Crypto FAQ {simplified}

Beginner

What is a blockchain?

• A blockchain is a distributed ledger of computers or a decentralized peer-to-peer network with no central authority to manage transactions or data. It is cryptographically secured, immutable (unchangeable), permissionless, and trustless, cutting out wasteful and unnecessary intermediaries. Blockchains reach “consensus” or agreement on the state of a ledger by initiating a transaction, broadcasting the transaction to be validated, and confirming it with hashes (digital signatures) in a “block” in chronological order.

What are smart contracts?

• Smart contracts are programmable contracts coded into blockchain networks that automatically execute when predefined conditions are met (if-then process). They eliminate the need for intermediaries or third parties to oversee transactions, reducing costs and increasing efficiencies. An agreement is identified, conditions of the agreement are set and then coded, the contract is encrypted on a blockchain and waits to be executed, and the network nodes are updated. Think of them like a vending machine; the items being the contracts in their slot waiting to be called on - automatic, fast, direct, inexpensive, and transparent.

What are NFTs?

• NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are unique digital identifiers used to certify ownership and authenticity on a blockchain. Each one has distinct properties and cannot be replicated. The applications for NFTs range from digital art and collectibles to virtual real estate, gaming assets, and event tickets.

What is the difference between a CEX (Centralized Exchange) and a DEX (Decentralized Exchange)?

• A CEX is a crypto exchange that offers convenience and liquidity but requires trust in a third party (ex. Coinbase, Binance, Crypto.com, Gemini, Kraken)

• A DEX is a crypto exchange that enables peer-to-peer trading without intermediaries (ex. Uniswap, SushiSwap, PancakeSwap, 1inch, Curve Finance)

What is my wallet address vs public key vs private key vs seed phrase?

• A wallet address is an address (usually 20-100+ characters long) that you manage your crypto with and share with others to send or receive crypto. It is derived from the public key.

• A public key is what is actually used to receive crypto, it can be shared without compromising security, and is derived from the private key.

• A private key is like a password that proves ownership of crypto stored at an address.

• A seed phrase is a sequence of 12 or 24 words that are like the combination to a safe. You keep these on metal, as they say..

What are differences between custodial and non-custodial?

• Custodial means a third-party service manages your private keys (ex. Robinhood)

• Non-custodial means users have full control over their private keys and funds (ex. MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet)

What are differences between hot wallets and cold wallets?

• Hot Wallets are software or web-based applications installed on a computer or smartphone that are accessible from any device with internet connection (ex. Exodus, Phantom, Trust Wallet)

• Cold Wallets are physical paper or hardware devices that store private keys offline (ex. Arculus, Tangem, Ledger, Trezor)

How is onchain different than online?

• You are a wallet address away from outdated Web2 online to ownership Web3 onchain. Online describes what has been built over the last 30+ years with the internet, and onchain is enabling all of us to own the internet instead of centralized conglomerates.

What is mining and what role does it play in the future of crypto?

• Mining is the process that creates new digital currency and validates transactions on a blockchain. Miners compete to solve complex puzzles, and a new block is added to the chain when a puzzle is solved successfully. As an incentive for the work performed, miners receive new tokens or network fees. The reward decreases over time with an issuance schedule that is set and unique, enhancing increasing deflationary mechanisms. Mining plays a crucial role in securing the network by preventing double-spending and maintaining the integrity of the blockchain.

What are basic security tips for new crypto users?

• Get familiar with security tools to help protect yourself from malware and other scam-related activities. Some of these include: a privacy-preserving browser like Brave, a password protector like a password manager, fingerprint-enabled access or biometrics, setting up 2-factor authentication for as many accounts as possible with Authy or Google Authenticator, getting a VPN like Mullvad VPN, and making sure you never save your seed phrases anywhere on the internet.

What do single-sig and multi-sig mean?

• Single-Sig is exactly what it sounds like - a transaction requiring only one single signature to transfer digital assets to and from wallets.

• Multi-Sig is a multiple-signature system that introduces third parties having copies of your keys, giving up a level of control over signing transactions and increasing privacy risks, but can benefit the user in certain situations.

What are stablecoins, and how are they different than regular crypto?

• Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a stable value, typically pegged to a commodity or other currency. Most are pegged to the U.S. Dollar (current world reserve currency) at a 1:1 ratio and enable easier crypto-to-fiat conversions with predictable transactions. Types of stablecoins include fiat-collateralized, crypto-collateralized, and algorithmic. Some stablecoin use cases include payroll and treasury management, payments and remittances, DeFi, e-commerce and merchant settlement, hedging against volatility, and financial inclusion access. Some top stablecoins include USDC, USDT, USDE, RLUSD, and USDG.

What is decentralization and why does it matter?

