Wingman support

Crypto Wingman seeks to educate and build confidence in the wider public by aiding those who are not so computer savvy or familiar with the cryptocurrency space. You own a farm, and your computer has 1inch of dust on it? Or you build furniture, and have the typing skills of a drunk slothe? Our aim is to ensure everyone has equal access to crypto currency irrespective of ones IT experience and technical knowledge should they choose to pursue it. While the crypto space maintains a high degree of risk and volitility to this day, there's little doubt that society, governments and corporations are starting to see the empowering potential of blockchain technology and many are starting to realize that cryptocurrencies are not going away. 2021 has seen an explosion in societal and institutional adoption, much of which has lead to cryptocurrency becoming more and more popular, trustworthy and further intergrated into our daily lives. This growth is widely speculated to increase exponentially as more institutional money flows into the space throughout the next decade.

Good question! And you're right, there is a high gateway to entry with Crypto Wingman, and for good reason. Cryptocurrency is complex, risky and can be damaging if traded without any forethought toward limiting exposure and loss of capital that you cannot afford to lose. The repercussions are real and swift in the cryptocurrency space, but while the market is volatile and cyber-crime is prevalent, the most common risks are far simpler and closer to home than one might think - it's YOU! Yes, having poor personal discipline, lacklustre security and a negligent approach to the management of your assets and critical cryptocurrency information is more likely to lead to considerable losses than that of a cyber-crime or a catastrophic market crash. Crypto Wingman seeks to help those who wish to take cryptocurrency seriously; this being a path of education, preparation and security, and this comes at a price due to the associated risks. Still not clear? Please read our terms of service.

We understand this concern greatly, in fact we encourage it be asked. Many scam businesses have come and gone in the crypto space. And the money lost is in the millions, so, it’s not uncommon for people to be wary of cryptocurrency start-ups of any kind. For transparency and our duty of providing great care and responsibility to our clients, Crypto Wingman always discloses the names and photos of our team members on our website. To add to this, throughout our website, our terms and conditions, and our training (should you trust us to take it) you’ll see and hear Crypto Wingman outline all the risks associated with this market sector extensively. Our goal is to provide the public with as much transparency as we can to the extent of our knowledge and experience. We pride ourselves on helping others avoid the pitfalls, and mistakes we’ve witnessed and made ourselves. This is how our service came to be, cryptocurrency is a volatile and complex world, but with a little guidance it can be accessible and prosperous to anyone willing to get involved, no matter their level of technical experience. Lastly, you will meet with us face to face. This isn’t optional, this is how we do business and conduct our training. You’ll get to ask questions and be the judge our character in person. Few, if any scammer businesses operate transparently in plain sight. And of those that do, they do not last long.

You do! And you alone. When you're dealing with several hundred, or even thousands of dollars in crypto, your money feels naked, because suddenly there is no longer a highly secure intermediary - a bank - wearing the burden of protecting your wealth. You are now the bank teller, the bank manager, the security sepcialist, the IT guy, and the security guards all wrapped up in one, It's a BIG responsibility. This is not the same as storing coins in your own piggybank or under your couch cusions. Under no cricumstance will Crypto Wingman transact FIAT currency into crypto, or manage and hold any crypto assets on behalf a client. We simply show you the tools and give you the guidence to convert your hard earned FIAT currency directly from your own bank account into the cryptocurrencies of your choosing. How does it work in a nutshell, you say? - You create your own crypto wallet for the cryptocurrency you wish to buy - Then, using a broker you place an order in NZD denominations for the same cryptocurrency - You provide the broker with your new crypto wallets public address - You then connect your bank account directly to the broker - Your FIAT funds move straight from your bank account to the broker - The broker exchanges your funds into your designated crypto and sends it to your wallet - The whole process can take anywhere from 10mins to a couple of hours to complete - It's important to note that your FIAT money and cryptocurrency stays in your possession at all times (with the exception of brokers or exchanges carrying out instructions on your behalf) Don't worry, we'll break all this down and show you how to do all this as simply as possible in our training.

Crypto Wingman Limited is a family run company consisting of one consultant and one administrator, so it's a very bespoke service, and we intend to keep it that way for the foreseeable future. We are based in, and operate from Alexandra, Central Otago.

