How to Use Cryptocurrencies

Once you've acquired your first cryptocurrency, you might be wondering what you can do with it and how it can be useful. Cryptocurrency can be spent, transferred, or traded, similar to traditional assets. Additionally, it can be used to participate in project activities and may even represent ownership in a project, similar to a stock.

Security Tips:

This article does not provide investment advice or recommendations about investments of any kind.

The crypto market is quite volatile. We strongly recommend you do thorough research before any investment.

No matter which means you choose to get crypto, please make sure you open the correct website. There are a lot of scams, so be careful.

Keep your seed phrases and private keys safe.

Check out more about the risk of cryptos:

• What are my risks if I buy or keep my coins/tokens?
• What is Phising?
• What is Pump & Dump?
• What is Rug Pull?
• What is Ponzi Scheme?

Payments

Similar to real-world assets, Crypto can be used for real-life consumption. However, the use of Crypto for real-life consumption is relatively limited due to its large price fluctuations. While some businesses accept Crypto as a payment method (e.g. Shopify), there are also e-commerce websites specifically designed for Crypto-based transactions. Some payment companies are working to enable more merchants to support crypto payments, which would allow users to purchase goods at real-time Crypto prices, such as BitPay, Alchemy Pay, Swipe, and others.

Furthermore, some countries and regions have recognized BTC as a legal tender, including El Salvador and the Central African Republic.

Trading

Crypto can be traded in centralized or decentralized exchanges, where users can trade between fiat & Crypto or Crypto & Crypto. Mainstream centralized exchanges include Binance, Coinbase, OKX, Bybit, KuCoin, Upbit, etc. The main decentralized exchanges contain Uniswap, Curve Finance, Pancakeswap, Sushiswap, Balancer, and more. 

For more information about Crypto exchanges, check out What is Exchange?

Use in Applications

Crypto is an asset issued by blockchain projects and is often assigned various functions and purposes. Users who use or hold Crypto can participate in specific activities of a particular project, such as lending, mining, and gaming. Major DeFi protocols include Lido, MakerDAO, Aave, etc. 

Participation in Governance

Some Crypto assigns ownership and governance rights in the project. Holders can participate in project management decisions and even receive a share of project profits. For users who are unable or unwilling to participate in governance, some project teams allow the delegation of governance rights to others.