Coins
What is each cryptocurrency, really? Plain-English explainers for 25 well-known coins: who runs it, what it's for, how it works, the risks and where it stands now, with the live price. No price predictions.
Digital money and payments
What is Bitcoin?BTC · Bitcoin is the first cryptocurrency: digital money with a fixed limit of 21 million coins,…What is XRP?XRP · XRP is the native coin of the XRP Ledger, a blockchain built for fast, cheap payments that…What is Litecoin?LTC · Litecoin is one of the oldest cryptocurrencies, launched in 2011 by Charlie Lee as a faste…What is Stellar?XLM · Stellar is a payments blockchain launched in 2014, and lumens (XLM) are its coin…
Smart-contract networks
What is Ethereum?ETH · Ethereum is a blockchain that runs programs called smart contracts, which power most token…What is BNB?BNB · BNB is the coin of BNB Chain, a blockchain created by the Binance exchange, and of the wid…What is Solana?SOL · Solana is a fast, low-fee blockchain that launched in 2020…What is Cardano?ADA · Cardano is a proof-of-stake blockchain for smart contracts, founded by Ethereum co-founder…What is Tron?TRX · Tron is a blockchain founded by Justin Sun in 2017…What is Avalanche?AVAX · Avalanche is a fast proof-of-stake blockchain platform launched in 2020 by Ava Labs…What is Polkadot?DOT · Polkadot is a network designed to connect separate blockchains so they can share security …What is Sui?SUI · Sui is a fast proof-of-stake blockchain for smart contracts that launched in May 2023…What is Hedera?HBAR · Hedera is a public network for payments, tokens and smart contracts that uses "hashgraph" …What is Polygon?POL · Polygon is a network that makes Ethereum-style apps faster and cheaper, best known for its…What is Arbitrum?ARB · Arbitrum is the largest Ethereum "layer 2" network: it runs Ethereum-style apps faster and…What is Toncoin?TON · Toncoin (TON) is the coin of The Open Network, a blockchain first designed by Telegram's f…
Stablecoins
What is Tether?USDT · Tether (USDT) is the largest stablecoin: a crypto token designed to always be worth $1, is…What is USD Coin?USDC · USDC (USD Coin) is a dollar stablecoin issued by Circle, a US company listed on the New Yo…
DeFi and infrastructure tokens
What is Chainlink?LINK · Chainlink is a network that feeds real-world data, such as prices, into smart contracts, a…What is Aave?AAVE · Aave is the largest decentralized lending app in crypto: a set of smart contracts, mainly …What is Uniswap?UNI · Uniswap is the largest decentralized exchange (DEX): a set of smart contracts, first on Et…
Meme coins
What is Dogecoin?DOGE · Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency created in December 2013 as a joke based on the "Doge" meme…What is Shiba Inu?SHIB · Shiba Inu is a meme token launched in 2020 by an anonymous creator called "Ryoshi," inspir…What is Pepe?PEPE · Pepe (PEPE) is a meme coin launched on Ethereum in April 2023, named after the Pepe the Fr…
Privacy coins
Looking for more? See the list of cryptocurrencies, or learn what an altcoin is and what a memecoin is.