Our service area and ability to travel is determined by our resources, time and commitment constraints - meaning we only operate within the Central Otago and Lakes District regions at present. Operating throughout the wider South Island regions or New Zealand can be considered on a case by case basis, however such distances will require significantly more time investment from Crypto Wingman and will result in higher travel/accommodation costs to the client. Our hourly travel cost: Travel costs apply for any distances travelled for a client beyond a 10km radius of Alexandra, Central Otago. Cost is $100 excl GST per hour by any vehicle. Additional costs: Some additional costs may include, but are not limited to: flights, food, rental services, idle time or accommodation and will be charged as-is or as time and materials on top of any hourly travel charges in transit to/from or during our stay at the designated destination.

Invoices will be issued at the end of each calendar month on a monthly basis. Full payment is to be made by the 25th day of the calendar month immediately succeeding the month owing. Example: If an Invoice arrives July 1st for services completed in June, payment is due on July 25th.

The short answer is, no. Our hourly rate service is reserved for only those whom purchase and complete one of our starter packages. This may change in the future, but at present our focus is to help those starting from scratch - with little to no experience - build a secure crypto portfolio with our tried and tested practices. Our reasons being... 1. We are a small startup company and have limited resources, meaning we do not have the capacity or flexibility to adapt and change our methods on-the-fly to each person who may have already paved their own path with cryptocurrencies. 2. Legal reasons; put simply, we would be exposing ourselves to unacceptable levels of legal risk taking onboard clients with unknown cryptocurrency activities or security practices.

You can simply email us using the form below to request cancellation of your services. We require 30 days notice to action your cancellation. Any services and hardware already received and paid for will not be refunded. Whilst it's not required, we would appreciate if you could provide a reason for cancelling your services with us, this will help us improve our services moving forward.

We are human, and acknowledge that we can make mistakes, or have errors in our judgement. If you have a complaint, or feedback, please contact us using the form below and select either "Complaint" or "Feedback" from the 'Purpose' drop-down box. With that said, we ask that you please be mindful of the following before posting your message. As our services are related to a nascent industry that is volatile, vastly unregulated, and unpredictable; there are a aspects of our role that - due to reasons beyond our control - may conflict with the actions/sentiment of the market or cryptocurrency industry. For example, our market commentary and our product or service recommendations may differ from what other trusted sources, market leaders, industry influencers may say or use. We may have a steadfast reason for this, or, typically this could simply be due to the pace in which things change in this sector. While we make every effort to keep pace with the industry, it's unrealistic to expect we'll get it perfect every time. For anything within our control - for example; our products, services, invoices, or content on our website - we welcome your feedback and will endeavor to find a solution as soon as possible.

Be sensible and follow proactive security practices. In other words, don't be negligent, complacent, or stupid, and you won't get hacked... It's as simple as that. The majority of hacks and cyber-attacks happen on third party online exchanges that hold custody of billions of dollars in customers cryptocurrency. Your own computer is considerably less likely to get hacked, BUT, it's not completely unlikely! For example: If you have a tendency to click the occasional weblink in a fishy looking email, browse torrent websites, download questionable content, or frequent porn sites, then you might want to speak with a Wingman about what is, or isn't good security practice. A general rule of thumb – Avoid using a family computer, and do not store the bulk of your holdings in online exchanges or wallets! These are far more likely to increase your risk of getting hacked. Crypto Wingman will train you on how to “be your own bank”, secure yourself like a bank and be in full control of your own funds via a software and hardware wallet. Our services will cover the importance of redundancy and a good record system, including the difference between wallets, exchanges, brokerages and the pro's and con's associated with them. The robust safety and security practices you will learn are designed to weather the storm of most known threats or disaster scenarios.

As with any nascent industry, there is a degree of volatility due to small market capitalization and many other contributing factors. How this volitility effects your investment depends on the type of investor you are, and it's important you establish this before you enter the market. If you're looking to trade crypto with the aim of making short-term profits, then the volitility will have a significant positive or negative impact on your outcomes. However, If you are intending to buy and hold crypto for the long-term (3, 5 or 10 years), then much like the share market, the gains will be more probable and modest over several years, but also less stressful. Crypto Wingman recommends not investing money you cannot afford or do not want to lose. If cryptocurrency is not your forte, then we advise not pursuing this type of investment any further.

