Matt Hussey

PILE OF COINS c. Rodrigo Martinez/Decrypt

What Is Ethereum?

Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, is a blockchain-powered platform for creating decentralized applications (dapps). Where Bitcoin was designed as a currency and a store of value, Ethereum is a decentralized network for running smart contracts—code that runs on a peer-to-peer network and is verified by Ethereum's blockchain. The idea is to create applications that are secure, transparent and censorship-resistant, since they don't rely on centralized platforms. Ethereum ha

Decentralized finance, or DeFi, is a set of financial services built using smart contracts.

What Is Decentralized Finance (DeFi)?

Decentralized finance has been touted as a possible solution to lowering the barrier of entry for those who struggled to access bank accounts. And more recently, it's being utilized by cryptocurrency owners for another purpose: to make more money. But isn’t all of crypto decentralized finance, anyway? Sort of. The DeFi movement refers to a specific genre of financial product that champions decentralization above all else, and uses lucrative incentive mechanisms to encourage investors to play alo

What Are Stablecoins and How Do You Use Them?

Since their inception, cryptocurrencies have been considered particularly volatile investment instruments when it comes to their price. That's led to price jumps and crashes, preventing cryptocurrencies from being used for everyday goods and services in some cases, due to the risks for vendors and merchants. That's where stablecoins come in. The theory goes, if you create a currency that is 'pegged' or attached to a regular fiat currency like the US dollar or something else with a relatively sta

What is Bakkt? Everything You Need to Know (2023)

The owner of the New York Stock Exchange wants to make Bitcoin mainstream. What counts as mainstream? Traditional and financial institutions. If you can get the old money to feel comfortable trading new money, you can bring a huge new wave of investors to the cryptocurrency game—and maybe even stabilize it. That’s the promise of Bakkt, which hopes to become the on-ramp of the institutional investor. We learn more about it below. What is Bakkt? At its core, Bakkt is a custody service that stores

What Are Decentralized Apps (Dapps)?

The promise being offered by dapps, or decentralized apps, is that it might reduce the need for a middleman. What is a dapp (decentralized application)? Dapps are decentralized apps. They are like normal apps, and offer similar functions, but the key difference is that they are run on a peer-to-peer network, such as a blockchain, using smart contracts. As dapps are decentralized, they can’t be controlled by a single person or entity. Dapps also often have the following features: They are open-s

Ethereum's Architecture: ERC-20 Tokens, Gas, ETH

To understand how the Ethereum network functions, you need to understand these three elements: ETH (Ethereum or "ether"), gas, and ERC-20 tokens. What is ETH? The cryptocurrency ETH (or "ether") is the digital fuel for Ethereum. To power your car, you need to buy gasoline. To power your transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, you need ETH. On Ethereum, that ETH is an amount of computer power required in order to make your transaction work. To return to the car analogy, it’s how much gasoline is

What Are Smart Contracts?

We’re all familiar with apps and app stores. You browse, download the app you want, and away you go. Behind the lovely UX and UI interfaces of mobile devices, these apps are performing a specific set of instructions as laid out by their creator. It could be a game, a calendar, or a way to buy goods and services. Smart contracts perform a very similar function. A smart contract is a contract—expressed as a piece of code—that’s designed to carry out a set of instructions. With smart contracts, how

What Is MetaMask?

MetaMask is one of the leading crypto wallets, and relies on browser integration and good design to serve as one of the main gateways to the world of Web3, decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFTs. Here's how it works, and how to get started with it. What is MetaMask? MetaMask is a browser plugin that serves as an Ethereum wallet, and is installed like any other browser plugin. Once it's installed, it allows users to store Ether and other ERC-20 tokens, enabling them to transact with any Ethereum a

What Is the Bitcoin Halving?

The inventor of Bitcoin believed scarcity could create value where there was none before. The Halving also known as the Halvening is occured in May 2020. To understand it, we must understand the theory behind Bitcoin’s supply. We explore it more below. A bit about Bitcoin Bitcoin was revolutionary in that it could, for the first time, make a digital product scarce. This limited supply is one of the reasons the price of Bitcoin went from being worth nothing 10 years ago to $69,000 at its peak in

Blockchain. copyright Rodrigo Martinez for Decrypt

What Is a Blockchain?

Blockchain started with Bitcoin, but there are no limits to where this technology could go in future. Projects like Ethereum and Ripple have taken the principles of blockchain and taken it in new directions. A blockchain is, very simply, an online record of transactions. They could be transactions for: Money The movement of goods Exchanges in information What is a blockchain—diving deeper A blockchain is a growing set of records, bunched together into ‘blocks’ which are linked together using c

how-to-buy nft coin c Rodrigo Martinez/Decrypt 2022

What Is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin started it all. It was the first cryptocurrency, and it launched an industry that now includes thousands. But who invented it, how does it work, and why is it so important? What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin (BTC) is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency whose transactions are logged on a public, decentralized, immutable ledger. This ledger, the blockchain, allows everyone to be witnesses to the transactions and to how they are verified. The first official purchase using Bitcoin was for pizza in May 2010.

