easy to make a profit in this awesome place called the cryptocurrency market It is frustrating, painful, and uncomfortable to be in such moments in the absence of a big bag of stables. An analogy can be made here with the previous cycle: - What difference does it make that you picked up ETH at 90, 120, or even 200? - The peak was still a tenfold profit for everyone I've told this story many times before, although not in this channel: - In January 2016 we were in Singapore and at that moment ETH went from $1 to $2. You should have seen those faces of the people who were taking profit with full confidence that they made a 100% on their investment. Needless to say, everything that happened afterward became a mental trauma for many people, which has not been healed to this day P.S. So your task is to grit your teeth, close the charts and go do anything but stare at them and portfolio trackers for 24 hours. If you continue to watch this nonsense, let alone try to do something with portfolios all the time, you'll be stripped - left with nothing P.P.S. If you don't have one, get KuCoin and Gate accounts now and get verified, there'll be a tool for you to make Life Change money - stay tuned ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY

How to Trade, Store, and Buy Crypto 📞 - part 3 -> How and where to buy crypto. Now, let's get to the interesting part: how and where to exchange your fiat funds for cryptocurrency. There are two main ways to do this, and they are the most convenient out there: 1. Buy via CEX: instant fiat purchase or P2P 2. Use an offline crypto exchange office Buying via CEX. You already know what a CEX is. In addition to storing crypto, they also allow you to buy it with fiat currency (usd, eur, yen, etc.). Within CEX, there are two main ways to buy crypto: • Instant fiat purchase: you pay by card/bank transfer and buy at the current exchange rate. The main disadvantage is the 2-3% commission, plus some %diff between exchange's rate and 'real-world' rate, but it’s convenient. Note that different CEX's offer different fiat currencies to buy crypto with, so keep in mind that there might be an additional conversion fee if you have bank's account in other currency than the one you are buying crypto with • P2P (Peer-to-Peer): you trade with other people inside the exchange. You pay almost no commission, but there’s a small risk of being scammed. However, if you follow basic security rules, you should be fine. This method often offers better rates and supports more currencies To operate with fiat on exchanges you need to register and complete KYC (know your client, basically verification) procedure If you decide to buy crypto with fiat, just follow exchange's instructions on their process and you should be fine. It's a great option for fast deposit, but remember about commissions described before With P2P, you trade crypto directly with other people, not the exchange. The advantages include better exchange rates, while the disadvantages include a small risk of scams and potential inconvenience. To choose a trader to engage with, consider these criteria: - Purchase price: opt for the best price available, but sometimes it’s worth sacrificing a bit of profitability for reliability - Number of trades: look for traders with at least 500+ trades - Percentage of successful trades: aim for 95% or higher ❗️If a seller starts asking strange questions or delaying the process, contact support immediately and open an appeal Buying via offline crypto exchange office. In many regions around the world you can find this phenomena, they are basically private individuals/offices that handle crypto-to-fiat exchanges independently. The main benefit of such offices is that they work with individual requests (both in services and desired volume): • Want to buy crypto for cash in your city? No problem. • Want a courier to deliver cash from sold crypto to your home? No problem. • Want to exchange abroad? No problem. And as always, do your own research ✍️ ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

How to Trade, Store, and Buy Crypto 📞 - part 2 Storing crypto. Continuing on CEX's topic, you might have a valid question: "I can just register on only one exchange. Why do I need so many?" Yes, one exchange might be enough for you and it makes sense to have a main one, but there’s a catch. Crypto is very unpredictable and multifaceted, so it’s wise to have accounts on multiple exchanges, because different exchanges can offer slightly different functionality, trading pairs, different opportunities for arbitrage or promos, and they may react differently to events out of the market (like politics). You can find solid CEX's in the CoinMarketCap exchanges list that was mentioned here couple of times Cryptocurrency Wallets

A cryptocurrency wallet is a digital tool that allows you to securely store, transfer, and receive cryptocurrencies. Think of it as a digital version of your real wallet, but for digital assets instead of cards or cash. These wallets make you the sole proprietor of your crypto, and if you lose access, there’s no way to recover your wallet

They come in two types: hot and cold. And it's not about temperature -> Hot Wallets ♨️♨️♨️ In short, what is a hot wallet? It's just an app on your computer or phone, within which you generate a wallet address, write down a mnemonic phrase from it and use it. Why is the wallet hot? Because it's on a device that is constantly connected to the internet, hence exposed to more risks like hacking attacks. A hot wallet is designed for regular transactions, hence it's on a device you use daily, and this makes it more convenient to use but doesn't give full security guarantees as it's not autonomous (cause it's related to your device) To get started, beginners are usually recommended to use these two hot wallets that you can download: - Metamask: The most popular wallet for EVMs - TrustWallet: A popular multi-currency wallet that supports all EVM networks and most non-EVM networks Creation process is pretty straightforward and if you haven't already, make sure to have both of these apps installed and wallets created. And don't forget about securing your seed phrase for each wallet, don't lose them! If there are hot wallets, then there are... ❄️❄️❄️ -> Cold wallets on the other hand, are devices that don’t have constant internet access, like USB sticks/drives, cards, etc. They are considered one of the safest ways to store crypto for two reasons: 1. They are offline, hence not exposed to external remote attack 2. Such wallets are usually used for storing primarily, not active involvement in transactions and using DeFi, hence the hack chance is significantly lower However, if you lose the device, you lose your money unless the wallet allows you to backup the seed phrase, which you should also store securely. And such wallets are not really suitable for active usage. Why would you need a cold wallet that is less handy than hot one? Think of a cold wallet as a safe deposit box for your crypto, while a hot wallet is like your everyday wallet. It’s all about risk management — many people with significant portfolio keep most of their funds in cold wallets for security ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

