Crypto · How crypto markets work · lesson 1 of 9 · 7 min read · David Alexander
A coin is an entry on a ledger
a coin
An entry on a shared, cryptographically-secured ledger, controlled by whoever holds the corresponding private key. It claims nothing beyond itself: no business, no cash flow, no issuer's obligation, no residual assets. Its price is entirely what the next buyer will pay - which shapes every analysis lesson to come - and its ownership is entirely key control, which shapes every risk lesson. This track teaches spot ownership first: in some jurisdictions, including the UK, crypto derivatives cannot legally be sold to retail consumers, and this track's derivative content is market-structure education, never an assumption of access.
Five tracks have opened by naming what the instrument actually is. Crypto's answer is the platform's starkest: an entry on a ledger, backed by mathematics and consensus, claiming nothing but itself.
What the entry is
A blockchain is a shared ledger no single party controls, secured so that entries cannot be forged or reversed once settled. A coin is a balance on that ledger, and controlling it means holding the private key that can sign it away - possession is cryptographic, not custodial, and the phrase 'not your keys, not your coins' is the asset class's module 1 in six words. Lesson 5 makes it the track's first risk lesson, because here ownership and counterparty risk are the same subject.
What the entry is not
- Not a claim on anything: no business generates earnings behind it, no state stands behind its value, no issuer owes redemption - the equity track's residual claim and the commodity track's physical anchor are both absent by design.
- Not income-bearing by nature: no dividends, no coupons; where yields are offered on crypto, they come from lending it to a counterparty or staking mechanics - each a distinct risk taken, never an intrinsic property.
- Not uniform: thousands of tokens share the word 'crypto' across wildly different designs and purposes - this track teaches the market structure common to them, with the largest, most liquid coins as its working examples.
The track's scope, stated plainly
This track teaches spot ownership - buying, holding, custodying and trading actual coins - as its default throughout, because spot is what retail can access everywhere the platform reaches. Derivatives on crypto - perpetuals, futures - exist at scale and move the spot price, so the track teaches how they work as market structure; it never assumes the reader can or should trade them, and it states the regulatory fact where relevant: the FCA has banned the sale of crypto derivatives to UK retail consumers since January 2021. Structure is taught for comprehension; access differs by jurisdiction; and no lesson in this track implies otherwise.
Check your understanding
Question 1 of 2
What does a coin actually claim?