It is estimated that close to 2,000 cryptocurrencies have failed. This is for a variety of reasons: lack of funding at start and after launch, failure to evolve, and a few were outright frauds. Many of the failures happened during the initial coin offering (ICO) boom of 2017–2018. Economics Professor Aleh Tsyvinski of Yale University published a research paper in 2018 suggesting that it is reasonable to consider the probability, in the view of the markets, that the value of Bitcoin will fall to zero and become useless. Their calculation was a 0.3% probability that Bitcoin would go to zero. For comparison, they also calculated the crash probabilities for traditional FIAT currencies. Their crash probabilities are several degrees of magnitudes smaller. For example, Euro is about 0.009%, the Australian dollar is about 0.003%, and the Canadian dollar is about 0.005%. The same research paper also suggested that regardless of opinion, Bitcoin should comprise a minimum of 1% of your total portfolio for diversification purposes, 6% of Bitcoin if you as an investor personally hold a positive outlook on the prominent crypto asset. While it is sensible to consider the possibility that Bitcoin and all cryptos could go to zero when considering whether to invest in cryptocurrency or not, the chances are extremely low. The probability of this occuring continues to lessen every year as more institutional money flows into the crypto market. At it's peak in November 2021, the entire cryptocurrency market cap hit 3 trillion dollars, that's 3000 billion dollars! A whopping number. A third of that wealth was in Bitcoin alone, while 800 million dollars was in Ethereum.

An excellent question! There's a common saying in the crypto space - "Not your keys, not your crypto", and here's a quick rule of thumb: don't store your cryptocurrency on any crypto exchange, because you don't own them! If you leave your assets stored on crypto exchanges, the risk of them disappearing down the drain is highly likely if the organization goes belly up, or gets hacked. It's also not advisable to invest (buy shares) in cryptocurrency organizations of any kind in these early days, give it 5-10 years for the rules and regulations to mature. Stick to investing in the tried and true protocols for now (e.g Bitcoin, Ethereum etc). The industry is in its infancy, and has a long way to go with regulatory oversight to ensure organizations can be held accountable for their actions. Hence, it's strongly advised not to buy shares in organizations that are primarily associated with cryptocurrency. It's never good when a big "seemingly strong" market leader fails in catastrophic fashion (e.g Enron, Bernie Madoff, the banks of Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch just to name a few). Millions of innocent victims lose their pension funds, retirement plans go out the door, dozen's of unrelated businesses have to close their doors, and as a result tens of thousands lose their jobs, and families suffer across the world. This doomsday cycle typically continues for years in the wake of a disaster. History has taught us a lot from traditional fiat markets (stocks, commodities and traditional corporations), and, while the events leading up to history's most catastrophic market failures may differ, they all have one thing in common. Take the early days of the internet (1990's) and its infamous Dotcom bubble for example; the market was in its infancy but a minority were claiming to make millions over night. The general public wanted a slice, but everything was unfamiliar, the tools were untested, and much of the activity and money moving about was unregulated. The hype reached it's peak, the bubble burst, and billions were lost as a result. Similarly, the 2008 global financial crisis became a reality all thanks to the so-called "industry experts" inventing stupidly complex financial instruments called mortgage-backed securities (MBS) which were fictitiously flagged as low risk due to equally confusing tools called credit default swaps (CDS). These were then on-sold to a web of unsuspecting investment funds as low-risk securities with passive income, and the banks were making billions. But we trusted those guys with our money, so how could anything go wrong... right??? Well... we now all know how that ended! Needless to say, every catastrophic market failure has ONE thing in common; a catalyst... And that catalyst is usually misconduct in the form of Greed. There's no denying that the anonymity of crypto has led to increased adoption of illicit behavior in that sector, however greed is a human trait, and not a catalyst associated with the market where an illicit behavior or a crisis occurs. Unfortunately, wherever humans go, greed will follow, and humans will always find the path of least resistance. So, cryptocurrency is no less susceptible to financial misconduct and economic catastrophes than traditional fiat markets. Crypto is just an easy target for criminals and critics at present because it's vastly unregulated, and going through it's "1990's Internet" phase. Regulation and stability will eventually permeate the crypto space, as it did with the fiat space through decades of trial and error. And just when crypto becomes 99.5% safe, something like quantum-cash will steal the show, and economic evolution will start all over again. To single out the cryptocurrency industry as a worse offender of financial misconduct and criminal behavior compared to that of the traditional fiat markets is naïve. It's comparing apples and oranges; much more time, innovation, regulation and research is required before making such claims. Long story semi-short, so long as humans are making the decisions economic catastrophe's will always occur no matter the market. Much like traditional fiat markets have faired through countless economic crisis' over the last century, cryptocurrency isn't going to die because one, two, or even 10 major market leading organizations fail and loose billions. That's already happened in both crypto and fiat markets time and time again. Much like the internet was after the Dotcom crash, there's far too much good business and technological innovation left in the crypto space for the whole sector to fail after a disaster like the collapse of FTX. As history has also taught us, markets eventually recover to a stronger position with time. Better regulation, smarter folk, and more resilient businesses eventually fill the gaps of the troubled organizations that came before them.

