Hope you’re not disappointed in crypto yet after trading and investing. Now, let’s move on to a related niche—sales.

What Are Sales?

In simple terms, sales (or token sales) are investments in a project before it starts trading on an exchange. There are many types—ICO, IDO, IEO, IFO, etc.—but they all serve the same purpose: selling tokens before their official listing.

Example: Coinlist ICOs

Two years ago, Coinlist was a hot platform for hosting ICOs of new crypto projects. Here’s how you could participate:

1. Register an account on Coinlist.
2. Complete verification.
3. Wait for a sale announcement.
4. Enter a lottery for a chance to buy tokens (yes, you had to win the right to invest).
5. If lucky, you could purchase tokens (usually between $500–$1,000 per account).
6. After 1–2 months, the project would launch on exchanges.
7. Sell your tokens for profit or loss.

In 2021, Coinlist was extremely profitable. Some projects 10x–20x investors’ money. Considering the $500–$1,000 investment cap, this resulted in massive gains.

To increase your chances, you needed 50–100 Coinlist accounts to secure at least one allocation.

Is Coinlist Still Relevant in 2024?

As of April 2024, not really. But there are plenty of other platforms still offering big returns. How do you find them? Research and community involvement (more on that below).

Current Popular Launchpads

• Ape Terminal
• DAO Maker
• Binance Launchpad
• ChainGPT

Why Are Sales Needed?

There are several reasons:

• For the project – 1) attract investment; 2) gain media exposure (free marketing).
• For investors (us) – to make multiples (X profits).
• For the launchpad (the platform hosting the sale) – to take a commission or allocation—they also want to profit.

Types of Sales

To understand this, let’s recall a project's lifecycle:

📌 Idea → Building → Fundraising → TGE (Token Generation Event)

Most public sales happen between the fundraising and TGE stages. Before public sales, projects raise money from big investors (VC funds, DAOs, syndicates, and guilds). These investors not only bring money but also connections, expertise, and marketing. They get the best price in rounds like Seed, Private, Series A/B, etc.

📌 But public sales are for regular people. The entry barrier is usually low.

Here are the main types of public sales:

• ICO (Initial Coin Offering) – Hosted on specialized platforms like Coinlist, Tokensoft.
• IDO (Initial DEX Offering) – Done fully on DeFi smart contracts (funds go into a smart contract, and tokens are received back).
• IEO (Initial Exchange Offering) – Hosted by CEXs (Binance, KuCoin, Bybit). Participation often requires holding the exchange's token.
• IFO, IGO, and others – Just fancy terms made up by projects. Example: IFO (Initial Farm Offering) on PancakeSwap.
• SHO (Strong Holder Offering) – DAO Maker’s sale format for those holding DAO tokens.

How to Participate in Sales?

You can’t just invest and wait for profit—you need effort. Projects won’t let you invest for free; they want something in return (engagement, marketing, or commitment).

How to get an allocation?

✅ Lottery – Fill out forms (like Coinlist’s system).
✅ Holding project tokens – e.g., on Binance Launchpad, the more BNB you hold, the bigger your allocation.
✅ Influencing – If you promote the project (Twitter, Telegram, YouTube, etc.), you may get an allocation.
✅ Being a VIP – Early-stage investing, advising projects, or having strong connections.

Each project has its own rules. But getting an allocation is just the first step—the real key is proper research to identify high-potential projects.

Which Sales to Participate In?

The most important metric here is the current market condition and whether sales are generally successful. If the market is strong and sales are yielding multiples (X profits), it's worth exploring new opportunities.

For example, in early 2021, when Bitcoin hit its all-time high (ATH), it was very hard to find a losing sale. Personally, I participated in Polkastarter IDOs and consistently made at least 10x profits. At that time, it didn't matter whether the project was good or not; profits were guaranteed!

Product

In reality, it doesn’t really matter what the project is about. Sometimes even the most useless projects can give multiples. What’s more important for the success of the sale are numbers (hype, marketing, low market cap, etc.). And, of course, the main thing is that it’s not an obvious scam.

The Team

In the beginning, it's hard to evaluate the team, but it's important to check if the team exists and whether they are anonymous. If you find that each team member is a standout, that's a plus. And if they are star figures who have worked at big companies, that's even better.

Initial Market Cap (MCAP)

Let’s break this down. It will be a bit tricky, but you’ll definitely get it.

Market Cap (MCAP) = the total value of the entire project at the moment.

MCAP = circulating token supply × token price.

For example, there’s a project called Highstreet. Its token price is $1.67 right now, and there are 40.68 million tokens in circulation. Multiply, and we get $67.79 million. This is its MCAP, meaning the total market value of the project at this moment.

Now, let’s look at Initial MCAP = the total value of the project at the time of its launch.

Initial MCAP = number of tokens at launch × token listing price.

The lower the Initial MCAP, the better for multiples. Let’s look at an example.

Let’s say there’s a project called VASYAPUPKIN, which has already been launched, and its MCAP is $10 million. There’s another project called andreypetrov, which is exactly the same as VASYAPUPKIN. Same team, quality, and hype. So, literally a project copy. And its Initial MCAP is $1 million.

Now, since these projects are so similar, most likely (it’s very important that I say “most likely,” but not “definitely”) andreypetrov will reach a $10 million MCAP, and early investors will make 10x. But if its Initial MCAP was $0.1 million, investors would have made 100x!

In short, the lower the Initial MCAP, the better.

Sometimes, people create things called Moonsheets, where projects are compared to similar ones to predict the potential multiples at launch.

Token Unlocks

Unlocking (vesting) is the process of unlocking tokens for investors. Unlock schedules are pre-determined when investing in a project. For example, at TGE (Token Generation Event), you may receive 25% of your tokens, and the remaining 75% will unlock linearly over the next 3 months.

Here’s a secret: sometimes tokens are not distributed immediately. So, make sure TGE unlock = 100%. However, sometimes the price is so favorable (e.g., 10 times cheaper than the listing price) that it’s worth waiting a couple of years. Imagine buying ETH at $100 (while it’s trading at $3,000) but receiving the tokens in 5 years. Personally, I would invest all my money in that deal.

Token Distribution

There’s a concept called tokenomics. Some tokens go to the project team, some to investors, and some to active participants. It’s important to consider all of these factors. However, in the early stages, you can ignore this since it’s unlikely you’ll understand all the nuances. With experience in sales, you’ll become more skilled at analyzing the situation. For example, in some projects, a token might be sold to the public for $10, even though half of the tokens were already sold to investors at $0.1. This means that investors already have 1,000x profits at the start of trading. In such cases, you should think twice about whether you’ll be exit liquidity (i.e., whether big investors will be cashing out on you).

Relevance of the Project

A project may be absolute trash, but other factors such as hype, memes, etc., could keep it going. For instance, there was a time when artificial intelligence was a huge trend. And under this trend, AI-related IDOs were the only ones that delivered multiples.

Airdrop

This niche made quite a buzz last year. The reason for this was the airdrop from Arbitrum, which allowed around 600,000 wallets to receive $1,000 each. All you had to do was make 2-3 transactions over a couple of months, spending just $1-2. After that, thousands, even tens of thousands of people rushed to create farms for airdrops and testnets. Now, let’s break down what this actually is.

Airdrop (drop or retro-drop — it’s the same thing) is a conditionally free distribution of tokens for some action with a project. Usually, tokens are given out unexpectedly for “loyalty” to the project.

Sounds a bit suspicious, doesn’t it? Then here are some examples of profits from retro-drops.

• Uniswap – DEX on the Ethereum network. For just one transaction, they gave each user 400 UNI tokens. At the time of the trading launch, that was about $2,000.
• Aptos – Layer-1 blockchain. For creating a free NFT, they distributed 150 APT tokens (around $1,000).
• Wormhole – Inter-network protocol for bridges. For an account with 10-20 transactions, totaling around $50,000, they gave out 1,000 W tokens (around $1,500). The cost for such an account was up to $5.

And this is just 50 large and medium projects... Sounds like a fairy tale, right? But there’s always a “but”... We’ll get to that later.

Why do we need airdrops?

Let’s look at it from the other side. Suppose you're a project. Why would you give something away when it’s much more profitable to sell tokens (remember sales like ICOs, IDOs, etc.)? All the funds (except for platform fees) raised from sales go straight to the team’s pockets. So, why bother with airdrops? I’ve highlighted 4 reasons for this:

1. Legal Issues. There’s some information suggesting that public sales are banned in certain parts of America. And, in principle, this information is correct. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) can classify a token as a security for certain violations. Because of this, large projects opt out of sales in favor of airdrops.
2. How do they make a profit if they’re giving away tokens for free to the community? The answer is simple: as a team, they officially own a portion of the tokens. Plus, rumors say some of the wallets that received airdrops may actually belong to the team. How true this is, I don’t know, but I believe it’s close to the truth. Tokens are essentially just wrappers that hold no intrinsic value until the community adds value after listing.
3. Feeding the Community. Everyone is so invested in retro-hunting (the race for airdrops) that if a project doesn’t drop something, the community will get upset and FUD (spread negative information to lower the project’s value).
4. Hype. Sometimes a successful airdrop can significantly boost a project’s media presence and coverage, which will benefit it in the long run. This worked very well for projects like Arbitrum and Blur.
5. The Market. The final reason is the market itself. In a bad market, almost no one will invest in sales. People love wet dreams and want to earn thousands of dollars from just a few transactions. It’s like a new form of casino.