How to Trade, Store, and Buy Crypto 📞 - part 1 If you've read all previous posts in this series, congratulations, as we've covered the slightly complicated but very important basics. Now, let’s move on to easier and semi-passive practice. To become a crypto person, you need to have some crypto, you don't want to be a no-coiner. To do this, you need to address three questions: how to trade, store, and buy it -> How to trade crypto. We'll start with this step, as it includes two main actors in any crypto-related activity, and it will highlight some aspects of storing and buying crypto later on. There are two main ways to trade crypto: 1. Centralized Exchanges (CEX) 2. Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) CEX. A centralized exchange is a platform where you can trade various assets. The trades occur on the company's servers, not on the blockchain, so you have to trust the exchange with your money, which exposes you to some level of risk (in case of reputable exchanges, very minor risk). Steps to trade on a CEX: 1. Register on the exchange 2. Fund your exchange wallet (deposit funds). For example, you'll get an individual address (e.g., 0x3502350fsdgsdg......sgsg23502300) to deposit funds. If you transfer 500 USDT BEP20 to it, the money is now with the exchange, not you. You trust CEX with your funds 3. Once the deposit is credited, the exchange updates your balance 4. You can buy the coins you need (e.g., ETH), which are stored in the exchange's wallet, but are shown on your balance. If you want, you can withdraw funds to your wallet to ensure their safety While there are enough of exchanges that are pretty trustworthy now (unlike in the early days of crypto), the risk of losing funds is never zero. I think many of you have heard about the incident with FTX in 2022 🚾 In short, exchange went bankrupt due to some fraudulent actions, and lots of people got their deposits lost (ranging from couple thousands to millions $), meaning they couldn't withdraw funds from this exchange Is that a shame? Yes, that's why there is another type of exchanges that partially relieves us of the need of trusting centralized exchanges. They're called DEXs DEX

A decentralized exchange allows cryptocurrency transactions directly between users without a trusted third party or intermediary. Unlike CEXs, DEXs do not hold user funds or control transactions. All exchanges occur on the blockchain through smart contracts.

The main difference between DEXs and CEXs is that DEXs do not hold user funds or control transactions. All exchanges happen directly on the blockchain via smart contracts. The best part is you don't need to register any accounts — just have a wallet and connect it to the DEX. No emails, passwords, or verifications required However, DEXs can be vulnerable to hacks. Users who grant access to the exchange's smart contract might lose some tokens. You can improve your chances for protection from it, but that's a separate topic There's also a good article on CEX vs DEX, so if you want to make sure that you understand the difference, feel free to read it -> How and where to store crypto. There are three main ways to store crypto: 1. Centralized Exchanges 2. Hot Wallets 3. Cold Wallets Centralized Exchanges. We already know what these are. While it's convenient to store crypto on an exchange, it’s important to remember that any crypto on the exchange is not entirely yours. This doesn’t mean you should never store funds on an exchange. Just avoid storing large sums if you not actively trade with them. Many of users keep an active balance for quick conversions and withdrawals, but just storing a substantial amount there is unwise P.S. More on that in part 2 ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Crypto and crypto projects - part 3 -> NFT 🖼. We've already covered NFTs in the post about financial units in crypto, so this should be pretty fresh in your mind. Typically, an NFT project goes something like this: - An idea for a collection is conceived (e.g., cute penguins) - A certain number of NFTs are created and sold (e.g., 8,888 of such penguins). Creation process is called minting - These NFTs then start trading on the secondary market For instance, the cute penguins mentioned are part of the Pudgy Penguins collection Again, the valid question is "what's the point of NFT projects?" In 99% of cases, they are just a speculative waste of money. However, in rare instances, as was also described earlier, they can be genuinely useful. There also will be a separate post on ways of making money with NFTs, where more details about involved process will be covered -> GameFi 🎮. GameFi refers to games built on the blockchain where the main difference from regular games is the potential to earn money. There also will be a separate post on GameFi, but for now, just know that these are games where you can earn crypto, which can be exchanged for fiat currency (your regular money) For example, here's a translated excerpt from a forum where someone shared their earnings from the crypto game Axie Infinity:

And to pique your interest a bit more, I'll give you some figures. This game generates an income of around $600/month from one account. Playing on two accounts simultaneously takes me exactly 2 hours. With 8 accounts and an 8-hour workday, the income would be about $5k/month

This is actually true, but GameFi has another issue — "ponzinomics." Often, the profit comes from the contributions of new users, but that's another story... -> Memecoins/Shitcoins. Memecoins and shitcoins are essentially the same thing. Here's approximately how the idea for the first memecoin came about:

New money? Security? Decentralization? No, let's use crypto to create meme coins, trade them frantically, and take money from newbies