What is the Bitcoin Halving? How Bitcoin's Supply is Limited.

Every four years, the amount of Bitcoin doled out to cryptocurrency miners halves in a process imaginatively known as Bitcoin halving (or halvening). Here’s why—and how—it works. Bitcoin’s supply limit To understand the Bitcoin halving, we must first understand the theory behind its supply. The inventor of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, believed that scarcity could create value where there was none before. After all, there’s only one Mona Lisa, only so many Picassos, a limited supply of gold on Eart

What is the Lightning Network? Bitcoin's Scalability Solution.

Bitcoin has been hampered by its own popularity. Thanks to the way the blockchain is designed, the speed of transactions is slow and the cost of transactions has increased. Researchers, developers, and the Bitcoin community have been trying to come up with a way of allowing Bitcoin—and other cryptocurrencies—to accommodate more transactions. Their best efforts to date have focused around something called the Lightning Network. Can it fix the cryptocurrency's scaling problems? Speed and cost A bl

What is MetaMask? How to Use the Top Ethereum Wallet

The decentralized internet, Web3, is built on a foundation of cryptocurrencies and decentralized applications (dapps). But in order to use them, you need a user interface. Ideally, an elegant, intuitive, easy to use interface. MetaMask is one of the leading crypto wallets, and relies on browser integration and good design to serve as one of the main gateways to the world of Web3, decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFTs. Here's how it works, and how to get started with it. What is MetaMask? MetaMas

What are Decentralized Apps (Dapps)?

It’s time to cut out the middleman. Why pay for a company to provide a ride-sharing service when you could use an app that connects drivers directly with riders and doesn’t take a cut? That's the promise being offered by dapps, or decentralized apps. Read on for an overview of what they are, how they work, some of the opportunities they present, and and the challenges these new types of applications face. What is a dapp (decentralized application)? Dapps are decentralized apps. They are like no

What Are Smart Contracts and How Do They Work?

We’re all familiar with apps and app stores. You browse, download the app you want, and away you go. Behind the lovely UX and UI interfaces of mobile devices, these apps are performing a specific set of instructions as laid out by their creator. It could be a game, a calendar, or a way to buy goods and services. Smart contracts perform a very similar function. A smart contract is a contract—expressed as a piece of code—that’s designed to carry out a set of instructions. With smart contracts, how

What Are ERC-20 Tokens, Gas, ETH? Ethereum's Architecture Explained

To understand how the Ethereum network functions, you need to understand these three elements: ETH (Ethereum or "ether"), gas, and ERC-20 tokens. Collectively they help power the network, incentivize miners, and allow others to build their own tokens on top of Ethereum’s blockchain. What is ETH? The cryptocurrency ETH (or "ether") is the digital fuel for Ethereum. To power your car, you need to buy gasoline. To power your transactions on the Ethereum blockchain, you need ETH. On Ethereum, that E

What is Ethereum (ETH)? A Beginner's Guide to the Smart Contract Blockchain

Ethereum, the second-biggest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, is a blockchain-powered platform for creating decentralized applications (dapps). Where Bitcoin was designed as a currency and a store of value, Ethereum is a decentralized network for running smart contracts—code that runs on a peer-to-peer network and is verified by Ethereum's blockchain. The idea is to create applications that are secure, transparent and censorship-resistant, since they don't rely on centralized platforms. Ethereum ha

What Are Airdrops?

Projects live or die on their ability to attract users. The crypto space is no different. But it does have a unique advantage. Blockchain projects can create their own tokens and use them to encourage people to start using their products. One of the key ways projects can do this is via a technique called Airdrops. We explore this type of token distribution below. What are airdrops? Airdrops are a method of distributing tokens to users or potential users. More recently, they've been used to creat

A DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization. Image: Decrypt

What Is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)?

A new form of organization is shaking up the worlds of investment, business, and the creative industries. These decentralized autonomous organizations, or DAOs, have no company HQ, replace traditional hierarchies with flat management structures, are governed by crypto holders, and are built on rules that are automatically enforced on a blockchain. Advocates of DAOs claim that they'll radically alter the way businesses are run. They're already hard at work; several DAOs have already been launched

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Stories by Matt Hussey

What Is Ethereum?

What Is Decentralized Finance (DeFi)?

What Are Stablecoins and How Do You Use Them?

What is Bakkt? Everything You Need to Know (2023)

What Are Decentralized Apps (Dapps)?

Ethereum's Architecture: ERC-20 Tokens, Gas, ETH

What Are Smart Contracts?

What Is MetaMask?

What Is the Bitcoin Halving?

What Is a Blockchain?

What Is Bitcoin?

What is the Bitcoin Halving? How Bitcoin's Supply is Limited.

What is the Lightning Network? Bitcoin's Scalability Solution.

What is MetaMask? How to Use the Top Ethereum Wallet

What are Decentralized Apps (Dapps)?

What Are Smart Contracts and How Do They Work?

What Are ERC-20 Tokens, Gas, ETH? Ethereum's Architecture Explained

What is Ethereum (ETH)? A Beginner's Guide to the Smart Contract Blockchain

What Are Airdrops?

What Is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)?