Crypto, explained without the noise
Wallet guides, fixes that actually work, and straight answers about chains, swaps and security. Written for someone who has never held a token, and useful to someone who has held them for years.
Wallets
Which wallet suits what you are doing, how to set it up safely, and the mistakes that cost people money.
MetaMask
Anyone starting on Ethereum, and anyone who needs a wallet every dapp recognises.
Rabby
Anyone who has been on Ethereum long enough to be nervous about signing things.
Rainbow
A first Ethereum wallet for someone who finds MetaMask cold and confusing.
Zerion
Tracking a portfolio across many chains, with a wallet attached.
Tokens and coins
Every asset scored out of 100 on the six things that decide whether it survives: track record, tokenomics, transparency, decentralisation, adoption and liquidity. No prices, no market caps and no affiliate links, because those numbers are stale within hours and the structural ones are not.
When something goes wrong
Stuck transactions, missing tokens, failed swaps and drained wallets. Symptom, cause, and the fix.
Transaction stuck pending
Your transaction has sat as Pending for minutes or hours and nothing is moving.
FixTransaction failed but the gas was still taken
The transaction reverted, you got nothing, and the fee left your wallet anyway.
FixToken is not showing in my wallet
The block explorer shows the tokens arrived, but the wallet shows nothing.
FixI sent tokens to the wrong network
You withdrew to your address but picked the wrong chain, and the balance is not where you expected.
FixMy swap keeps failing
Every attempt reverts, sometimes before you even confirm.
FixNot enough gas, but I have plenty of tokens
The wallet refuses to send, saying you have insufficient funds, while showing a healthy token balance.
Learn crypto from scratch
A free 24 module course that takes you from never having owned crypto to being able to look after yourself in it. Level 2 is entirely about not losing money to scams, rug pulls and malicious signatures, and it comes before anything about investing on purpose.
The Crypto Academy
24 modules, five levels, beginner to advanced. No signup, no email, no upsell.
The complete scam catalogue
Every common crypto scam, how it opens, and the detail that gives it away every time.
Spotting a rug pull
The five checks to run on any token before you buy it.
Where to buy and swap
Two different things with two different risk models. A centralised exchange holds your coins and can fail. A decentralised exchange never touches them, but its contracts can be exploited. Both are scored, with the reasoning shown.
Crypto exchanges compared
Ten centralised exchanges scored out of 100 on regulation, security, fees and assets, with MiCA status and full incident history.
Decentralised exchanges compared
Ten DEXs scored on security, liquidity, chains and how much control anyone retains over the contracts.
How we score
The published weights behind every score, and the things a score cannot tell you.
Chains and their gas tokens
Fees are always paid in the chain's own coin. This is the single most common reason a transaction will not send.
| Chain | Gas token | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Ethereum | ETH | The main settlement layer. Highest security, highest fees. |
| Base | ETH | Coinbase layer 2. Cheap, fast, heavy retail activity. |
| Arbitrum | ETH | The largest Ethereum layer 2 by activity and liquidity. |
| Cronos | CRO | Crypto.com chain. EVM compatible, low fees. |
| BNB Chain | BNB | Cheap and busy, with a long tail of low quality tokens. |
| Polygon | POL | Long running EVM sidechain, very low fees. |
| Linea | ETH | ConsenSys layer 2, tightly integrated with MetaMask. |
| Solana | SOL | Not EVM. Different addresses, different wallets, very low fees. |