A memecoin is literally an 'empty' (with no use/technology) meme token. For example, Dogecoin is a token tied to a dog meme with no underlying technology or other value. It’s just a meme 🐶 Why are memecoins needed? Simply to trade them! Memecoins, unlike real projects, are easy to launch and advertise. Every day, hundreds of new memecoins are created, which quickly rise and fall in value as fast. Liquidity (in this case you can just call it money) flows rapidly from one memecoin to another. Only a very few remain valuable after a few years with decent market caps. Now you can see another influx of celeb meme coins, some of them literally being scams (rug pulls, like recent Hulk Hogan's one). And memecoins probably have the biggest density of scams related to tokens, so keep that in mind when you see a +3000% 24h change on some new shitcoin And of course there will be a separate post on memecoins if you decide to be a degen yourself or try to outplay other degens 🎰 The next posts block will cover handling crypto essentials: buying, trading, and storing ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Crypto and crypto projects - part 2 2020 - The DeFi Boom. In 2020, the influx of funds into DeFi grew dramatically, reaching the $15 billion mark, an increase of 30-50 times. This period saw the emergence of significant projects such as Aave, Curve, and SushiSwap. While I won't go into the specifics of each project, it's important to note that the sector experienced substantial growth during this timeframe Summary of DeFi: - DeFi represents a shift from traditional financial systems to protocols and platforms that run on the blockchain - The key components of DeFi include smart contracts, digital assets, decentralized applications (dApps), and protocols - DeFi aims to eliminate intermediaries, creating a financial ecosystem where users have full control over their assets and transactions, and the project community decides its direction Differences from traditional finance (tradfi). Banks are centralized organizations where people keep money in savings or deposit accounts, earning interest. While this system seems simple and attractive, it offers modest returns and is highly centralized. Bank management can track and restrict your access to your funds. In traditional finance, banks provide liquidity for loans, whereas in DeFi, ordinary users like you are the liquidity providers Types of DeFi Projects. Let's look at the main types of projects in DeFi: • DEX (Decentralized Exchange): it's one of the first DeFi projects new user can face. DEX allows users to swap USDT for ETH (or any other pair) directly on the blockchain via smart contracts, without involving a centralized exchange • DeFi Lending: platforms like Compound allow users to take out loans or lend their crypto at interest. The mechanics of this will be detailed in the chapter about earning on DeFi • Bridges: While not strictly DeFi, bridges like Connext, Stargate, and Portal Bridge allow the transfer of funds between different blockchains without using centralized exchanges • other projects: this category includes decentralized futures and options, insurance, synthetic tokens, etc. The DeFi sector is vast and crucial to crypto, ranking second only to blockchains. However, going into too much detail at the beginning isn't recommended -> Infrastructure Projects. In addition to blockchains and DeFi, the third most important category of projects is infrastructure projects. These complement the first two types: • Oracles: used by protocols in their smart contracts to receive external data, enabling the closed environment of the blockchain to interact with real-world data points. For example, a protocol offering synthetic Nasdaq-listed stocks on the blockchain would need to extract external data from the stock market. With oracles, the protocol can do this. Examples include Graph and Chainlink. • Storage: protocols like Filecoin and Arweave allow decentralized data storage, eliminating the need for centralized services like Amazon, OneDrive, and Dropbox. It eliminates a single point of failure problem. Users can rent out their free storage space and get paid in the protocol's token • Domains: each wallet address can be replaced with a short domain, such as cryppi.eth, making it easier to use and remember There are many other types of infrastructure projects, but these examples should give you a good overview P.S. in the 3rd part we'll describe NFT projects, GameFi, and memecoins (yes, they are hyped up again ✋) ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Crypto and crypto projects - part 1 Earlier we said that crypto is essentially an implementation of traditional tools on the blockchain (payment networks = blockchains, etc.). Now we need to understand what exactly are the projects in the crypto space, and a crucial term you'll come across very often in the future: web3 🌐 Internet era of humankind development is usually divided into 3 periods: • web1 (late 90s): This was a one-way internet where only site owners could change the content. No profiles, no social media. You could only be a viewer, not a creator • web2 (00s, 2010s): This is the centralized internet we're all familiar with. Users can create content — think Telegram, Instagram, YouTube. You are both a viewer and a creator • web3 (2020+): To put it simply, this is crypto — a decentralized internet. Web3 is often described with the formula: read + write + own. You are a viewer, a creator, and an owner, with all your actions recorded on the blockchain instead of company servers. This represents a revolutionary shift, although not all projects fully embrace these principles So, what projects exist in this web3 space? -> Blockchains. We already described blockchains here. They are fundamental to crypto. Without blockchains, none of the other crypto projects listed below would be possible. To recap, Blockchain: = payment system = a system where all your crypto data is stored (wallet balances, transactions, etc.) = the circulatory system of the crypto world = everything -> DeFi. With blockchains established, we have a foundation for new projects. On a pure blockchain, you can typically only send coins or tokens between wallets. That’s quite limited. So why bother with crypto if that’s all it can do? This question led to a lot of development activity between 2015 and 2020, and this activity carried on to this day Ethereum launched in 2015. We've already discussed this innovative blockchain and its introduction of smart contracts. It was discussed what smart contract is, let's see an example on why it's a revolutionary concept. Imagine a task where a boss needs to send 1 ETH to an employee every day at 20:00 UTC. There are two ways to handle this: 1. Manually: every day, the boss manually enters employee's address and sends 1 ETH there. Inconvenient and impractical 2. Via smart contract: the boss (or a programmer) sets up a smart contract on the Ethereum blockchain to automatically send 1 ETH to the employee’s wallet every day at 20:00 UTC. Automated and efficient In essence, a smart contract is a PROGRAM on the blockchain. It can be as simple or as complex as needed, with various conditions and automation built in. And this brings so much value to the system, that smart contract concept is rightfully deemed revolutionary 😱

DeFi is an ecosystem of decentralized financial services and applications built on public blockchains. It operates through smart contracts, eliminating the need for traditional third-party intermediaries, making it effectively decentralized

