To combat high volatility and increase participation in a larger community, crypto projects are incorporating price stability directly into their digital assets, bringing about a whole new subset of cryptocurrencies in stablecoins. 

As their name suggests, stablecoins are intended to be volatility-minimized assets whose price mirrors fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar. To fully understand the potential of stablecoins and how they work in tandem with more volatile cryptocurrencies, we need to dive a little deeper.

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What Are Stablecoins and How Do They Work?

What Are Stablecoins, and How Do They Work?

Staying (fully informed) on crypto can be challenging. Not only does the news surrounding cryptocurrency change by the minute, but it can also be difficult to determine reputable crypto resources. Many crypto influencers spread information online without proper fact-checking.

While there are no objective best crypto news websites, a few publications have gained credibility in the industry. If you’re interested in the Web3 ecosystem, you should know how to pick reliable sources for crypto updates. 

Crypto enthusiasts rely on objective sources to stay informed on Web3. Following high-quality crypto news websites can ensure all articles are fact-checked.

How to Find the Best Crypto News

In telecommunications and software engineering, a "node" refers to a more extensive interconnected network component. In crypto, however, a node is one of the components that run a blockchain's algorithm to verify and authenticate each transaction.

A blockchain is essentially a digital distributed ledger that records all cryptocurrency transactions. As the name implies, each blockchain is a series of "chained" blocks. It’s decentralized, meaning it isn’t regulated by a central authority like a bank or a government. 

Every blockchain is made of nodes. Nodes are generally computer systems that contain a copy of a blockchain's primary protocol and its entire transaction history. Due to decentralization, any individual can run a node anywhere in the world as long as they’re connected to the decentralized blockchain network and have the required resources.

Read on to find out the various types of nodes, their functions, and what you can do if you want to run a node.

Blockchain nodes are the building blocks of the crypto ecosystem. Find out why nodes are so important and how they keep crypto decentralized and running.

What’s a Blockchain Node?

The cryptocurrency ecosystem saw the light of day with the launch of Bitcoin (BTC), but it’s no longer the sole digital currency. Although BTC remains the flagship crypto, thousands of other digital assets are on cryptocurrency exchanges. All these virtual currencies have a fiat value, but they aren't all used as long-term stores of value or for peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. Thanks to the rise of smart contract blockchains like Ethereum (ETH), developers are creating many unique use cases for digital coins and tokens. 

So why are there so many cryptocurrencies? Will they coexist forever? And what does the increase in cryptocurrencies mean for large coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum?

As of 2022, crypto exchanges house more than 19,000 cryptocurrencies. But why are there so many cryptocurrencies, and are they all essential in Web3?

Why Are There so Many Cryptocurrencies? Why Do We Need Them?

How can Web3 developers make decisions without sacrificing decentralization? Countless DeFi (decentralized finance) projects have created innovative ways to resolve this dilemma. Web3 developers aim to efficiently scale their operations while considering every network participant's perspective. 

Although every protocol has unique ways of dealing with blockchain governance, many believe governance tokens provide the best solution. Governance tokens may not be perfect, but they’ve influenced how dApps (decentralized apps) reach agreements. Anyone involved in Web3 should understand what a governance token is and how it can affect the future of DeFi.

Governance tokens have become central to the decision-making process in many DeFi platforms. But what is a governance token? Read on to find out.

What Is a Governance Token?

While NFTs (non-fungible tokens) like CryptoKitties and CryptoPunks were popular among early Ethereum users, it wasn't until the 2021 crypto bull run that more people learned about these unique tokens. Estimates suggest NFT trading volumes exploded by 21,000% during 2020-2021, and one of the biggest beneficiaries of this NFT boom was OpenSea. 

To this day, OpenSea commands a high percentage of trading volume in the NFT ecosystem. Chances are many of the NFT collections you've seen on social media are on this market. But what is OpenSea, and what makes it so popular?

OpenSea allows users to buy, sell, and mint NFTs. Learn what OpenSea is, why it is important, and how it impacts the NFT ecosystem.

What Is OpenSea? A 101 Guide

The cryptocurrency craze hit its most recent peak at the end of 2021, when its market valuation dramatically shot up from $965 billion to around $2.6 trillion in a few days. Think you might want in on this? If so, it’s no surprise. After all, potentially massive winnings sound appealing for anyone’s portfolio. However, cryptos aren’t regulated by central authorities like banks or governments. That means there is no protection if a user makes ill-made investments in a volatile digital asset or gets scammed. Whether it is a good investment is another debate, but buying crypto is certainly worth considering.

So, what’s the best way to buy cryptocurrency? Well, it’s important to first understand the entire process and each step involved. Let’s dive in and get to know the crypto world, starting with brokers and crypto exchanges.

Looking to invest in cryptocurrency? Check out our guide on how you can buy crypto safely and securely.

How to Buy Cryptocurrency Safely

What Is Cryptocurrency? Digital Currency Explained

Cryptocurrencies have come a long way since Satoshi Nakamoto announced Bitcoin in 2008. While the word “cryptocurrency” may sound complicated to most of us, in reality, it’s not. It’s just a currency that we can use digitally to make transactions. 

Unlike fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar and the euro, cryptocurrency is a digital currency designed to be run trustlessly through a computer network that’s not reliant on any central authority or intermediaries, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Users are able to maintain control over their own funds and transact freely without the possibility of censorship or having their funds frozen.

Read on to understand how cryptocurrency works and how an investor can use it. Buckle up to take the first steps on this side of the world. 

Welcome to cryptocurrency 101. Learn all about this new investment territory and how to make transactions digitally.

Cryptocurrency offers many positive opportunities, but because it’s so new and there’s so much money involved, it's attractive for hackers. The history of crypto is riddled with high-profile hacks that resulted in millions or billions of losses. Sadly, many businesses, start-ups, and investors lost all their crypto to hackers. 

So how can cryptocurrency be hacked, and what can people do to protect their digital assets? Learning more about crypto hacks can help you defend your hard-earned crypto.

It's common to hear of crypto scams, but can cryptocurrency be hacked? Learn how to protect yourself from Web3 hackers.

Can Cryptocurrency Be Hacked?

Cryptocurrencies wouldn’t function if people didn't have a way to transfer them. After all, one of the primary goals of Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin whitepaper was to create a trustless peer-to-peer (P2P) payment network. However, since blockchains are decentralized, they can't rely on third-party financial institutions to validate transactions. Instead, crypto users have to use "wallet addresses" to send and receive virtual assets. These addresses help people send their crypto while preserving Web3's decentralization. 

Whether using a centralized crypto exchange (CEX) or a self-custodial crypto wallet, you’ll encounter dozens of addresses associated with various crypto assets. Learn what a wallet address is to securely send digital tokens to your friends and family.

Crypto wallets contain an address list that lets users know where to send and receive digital assets. Learn what a wallet address is and how to use it when transferring crypto.

What Are Wallet Addresses? How Do They Make Crypto Transfers Possible?

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