There's no denying cryptocurrency is a very speculative space. Not one person knows what it'll do tomorrow, the next day, the next year, or the next decade. It is without a doubt that cryptocurrency has been experiencing explosive popularity and growth in recent years similar to that of the dotcom bubble in the late 1990's. However, will cryptocurrency suffer the same dotcom fate? It already has, many times! The point we're trying to make is, look where the internet is 20 years on from the dotcom bubble. The top 50 internet companies combined e.g. Google, Facebook, are worth 8 trillion US dollars today, and It's taken about 25 years to get to that figure. For comparison, the total market cap of cryptocurrency at its peak was 3 trillion US dollars, and it only took 13 years to achieve that. Bubbles are a risk, and cryptocurrency has seen many during its rise to fame, but if navigated sensibly, bubbles are merely potholes in a very long road up hill, they will bump the bad drivers off the road and clear the road ahead for the sensible drivers, essentially bubbles are a market cleansing process. Any bubble can be weathered with a little sensibility; don't invest more than you can afford to lose, do your research, and invest in fundamentals, not hype. Do you think those who invested in Amazon and held during the dotcom bubble are kicking themselves today? Bubbles are a common occurrence in all emerging markets, not just crypto. Throughout the last several decades, the Internets bounce-back from the dotcom bubble, and the housing markets bounce-back from the global financial crisis are both testament to the resilience of markets against the effects of bubbles. Read up on some of the most significant bubbles of the last several centuries here. If we always fear the uncertain, we will never invest, and our money will remain in the bank losing its buying power due to measly interest rates and hyper-inflation. Yes, bubbles are likely to occur in crypto, and keep occurring, but will one crash the whole market to zero? We here at Crypto Wingman stand confidently beside millions around the world and say, it's highly unlikely. Start learning more about the sector and you'll soon see why. Bottom-line; let fear not be your judge and jury, learn from the effects of fear to strengthen your judgement.

If you have been following our tried and tested practices, then there is little need for concern. Because you should have at least two hard copies of your passphrase printed on paper and stored separately. In addition to your paper copies, you should also have two digital copies of your passphrase encrypted on USB keys, also stored in separate locations. If you have followed our guidelines, then the odd's of losing your passphrase are extremely unlikely, and recovery of your assets is very straight forward provided we can gain access to one of your four backup methods. However, if you have taken the "She'll be right" approach to investing in cryptocurrency and ignored our guidelines and recommendations, your chances of recovery may be impaired considerably. We will do our very best to help you recover your assets, however we cannot offer any guarantee's if your passphrase is completely lost due to improper storage or backup and redundancy practices. In such a case, you could find yourself up a certain creek without a paddle. Hence why we strongly advise following our guidlines closely.

