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In the cryptocurrency world, a stablecoin is a unique type of token that has its value pegged to the dollar. Created by MakerDAO, DAI is a stablecoin that is decentralized, as opposed to stables like Tether (USDT) and USDC. What is DAI, and how is it different from other stablecoins? DAI strives to be one of the few stablecoins that is actually backed, with various crypto assets locked to ensure this 1:1 ratio remains backed by some intrinsic aspect. As DAI is a stablecoin that lives on the Ethereum blockchain, its collateral is denominated in Ether and used to determine the ratio DAI is currently sitting on. Because DAI is decentralized, there is no one entity that can change the supply in any manner - only smart contracts have this capability. The benefits of a decentralized stablecoin may largely go unnoticed, mainly because all stables are the same price. However, in the event of some form of large scale bank run, collateralized stablecoins would win out and ultimately keep their investors’ (holders’) money safe and secure. There are various crypto stablecoins, but few operate as DAI does. This first of its kind decentralized stable has made its way to the top 25 crypto currencies by market cap while becoming one of the most reputable stablecoins on the market.

In a world that’s increasingly becoming more digital, our lives are changing at a fast rate. Even money has become digital, with cryptocurrencies reaching a market capitalization of over $3 trillion in 2021. A strange world has built itself around crypto, with a diverse and eccentric community that has formed on Twitter, calling itself ‘Crypto Twitter’ (commonly referred to as CT). On CT, a majority of participants are anonymous - many of them might work in crypto, regularly participate in work calls and interact with financial institutions, yet maintain the opportunity to withhold their identity. You might find yourself reading about a new DeFi protocol, only to realize it was created by a few teenagers with anime profile pictures. This is the new paradigm of working in web3 - this is what it means to be ‘anon.’ Because of the flexibility that comes from working in a digital space, anons are able to experience the same things that any other person could, arguably with more benefits. Due to no one knowing the identity behind an anon - except for maybe a few close friends - these individuals are able to operate with impunity online. Nobody has to worry about who said what, or where a person came from in life. As long as anons are able to contribute like anyone else, this is allowed in crypto. Anons can take on any role in crypto, whether it be a community manager of a project or a shadowy super coder working on new DeFi primitives. You could even maintain anonymity and work as an analyst for a venture fund, so long as you put in the work. Some of the most successful individuals in crypto are anon - just think of Tetranode (crypto whale), Zeus (OlympusDAO) or TzTok-Chad (Dopex). Whether or not you choose this path is up to you. Not everyone is cut out for the life of an anon, as most of us enjoy recognition and will eventually fold, revealing our identity to the world. However, the benefits of anonymity cannot be understated. The crypto community is very welcoming and willing to accept anyone, so it could be worth it to fire up a new Twitter handle and start shitposting. Just make sure you pick the right anime pfp.

When Bitcoin first came to be in 2008, this was the first example of what the world now refers to as cryptocurrency. As the years have gone by, tens of thousands of crypto currencies have popped up, largely thanks to Bitcoin’s innovations. But what are these other tokens and how do they work? In the cryptocurrency world, any coin that isn’t Bitcoin or Ethereum is referred to as a token. While Bitcoin utilizes proof of work (PoW) algorithms to approve blocks, many tokens do not, instead opting for proof of stake, which is less intensive than PoW. Because Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency, any token that isn’t as dominant as it is referred to as an alternative - hence the ‘alt’ abbreviation. Because of recent developments in the Ethereum ecosystem and its status as the definite Layer 1 coin, Ethereum isn’t considered a token anymore. At this point, you might be wondering why tokens exist. After all, if Bitcoin and Ethereum are the two strongest coins, why have any alternatives? Because of the ever growing crypto ecosystem, new technologies and use cases pop up nearly everyday. Due to this changing and constantly expanding demand, tokens pop up that fill a need in the ecosystem. Just as Bitcoin serves as a digital store of value and Ethereum is used more as a traditional currency, tokens like Solana or Chainlink fill their respective roles. Due to tokens typically having smaller market caps, they can be more volatile than Bitcoin and Ethereum. Those who wish to speculate on token should know the risks that come, as not all projects have proven themselves and generally carry elevated risk.

