What is crypto?
Crypto, or
cryptocurrency, is a term that describes digital coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, and many others. Cryptocurrencies are normally decentralized technologies, meaning that there is no single institution, bank, or server that controls it; Rather, they rely on multiple nodes on multiple computers around the world that, together, ensure crypto the legitimacy transactions and ownership. All these transactions create a global ledger, known as the blockchain.
Wallets
To be able to use crypto, people need a software commonly known as a wallet. A wallet can be in the web, it can be a download, or it can be a mobile app, but they all have one thing in common: They all allow interactions with the respective blockchains. In other words, a wallet allows people to send and receive cryptocurrencies. To receive crypto from somewhere, you have to use your receive address, which is usually a series of random characters present in the 'Receive' or similar option within the wallet software. To know more about wallets for a specific crypto, visit their respective websites.
Wallet Seeds
Many wallets, when you use them for the first time, will provide you with a random set of words, known as the seed: make sure to write it down. These words are the only way to recover access to your wallet if the wallet is ever erased or lost. You should also keep these words in a safe place. If someone else gets them, they can also access your wallet.
Popular Wallets
TrustWallet
TrustWallet is a wallet app / mobile wallet app that lets you receive, store, and send a variety of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and others. This wallet app is also a good choice if you are new to crypto.
TrustWallet website:
trustwallet.com
Metamask
Metamask can be installed as a web browser extension, or as a mobile app. It allows to use the Ethereum blockchain. It can also use other blockchains such as Polygon and Base. This wallet also supports tokens (sub-coins) from the mentioned blockchains as well.
MetaMask website:
metamask.io
Coinomi
Coinomi is a wallet app / mobile wallet that supports several different cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and more.
Coinomi website:
coinomi.com
Conclusion
This article briefly described what is crypto. Every cryptocurrency out there have their own particularities, so whichever one you decide to use will probably need further investigation. Most cryptocurrencies have a website, and also have either forums or chat rooms, and these are probably the best places to learn more about a specific project.
Written by Alfred Peter, Feb. 6, 2025