In short, there are more reasons, but these are enough for a basic understanding of why these mysterious airdrops exist.

How do I get airdrops?

The answer is simple and obvious — you just need to use the project. Now, let’s highlight the main actions that can earn you an airdrop:

1. Transactions. Just keep using the project, make transactions. It’s really not that complicated. It depends on the project. Sometimes it’s about buying a token, other times about creating or buying an NFT, transferring funds through a bridge, or staking (holding) a coin — it varies.

For airdrops, the following criteria are usually considered:

• Number of transactions
• Turnover volume (for example, 10 transactions of 100 USDT each = 1,000 USD volume)
• Active months/weeks/days
• Testnets and quests. Sometimes a project releases tasks where you need to use their platform. Not many projects give airdrops for completing quests, but... you’ll be doing the transactions that may earn you an airdrop in the future.

1. Active participation in the project’s life. Sometimes a project may recruit testers through a form. There could also be calls where participants are rewarded. You can become a project ambassador and much more. For example, recently, some of my friends received 10,000 STRK tokens (~$25,000) for filling out a form from Starknet.
2. Following social media. Sometimes joining their Discord, Twitter, etc., can earn you an airdrop, but it happens less frequently.
3. Referral programs. Recently, many projects attract users through referral programs.
4. Being an early adopter. The earlier you join the project, the more you may receive.
5. Collecting commemorative NFTs. Some projects give away “badges” that may become significant later on.

Once again, pretty much any interaction with the project can potentially trigger an airdrop. Each project is free to set its own criteria.

What projects to turn around?

To put it briefly, you should focus on projects where:

1. The token is not yet available.
2. There’s a significant investor and solid backing from good funds.
3. There’s little competition. This doesn’t always work, though. Sometimes a project can still be worth engaging with even if it has millions of users.

All of these factors need to come together. For example, a project like LayerZero with an investment of $300 million (which is a lot) isn’t the best to engage with right now, as it already has nearly 5 million users. On the other hand, a smaller project with an investment of $3 million (which is relatively modest) could still be worthwhile if it only has, say, 100 active participants.

There is one thing...

It seems so simple: do some actions and get your long-awaited airdrop. But there are some catches:

1. Transaction Fees. Transactions within the project aren’t always free. There are many cases where people ended up spending $30-50 (or even more) per account, but didn’t receive an airdrop.
2. Criteria. You might simply not meet the criteria. For example, you made 20 transactions within 3 months, but to get the minimum airdrop, you needed to make 50 transactions within 12 months. No one will refund your transaction fees.
3. The Razor. Even if you meet the criteria, you might get "shaved" as a cheater. For example, you used multiple wallets that were linked to each other by transactions, or performed identical actions that are easy to spot on the blockchain. Airdrop competition has become so fierce recently that "getting shaved" is a real fear.
4. Not All Projects Need a Token. You might be working on a project, only to find out later that its business model doesn’t actually require a token.

Project scroll cycle

It’s crucial to understand how a typical and successful project cycle works:

1. Find the project.
2. Actively engage with the project, for example, over the course of 6 months.
3. The project takes a snapshot (a record of all active users in the network).
4. About a month later, the project announces the airdrop. Only those who were part of the snapshot will receive the airdrop. If you start engaging with the project after the snapshot, you won’t receive anything.
5. The criteria for receiving the airdrop are announced.
6. You check if your account meets the criteria.
7. If you qualify, you can claim your tokens.
8. Transfer them to an exchange.
9. Sell them.

Pay close attention to steps 1, 2, and 3. The project always takes the snapshot unexpectedly. So, you might start engaging with a project, but end up doing so after the snapshot. This would result in a waste of money and time. You could also start engaging before the snapshot but still miss out on the airdrop if the criteria require, for example, 3 active months, and you only had 2.

Each project is unique, but this cycle roughly covers the whole process.

Trading ideas on the market

Just three letters, but what they represent...

These are non-fungible tokens. This technology is usually used for collections of images on the blockchain. For example, one of the most popular collections in the world is called Pudgy Penguins. It consists of 8,888 adorable little penguins, each unique in color, background, headwear, accessories, etc.

This little penguin costs around $60,000 apiece.

You might be shaking your head, wondering why people pay such money when they can just download the images… But let’s draw an analogy with real paintings—collectors buy them for a reason.

And from my experience, I can confidently say why. By purchasing these penguins, you gain access to a top-tier community filled with builders, project owners, and other high-profile individuals. But sometimes, it’s the opposite—some collections hold no real value at all, which is what usually happens.

What does the process of creating an NFT collection look like?

To understand how to make money from this, you need to understand how a typical NFT collection is built.

1. Idea. The creator comes up with the concept for the future collection.
2. Building. There’s not much to actually “build.” 99% of NFT collections follow the same mechanics. The most important things here are creating a lore (the story behind the collection), drawing traits (NFT parts—example below), and generating the collection. NFTs are usually launched on Ethereum and Solana blockchains. Less commonly on Avalanche, Binance Smart Chain, and others.
3. Marketing. It’s crucial to build an audience on Twitter and Discord. Without hype, the collection is doomed to fail.
4. Minting. Let’s go deep into details. Minting is the process of creating an NFT on the blockchain. But it’s not the collection owner who mints—it’s the participants. Confused? Keep reading. Suppose there’s a collection of these cute flowers called Murakami Flowers. Its supply (the maximum number of NFTs in the collection) is 10,145. How does this collection launch? The community needs to mint all the NFTs. But usually, collections don’t allow everyone to mint. You have to earn the right to mint an NFT. Pretty complicated, right? They won’t even let you spend money easily (minting is usually paid). This right to mint an NFT is called a whitelist (WL). And you actually have to earn or win it. The way to get whitelisted varies by project. For Murakami Flowers, people had to fill out a form, and winners were chosen randomly. But usually, projects grant WL for contributing to the community—drawing fan art, writing Twitter threads, etc. Or sometimes through raffles and giveaways. So, let’s say we got a whitelist and minted our Murakami Flowers NFT. The minting cost was 0.108 ETH (~$300).
5. Opening the secondary market. Now, how do we make money? There’s a secondary market (NFT marketplaces) where we sell our NFTs to other crypto enthusiasts. It usually opens immediately after minting begins. Right after minting, you could have sold a Murakami Flowers NFT for 6 ETH, meaning your $300 turned into about $18,000.

Types of earnings on NFT

There are three main types:

1. Selling Whitelists

Beginners in crypto usually start with this.

You already know what a whitelist is (the right to mint an NFT). You can earn a whitelist through certain actions (more on that later) and then sell it to someone who doesn’t want to grind for it but believes the investment will pay off. Example:

The Memeland project launched its main collection Captainz. For a long time, a whitelist for this project could be bought for around $600–$800. The whitelist was obtained through typical methods—being active in Discord, creating artwork, etc.

Let’s say someone earned a whitelist and sold it to me. I waited, minted the NFT for 1.069 ETH, and sold it the same day for 4 ETH. Now, let’s do the math:

• +4 ETH (~$5,600 at the time) – revenue from the sale
• -1.069 ETH (~$1,500 at the time) – minting cost
• -$800 – cost of buying the whitelist

= $3,300 profit from the whole deal.

Both I and the whitelist seller made a profit, though the seller might have later regretted it due to FOMO—but that’s another story.

There are many ways to earn whitelists, and each project has its own methods. Here are the main ones:

• Grinding – Simply being active in the project’s Discord and sending thousands of messages. Sometimes, that’s enough.
• Invites – Inviting a set number of "friends" to the project’s Discord server.
• Creativity – This depends on your skills: making artwork, music, Twitter threads, or writing articles about the project. Projects love this.
• Mini-games – Winning games may grant WL or future priority access.
• Influencing – Posting about the project on your Telegram channel = getting a WL.
• Raffles – Basically giveaways. Platforms like Premint host them. Enter, wait for results, and either celebrate or move on.

Once you get a WL, you can sell it in OTC (over-the-counter) chats, where people trade whitelists and similar assets. Some trusted ones include:

2. Minting

We already touched on this in the first point. Profit from minting comes from the difference between the mint price and the secondary market price.

However, you don’t always need a whitelist to mint. There are different mint phases, typically structured like this:

• Whitelist Mint – For example, 50% of all NFTs. Only WL holders can mint.
• Public Mint – The remaining 50%. Anyone can mint here. But if the price after the WL phase is high, public sales usually turn into a bot war, and manual minting becomes nearly impossible. So, if you're a beginner, stay away from public sales.

3. Investing/Flipping

Do you believe that a specific NFT collection will increase in value? Do you have insider info about upcoming news? Have you spotted an interesting detail about a project? If so, buying its NFTs might be a good move. This is what NFT investing is about.

Then, there are flips—short-term investments, usually lasting from a few minutes to a few days.

Trading ideas on the market

2023: Cryptocurrency – tokens named after dogs and other animals, among other things, with billion-dollar market capitalizations.

