65 answers
Quick answers
The questions people actually arrive with, answered in one screen each. Every one carries the date it was last checked, and links to the longer version if you want it.
The basics
What the thing actually is, before any of the rest matters.
Is USDT the same as Bitcoin?No — one tracks a dollar, the other floats. Who issues each, and why it matters.
Can anyone see my wallet balance?Yes. What a public ledger reveals, and what it doesn't.
What is a blockchain, in plain words?A list of who owns what, held by thousands of computers at once so no single one can rewrite it.
Is crypto anonymous?No. It is pseudonymous, permanent and public — which is a very different thing, and often less private than cash.
Who controls Bitcoin?Nobody, in the sense people usually mean. Changes require most participants to voluntarily run the same new software.
Can a blockchain be hacked?The big chains, essentially no. Almost every loss you read about happened somewhere else — an app, an exchange, a person.
Why does crypto have any value?For the same uncomfortable reason anything else does: enough people accept it. Which is also why the price moves the way it does.
Can I buy less than one whole coin?Yes. Bitcoin divides into 100 million units, and every platform sells fractions.
What is a smart contract?A program stored on a chain that anybody can call and nobody can quietly change. Not a contract, and not necessarily smart.
What is a stablecoin, and is it actually stable?A token whose issuer promises it is worth a dollar. The promise is the product, and the promise is the risk.
Buying
Routes, costs, verification and the deposits that do not arrive.
What is the cheapest way to buy crypto?Almost always a local bank transfer plus a normal order. The convenient routes cost several times more.
Can I buy crypto without giving ID?Barely, and the routes that promise it charge heavily for it or are not what they claim.
How much money do I need to start?Technically a few units of currency. Practically, an amount you would shrug at losing while you learn.
Why did my bank decline the payment to an exchange?Usually a bank-level block on crypto merchants, not a legal problem and not the exchange refusing you.
I sent money to an exchange and it has not arrived. What now?Check the reference code and the clock before you worry — most delayed deposits are one of four ordinary things.
What is the difference between an exchange and a "buy crypto" app?One matches you against other people at a visible price. The other quotes you a price and keeps the difference.
Why is the price different on every exchange?Because each one is its own market. The gaps are usually small, and the large ones tell you something.
Is my money safe on an exchange?It is a claim on a company, not property you hold. That is the whole distinction, and it has decided several bankruptcies.
Why does an exchange want my ID and where the money came from?Because the rules that let it touch the banking system require it. Refusing usually ends with the account frozen.
Can I buy crypto with cash?Yes, through a machine or a counter — and both cost far more than the boring route.
Wallets and keys
Seed phrases, devices, and what happens when something is lost.
Do I need a hardware wallet?Depends on the amount and how often you move it. A threshold you can apply.
What is a seed phrase?Twelve or twenty-four words that are the wallet itself. Whoever has them has the coins, from anywhere, forever.
Where should I keep my seed phrase?On paper or metal, in a place safe from fire, water and other people. Not in anything that connects to a network.
Is a photo of my seed phrase good enough?No. A photo is a file, files sync, and synced files are read by whoever gets into the account.
I lost my phone. Are my coins gone?Not if you have the recovery phrase. The phone was a window; the phrase is the thing.
Do I need more than one wallet?Two is a reasonable habit: one that holds, one that connects to things.
What if my hardware wallet breaks or the company shuts down?Neither loses your coins. The device is a lock, the phrase is the key, and the key works in other locks.
Do wallets cost money?Software wallets are free. Hardware costs something once. Neither charges a fee for holding your coins.
Can I switch to a different wallet app?Usually yes, using the same recovery phrase. If the balance looks empty afterwards, it is almost always a settings problem.
Networks, fees and transfers
Where a transfer goes, what it costs and why it sometimes waits.
What happens if I send to the wrong network?Usually the funds are unrecoverable. When they aren't, and what to check first.
Why is my transaction still pending?Fees, congestion and nonce order — how to tell which one you're facing.
What is gas, and why does it change?What you're actually paying for, and when it's cheapest to move.