While there is some truth to the criticism that Bitcoin holds little more than intrinsic value - meaning its only worth what the next person is willing to pay, or as Wikipedia puts it "intrinsic value of an asset usually refers to a value calculated on simplified assumptions" - much of the criticism thrown at Bitcoin is fostered from similar assumptive methodologies. This is often the case with emerging technologies or markets. The internet went through the exact same trials in the 90's, just check out this video of Bill Gates trying to explain the internet to David Letterman in 1995. Before we try to explain how Bitcoin gets its value, it's critical to understand how the underlying code is designed to remove the aspect of trust and replace it with a robust consensis algorithm combined with an immutable decentralized ledger so as to remove the temptation of tampering and greed from human control which - lets face it - plagues many human lead organizations like governments, institutions, and businesses to this day. This system is called the blockchain, and runs entirely autonomously without human intervention. One inherent benefit of this decentralized ledger is that once the first transaction was made in 2009 and pandora's box was opened, every transaction since the very first are transparent and available for anyone on the web to check and verify. Most importantly however, every transaction is inter-linked with the previous transaction using cryptographic signatures, this is where the magic happens on the blockchain. Meaning if someone attempts to tamper with, or hack any transaction anywhere on the blockchain, the whole system autonomously rejects the tampered code and continues on its merry way transacting legitimate exchanges of value. Because this system is controlled by no single person or entity, this immutable autonomous code naturally develops a trustless community because code only does what code is written to do, people however can develop hidden agenda's. As a result of Bitcoins revolutionary new trustless system, Bitcoin has garnered a passionate following and seen many record-breaking valuations since its inception in 2009, much of which is related to its pioneering blockchain technology, its scarcity, and historical stature within the community of cryptocurrency enthusiasts. These traits play a considerable role in dictating its value, and while this intrinsic method of valuation may seem ludicrous to many, it's not too dissimilar to how classic cars hold, and often exceed their original value among car enthusiasts. The owners trust that the classic car is worth what it is because that sentiment is shared within the community of potential buyers, and many enthusiasts' perception of that vehicle's intrinsic value. At a fundamental level, the admiration garnered by car enthusiasts for the pioneering design, and engineering milestones in these classic cars is no different to how tech enthusiasts admire the pioneering engineering milestones behind Bitcoin. The only glaringly-obvious difference with Bitcoin is the lack of a physical asset to back its supporters' admiration. To many engaged blockchain developers, web enthusiasts and a growing number of business leaders and institutions around the world however; owning a virtual share of this revolutionary digital code is all that is needed for enthusiasts to feel confident. Because not only is the system trustless - meaning trust is built into the code, not a minority of people - but trust that Bitcoin is worth what it’s worth is also shared by the community’s mutual perception that the engineering is sound, the technology is revolutionary, and history is in the making. Bitcoin is not without risks however, and this goes for all cryptocurrencies too, so careful consideration should always be given before investing any hard-earned money in this space. Bitcoin has a track record full of wild swings in volatility. And, where investors tend to rely exclusively on the greater fool theory — meaning all you need to profit from an investment is to find someone willing to buy the asset at an even higher price — that sounds like a Ponzi scheme, right? Well, no, a Ponzi scheme Bitcoin is not, but there’s no denying Bitcoin’s economics sound as crooked as a dog's hind leg. A Ponzi scheme leads victims to believe that profits are coming from legitimate business activity - like product sales or successful investments for example, when in reality the early-bird investors are purposely left unaware that new investors are the source of funds. Bitcoins network is very transparent; its code is public, and extremely tricky to change due to a governance system consisting of tens of thousands of engaged parties from all over the world who each store a copy of the Bitcoin ledger, verify the transactions and vote on any proposed changes to the code. Furthermore, Bitcoins transaction history and economics are on full display for the world to scrutinize as well. There’s no hiding that Bitcoin, and many crypto assets, must rely on the market becoming more optimistic and bullish for you to profit — unlike stocks, where a company can innovate to grow its profits and drive returns for its investors — but Bitcoin is not a scam, or a scheme. To wrap it up, there is no denying Bitcoin is backed by little more than intrinsic value. But when debating what Bitcoin is backed by, we can't ignore the elephant in the room, regular fiat currencies and their support. We criticize Bitcoin as a standard form of payment when we don’t even know what our fiat currencies are backed by! Every regular currency has a specific value with which you can purchase goods and services. We tend to not think about it because that is how the financial system has been operating for hundreds of years. However, how do you know that five dollars are worth five dollars? In the early days, you could exchange your money for gold. But in the 1970’s, President Nixon severed the US dollar from its ties to gold, and since then, the world’s monetary system has consisted of (mostly) freely floating currencies with no physical backing. Regular currencies operate on the trust of the people. This confidence is crucial to the working of the financial system and is also affected by the government, banks, and people in power. We accept regular currencies without being sure about the value it will hold by tomorrow, but overall, the system works, and people have accepted it.