In short, cryptocurrency technology is used not only for innovation but also literally just for fun. Tokens are created in honor of anything and everything, with ABSOLUTELY no real use case. Why? Well, because it’s fun))))

So, Shitcoin literally translates into Russian as "crap coin," and it's pretty clear what it means.

Shitcoin (or Memecoin) – coins created for fun, with no prospects beyond inflated hype.

Why do shitcoins exist?

• For entertainment.
• For exit liquidity. Usually, beginners are the ones who buy at the highest price and sell at the lowest. This is called "exiting on the hamsters." Beginners serve as exit liquidity here.
• Shitcoins are highly volatile due to their low market cap, and some can yield 10x, 100x, or even 1000x returns. That’s why shitcoins have become a way to make money. It’s essentially a new type of casino (though success here depends not only on luck but also on many other skills). In reality, they can also be compared to NFTs, as neither has much intrinsic value.

Shitcoins usually have a very short lifespan. Below is a typical shitcoin chart.

What kind of shitcoins are there?

Shitcoins need to have at least some minimal idea behind them. Based on this, there are different types of shitcoins.

1. Info Shitcoins (GTA6, TRUMP2024, etc.)

These depend heavily on news and can skyrocket with any media sneeze in either direction. You can jump in before a major news event (presidential elections, a game trailer reveal, etc.). These shitcoins are no better than betting in a bookmaker's office.

2. Memecoins (Pepe, Dogs, Skibidi Toilets, etc.)

Such tokens often pump after tweets from Elon Musk. If Elon mentions Dogecoin or another dog, the coin with that dog sees a wild pump (rapid price surge). If he mentions something with a similar name to a shitcoin, that shitcoin takes off. A good example is the $GROK token, which was created after Elon Musk posted about working on an AI called GROK. The token later shot to the moon.

3. No-name Shitcoins

These are made by influencers to dump on their followers or are just random coins with no backing. I call them "chair shitcoins." Remember the game where music plays, and when it stops, everyone scrambles to sit, but someone always gets left standing? Same thing here. Everyone sees massive potential gains because the market cap is tiny, and pumping the token is super easy. Once it's 3x, then 5x, but a second later, it’s almost a complete wipeout. But no one ever talks about that—it's always "MY CALL HIT 5X, WHO'S YOUR DADDY?!"

Which networks have shitcoins?

Currently, there are two main networks for shitcoins:

• Ethereum – An expensive network, with transaction fees ranging from $3 to $100 (or even more).
• Solana – A cheap network, where transactions cost mere pennies (less than a cent). This makes it more beginner-friendly. The biggest hype around shitcoins is in this network (as of April 2024).

However, shitcoins can be created on almost any network. For example, the Base network is currently gaining hype, while a year ago, shitcoins on Arbitrum were popular (right after the airdrop).

Types of earnings on shitcoins

In reality, it’s all very simple. The entire profit comes from buying low and selling high. That’s it :)

Our goal is to find a token and buy it before it gets hyped. Basically, we need to exit on others. That’s life :)

Flip

Flip is a quick trade (from a few seconds to several days). I won’t even mention long-term investments in shitcoins. That’s just stupid.

So, once again, our goal is to buy cheaper and sell higher.

Why do shitcoins grow? It’s very simple. Since shitcoins are highly volatile (strongly subject to price fluctuations), they are very easy to pump (increase in price). This is done in the following ways:

• It gets posted in some channel. Your task is to buy earlier than everyone else and make a few Xs. The slowest ones become exit liquidity (the ones we cash out on).
• It gets posted in some private group. For example, it might first be posted in a private group of 50–100 people. At this point, you can already exit. But usually, such shitcoins are later made public (Telegram channels, Twitter, etc.).

In short, I hope you get it. Our task is to buy a shitcoin as early as possible and exit on others. And the growth is purely due to social effects.

Another example. If Elon Musk posts a tweet with the text “CRYPPI,” then 100% someone will pick it up and immediately create a shitcoin in some network, and it will get pumped hard. Just like the $GROK token, which was created after Elon Musk posted about working on an AI called GROK. That token later skyrocketed.

Sometimes flips happen through bots. For example, a parser is set up on some channel. A buy signal for the “CRYPPI” token comes in. The bot instantly buys. Then, within a couple of minutes, you can easily exit on those buying manually. Profit!

Participating in Presales

Remember NFTs and whitelists? But I’ll remind you anyway. A whitelist allows you to mint an NFT among the first, and it’s almost always guaranteed. The same applies to shitcoins.

If you have a whitelist, you may be allowed to buy the token before the official launch at a calm pace (meaning no need to rush) and likely at a slightly lower price. This process is called a presale (literally “pre-sale”).

A listing occurs, and you exit on the crowd.

Buying at Listing

What if you don’t have a whitelist and don’t want to flip? You can buy the token right at the moment of listing.

How does listing work?

1. A smart contract for the token is created.
2. This smart contract is posted on the shitcoin’s social media.
3. At the moment of listing, bots buy the shitcoin at the lowest price. The purchase happens in the first trading block. You probably remember what a block is. So, listing can’t start exactly at 12:00 (it’s not always technically possible); it starts in the BLOCK that occurs around 12:00.
4. Those who managed to buy with bots exit on those buying manually.
5. Profit.

How to Find Shitcoins?

There are some peculiarities with shitcoins. You can find opportunities in three main places:

• Influencers. Some coin might buy an ad from a blogger, or the blogger might create their own token. Your task is to buy it faster than anyone at the announcement and exit on the crowd.
• Callers and private groups. A private group is a closed community that supposedly has private information. Callers are essentially private group workers. They may share interesting shitcoins they believe could take off. Sometimes they give the tip to the private group first, then post it in a public channel. In the end, the callers and private group members profit, while regular folks from public channels get exited on.
• New pairs. Some bots track all newly created tokens. Suppose someone Peter creates his John token; it will show up in all new coin trackers. These trackers also check the token for various factors—whether it’s a scam, whether it has liquidity, etc.

Of course, there are many more ways to find shitcoin opportunities, but we definitely won’t go deep into that.

Scam

It’s worth mentioning that the world of shitcoins is full of scams. For example, some shitcoins can be bought but not sold. The smart contract simply prevents selling the purchased tokens. And there are many such tricks. That’s why shitcoins are literally a minefield.

Trading ideas on the market

This stands for decentralized finance. If you’ve read the article carefully, you know exactly what it is. I won’t explain it again. If you don’t understand, go back to the explanation at the beginning of the article.

DeFi is the implementation of traditional finance, but in a decentralized world. You can trade on a DEX without creating accounts, you can take loans without verification, or conversely, lend coins and earn some interest, and much more. And all of this is based on smart contracts, meaning everything is super transparent.

So, in simple terms, DeFi provides the opportunity for passive income – just deposit your money into some protocol and watch the interest accumulate. To be honest, I’ve never farmed in DeFi, but I have some experience that I want to share with you.

Ways to Earn on DeFi

There are several ways to increase your money. Let’s list them in order, and then we will go over them in detail:

1. Staking
2. Liquid Staking
3. DeFi Staking: Yield Farming + Liquidity Mining
4. Lending

There are many unfamiliar terms, but they all have one thing in common – you provide liquidity to someone for a period of time and earn a commission for it.

Staking

Let’s remember what Proof-of-Stake is.

The Bitcoin blockchain works only because there are many computers around the world that solve complex mathematical problems requiring huge computing power. This method of blockchain operation is called Proof-of-Work, literally – proof of work.

But blockchains like Ethereum and Solana don’t require such large computing power. To make these blockchains work, many computers are needed where ETH and SOL coins are temporarily locked. For staking their coins, people receive rewards from the blockchain itself. This type of earning is called Staking.

On the screenshot above from the website, you can see the most popular staking options. For example, you can stake 1 ETH, and after a year, you’ll have approximately 1.035 ETH. Essentially, it's free and very easy money (you don’t have to do anything), but the problem is that the price of ETH a year from now could be absolutely anything, for example, it could drop by 90%.

But if you believe that in, let's say, 5-10 years, ETH will be much more expensive, then staking is the perfect option, and in this way, you also get free coins on top.

Liquid Staking

However, there is a significant problem with staking directly into the blockchain – the entry threshold. For example, in the Ethereum blockchain, the current entry threshold is 32 ETH, which is currently valued at a whole 115,000 dollars. But liquid staking protocols come to the rescue.

The principle of liquid staking is very simple:

1. A pool of contributors is formed who bring their ETH.
2. Once 32 ETH are collected, the project takes care of all the technicalities and stakes the ETH.
3. The project takes a small commission for its work. For example, if direct staking brings 4% annual interest, the project might take around 0.5%, and your ETH will yield 3.5%.
4. All profits are shared among the contributors.

DeFi Staking

In fact, the two previous points were described to smoothly transition to DeFi staking. In classic staking, the reward is paid directly by the blockchain for holding assets in your own wallet. There are no third parties involved in the transaction, and your funds are always accessible. In the DeFi version, intermediaries – people and organizations – take your coins for interest. The security of the transaction is ensured by a smart contract, and it entirely depends on the presence or absence of vulnerabilities in it.