2017 - first DeFi protocols. Smart contracts became more sophisticated, leading to the launch of the first DeFi protocols on the Ethereum blockchain. For example: - Compound allowed users to borrow/lend crypto directly on the blockchain without providing documents or credit history. Essentially, the banking system was transferred to the blockchain with no intermediaries - MakerDAO enabled the issuance of the DAI stable against cryptocurrencies and real assets. For instance, if you bought ETH at a low price in 2015 and don't want to sell it, but you urgently need crypto dollars, you can pledge ETH and receive DAI stables in return, which you can use freely but must eventually repay - dYdX facilitated margin trading directly on the blockchain The main advantage of DeFi apps is that they don’t require personal data or verification. Plus, you’re not trusting a closed exchange code but a fully (usually) open smart contract that you can audit yourself ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Even though I'm not actively daily trading in the current market, I've noticed some 'bears' cheering for the recent corrections. My advice to all of you is to 'zoom out your chart.' Stop focusing on lower tfs as if they will tell you the story you want to hear. Instead, try to find some objectivity and the bigger trend 📈 My position remains the same: I'm all in, and the party is coming. We'll see what today brings with FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting. Although I doubt that'll trigger any rapid market change, there's a chance it might be a good start. Also retail might find some success and yolo inspiration from the ongoing GME battle, where the stock has bounced back to ~$30/share even with new 75mil shares diluting it. GameStop now has $4B+ cash on hands for M&A deals 😈 So once this saga is over and if RK + retail win (or perceive it as a win), we will see some very pleasant turbulence in our land. And there’s so much more happening... Until then, I'm gonna hold and prepare for the real fun, continuing steady education of new retail to help them stay with the #welcometocrypto series P.S. Don’t overlook these educational posts. They can offer valuable information, even for the most experienced among us. Our experiences can vary greatly, and it's always beneficial to learn something new or refresh the basics ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY

The Basic Units in Crypto 🪙 There are four main financial units in crypto: coins, tokens, stablecoins, and NFTs -> Coins. Imagine a coin as the foundation. A coin has its own blockchain named after it, and everything on that blockchain relies on it because the coin is needed to pay the network's fees. Without the coin, the blockchain wouldn't function at all. Here are a few examples: • BTC (Bitcoin network) • ETH (Ethereum) • SOL (Solana) • TON (The Open Network/TON) • APT (Aptos) and others -> Tokens. Tokens are built on top of existing blockchains, unlike coins which have their own blockchains. Each token has a smart contract that gives it specific utility. There are different types of tokens based on their functionality: • Governance (project management): Similar to stocks; the more tokens you have, the more influence you have over the project (e.g., MKR, ARB, OP) • Payment: Some projects require payment in their tokens for specific functionality • Utility Tokens: These provide benefits like reduced fees or participation in activities (e.g., KCS from the Kucoin exchange) • Stablecoins and NFTs - these two are tokens as well, but they are so widely used that they deserve a separate category each⬇️ • and other functionality you can put into a smart contract -> Stablecoins. Stablecoins are designed to make trading cryptocurrencies convenient by being pegged to fiat currencies, usually the US dollar. The major stablecoins are USDT, USDC, and BUSD. They need to be backed by something, and there are two main types of collateral: 1. Real dollars in a bank: The most common method 2. Overcollateralization: Backed by other cryptocurrencies whose value is higher than the stablecoins issued. For example, 1mil DAI (stablecoing) could be backed by $1.3mil in ETH -> NFTs. Yes, the same NFTs that had an incredible run with pictures 🖼 being sold for $millions, only to see most of them drop heavily in price afterwards. NFTs are unique tokens that cannot be replaced or substituted

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a unique digital identifier that is recorded on a blockchain and is used to certify ownership and authenticity. It cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided

This NFTs uniqueness means that you can't send or divide them like you would with cryptocurrencies. For example, if you owe someone 0.02 BTC for some work, you can easily send them that 0.02 BTC. But if someone asks you for 0.5 NFT from some collection, you can't just send them half an NFT, you won't rip this digital asset apart and that's exactly why they are non-fungible. NFTs are often associated with digital art (pictures), but they can also represent other digital or physical assets like videos, audio files, etc. In fact, NFTs are a promising technology with potential future applications, such as creating digital contracts for property ownership. However, for the average user, they might currently have a 'bad aura,' so to speak. Each of you can easily create your own token or NFT in just a few minutes. If you're interested, just google how to do it 🧠 ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Explorers Explorer is an important stepping stone in understanding and working with blockchains and should be easy to understand 🔍 As it was mentioned in previous posts, the beauty of crypto is that all transactions are transparent. If I give you my card number, you'll never know how much money I have there. But if I give you my wallet address, you can easily find out how much funds do I have there, who I transferred money to, when I created the wallet, and so on. Full transparency, but with no names or personal details — just addresses. And the only reason you know it's my address is because I told you. If someone else looks at that address, they won't directly know who it belongs to or whose (not which) addresses I interact with To see the history of a wallet in a digestible form, you can use tools called explorers. A blockchain explorer is a tool or website that provides detailed information about blocks, transactions, wallet balances, etc. In a day-to-day work active crypto users interact with explorers almost every day Typical explorers:

ETH Etherscan - https://etherscan.io/address/0xa83114a443da1cecefc50368531cace9f37fcccb BSC BscScan - https://bscscan.com/address/0xe2d3a739effcd3a99387d015e260eefac72ebea1 SOL SolScan - https://solscan.io/account/DCZPFdbaumPesuEbFJVp2wQzevoGNyqyiTQ4BnimQVte

