Cryptocurrencies are no longer just an alternative payment method. The ecosystem includes multiple layers with very different purposes.
Main types:
- Bitcoin: The first and best-known. It functions as a digital store of value — its maximum supply is capped at 21 million units, which is why some see it as protection against inflation, although in 2022, with the highest inflation in 40 years, it fell 65%.
- Smart contract platforms (Ethereum, Solana...): Networks that allow decentralised programs to run — financial applications, NFTs — without intermediaries.
- DeFi (Decentralised Finance): Protocols that replicate financial services (lending, exchanges, savings) without banks or brokers.
- Stablecoins: Digital currencies pegged to the dollar or euro (USDC, USDT). They normally maintain a stable price (some have lost their peg, such as TerraUSD, which collapsed in 2022) and are used to move money within the ecosystem.
⚠️ Important
The extreme volatility of cryptocurrencies makes visible in hours or days what would take months on the stock market. That is why they are the perfect learning laboratory for understanding how markets, emotions, and investment decisions work.