Also, DeFi yields are significantly higher, and the entry threshold is lower. With traditional Proof-of-Stake, you typically can’t earn more than 10% per year, plus you need to run your own validator node (or give 5-10% of your earnings to third-party validators). In DeFi staking, interest is accrued daily and is immediately available for reinvestment. Proof-of-Stake guarantees returns, with the only risks being the coin price drop and blockchain hacks. In DeFi staking, there are no such guarantees, and, on the contrary, additional risks are present.

So, there are two main types of DeFi staking: Yield Farming + Liquidity Mining. For now, you don’t need to know the differences between them.

DeFi staking can be considered the equivalent of a bank deposit – you temporarily lock up your funds, and they pay you interest. For DeFi projects to function, they need liquidity, which banks provide in traditional finance, but in DeFi, anyone can provide liquidity and earn interest from it.

Wondering why a DEX can instantly execute a trade? That’s because it has a reserve of liquidity locked by users, which smart contracts use, and from each transaction, a small commission is earned by the user. This is the entire source of income for the user.

Lending

On platforms like Maker DAO and Compound, you can lend money with Ethereum as collateral. On the second platform, even those who take out loans can earn – with every loan transaction, additional tokens are generated, which are used to pay for exchange services.

The principle of this method of earning is similar to lending in any bank: the user borrows an asset, leaving collateral. However, DeFi offers a much more interesting model. Here, there’s no need for a passport or credit history; anyone can lend their money for interest. The intermediary in this case is the smart contract.

The essence of this earning method lies in providing your assets on specialized platforms. Using smart contracts, the platform lends your funds to other users who have provided collateral. The collateral is usually more than 100% of the borrowed amount.

Trading ideas on the market

4 main financial units within cryptocurrency:

Coin – is a currency used to pay fees within the network. In the Bitcoin network, it is the BTC coin, and in Ethereum, it is the ETH coin.

Token – in addition to the native coins of the blockchain, there are also tokens.

Stablecoin – are tokens pegged to the exchange rate of fiat currencies (dollars, euros, etc.). For example, 1 USDT = 1 USD.

NFT – is also a token, which stands for Non-Fungible Token. As I understand it, you know what an NFT is. Yes, these are the digital works of art stored on the blockchain.

Coin

Imagine that the foundation is a coin. The coin has its own blockchain, which is named after it. All actions within the blockchain are carried out using the coin, which is needed to pay fees in the network. Without it, the blockchain will not function.

A few examples of coins:

BTC – Bitcoin network coin

ETH – Ethereum network coin

SOL – Solana network coin

TON – Toncoin network coin

Token

Tokens, on the other hand, are not coins. They are built on top of an existing blockchain.

A coin is needed to pay network fees, while a token is used to provide utility through a smart contract.

Tokens have different functionalities:

• Project governance. Analogous to stocks. The more tokens you have, the more influence you have on the project. Yes, internal voting takes place in projects. For example, MKR, ARB, OP, and others.
• Payment for something. Sometimes projects may require payment only in their tokens.
• Utility tokens. For example, the KCS token from the Kucoin exchange. Holding this token provides certain advantages: participation in exchange promotions, reduced fees, etc.
• Stablecoins. Tokens pegged to real currencies. For example, USDT, BUSD, TUSD, etc. All of them are worth about $1.
• NFTs. Those pictures on the blockchain. Yes, they are also tokens.

Stablecoins

Stablecoins are created to make it easier to trade other cryptocurrencies. A stablecoin is pegged to the exchange rate of fiat currencies. In 95% of cases, this is the US dollar.

The largest stablecoins are:

USDT
USDC
BUSD

But you can't just peg a stablecoin's exchange rate to the dollar. It needs to be backed by something. There are two main types of backing:

1. Holding real dollars in a real bank.
2. Over-collateralization. These stablecoins are backed by other cryptocurrencies, the total value of which is higher. For example, 1 million dollars in 1 million DAI (stablecoin) is backed by 1.3 million dollars in ETH.

Sometimes stablecoins can become unpegged (lose their connection to the fiat currency), for example, there was a moment when USDC was worth about $0.90 for a couple of days.

NFT

I think you've already understood what tokens are. Now, let me tell you about NFTs — they are also tokens, but non-fungible, meaning they cannot be replaced with another token.

I asked you for 0.1 BTC because I did some work for you. You easily sent me 0.1 BTC.

But what if I ask you for 0.5 NFTs from the BAYC collection (shown in the screenshot below)

You won’t be able to send me that amount. And how would you send it: split the image in half? That’s not possible in the blockchain. In the real world, you can’t buy half of a painting. That’s why NFTs are called non-fungible.

I think you understand that NFTs are images created on the blockchain. That’s true, but NFTs are not just images. The technology of NFTs is simply the best fit for creating them.

NFTs are a useful technology that allows you to store not just images, but also audio, video, and other data. Many people dream of creating ownership contracts in the future in the form of NFTs, for example, for a house. The potential of this technology is enormous.

Trading ideas on the market

Exchange — a legal entity that organizes the market for goods, currencies, securities, and derivative financial instruments, and ensures its regular functioning.
§ Commodity Exchange — a permanent wholesale market of pure competition where transactions for the sale and purchase of qualitatively homogeneous and easily interchangeable goods are conducted according to certain rules.
§ Stock Exchange — an organization whose activities involve ensuring the necessary conditions for the normal circulation of securities, determining their market prices, disseminating information about them, and maintaining a high level of professionalism among market participants.
§ Currency Exchange — an element of the currency market infrastructure, whose activities consist of providing services for organizing and conducting trading where participants conclude transactions with foreign currencies.
§ Futures Exchange — an exchange where trading is conducted in futures contracts.
§ Options Exchange — an exchange where trading is conducted in options.

Broker (from the English word "broker" — middleman, agent, intermediary) — a legal or physical entity that performs intermediary functions between the seller and the buyer and receives a commission as compensation. A broker in the securities market is a trade representative, a legal entity, a professional participant in the securities market, with the right to conduct operations with securities on behalf of the client and at their expense or on their own behalf and at the client’s expense under paid contracts with the client.

Financial Regulator — a government body responsible for overseeing brokers and transactions in financial markets. In the United States, the financial market regulator is the Federal Reserve System (FRS), while in the Russian Federation, it is the Central Bank (CB), not to be confused with "Sberbank."

Trade — two opposite operations that result in a financial outcome when trading in the financial market. Thus, to complete a transaction, that is, to fix a profit or loss, at least two operations are necessary: opening and closing a position.

Instrument — a trade item in the financial market used to generate profit through the difference in rates between the purchase price and the sale price, or vice versa.

Long Position (long) — the purchase of an instrument with the intent to resell it at a higher price later.

Short Position (short) — the sale of an instrument with the intent to repurchase it later at a lower price and earn a profit through the difference between the sale and purchase prices. The broker provides the client with the specified amount of the instrument on credit when opening the transaction.

Stock — a security that entitles its owner to claim a share of the company's net profit, participate and vote in shareholder meetings, and claim a share of the company's assets.

Futures (from the English "futures contract" or "futures") — a derivative financial instrument (contract) for the purchase and sale of an underlying asset (commodity, security, etc.) on the exchange, where the parties (seller and buyer) agree only on the price level and delivery date.

Option (from Latin "optio" — choice, discretion) — a contract under which the option buyer (a potential buyer or seller of the underlying asset — commodity, security) obtains the right, but not the obligation, to make a purchase or sale of the asset at a pre-agreed price at a certain time in the future or over a specified period. The option seller, in turn, is obliged to sell the asset or buy it from the option buyer under the contract terms. In the case of a futures contract, the buyer is required to purchase (or sell) the asset upon the contract's expiration, while in the case of an option, they may refuse to do so.

Currency Pair (currency pair) — the ratio of the prices of two currencies in the pair on the currency or cryptocurrency market. The first currency in the pair is called the quote currency, and the second is the base currency. For example, the price of the BTC/USD currency pair indicates how much USD is required to buy 1 unit of BTC.

Contract for Difference (CFD) — an agreement between two parties, the seller and the buyer, to transfer the difference between the current value of an asset at the time of the agreement (position opening) and its value at the end of the agreement (position closing). Although a contract for difference is similar in form to a contract for the delivery of goods, the seller is not required to own the actual asset, and the buyer does not acquire the right to demand delivery.

Margin Trading — the ability to buy financial instruments for an amount exceeding your capital, and the ability to sell instruments that are not in your account. This is made possible through credit provided by the broker under its conditions with the corresponding leverage.

Technical Analysis — a method of research that involves a set of techniques and methods used to analyze the price dynamics of an instrument. The goal of technical analysis is to determine the most probable direction of the market course of the instrument under study.

Fundamental Analysis — a set of analytical methods used to assess the condition and prospects of the market, industries, commodity, financial markets, and the economy as a whole. To explain processes, events, and obtain the necessary forecast data, the dynamics of macro and microeconomic indicators are studied and compared, as well as financial analysis is conducted.

Diversification — the distribution of capital among instruments with different risks, returns, and correlations, with the aim of minimizing investment risks. This means that the investor allocates portions of their portfolio in such a way that losses on one asset are compensated by profits on another.

