Started at 1,000. Stablecoins and gold tokens excluded. Members are the ten largest coins at each update, and the divisor adjusts when they change so the line stays continuous.
Countdown
Bitcoin halving
Every 210,000 blocks, the reward for mining new Bitcoin is cut in half.
Calculators for prices, market caps, history and risk, using live data.
History
Past investment
What money put into a coin on a past date is worth today.
Your investmentSame money in BitcoinMoney put in
Steady buying
DCA simulator
Buying a fixed amount on a schedule, compared with putting it all in on day one.
Steady buyingAll on day oneMoney put in
Reality check
Price target
What a target price would mean for a coin's market cap.
Converter
Convert
Any coin to dollars or to another coin, at live prices.
Head to head
Compare coins
Side-by-side price, size, supply and performance.
Market cap comparison
What if
The price a coin would have with another coin's market cap.
Flippening watch
Closest races
Neighbours nearest to swapping rank (stablecoins excluded).
Dominance
Market share
Share of total crypto market cap.
Profit & loss
Return check
What a past buy is worth at today's price.
Risk
Position size
How much to buy so a stop-out loses only what you choose.
A stop-loss isn't guaranteed. Gaps and slippage can fill past your stop and make the loss bigger.
Supply
Dilution check
Circulating vs. maximum supply, and the cap if every coin existed.
Investing
Average cost
Your weighted average price across several buys.
Investing
Break-even
The selling price that gets your money back after fees.
Risk
Comeback
The gain needed to recover from a drop.
Start
After drop
Investing
Rebalancer
Trades needed to get back to your target mix.
Coin
Now
Target %
Trade
Today's crypto prices by market cap
How does a crypto wallet work?
Your crypto isn't in your wallet. It never was.
The coins stay on the blockchain. What a wallet holds is the key that proves they're yours, and whoever holds that key, holds the coins.
What the wallet really keeps
A recovery phrase creates your private key, which creates your public address. Share the address freely; the phrase and key give full control.
Your coins always live on the blockchain. A wallet stores your private key, or the recovery phrase that rebuilds it, and uses it to sign transactions.
Custodial wallets, like an exchange account, hold the keys for you. They're convenient, but you depend on the company. Self-custody wallets, on your phone, computer or a hardware device, put the keys in your hands.
With self-custody, the recovery phrase is everything. Anyone who sees it can take your funds, and if you lose it with no backup, the coins are gone.
Setting up a self-custody wallet safely
When you create a wallet, it shows you a recovery phrase once. Write it on paper, in order, and keep it somewhere safe from fire and prying eyes. Don't photograph it, type it into a notes app or store it in email.
Then test it. Send a small amount in, and if the wallet offers it, check that the phrase restores correctly before moving anything large.
Choosing the right type
For small, everyday amounts, a phone wallet is convenient. For larger holdings, a hardware wallet keeps the key away from your computer, so malware can't copy it.
An exchange account is the easiest place to start and the only one with a password reset, but you're trusting the company to hold your coins. Many people keep a little on an exchange and the rest in self-custody.
How one recovery phrase controls every account
Modern wallets derive every key from one recovery phrase using a standard path. That's why one backup restores all your accounts, and why losing it exposes all of them.
Most wallets today are hierarchical deterministic, or HD, wallets. The recovery phrase is turned into a single master key, and every private key the wallet uses is calculated from that master key along a numbered path. Bitcoin native SegWit addresses commonly use the path m/84'/0'/0'/0/0, and Ethereum accounts use m/44'/60'/0'/0/0, then /1, /2 and so on for extra accounts.
That's why a 12-word backup can restore dozens of addresses on several chains. The words come from a fixed list of 2,048, so a 12-word phrase holds 128 bits of randomness, enough that guessing one is not a realistic attack. Losing it to a phishing site or a photo in cloud storage is a realistic attack.
Paths explain a common scare. You restore your phrase in a new app and see a zero balance. Often the coins are safe; the new app is simply looking at a different path or a different chain. Check that you picked the right network, then look for an option to add accounts or change the derivation path. Because the standard is shared, the same phrase works in any compatible wallet, which also means anyone who has it can do the same.
What you are really signing
An approval stays active after you leave the app. A 100 USDC limit caps the damage at 100 USDC; an unlimited one puts the whole 5,000 USDC balance at risk until you revoke it.
Wallets ask you to sign two very different things. A transfer moves coins once. An approval gives a smart contract permission to move a certain token out of your wallet later, without asking again. Decentralized exchanges and lending apps need approvals to work, and many request an unlimited amount by default to save you fees next time.
Suppose your wallet holds 5,000 USDC. If you approve an app for 100 USDC, the most it can ever pull is 100 USDC. If you approve unlimited, the contract can take all 5,000 USDC, plus anything you deposit later, until you revoke the approval. If that app is hacked or was a scam from the start, the attacker uses the approval you already gave. Many wallet drains happen this way, without anyone learning the recovery phrase.
Two habits help. When the wallet shows an approval, edit the amount down to what you plan to use. And review old approvals every few months. Etherscan's token approval checker and similar tools list every contract that can spend your tokens, and revoking one costs a small network fee. Also read the signing screen itself; a request labeled permit or setApprovalForAll deserves the same care as sending money.
Key terms
Recovery phrase
12 or 24 words that can rebuild your wallet's keys on any device.
Custodial
Someone else, like an exchange, holds the keys for you.
Self-custody
You hold the keys yourself.
Hardware wallet
A device that keeps keys offline and signs transactions on the device.
Your habits decide how safe it is
Which wallet is safe. Safety depends far more on how you store the recovery phrase than on the app.
Who can see your balance. Anyone who knows your address can see what's in it on a public chain.
What people get wrong
Nobody legitimate will ever ask for your recovery phrase, including wallet support staff. Requests for it are scams.
Deleting a wallet app doesn't delete your coins. Restoring with the recovery phrase brings them back.
Why it matters
Most crypto losses come from lost keys, scams and hacked accounts, not from price moves. Wallet basics protect against all three.
Common questions
How does a hardware wallet work?
A small device that keeps your private key offline and signs transactions without exposing the key to your computer.
How is a hot wallet different from a cold wallet?
A hot wallet is connected to the internet, like a phone or browser app. A cold wallet keeps keys offline, like a hardware device, which is safer for larger amounts.
Can I use my recovery phrase in a different wallet app?
Usually, yes. Most wallets follow the same BIP-39 standard, so a phrase made in one can be restored in another. If balances look empty after restoring, check the network and derivation path settings. Only ever type the phrase into the wallet app itself, never a website.
Do I lose my crypto if my wallet company shuts down?
Not with a self-custody wallet. The coins are on the blockchain, and your recovery phrase restores them in any compatible app. With a custodial account on an exchange, it's different, because you depend on the company returning your funds.