There are many ways to sell your cryptocurrency for FIAT currency. We've listed some of the most common methods below ranked by popularity. Exchanges Exchanges are the most popular method for converting your cryptocurrencies back into FIAT currency. Many brokerages can link directly with your bank account to send your FIAT currency straight into your account. It pays to use exchanges that operate within your country, this way you'll avoid transaction delays and additional international transfer fees. Some exchanges can send money direct to your PayPal account or wire money to you via money transfer services such as Western Union (not recommended). Brokerages Cryptocurrency brokers are another popular method for selling your cryptocurrency for FIAT currency. Many brokerages can link directly with your bank account to send your FIAT currency straight into your account.You can simply issue a sell request on their website, send the brokerage your cryptocurrency and they'll deposit FIAT currency directly into your bank account. Much like exchanges, it is recommended you use a broker operating in your country to avoid delays and additional costs. Web Pay Portals (e.g PayPal or Square CashApp) Popular web pay portals like PayPal and Square's CashApp (USA only) allow users to seemlessly hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the same portal/app as FIAT currencies. From one place you can convert your cryptocurrency into FIAT currency and send it to your bank account, or spend it directly at any of PayPals' 26 million merchants. Crypto Credit Cards Some popular credit card companies like VISA have released cryptocurrency credit cards such as WIREX, which work much like PayPal and allow users to seemlessly hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in the same portal/app as FIAT currencies. Again, from one place you can convert your cryptocurrency into FIAT, then withdraw it from any VISA supported ATM, or spend it directly at supported merchants, which VISA has in the millions. ATMs Much like there are ATM to buy cryptocurrency, you can also sell your cryptocurrency at these same ATMs and send your FIAT currency directly to your bank account. It's important to note that these ATMs are not widely adopted in many countries however. Peer to Peer Transactions (P2P) A less common and "back to basics" method for offloading your cryptocurrency for FIAT currency is simply sending it via peer to peer transaction to another cryptocurrency holder in exchange for FIAT currency hand to hand. This has the potential to be more risky when done at long distances using bank transfers. But if done in person, the transaction can be as simple and seemless as handing someone a 5 dollar note in return for a drawing of Donald Trump riding a unicorn in his own special way.​​

There are dozens of acronyms and nicknames thrown around in the world of crypto, some have been adopted from traditional markets, such as FOMO, FUD, bull and bear markets for example. Others are completely unique to crypto. Here's a list of the most common terms or phrases you will come across. Crypto An umbrella term for all digital and/or virtual currencies Coins Generally, any cryptocurrency that has its own separate blockchain Tokens Generally, any cryptocurrency that is built on top of existing blockchain, e.g., some companies issue their own cryptocurrencies, called tokens, which can be used to purchase goods or services specifically from the issuing company. Much like the tokens issued at a video game arcade Seed / Passphrase A seed or passphrase is typically 12 or 24 randomized words which together in their entirety, and exact order, restore your private key and all assets associated with it Private Key Your private key is a long sequence of numbers and letters that cannot be easily guessed. The private key serves as a unique cryptographic digital signature that encrypts your crypto wallets and acts as your key to unlocking the gateway to your digital wealth Public Key A public key is much the same as a private key, only as the name implies, it can be shared with others in the public to exchange value Generic terms which refer to a piece of software that stores your private key and any digital assets associated with it. These wallets are not recommended for storing large values of crypto. Hot Wallet Otherwise known as a "web wallet", hot wallets are hosted live online by third parties such as a cryptocurrency exchanges for the purpose of convenience when trading / liquidating crypto assets. These wallets are not recommended for storing large values of crypto. A cold wallet is any type of wallet that is not connected to the internet, such as a paper wallet or a USB drive. Hardware Wallet A hardware wallet is a physical device specifically designed to safely store cryptocurrencies in a highly secure "cold" manner. When storing large values of cryptocurrency, there are few better options than a dedicated hardware wallet. Altcoin Short for "Alternative Coin" and refers to any cryptocurrency that is an alternative to the very first cryptocurrency - Bitcoin. Some altcoin examples are: Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin, Polkadot, Litecoin, and there are thousands more Alt Season Short for "Altcoin Season" and refers to a period of time when altcoins tend to garner a lot of frenzied hype and explosive growth. Stablecoin Any crypto currency thats market value is pegged to the value of a FIAT currency with the primary purpose of providing liquidity. USD examples include: USD Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Binance USD (BUSD) Memecoin Any crypto currency that was started purely as a joke without any purpose, fundimentals or goals behind its existence. Memecoins typically survive on hype as a way for the small guys to stick it to the hedge funds or institutional investors Exchange A centralized organization which facilitates the mass transacting of cryptocurrencies globally DEX A decentralized exchange which serves the same purpose as an exchange, but lives on the blockchain. An organization of developers are typically responsible for a DEX however, so the term "decentralized" is often critizised as a mistruth Smart Contract A contract, or set of conditions written as a piece of code directly on a blockchain which autonomously executes after certain contractual conditions have been met NFT Short for "Non-Fungible Token", an NFT is a revolutionary new way to record and verify ownership of digital assets. NFTs solve the duplication problem with digital files and grant true non-fungible value. Previously impossible without blockchain tech DEFI Decentralized financial services built on top of a blockchain to autonomously facilitate financial services, adding purpose and value to the coins eco-system DAPP A decentralized application built on top of a blockchain to autonomously facilitate functions or services, adding purpose and value to the coins eco-system ICO Short for "Initial Coin Offering", this is analogous to a privately held company going public via an initial public offering (IPO) — The intention is same, it's a way to raise funds for a new cryptocurrency or expand services for existing coins ATH Short for "All time high" and is fairly self-explanatory Moon Short for "To the moon" and refers to any crypto that is going parabolic Wen Lambo / Wen Moon These are memes referencing the rise of Alt or Memecoin millionaires. Short for "When do i get my lamborgini" and "When's it going to the moon", these memes are commonly thrown about reddit forums and social media in association with the next altcoin hype train