Index — the average price of all financial instruments included in its calculation base. The index reflects the market dynamics as a whole (stock market, bond market, etc.).

Volatility — a measure of price variability or the deviation of the price from its average or usual value. Volatility is usually measured by the standard deviation of the price. The greater the price fluctuations or changes, the higher the volatility.

Capitalization — the value of a joint-stock company or the market value of its common shares. It is equal to the number of common shares multiplied by their market value.

Liquidity — the ability to quickly and without losses exchange shares for cash and vice versa. The liquidity of a specific instrument is measured by the trading volume and its spread. The higher the volume and the lower the spread, the higher the liquidity of the stock.

Spread — the difference between the best price (quote) for buying and the best price (quote) for selling a specific instrument in the order book. The smaller the spread, the higher the liquidity.

Stop-Loss (Stop Loss) or simply Stop — a price level for limiting unacceptable losses for a trader if the price moves in the opposite direction from their expectations.

Take-Profit or Target (Profit Target, Take profit) — the price level at which profit is "fixed."

Commission — a broker’s fee in the form of a percentage of the transaction volume. The commission size is specified in the brokerage agreement. Study it carefully: it may also include additional payments. When choosing a broker, they are significant.

Trading Session — a time period during which banks and trading platforms in one or several countries located in one geographical area actively trade in one financial market.

Timeframe — the time interval used for grouping quotes when constructing elements of a price chart (bar, Japanese candle, point of a line chart).

Dump — the deliberate sale of a large amount of cryptocurrency to crash its exchange rate.

Whale — a large player with significant capital. They may have enough capital to manipulate the price of an asset.

Pump — the deliberate inflation of the price of a cryptocurrency. Several users with large capital may band together to "pump" a coin and then sell it to other users at an inflated rate. Pump almost always ends in a sharp decline, with profits mostly secured by the scheme organizers.

Rocket — a slang term indicating a sharp increase in the price of a cryptocurrency over a short period. On the asset’s chart, it appears as a large green candle.

Wick — a slang term indicating a sharp decrease in the price of a cryptocurrency over a short period. On the asset’s chart, it appears as a large red candle.

To the Moon (To the Moon) — means a rapid increase in the price of a cryptocurrency.

Flat or Sideways Movement — a situation where the market or the exchange rate of a particular cryptocurrency does not rise or fall but is confined within a certain range. For example, if Bitcoin’s price fluctuated between $9,000 and $10,000 for a month, it was in a flat during that time.

Hamster — a novice trader prone to making wrong decisions due to panic and emotions.

All Time High (ATH) — the historical maximum value of a cryptocurrency. For example, Bitcoin set its ATH in December 2017 at $20,000.

Blockchain

Address — A set of characters used in a cryptocurrency blockchain to identify a specific wallet or smart contract. Funds can be transferred within the coin's network using the address. Addresses can also be represented as a QR code.

Block — A list of transactions in a cryptocurrency network that have been processed and confirmed by miners. Blocks are created at regular intervals, which vary between cryptocurrencies. For example, in the Bitcoin blockchain, a block is generated every 10 minutes. Once formed, a block is added to previously found blocks, connected in a chain, forming the blockchain.

Blockchain (from English, "chain of blocks") — A distributed ledger consisting of a chain of blocks, with transactions recorded inside each block. Each subsequent block is linked to the previous one. This sequence cannot be disrupted or altered; otherwise, the data in the cryptocurrency network becomes invalid.

Wallet — An application for storing cryptocurrency. It allows users to access digital assets, transfer them to other addresses, use them for payments, and other purposes.
There are several types of wallets. Cold or hardware wallets are separate devices resembling flash drives. They are considered the most secure since cryptocurrency can only be accessed with direct access to the wallet and knowing its password.
Browser wallets — Wallets integrated into a browser as an extension.
Desktop wallets — Special applications installed on a computer.
Exchange wallets — Wallets provided to users when they open accounts on exchanges for trading cryptocurrency. This method of storing funds is considered the least secure.

Key — A set of characters needed to access a cryptocurrency wallet. There are two types of keys. Public — also known as the address — allows anyone to view the wallet's contents. Private — this key is required to spend funds from the wallet.
Pending — A transaction that has entered the blockchain but has not yet been included in a block and is awaiting processing by miners.

Smart contract — A specific algorithm recorded on the blockchain. Smart contracts are used for complex operations, such as token issuance or asset exchanges through decentralized applications.

Transaction — An operation on the blockchain, such as transferring coins between wallets or using a smart contract.

Fork — The creation of an alternative blockchain from an existing one. A soft fork modifies the existing block chain, while a hard fork splits the original blockchain into two independent ones, resulting in a new cryptocurrency. For example, Bitcoin Cash was created from a hard fork of Bitcoin, which later split into two more forks: Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV.

Halving — A mechanism that reduces the reward for mining cryptocurrency. For example, in the Bitcoin network, halving occurs approximately every four years. The last halving happened in May 2020, reducing the reward for finding a block from 12.5 to 6.25 BTC.

Crypto Slang

1. HODL — Hold On for Dear Life, expressing the intention not to sell under any circumstances, regardless of volatility. It implies buying cryptocurrency and holding it for a long period due to belief in future value growth.
2. Diamond Hands — Refers to someone who will continue HODLing an asset even if their portfolio drops by 20% or more.
3. Paper Hands — Traders/investors who quickly sell their positions when facing price drops.
4. FOMO — Fear Of Missing Out, a psychological concept describing the fear of missing out on profit from a price uptrend.
5. FUD — Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt, the spread of uncertainty and disinformation about cryptocurrencies to drive them out of business or lower their price.
6. Shitcoin — A term for a cryptocurrency perceived as worthless. It's subjective, as some of the most valuable coins might be considered shitcoins by others.
7. Apeing — Investing in something without proper research, often due to FOMO.
8. BTFD — Buy The F***ing Dip, a strategy of buying cryptocurrency during price drops in anticipation of eventual price increases.
9. Degen — Short for "degenerate," referring to someone with a highly risky investment strategy, such as buying shitcoins, trading with high leverage, investing in high-risk projects, or a combination of these.
10. GM — Good Morning; a playful way to spread good vibes. It has become a ubiquitous meme in the web3 space.
11. NGMI — Never/Not Going to Make It, describing a person or firm using the wrong tactics to succeed, like not HODLing or not adhering to recognized marketing strategies.
12. WAGMI — We Are All Going to Make It, a positive expression of the belief that through cryptocurrency investments, one can achieve financial independence or wealth, allowing them to quit a job they dislike.
13. Boomer — A mocking term for people or concepts considered old and outdated in the crypto space. Sometimes, even relatively new but popular ideas are called boomers.
14. IYKYK — If You Know You Know, usually used as an inside joke or expression when sharing commonly known information.
15. LFG — Let’s F***ing Go, an expression of excitement, often used when the price of a coin someone owns rises significantly.
16. Looks Rare — A way to say an NFT might have value (a random guess). Since the value of most NFTs is determined by their rarity, a rare or seemingly rare NFT will bring profit to its buyers.
17. Few — Popularized by @bowtiedbull, this is an ironic way of saying something might be important, but most people don’t know about it.
18. (3,3) — Refers to outcomes beneficial for both sides. This comes from the Prisoner's Dilemma, where it’s better for both sides to cooperate rather than defect and get a (-3,-3) outcome.
19. Shilling — Paying someone to promote a cryptocurrency. Shitcoins often rely on shilling to create FOMO and the impression that they are more valuable than they are.
20. Moonbois — People who are overly enthusiastic about a coin’s prospects. "To the moon" means a sharp price increase by any means.
21. Lambo — "When Lambo" is often used by moonbois overly concerned with profiting from significant price increases to afford a Lamborghini. It's also used to mock people focused solely on a coin’s price.
22. Wagecuck — In the crypto space, a wagecuck is someone with a regular job. Sometimes, this term is used ironically for self-identification.
23. Pleb — A person with little or no knowledge of cryptocurrencies.
24. Fren — Short for "friend." In the crypto space, it can refer to a real-life friend or someone with whom you maintain friendly relationships on social media.
25. Ser — Crypto slang for "sir," often used to troll Indian and East Asian crypto participants for their overuse of the word.
26. Gigabrain — Used to refer to someone with excellent understanding or knowledge of a particular concept in the crypto industry.
27. Gigachad — Used to describe someone who has done something very impressive in a specific aspect of the crypto industry.
28. Smol brain — Refers to someone considered ignorant or dumb regarding something that is common knowledge in the crypto space.
29. Anon — Popular in the crypto space to address readers, as most of them are anonymous. For example, "Are you buying the dip, anon?"
30. -oooor — A way to mock people or scams.
31. Rekt — A misspelling of "wrecked," used to describe someone who has lost their money in the markets.
32. Down bad — A way to say someone has incurred losses on their position because the market moved against them.
33. Pump and Dump — A tactic used to manipulate market sentiment. Pump refers to inflating a cryptocurrency’s value based on false news, followed by dumping or selling when prices rise, causing the price to drop again.
34. Nuke — A term used in the crypto space to describe a sudden and severe price correction. Since cryptocurrencies are highly volatile, prices need to drop by 10% or more to be considered a real nuke.
35. NFA — Not Financial Advice, a disclaimer used to indicate that the person is not qualified to provide financial advice.
36. Copium and hopium — Describe unjustified hope for price increase or decrease.
37. Bulla and bera — Just a fancy way of writing bull and bear, referring to market sentiment.
38. Funds are safu — Refers to the safety of funds in any crypto project. It’s also supposedly a joke about the Asian pronunciation of the word "safe."
39. Rugged — Rugged or rug pull is derived from the expression "pulling the rug" and implies a method of scamming users in the crypto space by removing funds from a smart contract without their knowledge.
40. HSBAF — Holy Shit Bears Are F**ked, used to describe bullish market sentiment after an upward price movement. It also mocks those who were short.
41. HFSP — Have Fun Staying Poor, used to mock those without cryptocurrency investments.
42. Exit liquidity — Refers to naive investors seeking quick and easy profits on "fishy" coins.

