Understand · by Zypto

Understandcrypto, from the ground up.

A free beginner course that teaches how crypto works. Own it, move it, protect it, use it. Written in plain language, in the order it makes sense to learn it.

Start here See the whole path
21Lessons
6Sections
about 125Minutes, start to finish
21 lessons · about 125 minutes

The path

Start at the beginning. Finish knowing how it works.

Each lesson answers one question and hands you to the next. You can jump in anywhere, but the order below is the one that builds understanding fastest. Tick lessons off as you go.

Section 01

Start here

The model everything else builds on: what crypto actually is, and the shared record it lives on.

  1. Start here Lesson 1. How Crypto Actually Works The whole picture in one read: ledgers, keys, and why nobody needs to hold your money for it to move.
    9 min read
  2. Lesson 2. What Is a Blockchain (and Why It Exists)? A shared record anyone can check, kept by no single company.
    7 min read

Section 02

Own It

Keys, custody and what it really means for crypto to be yours, with no account holder in between.

  1. Lesson 3. Where Is My Crypto Actually Stored? It is not a file on your phone. Here is what your wallet is really holding.
    6 min read
  2. Lesson 4. What Does a Crypto Wallet Actually Do? A wallet keeps keys and signs with them. That is the job.
    6 min read
  3. Lesson 5. Public Keys, Private Keys and Addresses Explained One you share, one you never share, and one that is just a label.
    7 min read
  4. Lesson 6. Why Self-Custody Matters The difference between holding your own keys and trusting somebody else to.
    6 min read
  5. Lesson 7. What Does It Really Mean to Own Crypto? Ownership comes down to who holds the keys. Everything else is a promise.
    6 min read
  6. Lesson 8. Is an Exchange a Wallet? An exchange account is a promise to pay you back. A wallet is the thing itself.
    5 min read

Section 03

Move It

Sending crypto, the networks it travels across, and the fees that get a transaction confirmed.

  1. Lesson 9. What Are Gas Fees & Why Transactions Confirm Why you pay a network instead of a bank, and what you are paying for.
    5 min read
  2. Lesson 10. Why Are There Different Blockchains? Different networks made different trade-offs. That is the short answer.
    6 min read
  3. Lesson 11. Why Is the Same Token on Multiple Blockchains? USDT on Tron and USDT on Ethereum are not the same address. Pick carefully.
    7 min read
  4. Lesson 12. How Can I Send Crypto? What the network will and will not stop, and what you still need to get right.
    5 min read

Section 04

Protect It

Keeping what you hold safe: backing up your keys, spotting fake tokens, and what can and cannot touch your crypto.

  1. Lesson 13. How Do I Keep My Crypto Safe? A few habits and one well-protected seed phrase close off almost every way people lose crypto.
    6 min read
  2. Lesson 14. How Do I Know a Token Is Real? Anyone can mint a fake with the same name and ticker. The one check that never lies.
    5 min read
  3. Lesson 15. Can Someone Freeze My Crypto? What can be frozen, what cannot, and where the line sits.
    5 min read
  4. Lesson 16. What Happens If a Crypto Exchange Fails? Why an exchange balance and a self-custodial balance behave very differently.
    6 min read

Section 05

Use It

The payoff: paying a bill, sending to a person, and spending crypto in everyday life.

  1. Lesson 17. How Can I Use Crypto in Everyday Life? Bills, gift cards, top-ups, and spending at the till.
    6 min read
  2. Lesson 18. What Can I Spend My Crypto On? Bills, cards, top-ups, gift cards, cash-out, everywhere a crypto balance can go.
    5 min read

Section 06

Go Further

Once the basics click, a few bigger ideas worth knowing, starting with the crypto built to hold a steady value.

  1. Lesson 19. What Is a Stablecoin? Crypto that holds a steady value, usually a dollar. How the peg works, and the catch.
    5 min read
  2. Lesson 20. What Can You Do in DeFi? Swap, earn, lend and borrow straight from your own wallet, no bank in the middle.
    6 min read
  3. Lesson 21. What Is Staking & Yield? Making crypto you hold earn, where the return really comes from, and how to stay safe.
    6 min read

Your money, only yours.

Ownership is the first idea in crypto, and everything else follows from it. Once you understand where your keys live and what they do, the rest of this stops being mysterious.

Further reading

Not part of the path, still worth reading.

What is crypto?

The one-page answer, if you want the summary before the course.

What is Bitcoin?

Where all of this started, and what makes it different.

Coins vs tokens

Two words people use interchangeably that mean different things.

Spotting crypto scams

The handful of patterns behind almost every one of them.

Crypto glossary

Every term in the course, defined in plain language.

Put it into practice

The best way to learn crypto is to hold some.

Zypto is a crypto super app: hold, swap and spend thousands of assets across 20+ blockchains, self-custodial, with the keys in your hands. Reading explains it. Using it makes it click.

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