While most individuals who own cryptocurrencies utilize centralized exchanges like Coinbase or Binance, there are ways to own your coins on a physical wallet. A hardware wallet holds your private keys away from the internet, this way you can interact with the blockchain without having to worry about the risk of malware or phishing. A hardware wallet can interact with most blockchains, and can be accessed at any time. Custodial services like Binance and Coinbase may allow you to own crypto, but they don't give you access to your private key. A hardware wallet is non-custodial and allows owners of crypto to feel secure knowing only they have possession over their private keys. If a centralized exchange like Binance were to be hacked (god forbid) anyone who had their money on it would be out of luck. Contrast this with the safety of mind that comes from owning a hardware wallet, and the choice is easy to make. While a hardware wallet like this might seem like an unnecessary hurdle, it is actually a precaution that everyone should take advantage of. As more enter the crypto space, it’s important they’re aware of the option of a hardware wallet, as crypto doesn’t optimize for security as much as traditional banks and exchanges do. It’s important to keep your money - and your private keys - safe, so a hardware wallet is definitely something to keep on your radar.

There are tons of different ways to buy cryptocurrency, and thousands of different coins to choose from. If you don’t know anything about crypto and want to dive in, things can be pretty overwhelming. Let’s jump in. Exchanges like Binance and Coinbase make it easy to deposit money. You can use your bank account, PayPal or even a wire transfer. For most, using a bank account will probably be the easiest and fastest way to send money to an exchange. Centralized exchanges make the process easier, as most of their users will be entirely new to the crypto space, and won’t have any existing crypto on a wallet to mess around with. Once you’re ready to get started, you can verify your personal info with an exchange and wait for an approval, which could take less than an hour or up to a week - it really just depends on where you’re at and what exchange you’re using. After this, you can add your bank account info to allow for deposits and withdrawals. Most - if not all - banks are supported, but it might take time for an approval. Once you’re ready, you can deposit whatever amount you feel comfortable investing onto the exchange. From here, your exchange will show you a USD balance (assuming you’re in the United States) and allow you to trade crypto freely. It’s that simple. Once you’ve had enough and want to take some profits back into USD, you can withdraw just as easily. Just make sure to sell your tokens back into USD and specify the withdrawal amount, then wait a few business days. Voila! Just like that, you have interacted with a centralized exchange, and hopefully made some profits in the process. Happy trading!

Crypto traders often get a lot of flack for their levels of risk tolerance, if they even possess any. While the cryptocurrency market is arguably the most volatile in the world, of course this community of degenerates figured out ways to introduce more risk - and even more gains. In trading terms, a spot position is one that refers to the direct purchase of assets. Whatever you buy is the most you can lose. Say you wish to buy $100 of Bitcoin with your new wallet. To do so, you could head over to an exchange like Binance and purchase this and receive the coins within minutes or less - easy as that. On the other hand, margin trading is a bit different - think of it as a means of increasing your risk in order to boost your upside, which can also lead to an increased downside. Margin offers speculators the ability to borrow funds in order to artificially increase a position size. Many exchanges offer leveraged trading up to as much as 25-50x, although levels that high can be very dangerous to the portfolio of an inexperienced investor. When a margin position goes up, traders can experience big gains very fast. After all, if you’re on 10x leverage and something goes up a lot, you’re going to make much more money had you stayed with spot trading. However, the opposite is also true. When a margin position goes down, a trader can get liquidated, losing their principal investment. These are just some of the ups and downs of margin trading - it’s important to gauge how this strategy might fit into your portfolio and investment thesis before you dive in with all of your money. Despite crypto’s volatility, traders can’t seem to get enough. Margin trading doesn’t usually work out for inexperienced traders over the long term, despite how easy it can be to 10x a smaller amount on your first or second try. Just like with any risky investment, something like margin should be utilized with only a small portion of funds and typically remain under 5x leverage. There are benefits to both strategies, as holding spot can often assist investors in downturns due to the minimal risk involved by comparison. You can’t get liquidated holding Bitcoin in a hardware wallet.