Trading ideas on the market

Venture Capital Funds: These are COMPANIES that invest cash into blockchain startups and crypto projects. They IDENTIFY young, promising ideas at an early stage and POUR in their own and investors' money. Venture capital funds MAKE HUGE RETURNS when the startups they’ve INVESTED IN TAKE OFF, and the price of their coins or tokens SKYROCKETS.

Institutional Investors are the REAL WHALES in the crypto ocean. These include LARGE financial entities like pension funds, hedge funds, and BIG BANKERS. These GIANTS invest ENORMOUS AMOUNTS in cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects. They BACK both NEW STARTUPS and ESTABLISHED COMPANIES.

The influence of these TITANS on the crypto market KEEPS GROWING. When they decide to INVEST or WITHDRAW FUNDS from an asset, its price either SOARS or PLUMMETS. Just a SLIGHT MOVE from an institutional investor can cause MASS PANIC in the market!

Hedge Funds are also major players, leveraging various strategies to profit from market fluctuations.

Startup Incubators (like Silicon Valley) are the players who PICK UP PROMISING PROJECTS from the GROUND and make them PROFITABLE. These incubators are the TRUE SUPPLIERS OF TOP CRYPTOCURRENCIES!

They TAKE young crypto ideas UNDER THEIR WING, INFUSING them with RESOURCES to help them develop. They CONNECT YOUNG IDEAS with WEALTHY VENTURE INVESTORS. Sometimes incubators also INVEST CASH into their protégés, sensing PROFITABLE POTENTIAL.

These smart people earn by receiving a SHARE of the coins from the projects in exchange for their financial and networking support, or by BUYING tokens at a BARGAIN before the project HITS THE MARKET. Then, when the price SHOOTS UP, they CASH OUT for several TIMES their investment!

Miners are the WORKHORSES who ensure the security and operation of the blockchain by solving mathematical problems and adding new blocks to the chain. They earn a COMMISSION from transactions and FRESHLY MINTED COINS. However, this work requires both technology and energy costs.

Traders are SPECULATORS who BUY and SELL CRYPTO on exchanges. They profit from PRICE FLUCTUATIONS and the market’s VOLATILITY. Their strategies can be short-term (day traders) or medium-term (position traders).

Hodlers are market participants who HOLD ONTO CRYPTO for YEARS. They BELIEVE that the coin WILL SKYROCKET, so they HOLD ON TIGHT, hoping to MAKE A KILLING in the future.

Market Makers are the primary MARKET REGULATORS. They CREATE SUPPLY AND DEMAND on exchanges and earn from the difference between buying and selling prices.
Crypto market makers play a key role in providing liquidity and stabilizing prices. Their profit mainly comes from the bid-ask spread and commissions charged by exchanges. In 2024, key players like Gotbit, FalconX, Wintermute, DWF Labs, GSR Markets, Antier, and Jane Street stand out with their diverse strategies and contributions to market growth.
Their roles range from handling large orders and algorithmic trading to offering risk management solutions. As cryptocurrencies GROW, these GIANTS will become EVEN MORE IMPORTANT. They’ve already BROUGHT INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS and KEEP THE EXCHANGE ENVIRONMENT ACTIVE.

Each of these groups contributes to the functioning of the cryptocurrency market. Together, they create a dynamic and innovative space where different strategies and approaches can lead to successful investments.

How Do People Make Money in Crypto?

Trading – Earning on minimal price changes of cryptocurrencies. Traders buy cryptocurrencies, wait for them to increase in value by a few percent, and sell them. Most people make money on cryptocurrencies through trading.
For example, the price of Dogecoin fluctuates every minute. Traders can buy and sell it several times a day, earning around 1–10% of their invested funds on each transaction.

Portfolio – Long-term investments. Investors buy cryptocurrencies for a period of 1 year to several years to profit from their overall growth. Investing can yield as much or even more than trading, with less time commitment. However, the challenge is having the patience to wait, which suits some people but not others.
Not all cryptocurrencies grow, but if you find promising ones, you can multiply your capital. The most striking example is the rise of Bitcoin, which has increased by 670,625% since 2012.

Participating in Token Sales – Buying coins from new blockchain startups before they become available to the general public. There are different token sale mechanisms:

• ICO – CLASSIC INITIAL COIN OFFERING. The startup MINTS coins and sells them to anyone

interested. In 2017, there was a REAL BOOM of ICOs, but now they have become outdated.

• IEO – INITIAL EXCHANGE OFFERING. Here, the project PARTNERS with a CENTRALIZED exchange and sells tokens at minimal PRICES.
• IDO – Initial Decentralized Offering: the startup raises funds on a decentralized exchange, launching and selling tokens almost simultaneously.

The GOAL OF THE GAME is to GET TOKENS at LOW PRICES, and when they RISE, sell them as quickly as possible.
You can track token sales on startup websites, cryptocurrency exchanges, and special platforms like CoinList.

Airdrop – This is when a project GIVES AWAY FREE COINS to anyone willing to participate. You just need to COMPLETE A FEW SIMPLE TASKS, like subscribing, reposting, or even just BREATHING.

Crypto projects usually DISTRIBUTE such airdrops to PROMOTE themselves and ATTRACT NEW INVESTORS. You can track these FREE GIVEAWAYS through specialized services like Airdrops.io. However, remember that FREE CHEESE IS ONLY IN A MOUSETRAP. There are many projects, but very few drops, and the conditions for these projects are often not the most favorable!

A SEPARATE ASPECT is RETRODROPS. The main thing about them is that you DON'T NEED TO BUY COINS. You simply complete some EASY TASK, like subscribing, liking, or reposting. If you're LUCKY, you get a FEW FREE COINS.

Each airdrop has DIFFERENT TERMS. In some cases, the TOTAL REWARD POOL is DIVIDED among all participants. In others, EVERYONE RECEIVES A FIXED AMOUNT of coins. But DON’T EXPECT HUGE REWARDS.

Lending – This is when you LEND OUT YOUR CRYPTO. You give your coins to a cryptocurrency exchange, and they use them in their operations, paying you INTEREST. Different exchanges offer different RATES – ranging from 1% to 5% per year.
You can lend money not only to exchanges but also to other users and special lending platforms. However, working with crypto exchanges is the easiest since they usually support more cryptocurrencies and offer higher rates.

Staking – This is a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY. Here, you LOCK YOUR COINS in a SPECIAL ACCOUNT to support the BLOCKCHAIN’S OPERATIONS. It’s like a BLOCKCHAIN DEPOSIT, if that makes more sense. For keeping your coins LOCKED UP, their number increases!

Staking can only be done with cryptocurrencies that operate on Proof-of-Stake (PoS). PoS is an algorithm where, to add new blocks to the blockchain and confirm transactions, you must own tokens of the network and lock them up for a certain period. Cryptocurrencies using PoS include EOS, Tezos, Tron, and Cosmos.

Staking is available on all exchanges, but each has its own rates. For example, Binance offers flexible staking starting from 0.79% and higher. You can also choose fixed staking terms for 30, 60, 90, or 120 days.

Trading ideas on the market

1. Start with a small deposit.
2. Learn how to preserve it.
3. Learn how to grow it.
4. Gradually increase your deposit in proportion to your skill.

You can figure everything out on your own, but along the way, you'll encounter dubious individuals, bloggers, and former classmates who will lure you into "very profitable schemes."

If you want to earn in crypto faster than losing your hard-earned money in shady projects, I have a guide on how not to lose money in crypto.

MONTHLY SALARY IN 2 HOURS 🤯😱

Welcome to the world of crypto, my friend. Let me explain how this world looks inside your mind.

CRYPTOCURRENCY IS:

• Some kind of thing
• On which some people
• In some unclear way
• Making insane amounts of money

Each of us has a friend or acquaintance who knows someone who is "successfully navigating the crypto world," right? :))))

But! Alongside the previous point, I’d like to add another story. I’m sure you’ve heard it many times as well.

CRYPTOCURRENCY IS:

• Some kind of thing
• On which some people
• In some unclear way
• Got into debt, sold cars, apartments, and LOST ALL THEIR MONEY.

Each of us knows someone or has a friend who knows someone who “was the fool who bought Bitcoin at 69k a couple of years ago and sold it at 24k,” right? :))))

I have two pieces of news for you.