Finding an explorer for a specific blockchain shouldn't be a challenge, it's easily solved by googling 'blockchain name + scan/explorer.' And as always, be careful with your data, you may run into scam links since it's all Internet There are also ultimate explorers that let you check balances across many networks at once. For example, Debank allows you to conveniently monitor EVM wallets and shows all positions of the wallet on DeFi services (deposits, loans, etc.). There are also Zapper and Zerion, which are direct rivals of Debank, but it's always good to have some versatility, so feel free to choose your instrument And there's also an ultimate, powerful tool for everything — CoinStats. You can connect CEXs (centralized exchanges) and make CoinStats automatically track your purchased assets, check regular wallets (not just EVM), and much more. I know it's an indispensable tool for many investors and traders ⌨️ P.S. In the next post, I'll describe coins, tokens, stablecoins, and NFTs, explaining their differences and the utility they offer ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Main blockchain groups - part 4 L1 and L2: What's that? This should be much easier to understand 😅 Remember that Ethereum can only process ~15 transactions per second, and the fees might be quite high? Keep that in mind. So, Ethereum is a Layer-1 blockchain (L1). Layer-1 means it's the base layer Layer-2 (L2) blockchains are created to enhance the L1 blockchain and solve some of its problems, usually by increasing the number of transactions per second and lowering fees L2 blockchains operate on top of L1 blockchains. To put it simply, one transaction in L1 can contain information about 100 transactions in L2. Commission is aggregated, so it increases the number of transactions per second and reduces the commission fee per transaction There are already many L2 blockchains (sometimes also referred to as sub-blockchains) running on top of Ethereum, including Arbitrum, Optimism, Scroll, Manta, Base, Metis, zkSync, IMX, Linea, Starknet, zkFair, and many others. You can check the full list here: https://l2beat.com/scaling/summary On your crypto journey you'll 100% also see L0 and L3 projects being mentioned. L0 is basically an infrastructure (software&hardware) that makes blockchains possible at all, so anything that improves hardware, electricity consumption, improving internet services or smth else for the sake of blockchain functionality improvement can be considered a L0. L3 represents the top layer in the hierarchy, encompassing dApps (decentralized apps). Unlike traditional apps that run on a single project's server, dApps operate based on smart contracts. These applications provide specific functionalities that allow end users to fully leverage blockchain technology. Uniswap and Opensea are good examples of L3 projects How do I transfer funds between blockchains? 🔁 Suppose you want to transfer USDT from Arbitrum to USDT on Solana. What should you do? There are two ways to solve this problem: 1. The most efficient and easiest way: Exchanges. You deposit to a crypto exchange and then withdraw the desired coin to the desired address. It's very simple, but the downside is that you are trusting your money to a middleman at some point 2. More decentralized but less efficient and more expensive: Bridges. Bridges are projects that connect two blockchains with different economies and technologies, allowing them to interact directly. Bridges enable coin transfers between blockchains, but they have limitations. There are often only a few routes and available tokens, and the fees can be high. For example, transferring a W token on the Solana network to a BTC on the Bitcoin network via a bridge isn't possible. For such specific requests, exchanges are usually the go-to solution ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Main blockchain groups - part 3 EVM and Non-EVM blockchains ⚠️ This is a critical concept for beginners and a common source of mistakes. EVM stands for Ethereum Virtual Machine. It simulates a computer and runs smart contracts (basically a program that allows to run smart-contracts and some other things). While the technical details aren’t necessary to grasp initially, it’s important to know it exists. Many different networks operate on this virtual machine, with Ethereum being the most prominent An Ethereum wallet address looks like this:

0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297

It consists of 42 characters and starts with the typical 0x prefix Interestingly, this same address is used by thousands of other networks, including blockchains like Arbitrum, Optimism, zkSync, BSC, Polygon, AVAX C-Chain, Base, and Mantle. You can find a comprehensive list of EVM networks at chainlist.org All EVM networks share similarities: smart contracts are written in the Solidity programming language, and they operate on the same basic principles. Therefore, if you own an address like 0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297, you will receive coins sent to you in any EVM network. To interact with EVM networks, a Metamask wallet is sufficient, but you are always free to explore your options There are also non-EVM networks, which cannot be accessed through Metamask. Why do we need non-EVM blockchains? As mentioned earlier, nothing is perfect, and everyone is exploring new and optimal solutions. Non-EVM blockchains use smart contracts written in different programming languages such as Rust, Leo, and others. Examples of non-EVM blockchains: Bitcoin, Solana, Cardano, Terra, Algorand, Near Protocol, TON, Sui, Osmosis, Aptos, EOS, Aleo, ICP, Injective. You can find more of them here, as the list can go on and on and on Here's the most crucial part where beginners often get confused: the wallet addresses for EVM and non-EVM networks are different. - EVM address (0x + ***):

0x388C818CA8B9251b393131C08a736A67ccB19297

- Non-EVM address examples: Bitcoin:

1Lbcfr7sAHTD9CgdQo3HTMTkV8LK4ZnX71

Solana:

jtojtomepa8beP8AuQc6eXt5FriJwfFMwQx2v2f9mCL

Aptos (also starts with 0x like EVM, but longer):

0xa814225a11b417a0825eada7cf52859294fdf57dcb5fecf1d065782cd66937ce

So, if you're asked to send USDT on Solana, make sure to send USDT Solana (USDT - token, Solana - network). Similarly, if you're asked to send ETH on Arbitrum, send an ETH Arbitrum (ETH - token, Arbitrum - network) Many people also get confused with these network differences:

