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Where to start — crypto, from zero
Never traded before? Start here. Twelve short lessons take you from "what is money?" to making your first trade safely — with plain words, real-life examples and a quick quiz each. Earn XP and badges as you go. No account needed; your progress saves on this device.
▶ The interactive Academy is live22 bite-size lessons with quizzes and XP — crypto basics, leverage & liquidation, risk management and market reading. Free, no account needed to start.
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Glossary — every term explained
Basics
SpotBuying or selling the actual cryptocurrency for immediate delivery at the current price. You own the coin outright, with no leverage or expiry.
FuturesA contract to buy or sell an asset at a set price on a future date. In crypto, used to speculate on price with leverage without owning the coin.
Perpetual swapA futures contract with no expiry date. It tracks spot price via a funding rate and is the most traded crypto derivative.
LongA position that profits when price rises. You buy expecting to sell higher later.
ShortA position that profits when price falls. You sell first (borrowed) hoping to buy back cheaper.
PositionYour current open trade in a market — either long or short — including its size, entry price, and unrealized profit or loss.
NotionalThe total value of your position (size × price), including borrowed funds. With leverage it's far larger than your margin.
MarginThe collateral you deposit to open and hold a leveraged position. It's a fraction of the position's notional value.
CollateralAssets (like USDT or BTC) you lock up to back a leveraged trade. If losses erode it past a threshold, you get liquidated.
MakerA trader who adds liquidity by placing a limit order that rests on the book. Usually pays lower fees.
TakerA trader who removes liquidity by filling an existing order immediately (e.g. a market order). Usually pays higher fees.
SlippageThe difference between your expected fill price and the actual price you get, common in fast or thin markets.
Bid/AskThe bid is the highest price buyers will pay; the ask is the lowest price sellers will accept.
SpreadThe gap between the bid and ask price. A tight spread means a liquid market; a wide spread means higher trading cost.
Order bookA live list of all open buy and sell orders for a market, showing price levels and the size available at each.
Mark priceA fair reference price (based on the index plus funding) used to calculate unrealized P&L and liquidations, preventing manipulation.
Index priceAn average spot price of an asset across major exchanges. It anchors the mark price and funding rate.
Unrealized P<he profit or loss on an open position at current prices. It isn't locked in until you close the trade.
Realized P<he actual profit or loss booked once you close a position. Unlike unrealized P&L, it can't change.
Orders
Market orderAn order to buy or sell immediately at the best available price. Fast fill, but you pay the spread and risk slippage.
Limit orderAn order to buy or sell at a specific price or better. It only fills if the market reaches your price, giving you control but no guarantee.
Stop-lossAn order that closes your position once price hits a set level, capping your loss. Essential risk management.
Take-profitAn order that closes your position once price reaches a target, locking in gains automatically.
Stop-limitA stop order that, once triggered, places a limit order instead of a market order — avoiding bad fills but risking no fill.
Trailing stopA stop-loss that moves with the price in your favor by a set distance, locking in profit while letting winners run.
Reduce-onlyAn order setting that can only shrink or close a position, never open or flip one. Prevents accidental over-exposure.
Post-onlyA limit order that's canceled if it would fill immediately, ensuring you stay a maker and earn lower fees.
OCOOne-Cancels-the-Other: two linked orders (e.g. take-profit and stop-loss) where filling one automatically cancels the other.
Leverage
LeverageBorrowed funds that multiply your position size. 10x leverage means $100 controls a $1,000 position — amplifying gains and losses.
Cross marginA mode where your entire account balance backs all positions, sharing margin to avoid liquidation but risking the whole balance.
Isolated marginA mode where only the margin assigned to a position can be lost. It caps risk per trade but liquidates faster.
Initial marginThe minimum collateral required to open a leveraged position, set by your chosen leverage.
Maintenance marginThe minimum collateral needed to keep a position open. Drop below it and you get liquidated.
LiquidationThe forced closing of your position when losses shrink your margin below the maintenance level, so the exchange isn't left at risk.
Liquidation priceThe price at which your position will be automatically liquidated. Higher leverage moves it closer to your entry.