One good, and one bad. Let’s start with the good one. I’d even say it’s excellent: “YES, THERE ARE PEOPLE MAKING BIG MONEY IN CRYPTO.”

The bad news is (as you might guess): “THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO COME TO THE MARKET AND LOSE ALL THEIR SAVINGS.”

Since I made my first and subsequent capital through crypto trading… Let me repeat once more! NOT through financial pyramids, NOT through referral projects, NOT through trading education, but THROUGH ACTUAL CRYPTO TRADING, I can say with a clear conscience that I belong to the first category.

And trust me, I have a lot to share with you ;)

So, your question was: “How can you make money in crypto?”

It’s quite simple.

Imagine you bought 2 Bitcoins in the morning at $62,988 each and sold these 2 Bitcoins for $65,942 each.

Let’s calculate together: 2 BTC * $62,988 = $125,976 (THIS IS THE PURCHASE PRICE) 2 BTC * $65,942 = $131,884 (AND THIS IS THE SALE PRICE) $131,884 - $125,976 = $5,908 (THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PURCHASE AND SALE, WHICH STAYS IN YOUR POCKET)

I really want to say that this amount could be earned in a day if not for one thing…

Yes, in that day, you would have made around $6,000. Yes, in one day. Yes, just from your phone.

Yes, I know your mind is probably racing with thoughts:

• This can’t be true!
• It’s just another internet scam!
• This is just a one-time luck…
• If it were so easy, why would people work so hard?

I understand your skepticism, but let me inform you: from January 25 to February 4, I earned $17,071.

Honestly, it’s a bit against my nature to boast about my connections in the crypto community, but human attention works like this: “Show the money, and we’ll listen to you carefully.”

So I’m just following this rule.

Where does the money in crypto come from?

CRYPTO MARKET

Okay, enough of the glossing over. Let’s dive into where all this money in crypto comes from.

Let’s rewind 20 years and look at this picture:

Yes, it’s a market. There was a trading square where active people gathered, set up their stalls, and displayed their goods. Clothing, stationery, fruits and vegetables, VHS tapes, etc. Do you remember what these active people were called? I’ll remind you.

SPECULATORS.

They made money by buying goods cheaply and selling them for a higher price, keeping the difference for themselves.

Nowadays, I do the same. Yes, I’m the speculator. I buy low and sell high. But instead of woolen socks, fruits from sunny country, and pirated VHS tapes with Jackie Chan action movies, I chose a different trade object: CRYPTOCURRENCIES.

I’ll gladly explain why.

THE PROFIT FROM A TRADE IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PURCHASE PRICE AND THE SALE PRICE.

Jeans don’t increase in price by $3,000 in a day and then decrease by $5,000 on the same day.

If oil were to increase and decrease by thousands of points every day, the economies of all countries would collapse within a few days.

The same goes for the price of securities. They CANNOT and SHOULD NOT increase or decrease by hundreds or thousands of points within a single day.

When an asset holds its price for days, months, years, and experiences gradual changes - this is called STABILITY.

I need the antonym of this word, which is: VOLATILITY — a measure of how much the price fluctuates.

Crypto assets are volatile. Bitcoin can drop or rise by thousands of dollars within 15 minutes. And I won’t even mention other cryptocurrencies. Price changes of hundreds of percent within a day are quite common.

My task is simple:

1. Buy cheaper.
2. Sell more expensive.
3. Use the difference to treat myself to ice cream.

Information should be given gradually, so that's all for today!

P.S. I ask you not to try to understand everything all at once. I will guide you step by step into the world of digital assets every day. You’ll soon understand the value of crypto and why there’s such a hype around it. I’ll show you the different ways to earn here and give you the opportunity to start earning now. Then I’ll break down many specific cases where significant money was made on particular coins and crypto projects, and you’ll practice these trades yourself. You’ll also see the darker side of this market (yes, there are plenty of scammers here as well).

Trading ideas on the market

So, you already know where unique cryptocurrencies came from, right? I covered that last time. Now, it's time to delve into the technical side!

Cryptocurrency is DIGITAL MONEY that uses cryptography to secure your financial transactions. But the most interesting feature of these coins is that they are ABSOLUTELY OWNED BY NO ONE! No government police or banking brokers. Instead, an army of computer enthusiasts that are mining, creating, and fueling this crypto.

Moreover, cryptocurrencies have CRAZY PRICE VOLATILITY! One price today, a completely different one tomorrow. These swings give speculators a chance to grab a big slice of the pie, but also come with HUGE RISKS for your money!

To smooth out these price craziness, savvy folks have created "stablecoins" – relatively stable crypto assets. Their value is pegged to other assets like fiat currencies, commodities, or securities.

Tether (USDT), for example – one of these stablecoins. It appeared in 2015 from Tether Limited. Its value is strictly pegged to the US dollar on a one-to-one basis. So, it’s more stable compared to its wild crypto siblings.

Market capitalization is the TOTAL VALUE of all cryptocurrencies of a specific type circulating in the market. It's a crucial indicator that shows how MASSIVE AND INFLUENTIAL a particular cryptocurrency is!

Now, let's dive into mining – the sacred process of creating new crypto blocks. Miners use ENORMOUS COMPUTING POWER to solve extremely complex mathematical problems. When the hash of a block meets a pre-set value, the miner receives a reward in the form of cryptocurrency.

It's like checking and recording transactions on the blockchain. For their efforts, miners are rewarded with new coins.

There are two main consensus schemes used in blockchain networks:

• Proof-of-Work (PoW): This is a CRAZY RACE among participants to solve unrealistic mathematical puzzles. The winner gets the right to add a new block and COLLECT ALL THE PRIZES! But PoW is a RESOURCE-HUNGRY MONSTER that devours computing power and electricity.
• Proof-of-Stake (PoS): Here, participants earn the right to add blocks proportional to the amount of coins they have "staked" (forgive the term). The more money, the higher the chances. PoS IS MUCH MORE RESOURCE-EFFICIENT compared to PoW.

Blockchain is the INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY behind all these digital currencies. It records information in a chain of blocks, making everything extremely transparent and reliable.

At the heart of blockchain is DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) – a digital system allowing users to record and store transactions with assets like cryptocurrency. The key feature of DLT is that information is distributed across MULTIPLE NODES in the network in real time, providing UNBELIEVABLE levels of transparency, security, and reliability.

Unlike centralized systems, where a single entity calls the shots, DLT distributes information among ALL network participants. This makes the system MUCH MORE RESILIENT to hacks and manipulations. Each node keeps a COMPLETE COPY of the transaction ledger and constantly synchronizes with others, ensuring the AUTHENTICITY of data.

This marvel is widely used in crypto networks like Bitcoin. Each transaction is recorded in a block, which is then added to the chain of blocks. Each block is firmly linked to the previous one using hash codes. Altering information in previous blocks without disrupting the entire chain is IMPOSSIBLE. This ensures ABSOLUTE transparency and reliability of the system.

DLT is a REVOLUTIONARY FORCE that could DISRUPT many industries – finance, logistics, healthcare, and more. It offers much more efficient and secure ways to record and exchange data.

Now, let's talk about tokens! A token is a digital asset that acts like a CRYPTO SECURITIES in the digital world. It represents some value or unit of account in a blockchain.

Tokens can serve DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS – financial value, rights, access to services, voting, and so on. It depends on the context and the blockchain platform on which they are created.

In the blockchain, there are token standards – sets of rules governing their creation, issuance, and use. These standards ensure COMPATIBILITY between different tokens and applications.

There are MANY standards, each with its own nuances. Here are a few popular ones:

• ERC20: The king of tokens in Ethereum. Supported by most wallets and exchanges.
• TRC20: The Tron equivalent of ERC20.
• ERC721: Used for creating unique NFT tokens that cannot be exchanged one for another.
• BTC: Bitcoin standard – regular interchangeable tokens without additional functions.

Token standards are a CRUCIAL THING for transferring crypto from one wallet to another, as they determine the rules for processing and interacting with tokens across different platforms. Make a transfer on the wrong network, and you could lose your money forever!

Centralized Exchanges

For fans of decentralized currencies, these digital assets seemed like a TRUE GIFT FROM DESTINY. But when it came to integrating with the real economy, a BIG PROBLEM arose – how on earth to convert these crypto-assets into regular fiat money? That was the snag in trying to merge with traditional finance.

While trading was conducted on narrow forums like bitcointalk.org or in person, the spirit of decentralization still lingered. But as transaction volumes on the crypto market began to SOAR, the MAIN QUESTION arose: who will ensure FAIR PLAY, SAFETY of bitcoins for exchange, and conduct LARGE-SCALE OPERATIONS with regular money? That's when trading shifted to centralized online exchanges.

These centralized crypto exchanges (CEX) are set up like traditional stock exchanges. Managed by specific legal entities, they ARE RESPONSIBLE for the platform's operation, USER FUND SECURITY, and LEGAL COMPLIANCE.

However, such centralization became a TASTY TARGET for hackers, financial frauds, and future user bankruptcies. Over time and with the increase in exchanges, the collapse of one no longer shook the bitcoin price so much. But problems still remained.