No. While cryptocurrencies are often considered synonymous with blockchain, this couldn't be further from the truth. Blockchain is the underlying technology that enables cryptocurrencies to work. It is a decentralized and autonomous delivery system, and digital ledger of transactions used for cryptocurrencies and other applications. It is important to separate the technology behind cryptocurrencies from the cryptocurrencies themselves, because each are capable of innovative and disruptive change in their own unique ways. Think of blockchain like the internet, only it's newer and more powerful, hence why many refer to blockchain as Web 3.0 (or the third generation of the internet). Simply put, cryptocurrencies are just one application of blockchain technology, much like "email" is only one application of the internet.

Believe it or not, there are Bitcoin ATMs. You insert cash and bitcoins are transferred to your secure, digital wallet. There are also peer-to-peer (PTP) exchanges. Users post what they are hoping to buy or sell and then choose their trading partner(s). These PTP exchanges are typically riskier and less regulated, so we strongly advise against doing so.

Yes, absolutely. Unlike traditional stock exchanges which close on evenings and weekends, most cryptocurrencies trade 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Public holidays are one of the few events that actually impact the trading of cryptocurrencies. However, this is not due to the blockchains stopping for public holidays, in fact cryptocurrencies will continue to trade globally. Only the exchanges operating within the country recognizing the public holiday will have to adhere to that national public holiday, therefore, trading will only stop for that country. Peer to Peer trading or trading via foreign exchanges such as Binance will continue to function without disruption.

A company called Chainalysis released a study in 2020 reporting under 1% of all cryptocurrency usage took place on the Dark Web. While it's commonly thought that cryptocurrencies are anonymous - which to a degree they are - meaning you don't have to link your identity to a crypto wallet, forensic accountants are discovering new ways to follow money from FIAT currency through blockchains and back to FIAT. The blockchain in essence is no different to a bank ledger. It may not be governed by a central authority, but it still publicly records every transaction, and anyone with a computer and an internet connection can actually view transactions on the blockchain in real time. While names are not assigned to addresses, officials can trace activity back to a crypto exchange, which can link addresses to end users. These days the prospect of conducting crime using crypto is far less appealing than several years ago when officials didn't have a clue what they were dealing with.

There was an increased institutional adoption in 2020 from traditional banks, newer technology companies, endowments, and pensions. As examples, Square and PayPal are now allowing users to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies via their apps and use them for payments across their millions of merchants. Institutional adoption has just started and is likely to grow exponentially over the next decade. Cryptocurrency has much more growth to come.

This is a rapidly evolving space on all fronts: development, investment, regulatory, and trading. All the areas surrounding cryptocurrency—trading, execution, custody—will continue to become more efficient, less expensive, and safer as the market matures and more institutional players get involved. As a result of this path through uncharted territory, the market will continue to reflect this journey with large swings to all-time-highs, and doomsday-like dips to higher lows repeating every few years much like the market has done since Bitcoins inception, these are typical, and healthy signs of a nascent market and compare closely to the birth of the internet itself. Governments are considering additional rules, regulations, and disclosures for consistent identity collection, reducing illegal activity, and tax collection. There is still no consensus about the best use case e.g. - viable alternative currency, store of value, investment, speculative, etc - and that is okay. Ultimately, if the crypto community keeps growing exponentially beyond its current pace, the stakeholders and the marketplace will determine the next decade of cryptocurrency.