ADLAuto-Deleveraging: when a liquidation can't be filled, the exchange force-closes opposing profitable traders' positions to cover the loss.
Funding ratePeriodic payments between longs and shorts on perpetuals that keep the contract price near spot. Positive means longs pay shorts.
Open interestThe total number of outstanding futures contracts not yet closed. Rising OI signals new money entering the market.
Indicators
RSIRelative Strength Index: a 0–100 momentum gauge. Above 70 suggests overbought, below 30 oversold.
MACDMoving Average Convergence Divergence: a momentum tool comparing two EMAs. Crossovers can signal trend shifts.
EMAExponential Moving Average: a moving average that weights recent prices more heavily, reacting faster than the SMA.
SMASimple Moving Average: the average closing price over a set number of periods, smoothing out noise to show trend direction.
Bollinger BandsA band of two lines plotted a set number of standard deviations from a moving average. Widening bands signal rising volatility.
VWAPVolume-Weighted Average Price: the average price weighted by volume over a session. A key intraday fair-value benchmark.
ATRAverage True Range: a measure of how much an asset moves on average per period, used to gauge volatility and size stops.
StochasticA momentum oscillator comparing a close to its recent high-low range, scaled 0–100, to spot overbought/oversold conditions.
SupportA price level where buying tends to halt a decline. Price often bounces here until it eventually breaks.
ResistanceA price level where selling tends to halt a rise. Price often stalls here until it eventually breaks through.
DivergenceWhen price and an indicator (like RSI) move in opposite directions, often hinting that the current trend is weakening.
CandlestickA chart bar showing open, high, low, and close for a period. Body and wicks reveal momentum and battles between buyers and sellers.
BreakoutWhen price moves decisively beyond a support or resistance level, often sparking a strong follow-through move.
Risk
Margin callA warning that your collateral is running low and you must add funds or reduce risk to avoid liquidation.
Risk-reward ratioThe size of your potential loss versus potential gain on a trade. A 1:3 ratio risks $1 to make $3.
DrawdownThe drop from a peak in your account balance to a trough, measuring how much you've lost from a high point.
Risk of ruinThe probability of losing enough capital that you can no longer trade. Higher risk per trade sharply raises it.
Position sizingDeciding how much capital to put into a trade, usually risking a small fixed % of your account to survive losing streaks.
Win rateThe percentage of your trades that are profitable. A high win rate alone doesn't guarantee profit without good risk-reward.
ExpectancyThe average profit or loss you can expect per trade over time, combining win rate and average win/loss size.
R-multipleA trade's profit or loss expressed in units of the amount you risked (R). A +3R trade made three times what you risked.
HedgeOpening an offsetting position to reduce risk — e.g. shorting futures to protect spot holdings from a drop.
Market
Bull marketA sustained period of rising prices and optimism. Traders favor longs and dips tend to get bought.
Bear marketA sustained period of falling prices and pessimism. Rallies tend to get sold and shorts are favored.
VolatilityHow much and how fast a price swings. High volatility means bigger moves — more opportunity and more risk.
VolumeThe amount of an asset traded over a period. High volume confirms the strength behind a price move.
Long/short ratioThe proportion of traders positioned long versus short. An extreme reading can hint at crowded, contrarian setups.
BasisThe difference between a futures price and the spot price. It reflects market sentiment and the cost of carry.
Contango/backwardationContango is when futures trade above spot; backwardation is when they trade below — signaling market expectations.
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🧭Crypto Explorer
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Practice missions — on the real site
Each mission opens the real tool. When you come back here it is checked off automatically — and you earn XP.
Learning tracks
🌱
Crypto Basics BeginnerOptional~32 min
Zero to your first paper trade — money, wallets, exchanges and how trading works.
0/12
📊
Trading Fundamentals Core~44 min
How crypto futures actually work — leverage, margin, liquidation, orders, funding.
0/9
📈
Indicators & Technical Analysis Advanced~54 min
Read price like a pro — candles, trend, moving averages, RSI, MACD, Bollinger and more.
0/12
🛡️
Risk & Psychology Advanced~39 min
Survive first, profit second — sizing, stops, risk of ruin and the mental game.
0/8