Who actually gets the network fee?The participants who process and secure the transaction — not the wallet, not the exchange, and not us.
Why is the same transfer cheap on one network and expensive on another?Because they make different trade-offs about space, speed and who gets to participate.
How many confirmations are enough?Whatever the receiving party requires. For your own transfers, one is usually the moment it stops being reversible in practice.
Can I cancel a transaction?Once it is confirmed, no — by anybody. While it is still pending, sometimes.
What is a bridge, and is it risky?A way to represent an asset from one chain on another. Historically one of the largest single sources of losses.
Which network should I use to send USDT?Whichever the recipient asks for. The same ticker exists on many chains and they cannot receive each other.
The transfer arrived but the token is not showing in my walletUsually the wallet is not displaying it, not that it is missing. Check the address in an explorer first.
What is a layer 2?A network that does the work elsewhere and posts the result to a bigger chain, so users share one settlement cost.
Fraud and mistakes
The questions people ask in the hour after something went wrong.
Support messaged me first. Is that normal?No. Real support responds; it never initiates. Every unsolicited "support" contact is an impersonation.
How do I know whether an airdrop is real?Find it on the project's own site, navigated to yourself. And never approve access to tokens you already hold.
Can stolen crypto be recovered?Occasionally, and only through free routes. Everyone who contacts you offering it for a fee is stealing from you again.
What are the warning signs of a SIM swap?Your phone loses service for no reason. That is the whole warning, and the window is about an hour.
Are free trading signals worth anything?The free ones are the marketing. Consider what has to be true for someone to give away a working method.
How do I check whether a platform is legitimate?Look it up in your country's register. Everything on its own website was written by the platform.
A token I never bought appeared in my wallet. What is it?Advertising, usually hostile. Anybody can send anything to any address. Do not interact with it.
What does "approve" mean when I connect a wallet?It grants a contract standing permission to move a token of yours — often without a limit and until you revoke it.
Someone I met online is teaching me to trade. Should I worry?If the lessons lead to a platform they introduced, yes. There is one test, and it takes a day.
Is it worth reporting a crypto theft to the police?Yes, even when nothing comes back. It is free, it creates the record, and patterns get investigated.
Yield and staking
Where a return comes from, and what a promised number leaves out.
Is staking safe?The mechanism is well understood. The risks are the lock-up, the price, and whoever you stake through.
A platform offers 1% a day. Is that possible?No. Compounded, that is more than thirty-fold in a year, and no activity produces a fixed daily number.
Is APY the same as interest at a bank?The number is calculated similarly. The guarantee behind it is entirely different.
Can I lose money providing liquidity?Yes, and not only through a hack. The mechanical cost has a misleading name: impermanent loss.
Do I need to run a node?No. It is worth doing for verification and privacy, not for income — most nodes earn nothing.
Trading
Orders, leverage and the prices that are not the price you saw.
Is trading crypto just gambling?Not by definition — but without an edge you can name, the arithmetic is the same and the fees are worse.
Why was my position liquidated when the price never reached my level?Because liquidation uses a mark price from several venues, not the last trade on yours.
When is the best time to buy?Nobody knows, including anyone who tells you. What exists is a way to stop the question mattering.
Why did I get a worse price than the one I saw?Two ordinary reasons: the spread, and slippage. Neither is a trick, and both are avoidable.
What is funding on a perpetual contract?A recurring payment between the two sides that keeps the contract tracking the real price.
Rules, tax and registers
What the law asks of platforms, and what to check yourself.
Is crypto legal where I live?In most places yes, with rules attached. The rules differ enormously, and the details are on the country pages.
Do I have to pay tax on crypto?Almost certainly something, somewhere. What triggers it differs by country, and this site is not a tax adviser.
What is MiCA and does it affect me?The EU-wide rulebook for crypto firms. It changes which platforms may serve you and what they must do.
Why does the exchange ask who I am sending funds to?The travel rule. Firms have to pass sender and recipient details along with transfers above a threshold.
How do I check whether a platform is registered?Go to the regulator's own list yourself. Nothing on the platform's site counts as evidence.