Crypto Basics: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Altcoins and Stablecoins

Beginner · Beginner Path, lesson 2 of 15 · Crypto · 7 min read · Published 19 Oct 2026 · Updated 19 Oct 2026

What a cryptocurrency is, how Bitcoin and Ethereum differ, why altcoins swing so hard and what stablecoins are for, explained for complete beginners.

Crypto is one of the youngest asset classes in the world. Bitcoin launched in 2009, and since then thousands of other coins and tokens have appeared. Some have become large, widely used networks; many have disappeared. Crypto markets trade every hour of every day, and prices can move further in a weekend than some markets move in a year.

This lesson explains what a cryptocurrency actually is and introduces the four groups you will hear about most: Bitcoin, Ethereum, altcoins and stablecoins. It finishes with how trading crypto on Traders Portal differs from buying coins on an exchange.

See the crypto markets

What a cryptocurrency is

A cryptocurrency is a digital token whose ownership is recorded on a blockchain: a public ledger that lists every transaction, grouped into blocks that are linked together in order. Thousands of computers keep copies of this ledger and follow the same rules to agree on which transactions are valid.

To move coins, you sign a transaction with a private key, a secret code that proves the coins are yours. A wallet is simply software or a device that stores those keys. Whoever holds the key controls the coins, and a transaction cannot be reversed once the network has confirmed it.

Bitcoin: the first and the largest

Bitcoin was described in 2008 by a person or group using the name Satoshi Nakamoto, and the network went live in January 2009. It has remained the largest cryptocurrency by market value ever since.

Three features define it:

• A fixed supply. There will never be more than 21 million bitcoin. New coins are released to the computers that secure the network, and that reward halves roughly every four years, an event known as the halving.
• Proof of work. Computers called miners compete to add each new block, which uses a lot of electricity but makes the history very hard to rewrite.
• Divisibility. One bitcoin splits into 100 million units called satoshis, so nobody needs to buy a whole coin.

Because its supply schedule is known in advance, Bitcoin's price is driven mostly by changes in demand. Supporters often compare it to digital gold; critics point to its large price swings.

Ethereum: a programmable blockchain

Ethereum launched in 2015 with a different aim. As well as moving coins, it can run smart contracts: programs stored on the blockchain that execute automatically when their conditions are met. Lending apps, exchanges without a middleman and many stablecoins are built this way.

The network's currency is ether (ETH). Every action on Ethereum costs a small fee called gas, paid in ETH, so demand for the network feeds into demand for the coin. In 2022 Ethereum switched from proof of work to proof of stake, where validators lock up ETH as a deposit instead of using mining hardware. Unlike Bitcoin, ETH has no fixed supply cap.

Altcoins: everything else

An altcoin is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. The group is huge and mixed. It includes other smart-contract networks such as Solana, coins built for fast payments, tokens tied to a particular app or exchange, and meme coins that started as jokes and trade mainly on attention.

A few patterns hold for most of them:

• They are smaller, so it takes less money to move their price.
• They are often less liquid, so spreads can be wider.
• They frequently move in the same direction as Bitcoin, but further.
• Many projects from earlier cycles have lost most of their value or stopped trading.

Stablecoins: crypto's version of cash

A stablecoin is a token designed to hold a steady value, usually one US dollar. The best known are backed by reserves of cash and short-term government debt held by the company that issues them. USDT, issued by Tether, is the largest example.

Traders use stablecoins to park money between trades, to move funds quickly between platforms, and as a common unit for pricing everything else. Not every design has held up: in 2022 an algorithmic stablecoin called TerraUSD, which relied on a trading mechanism rather than reserves, lost its peg and collapsed. What Is USDT and Why We Trade Against It covers stablecoins in more detail.

Why crypto prices move

Crypto prices respond to many of the same forces as other markets, plus a few of their own:

1. Demand against supply. With supply fixed or predictable, shifts in demand show up directly in the price.
2. Global risk appetite. When interest rates rise or investors turn cautious, speculative assets including crypto often come under pressure.
3. Regulation and legal news. Approvals, bans and court rulings can move prices sharply.
4. Large flows. Big buyers and sellers, including funds that hold crypto, can shift the balance quickly.
5. Network and industry events. Halvings, upgrades, hacks and the failure of a major exchange have all moved the market.
6. Leverage elsewhere. When many traders on other venues are using borrowed money, a sharp move can force them to close, which pushes the price further in the same direction.

Market Sentiment explains how traders try to read that crowd behavior.

Owning crypto versus trading it on Traders Portal

When you buy a coin on an exchange, you own it. You can send it to a wallet, but you are also responsible for keeping the keys safe, and you only profit if the price rises.

On Traders Portal, every crypto market is a CFD settled in USDT. You trade the price of BTC/USDT or ETH/USDT without holding the coin, which means:

• You can open a Buy if you expect a rise or a Sell if you expect a fall.
• There is no coin to store or send, so no keys to lose for that position.
• You can use leverage, which magnifies losses as well as gains.
• Positions held overnight may carry a daily swap. Crypto markets are charged every day, including weekends, at the daily swap time shown in the market details.

What Is a CFD? walks through the contract itself.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrencies are digital tokens tracked on public blockchains. Bitcoin is the original, with a fixed supply of 21 million. Ethereum adds programmable smart contracts paid for in ether. Altcoins cover everything else and tend to move further and faster, while stablecoins aim to hold one dollar and act as the market's cash. Knowing which group a coin belongs to tells you a lot about how it is likely to behave. On Traders Portal you trade all of them as USDT-settled CFDs, so the next lesson explains USDT itself.

Topics: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Altcoins, Stablecoins