ERC20 ≠ BEP20 ≠ BEP2

ERC20: Token on the Ethereum (ETH) network BEP20: Token on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) network BEP2: Token on the Binance Chain network (yes, Binance has two networks, one EVM and one non-EVM) A bit about multi-currency wallets • Metamask: This wallet only supports EVM networks. You cannot store Bitcoin or Solana here • Trust Wallet: This wallet supports multiple currencies. With one seed phrase (12 words), it generates many wallets across different networks (both EVM and non-EVM). However, not all non-EVM networks are available on Trust Wallet. If you need a rare network, research official sources (like the blockchain's website or Discord) to find out which wallets support it P.S. I hope this information is helpful and will prevent you from some of the less obvious but potentially costly mistakes on your journey ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Main blockchain groups - part 2 How is a Bitcoin blockchain formed? Network users sign transactions and send them to network nodes. At these nodes, transactions are collected into a mempool (memory pool), which is a list of unconfirmed transactions. A miner takes a batch of transactions from the mempool, forms a block, adds a random character (nonce), and calculates the hash. If the hash meets the required difficulty (with 19 leading zeros as of now), the miner is rewarded for the block: 6.25 BTC before halving and 3.175 BTC after halving that happened recently. If the hash doesn't meet the requirement, the miner changes the nonce and tries again, repeating this process millions of times 🎲 Meanwhile, all other miners are doing the same thing, competing to be the first to find the correct hash and earn the block reward. The energy cost of mining one 💸 can range anywhere between $15,000 to $40,000, depending on electricity prices at miner's location These calculations might seem pointless at first glance, but they are crucial. Each new block includes the hash of the previous block (that's why it's a chain of blocks), making it impossible to change any data in a block without recalculating all subsequent hashes. Given the effort required to calculate the hash of one block, altering all blocks would be practically infeasible. This system ensures the high reliability and security of the network ⚠️ In theory, a '51% Attack' is possible — when a miner or a group of miners control more than half of the network's total processing power. This could allow them to double-spend (confirm a block and then create a separate chain without the transaction), reject or confirm only certain transactions, or create separate chains of blocks In practice, this is not feasible today. No organization, including the largest governments, could amass the necessary energy and equipment. The complexity and cost of mining achieve true decentralization, making it impossible for any single entity to have enough resources to control the network True decentralization is not cheap, but consider the traditional financial system's costs, with its superstructures, regulations, KYC, AML, Swift, correspondent accounts, sanctions, counter-sanctions, and complex accounting and controls. These costs are not transparent, no one knows how expensive it really is 👀 PoW critics use the openness of mining information — everything is published and verifiable — claiming that it's too expensive to maintain such systems, ignoring the tradfi, where costs are opaque. But even in ancient times, mining gold, silver, and forging coins required resources, and no one considered it useless. Money production has always required input of resources In a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) system, validators stake a certain number of coins to validate transactions. When a block is formed, it must be confirmed by validators. If validators confirm a block with a fake transaction, they lose the staked coins. Validators receive rewards and part of the transaction fees for confirming the block Advantages of PoS: - High throughput - Speed of transactions - Energy efficiency Disadvantages: - Prone to centralization - Susceptible to censorship Next we'll describe EVM and non-EVM blockchains. Understanding the difference between blockchains will help you manage your wallets and coins more effectively, saving your funds, and avoiding common mistakes that many newcomers make ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Main blockchain groups - part 1 Blockchains can be categorized in three ways, with each category containing two types of blockchains: • PoW and PoS (there are other consensuses as well, but these are the main ones) • EVM and non-EVM • L1 and L2 It might seem complicated, but don't worry — we'll break it down for you in simple terms -> PoW and PoS These might look like scary abbreviations, but they're actually quite simple. PoW is Proof-of-Work and PoS is Proof-of-Stake consensus algorithm. You might be wondering, "What are proofs, works, and stakes?" You probably know that to mine Bitcoin, you need a computer or an ASIC, run a miner on it, and wait for the profit. Miners perform the essential task of keeping the network alive by solving complex math problems. This type of blockchain, where miners do computational work, is called Proof-of-Work (PoW) Moving on. Remember a few years ago when the prices of graphics cards skyrocketed and your little brother couldn't as easily afford a new GPU? Miners were buying them to mine ETH, because Ethereum used the PoW system. However, on September 15, 2022, Ethereum performed a legendary transition to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). What does that mean? Now, you don’t need GPU's for mining; you just need to "stake" (i.e., to put it simply, hold) 32 ETH in your wallet, which is about $120,000 at the time of writing To summarize: PoW: You need hardware to mine PoS: You need to stake cryptocurrency to participate in the network There are other types of proofs/consensus algos, but they are less common, so we won't go into them here. For example, Chia uses Proof-of-Space (which requires hard drives). If you're interested, just google "Consensus Mechanisms in Blockchain" Now we'll get into more technical detail on how blockchain works to deepen your understanding PoW is a method used to secure blockchain transactions. Here's how it works: all transactions in the network are grouped into blocks. Each block is then hashed, creating a unique string of characters called a hash. Hashing is a mathematical function that converts input data of any size into a fixed-size string. Any change in the input data results in a completely different hash, making each hash unique. Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 algorithm for hashing. While calculating a hash is straightforward (you could even do it manually with a pen and paper), not just any hash will do for the blockchain. Here’s a hash of the latest block at the time of writing:

00000000000000000002f4db3f47a24f3c949db28594d05a92146a68bd3583e1

Notice the leading zeros? The goal is to find a "beautiful" hash with a specific number of leading zeros. How to get such a hash? To find such a hash, a random character called a nonce is added to the block. Changing even one character in the block changes the hash completely. It's mathematically impossible to reverse-engineer the original text from a given hash The number of leading zeros required in the hash is determined by the network's difficulty, which adjusts based on the number of miners. More miners mean higher difficulty, requiring more leading zeros. Conversely, if fewer miners are active (due to rates being low and mining being not as beneficial), the difficulty decreases. For instance, in the early days of Bitcoin in 2009, a hash with two leading zeros was sufficient. Now, you need a hash with 19 leading zeros. The system automatically adjusts the difficulty to ensure that one block is created approximately every 10 minutes P.S. More on it in the next part ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Blockchains and why there are so many of them - part 2 🔗 The Ethereum blockchain is the largest follower of Bitcoin. What sets it apart? 🪙 Ethereum introduced a revolutionary solution called smart contracts. A smart contract is a computer protocol that executes and verifies transactions within the blockchain once predetermined contract terms are met. It has changed the cryptocurrency landscape forever Here’s a simple example to illustrate. On the Bitcoin blockchain, if you want to sell BTC, you need to either a) find someone to buy your Bitcoin or b) deposit your BTC on an exchange and sell it there, with all settlements happening on the exchange's servers, not the blockchain. Ethereum, however, allows you to do everything within the blockchain. You can easily exchange your ETH for USDT ('crypto-dollar') with just two clicks In the Bitcoin blockchain, everything is quite linear — you can only send BTC between wallets. Smart contracts, on the other hand, make the Ethereum blockchain truly "smart." They enable you to set special conditions for transactions, borrow or lend funds, create your own crypto games, and much more. This level of functionality simply isn’t possible on the Bitcoin blockchain And that's a key advantage over Bitcoin. There are many more, but you don't need to know them all at this point. However, Ethereum also has its drawbacks: - High commissions: This is probably the main issue. Due to the large number of users on the network, commissions can be very high at times. There have been instances where transferring USDT between wallets required $50+ in fees - Limited throughput: Ethereum also struggles with this, handling only 15 tx/s on average While Ethereum revolutionized the blockchain world with smart contracts, it still faces similar problems as Bitcoin. This is why new blockchains are being created to address these issues Let's look at a third example — Solana blockchain. What are its advantages? 🪙 - High TPS (tx/s): Solana can theoretically (with implementing scaling solutions) process up to ~700,000 transactions per second, though in practice, it's around 2,000-3,000 on raw blockchain - Low fees: Each basic transaction with current SOL price costs only $0.0008 (0,000005 SOL), which is practically nothing. Solana won't drain your wallet with high transaction fees Despite these advantages, Solana isn't without its problems. The network has a history of frequent outages. A couple of years ago, Solana was going down almost daily. A crash means the blockchain stops processing transactions entirely. While this issue seemed to have been resolved, the network experienced another major outage as recently as February 2024 So there you have it. Nothing is perfect. This is why more and more new solutions are being developed. There are various reasons why new blockchains are created: • Some blockchains are designed specifically for transfers (e.g., Ripple) • Others focus on anonymous storage (e.g., Monero, ZCash) • Some are optimized for low-cost transactions (e.g., TON, Solana) • There are blockchains tailored for NFTs (e.g., Flow, Frame) • Some are built as layers on top of other blockchains, known as Layer 2 (L2), to increase TPS and reduce commissions ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Roaring Kitty strikes again? part 3 My prediction of 100k viewers for Kitty’s stream was a delightful underestimation. If you missed it, take a look at the screenshot showing more than half a million people tuned in when he finally went live (after being late). At its peak, around 644,000 people were watching, filling the equivalent of 10 huge stadiums or a decent-sized European city. That's a massive live audience for a guy who just likes the stock Seeing the price of $GME, you might think the stream didn’t go well for RK, that he lost momentum and it’s all over. But the price was already significantly down hours before the stream, thanks to GameStop dropping two bombshells: an early earnings report showing a 29% YoY net sales drop and an announcement of selling an additional 75 million shares. During the stream, Roaring Kitty was casually talking about memes and beer while facing a -$200,000,000 day. You’ve got to be either completely nuts or incredibly good to handle that. Remember, we only see what we’re 'allowed' to see Considering the stock was halted from trading over 10 times during the stream (and a couple of times before) due to 'stock volatility,' and there was no gain in value during the broadcast, Keith might have managed to protect himself from current and potential 'market manipulation' accusations from authorities and 3rd parties. Interestingly, he’s still in the money on his calls, fully invested, and there’s still plenty of time to stir the pot For us, it’s another reminder why we’re right in choosing crypto — no trading halts, session pauses, or data glitches (like the recent one with Berkshire Hathaway and others). In tradfi, you’re caged with lions who have guns while you’re barehanded. In the crypto world, the playing field seems much fairer ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY

Roaring Kitty strikes again? part 3 My prediction of 100k viewers for Kitty’s stream was a delightful underestimation. If you missed it, take a look at the screenshot showing more than half a million people tuned in when he finally went live (after being late). At its peak, around 644,000 people were watching, filling the equivalent of 10 huge stadiums or a decent-sized European city. That's a massive live audience for a guy who just likes the stock Seeing the price of $GME, you might think the stream didn’t go well for RK, that he lost momentum and it’s all over. But the price was already significantly down hours before the stream, thanks to GameStop dropping two bombshells: an early earnings report showing a 29% YoY net sales drop and an announcement of selling an additional 75 million shares. During the stream, Roaring Kitty was casually talking about memes and beer while facing a -$200,000,000 day. You’ve got to be either completely nuts or incredibly good to handle that. Remember, we only see what we’re 'allowed' to see Considering the stock was halted from trading over 10 times during the stream (and a couple of times before) due to 'stock volatility,' and there was no gain in value during the broadcast, Keith might have managed to protect himself from current and potential 'market manipulation' accusations from authorities and 3rd parties. Interestingly, he’s still in the money on his calls, fully invested, and there’s still plenty of time to stir the pot For us, it’s another reminder why we’re right in choosing crypto — no trading halts, session pauses, or data glitches (like the recent one with Berkshire Hathaway and others). In tradfi, you’re caged with lions who have guns while you’re barehanded. In the crypto world, the playing field seems much fairer ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY

Roaring Kitty strikes again? part 3 My prediction of 100k viewers for Kitty’s stream was a delightful underestimation. If you missed it, take a look at the screenshot showing more than half a million people tuned in when he finally went live (after being late). At its peak, around 644,000 people were watching, filling the equivalent of 10 huge stadiums or a decent-sized European city. That's a massive live audience for a guy who just likes the stock Seeing the price of $GME, you might think the stream didn’t go well for RK, that he lost momentum and it’s all over. But the price was already significantly down hours before the stream, thanks to GameStop dropping two bombshells: an early earnings report showing a 29% YoY net sales drop and an announcement of selling an additional 75 million shares. During the stream, Roaring Kitty was casually talking about memes and beer while facing a -$200,000,000 day. You’ve got to be either completely nuts or incredibly good to handle that. Remember, we only see what we’re 'allowed' to see Considering the stock was halted from trading over 10 times during the stream (and a couple of times before) due to 'stock volatility,' and there was no gain in value during the broadcast, Keith might have managed to protect himself from current and potential 'market manipulation' accusations from authorities and 3rd parties. Interestingly, he’s still in the money on his calls, fully invested, and there’s still plenty of time to stir the pot For us, it’s another reminder why we’re right in choosing crypto — no trading halts, session pauses, or data glitches (like the recent one with Berkshire Hathaway and others). In tradfi, you’re caged with lions who have guns while you’re barehanded. In the crypto world, the playing field seems much fairer ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY

Blockchains and why are there so many of them? 🔗 So, we've smoothly transitioned to blockchains. But what exactly is a blockchain? A blockchain is a system where all your crypto data is stored — like your wallet balance, all your transactions, and more. You can kinda think of it like Visa, Mastercard, or a huge Excel spreadsheet that keeps a record of all wallet balances and transactions. Why is it called a blockchain? You won’t believe it, but it’s because it’s made up of blocks. Yes, it's just a chain of blocks followed by other blocks, 1 by 1. It’s not complicated. Block is basically a file with stored and encrypted data. It's convenient, optimal, and, most importantly, secure for the blockchain. Blocks are essential for maintaining the integrity and security of the blockchain. By storing transactions in blocks and chaining them together, it becomes very difficult to tamper with or change the data on the blockchain due to the blocks' reliance on one another Each block contains a certain number of transactions. Let's say there are 100 transactions from the entire network. Within that block, all transactions are processed, checked by all validators, and then we move on. The blockchain works like a conveyor belt: - A new block appears - All transactions are processed - The block is written to the blockchain - It’s verified, and no one can change that block - Then we move on to process the next block, and the cycle continues 🔁 You could spend a lot more time explaining how blockchain works, but honestly, you don’t need to. Just remember this one thing: the analog of fiat payment systems in crypto is blockchain. And everything in crypto is based on blockchains You’ve surely heard of the Bitcoin blockchain, and maybe Ethereum too. This might leave you with two questions: 1. Why do we need additional blockchains when we already have Bitcoin? 2. How many blockchains are there? Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency with its own blockchain and is still the largest by market capitalization (the total value of all coins). So, why create new blockchains? The answer is simple: Bitcoin isn't perfect. Nothing in this world is perfect, which is why we keep evolving. Here’s what’s not perfect about Bitcoin: • Low throughput: It can handle only 7 transactions per second, which is painfully slow compared to Visa's ~24,000 tx/second • High fees: At the time of writing, avg transaction fees are around $3-4 with occasional spikes to higher values. Who wants to pay that much just to buy a hot dog? • Limited functionality: Bitcoin only handles BTC transfers between wallets. That’s not enough for a full-scale financial revolution And there’s more... In short, Bitcoin's blockchain has its limitations, so other blockchains have emerged, either as competitors or to offer additional features We'll cover ETH and some other blockchains in the next post ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY #welcometocrypto

Roaring Kitty strikes again part 2 As I told you, DFV isn’t shortsighted enough to use his followers as liquidity for an exit, at least not right off the bat😅 And it seems that the fact that traditional markets have trading sessions and waiting time in between them played in his favour, as there was enough time to build up necessary suspense. He's still sitting on his huge position, and his followers are convinced its 2021 all over again, this time for real (unlike it was this May, when Keith only hinted his comeback). In four days he made forgotten stock rise almost 3x - from ~$23/share to ~$61/share in after-hours trading (it even reached $67 at some point). The funniest part? All he did was post his position without any further comments, just showing people that he is in and he is holding. Almost all skeptics I saw on crypto twitter have now conceded and accepted that shorting RK was a bad idea. But I understand their initial sentiment – it's all in the trad/crypto markets difference. His calls are expiring on June 21st, and I think he'll make some big moves before then, driving price upwards even more. If people aped in with no leadership/communication, imagine where they could go with coordinated action (hello, market manipulation 😂) And Keith has scheduled a live stream at 16:00 UTC (12pm ET). 11 thousands of hot-heads are already there waiting, 8,5 hours before the stream. It could easily be 100k viewers when he starts, making for a very interesting last weekday trading session for some. And who knows what could happen over the weekend, leading into the next trading week. That's the power of community. Watch, try to understand, and learn ➡️ bingx.com/partner/1 Trading 🔀 BingX In-app code - 1 CRYPTO | PERRY