101: Trading and Investing | ForkLog

ForkLog 85 11.08.2020

What is Tether (USDT)?

What is Tether and who founded the project? How does the USDT stablecoin work? Which networks support it? We answer in cards.

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ForkLog 50 29.07.2020

What is decentralised finance (DeFi)?

What is decentralised finance (DeFi)? Decentralised finance (DeFi) is the idea of an open, trustless ecosystem of financial applications and services built on public blockchain networks. The term DeFi refers to the market for decentralised applications (dapps) in financial services and transactions, including lending, trading and borrowing. Such peer-to-peer systems allow anyone to access traditional […]

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ForkLog 16 13.04.2020

What is technical analysis?

1 What is technical analysis? Technical analysis (TA) is the study of past prices and trading volumes to identify patterns used to forecast price action. It applies to any asset with a price history, including cryptocurrencies, fiat money, commodities and equities. 2 Who developed technical analysis, and when? Primitive forms emerged in Amsterdam in the 17th century and in Japan in the 18th. The modern approach stems from Charles Dow’s work, known as Dow theory.

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ForkLog 15 27.02.2020

What is pump-and-dump?

Pump-and-dump is a scheme that inflates a cryptocurrency’s price before a crash so organisers can sell to latecomers. The tactic predates crypto, flourished in penny stocks, and remains widespread online.

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ForkLog 7 15.07.2019

Crypto‑collateralised loans: why they exist and how they work

1 What is a crypto‑collateralised loan? Attention! This article is outdated and awaiting an update. A crypto‑backed loan works like a conventional one: a borrower takes money for a fixed term and pledges cryptocurrency. At maturity the borrower repays the principal and interest in the same currency as borrowed.

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ForkLog 12 16.05.2019

What are crypto derivatives, and how do traders profit from them?

1 What are derivatives? Attention! The article is outdated and awaiting an update. A derivative is a financial contract on the future price of a cryptocurrency, security, commodity or service. The subject of such a contract is called the underlying asset. Buyers and sellers of derivatives do not own the underlying assets; they buy and sell the right to execute the contract. 2 Why use derivatives? To reduce risk and to profit from price changes […]

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ForkLog 12 14.05.2019

What is venture capital?

1 What is venture capital? Venture capital is long-term, high-risk equity investment in new high-tech startups (or in already well-established venture-backed companies). The latter are typically relatively small firms focused on developing and producing knowledge-intensive products. The venture industry is most developed in the United States. It is also expanding in Europe and China. […]

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ForkLog 11 11.02.2019

What are security tokens and Security Token Offerings (STOs)?

Security tokens are digital equivalents of securities that certify ownership and entitle holders to rights such as shares, dividends or a share of profits. These rights are recorded in a smart contract, and the tokens trade on exchanges under the oversight of regulators such as the SEC and FINMA.

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ForkLog 10 09.01.2019

What is an Initial Exchange Offering (IEO), and how does it differ from an ICO?

1 What is an initial exchange offering? In 2018 an alternative to ICOs emerged: initial exchange offerings (IEOs). The crucial distinction lies in the central role of the exchange, which screens projects it considers promising and viable. With ICOs, an exchange listing may take months after the sale. In an IEO the exchange is a key partner from the outset, distributing tokens to verified users and setting terms such as caps, pricing and marketing cost allocation.

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ForkLog 15 05.11.2018

What are bitcoin futures?

1 What are futures? A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell an asset at a set price on a future date. Once the contract is entered into, both parties are obliged to fulfil its terms regardless of the market price at expiry. With futures one can open long and short positions. In the former a trader agrees to buy the asset at a specified future price; in the latter to sell the underlying on the expiration date.

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ForkLog 20 03.08.2018

What are atomic swaps?

An explainer on atomic swaps — direct, trustless exchanges between cryptocurrencies using HTLCs, available on-chain or off-chain. It covers the technical mechanics, a step-by-step example, the Lightning Network’s role, the on-chain versus off-chain distinction, early demonstrations, and projects working on implementations such as Komodo’s BarterDEX.

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ForkLog 8 24.05.2018

What is OTC trading?

1 What is OTC trading? OTC stands for over-the-counter—literally, “bypassing the counter”. The term refers to off-exchange trading conducted directly between clients and market makers. In such cases the seller and buyer deal directly with each other, usually with third-party assistance. For a long time OTC trading was a fixture of traditional finance; by 2018 it had also found broad use in cryptocurrencies […]

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#101: Trading and Investing