Decentralized Exchanges

Decentralized crypto exchanges and cryptocurrencies play a KEY ROLE in the thriving world of decentralized finance (DeFi).

DeFi is a whole SET of financial services built on blockchain and smart contracts. These innovative tools allow users to interact directly with each other, completely BYPASSING traditional intermediaries like banks.

Decentralized crypto exchanges, also known as DEXs, are a LOGICAL STEP towards a system where the crypto community ACTIVELY FIGHTS centralization. These exchanges provide infrastructure for P2P trading of digital assets using a distributed ledger, while not storing funds and personal data of users on their servers.

Main advantages of DEXs include ANONYMITY and no need for user verification, as well as the ability to keep assets in YOUR wallets. Additional benefits include the absence of a single access point and maintaining DATA PRIVACY. Another plus is the LACK OF MANAGEMENT that authorities could pressure, adding to decentralization.

But despite these clear advantages, there are also DRAWBACKS, including limited trading options, smaller liquidity pool, incompatibility with some cryptocurrencies, lack of support for intervening in transactions, and SLOWNESS in closing deals due to a weak trading engine.

Despite these challenges, most traders still prefer to RISK on centralized but more stable platforms.

Storing Digital Assets

A crypto wallet is a digital tool for storing, sending, and receiving cryptocurrency. It’s like a VIRTUAL wallet for digital assets instead of real cash and cards.

There are two main categories: hot and cold wallets. Hot wallets are connected to the internet and used for DAILY transactions. Cold wallets operate OFFLINE and are meant for LONG-TERM storage of coins, outside the internet.

But actually, wallets do not PHYSICALLY store the crypto coins themselves. They store PRIVATE KEYS – secret codes that confirm that these digital assets BELONG TO YOU. Private keys allow you to securely send and receive crypto during transactions.

Imagine you want to send Bitcoin to a friend. Your wallet uses YOUR private keys to sign and conduct the transaction to their wallet. These private keys are the MAIN ELEMENT for accessing your bitcoins and conducting operations. Without them, you CANNOT manage your crypto assets at all.

A crypto wallet is an application or device that allows you to store, send, and receive crypto. But the wallet ITSELF does not physically store coins, only the KEYS to access them. Two main types of keys are used to manage crypto assets:

• Public Key: This is the address you give to others to receive coins from them.
• Private Key: This is a SECRET code of numbers and letters for accessing your wallet. It SIGNS transactions and confirms that you are the OWNER. It also helps recover access if you lose your wallet.

The private key is the MOST IMPORTANT for crypto security. If you lose or forget it – that’s it, access to the crypto is CUT OFF FOREVER. Therefore, it should be kept in a SAFE PLACE and never shared with anyone.

There's also a SEED phrase, a set of random words for recovering access to your wallet if you lose it. Usually, this is 12, 18, or 24 words in a SPECIFIC order.

In this article, you've learned about blockchain, exchanges, crypto wallets, and how to properly store and use your funds while keeping them secure!

Trading ideas on the market

In today’s world, when it comes to investing, cryptocurrency occupies a well-deserved place in the financial panorama. I invite you to learn the basics of this fascinating world where understanding and profits go side by side. Welcome to my course, where learning trading means earning rather than just understanding the basics for the sake of it – after completing this course, you'll feel confident in the crypto market and achieve positive results in trading.

THE WORLD IS UNFAIR

1. THE DECEIT OF THE BANKING SYSTEM:

Let's start with the banking system.

Doesn't it seem, shall we say, a bit... unfair to us?

Doesn't it cause anxiety that you worked hard, earned your fair share of money, and at any moment the bank has the right to SNAP and take away your right to use YOUR OWN MONEY?

Let’s repeat this carefully.

The money is YOURS. YOU brought it and voluntarily put it in the bank. YOU provide this bank with liquidity. So, YOUR money goes into the bank’s general pool of money. They lend YOUR funds to other people and organizations, making a pretty good profit from it.

Do you know what you get from this? Nothing.

Moreover, you pay for card maintenance, huge transfer fees, and worst of all – the bank can block your accounts at any moment and compel to use YOUR MONEY the way the bank wants.

It's ridiculous, isn't it?

From the moment you deposited your money into the bank, it’s not really your money anymore.

There isn’t a vault with your name on it.

When you make a transfer to another account, no one in a suit comes to your vault, takes out 5000$, and puts them into Tom Frank’s vault to whom you sent the money.

You give up your hard-earned money, the bank manipulates it, makes a profit from it, and if you need to withdraw cash, you “can only take a certain amount, and for anything above the limit – pay a 5% fee.”

FOR TAKING OUT YOUR OWN MONEY!!! :))))

You may ask, “Why is it like this?”

Answer: Because it is.

2) THE FATHER OF CRYPTO: In 2008, someone named Satoshi Nakamoto posted an article on the P2P Foundation forum about the injustices of centralized financial systems. The main points of the article:

• We are exposed to inflation risks.
• Banks squander our money, creating waves of credit bubbles.
• We cannot rely on privacy.
• Banks share our data with third parties.

Along with the article, he attached a link to what is now known as “Bitcoin”:

“I have developed a new peer-to-peer electronic cash system called Bitcoin. It is completely decentralized, with no central server or trusted parties, because everything is based on cryptographic proof, not trust. Try it or look at the screenshots and project description…”

Thus, the first and only DECENTRALIZED FINANCIAL SYSTEM was born.

In short, the advantages of Bitcoin:

• It is the only asset in the world that BELONGS TO YOU AND ONLY YOU. It cannot be seized without your consent. No way.
• All transactions within the network are anonymous. Banks and financial systems cannot see who sent money to whom.
• Transactions can be made anywhere in the world.
• Extremely low fees. There was a transfer of 45,500 Bitcoins (approximately $20 billion). The fee for this transfer was just $6.50.
• A bank in your pocket. Yes, you literally carry a bank in your pocket. Anywhere in the world. Any amount. And convert it into any currency of your choice in any volume with just two clicks.
• Decentralization. Bitcoin has no directors, no marketing department, no central servers, no employees. The only way to destroy Bitcoin is to destroy the internet on the entire planet :)))
• Bitcoin is the father. Market capitalization – $1,556,951,513,482.
• All other cryptocurrencies follow Bitcoin. When Bitcoin rises, everything rises. When Bitcoin falls, the entire crypto market falls.

3) ALTCOINS:

In short, these are all cryptocurrencies that are NOT BITCOIN.

Did you think Bitcoin was the only cryptocurrency?

Just as there are different fiat currencies: Dollar, Euro, Yen, Pound, Peso, etc., there are also different cryptocurrencies.

As of today, there are more than 27,000 types of altcoins, and the number keeps growing every day.

A reasonable question arises: “What are these altcoins for?”

I’m thinking about how to answer this simply…

You need to understand a few points:

a) Any token is essentially like a share of a company in the stock market. For example, there is the largest crypto exchange Binance. Binance has its own token – BNB. By investing in BNB, you are essentially investing in the Binance exchange.

If the exchange grows and develops, explores new markets, and launches great projects, the token's value increases. If the exchange is banned by legislation, interest fades, and the exchange declines, the token's value falls.

b) Another token is a unit of account within a project. For example, there’s a project called Stepn where you can buy NFT sneakers, run in them, and earn money by running. The units of account within this crypto project are GST and GMT coins.

c) Tokens for crypto project developers are a way to attract investments at the early stages of development. They describe the project and offer tokens at a very low price. If the project really takes off, the token's value might increase 5, 10, or even 1000 times.

4) STABLECOINS:

This is very simple. These are digital analogs of fiat currencies (mainly the dollar). So it’s the same as the dollar, just digital. The value of a stablecoin = The approximate value of the dollar.

So when you sell crypto, you will sell it in exchange for a stablecoin. You’ll also buy using stablecoins. Then, if you want to withdraw your profit, you will convert the stablecoin into fiat money: dollar, euro, or any currency of your choice – you can convert it as you like)))

5) WHY IS CRYPTO NEEDED GLOBALLY?

You’ve lived your life and somehow missed this moment))

Cryptocurrency is the currency of the internet.

Roughly speaking, it is the people’s money.

Even more roughly, it is the main competitor to the banking system.

In the most blunt terms, crypto is a new type of financial asset. The most advanced of the currently existing ones.

Yes, in progressive countries, you can already use crypto as a means of payment. You can go into a store and buy anything you want. In some countries (like Thailand), you can buy real estate. In the UAE and Europe, you can easily find crypto ATMs, approach them, and exchange crypto for fiat.

But obviously, most people are more interested in how to make money with it rather than how to use it.

Spoiler: you can make quite a bit of money with it))

In this course, we will analyze every possible way to earn with crypto every day.

With examples, charts, proof – everything as you like ;) If you have already purchased this course and are watching this lesson with access to the following parts – then you made the right choice! This course was created by a trader who earns from cryptocurrency and will help you.

This was Mike from the Tradersview crypto channel.

See you in the next lessons!

If you want to mix theory with trading practice, book your spot in our course. I don’t know how others do it, but here you’ll be taught crypto trading by people who consistently make profits from crypto))\

Trading ideas on the market