In the world of crypto, it can be very difficult keeping up with every new coin or protocol that pops up everyday. Due to the ‘wild west’ atmosphere of crypto, a term has been crafted to describe a coin with very little - if any - purpose: the ‘shit coin.’ In the simplest of definitions, a shit coin can be described as a coin that possesses no inherent value and is ultimately a vehicle for pure speculation. Shit coins are created everyday, and there are far too many of them to create a comprehensive list. Shit coins typically relate to a popular topic at the time (like Elon Musk or Doge) and hold a very low price due to exorbitant supply, often having too many digits to count. Shit coins usually see a very brief pump, rising in price some exorbitant amount whether it be from a paid YouTube video or some influencer shilling it. There is no rhyme or reason to shit coins, which has made them such an odd occurrence in the now well-known crypto space. 2021 saw Dogecoin rise in price to nearly a dollar, becoming one of the top ten cryptocurrencies by market cap. Another shit coin that has done extremely well is the Shiba Inu coin, which saw gains that eclipsed Doge. Because of these projects’ immense successes, many spin offs were created in attempts to replicate the price appreciation of these basically worthless assets. In the traditional financial markets, companies must go through serious auditing to get listed on the market. Because of the innovations of blockchain technology and smart contracts, shit coins are able to be created at the drop of a hat - it’s that easy. While most (if not all) shit coins ultimately fail on a long enough time horizon, they’re still very interesting and fun to speculate on. Due to their low liquidity on exchanges, it’s often difficult for anyone to make a profit on it, and shit coin creators regularly rug pull their “investors,” sometimes for millions of dollars. Because of the challenges that come with speculating on shit coins, those who are thinking of buying should do their due diligence and avoid putting in large sums of money. There are many opportunities for making gains in the crypto market, and shit coins should generally be avoided unless you really know what you’re doing.

While much of the discussion around crypto comes from Crypto Twitter, a large number of projects and teams utilize the social messaging app Discord to communicate privately. But what is Discord, how can you use it effectively in crypto and what are some of its benefits? Discord is a communications app, allowing for both text and voice options similar to applications like Telegram or Skype. Used primarily by gaming communities and friend groups, Discord has allowed for coordination of users like never before. Create a Discord server, invite some friends and establish channels - just like that, you’ve set up a “home base” for you and your community. In crypto, there are a myriad of different communities, whether it be a DAO structure, trading group or team behind a novel DeFi protocol, there’s always a reason to group together. With Discord, this is easy. Creating a Discord server is a huge step up from simply congregating in a Twitter DM. Within your Discord server, moderators can assign roles and create different channels with specific purposes. This could be a channel for the backend developers of a project or a server for the community managers - this level of composability makes operating autonomously even easier. A major tenet of crypto is decentralization. Where centralized entities and corporations have failed us, those venturing into Web3 have made it their goal to do better and govern themselves more efficiently. Through ease of communication on apps like Discord, crypto as a whole is able to function smoothly and maintain its youthful spirit. Those who operate strictly within the world of Web3 know that email chains are dead - everything interesting happens on Discord and Twitter. If you’re new to this, you can start by creating a Discord account. The good part is you don’t even have to use your real identity if you wish to do so. Many in the crypto space operate anonymously - something that the community sees no issue with. Once you’re in, you can easily find communities that fit your interest, whether you search on Crypto Twitter or YouTube. Every Discord server has its own unique set of rules, so it’s important to pay attention to the laws of the land whenever you end up somewhere new. Most users are friendly, so while it can be overwhelming on a new server, simply ask for help and your new community will be happy to help you. As the world transitions to a more remote existence, Discord will only grow in popularity. It’s important to try and understand it now, so by the time you have to catch that job interview in the metaverse, you’re ready to go!

Privacy and anonymity have always been a large part of the cypherphunk ethos. For many of the earliest Bitcoin adopters, fortunes beyond their wildest dreams were acquired - which soon led to a problem. If one were to suddenly gain a vast sum of money, how do you keep things under the radar? As the years went on, crypto carved a niche for itself as a “nerdy” sort of digital money for those who were good at computers. Many didn’t see a need for it or viewed it as a scam, even as the price of Bitcoin and other alt coins continued to rise. Since then, crypto has found its way into the general public, but many still aren’t interested. Many see it as harmful to the environment, due to misconceptions of energy consumption or the supposed environmental impact NFTs cause. So what is one to do if they wish to discuss crypto but don’t want to be condemned for it? Enter the alt account. On the social media application Twitter, many might see celebrities and well known crypto founders discussing the currencies, but often other accounts - ones that are a little bit different. They may have a strange name - one that isn’t theirs - or a profile picture that is anything but a LinkedIn headshot. These are known as “alt accounts,” Twitter accounts for crypto lovers that are anonymous. On Crypto Twitter, a vast majority of accounts are anonymous, something the inhabitants don’t seem to pay attention to. It is a field dominated not by status or “who you know” but by what you know and how you market yourself. If you wish to join this unique and burgeoning new way to interact with the community, simply create a new Twitter profile and leave out your personal information - it’s that simple. Having an alt account is a great way to interact online freely with like minded individuals, all while retaining privacy if you wish to do so.