10. Crypto and prediction markets

Crypto from zero (CRYP)

Crypto coins are digital assets recorded on public ledgers and traded around the clock on many venues, and CRYP lists the largest by market cap with price and changes.

  • 4 min
  • 3 questions
  • Lesson 1 of 4

Why you would care

What is a coin, and how are the big ones doing? Bitcoin and its peers are now held by funds, companies and ETFs, and crypto moves often spill into tech stocks. The market never closes, so weekend moves can greet you on Monday. Reading a crypto board is like reading a stock board, with a few twists.

The idea from scratch

What a coin is

A blockchain is a shared ledger kept by many computers; it records who owns which coins (or tokens). No company issues Bitcoin; its supply follows rules written in its software. Many other coins exist: platforms for applications (Ethereum, Solana), payment networks, and tokens of specific projects.

How crypto trades

  • 24/7: no closing bell. Gloom measures the day's change from 00:00 UTC.
  • Many venues: the same coin trades on dozens of exchanges at slightly different prices. A board shows a consolidated price and total volume across venues.
  • Market cap = price x coins in circulation, like stocks.

Stablecoins

A stablecoin aims to stay worth exactly 1 dollar, usually backed by dollars or short-term government bills held by its issuer. Stablecoins are the cash of crypto markets; their market cap shows how much money sits ready to trade.

Diagram: Blockchain: shared ledger leads to Coins and tokens; Coins and tokens leads to Traded 24/7 on many venues; Traded 24/7 on many venues leads to Board: price, change since 00:00 UTC, volume, market cap; Stablecoins: 1 dollar target leads to Board: price, change since 00:00 UTC, volume, market cap.

See it in Gloom

Gloom screenshot: CRYP, Coins tab
CRYP, Coins tab: the largest crypto assets by market cap with price, 24-hour, 7-day and 30-day changes, 24-hour volume and market cap. Historical example.

open ittype CRYP. Tabs: Coins, Stablecoins. Click a header to sort; Enter opens a coin's chart, quote and news; r refreshes.

  1. BTC Bitcoin 84,881.16 +0.86% ... 1.71T: the largest coin, about 1.7 trillion dollars of market cap.
  2. ETH Ethereum 2,709.12 330.86B: the second.
  3. ZEC Zcash +107.40% over 30 days: crypto moves can be huge.
  4. VOL 24H: volume across venues in dollars.
  5. TON with dashes in 7D and 30D: no comparable history (a renamed listing).
  6. Copies of the same coin (wrapped or staked versions) and markets with under 1 million dollars of volume are left out so each market appears once.

Practice and recap

Try it3 tasks
  1. Which coin in the screenshot gained most over 30 days among the top 20? (NEAR, +184.16%.)
  2. BTC's market cap is 1.71T and ETH's 330.86B. How many times bigger is BTC? (About 5.2 times.)
  3. Why does the board use 00:00 UTC for the day's change? (Crypto never closes, so a fixed clock time defines the "day".)
Common mistakes4 mistakes
  • Comparing crypto day changes with stock day changes without noticing the different start time.
  • Reading a stablecoin's price as an investment return.
  • Trusting volume on small venues: some is not genuine.
  • Forgetting weekends: big moves can happen when stock markets are closed.
Check yourself3 questions
  1. What is a blockchain?
  2. What is a stablecoin?
  3. From what time does CRYP measure the daily change?
Answers
  1. A shared ledger, kept by many computers, recording who owns which coins.
  2. A coin designed to stay worth 1 dollar, usually backed by dollar assets.
  3. From 00:00 UTC.
Words in this lesson5 words
blockchain
A shared ledger kept by many computers.
coin / token
A digital asset recorded on a blockchain.
stablecoin
A coin designed to stay at 1 dollar.
circulating supply
Coins currently in circulation.
wrapped / staked token
A copy of a coin used on another network or locked to earn rewards.

Educational material about reading market data, not investment advice.