• Decentralization is the core feature of blockchain networks with distributed control, decision-making, and data across a network of participants rather than relying on a single central authority. Replication of the blockchain ledger is stored across nodes in the network, spreading out data availability for security and disaster recovery. Types of decentralization can include full, semi, physical, and transactional. Benefits of decentralization include reduced single-point failure, enhanced security, real-time transparency, processing efficiency, and difficulty to alter. Challenges that exist are scalability while meeting the other trilemma standards, regulatory concerns, and technical complexity.

What is the difference between a coin and a token?

• A coin is the native asset of a blockchain used for paying network transaction fees or transferring value (i.e. Bitcoin or BTC & Ethereum or ETH)

• A token is an asset created on an existing blockchain, usually through a smart contract, for payments, access to services, governance rights, gaming assets, etc. (i.e. tokenization of ERC-20 tokens on Ethereum)

What is staking?

• Staking is similar to the concept of a CD in traditional finance, where you can stake cryptocurrency by locking up funds in a DeFi protocol for a period of time. You can earn passive income by staking, contribute to network security and liquidity, and become a validator based on the amount staked. Withdrawal from the contract differs per protocol. Liquid Staking takes the staking model further, enabling holders to extract utility and use their staked assets for other onchain activities. (ex. Ethereum, Polkadot, Cosmos, Solana)

Intermediate

What is DeFi?

• DeFi or Decentralized Finance takes traditional financial services and makes them accessible on blockchain networks, which are permissionless, trustless, and run on code instead of wasteful centralized intermediaries. Crypto wallets use smart contracts to create and execute an endless interconnected financial ecosystem where the user is in control. You can swap assets, lend, borrow, contribute to different liquidity pools and collateral protocols, or support complex derivative and insurance products.

How does yield farming work in DeFi and what risks does it carry?

• DeFi yield farming is like putting your money to work in TradFi but with crypto assets. You can deposit crypto assets into a Liquidity Pool (LP) and receive a position that represents your share of the pool. You can earn fees as traders use the pool, you can earn extra incentives from staking your LP position, and you can also claim other rewards from reinvestment strategies.

• There is a trade-off to everything. Yield farming risks include smart-contract exploits and fraudulent projects, impermanent loss, liquidation, and asset or reward price risk.

What are liquidity pools (LPs) and automated market makers (AMMs)?

• Liquidity Pools (LPs) are literally pools of crypto assets that are held in smart contracts that traders can swap against. It’s like traditional finance but programmable assets take dead assets that sit around and enable them to be used for good. LPs could also mean Liquidity Providers, which are the participants that deposit into the pools. You can trade one asset (ex. USDC) and receive ETH or vice versa. The smart contract calculates and executes the swap while providers earn a share of the trading fees.

• Automated Market Makers (AMMs) uses liquidity pools to and providers to price and execute trades automatically. They use mathematical pricing rules to determine how much a trader should receive from a token swap based on the state of the pool. There are also order books like traditional stock OTCs where buyers and sellers submit orders.

• The LP supplies the assets, while the AMM supplies the trading rules.

What are forks (soft and hard) in a blockchain?

• Forks in a blockchain represent a change in compatibility of what nodes accept as rules.

• A soft fork changes what a blockchain permits as valid - like a software update for your phone, laptop, or car. Nodes do not need to upgrade immediately but upgrading is required to enforce the new rules. For example, Bitcoin has gone through 7 major soft forks since inception including P2SH in 2012, SegWit in 2017, and Taproot in 2021 while Ethereum has gone through over 20 soft forks since inception such as Homestead & the DAO fork in 2016, Berlin in 2021, and Pectra/Fusaka in 2025.

• A hard fork is a complete rejection of blocks that violate the old rules and nodes are required to update. It doesn’t necessarily produce two chains, but rather a layer on top of the base chain, and there must continue to be participation on all chains created. A hard fork is much more extreme for an ecosystem. (i.e. Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash or Ethereum and Ethereum Classic)

What are Layer 2 solutions and why are they needed for scaling?

• Blockchains are builts in layers where they are categorized from Layer 0-4 but some outliers are even built as sub-zero (Naoris), do not fit into a layer, or are a combination of layers. Layer 2’s (Bitcoin Lightning, Polygon, Base, Arbitrum, Starknet, Loopring) are the most common solutions to scaling the blockchains we know and use every day, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana (Layer 1’s). They enhance the performance of the base chain by batching transactions off-chain to increase throughput, creating state channels to improve efficiency and other metrics, and utilizing side chains to reduce costs and bolster speeds.

• Layer 2 solutions are needed for scaling blockchains because, although incredible in themselves, legacy chains are pretty slow and inefficient compared to what is being built today and what will be built in the quantum era. Layer 2’s have two main approaches to verifying transactions: through Optimistic rollups and ZK rollups. Optimistic rollups assume all transactions are valid, with a dispute challenge time on the backend, increasing throughput but also increasing finality times. ZK rollups use zero-knowledge proofs to verify transactions, offering fast finality but requiring more sophisticated cryptographic computations.

What is a DAO and how does it operate?

• A DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) is a group of people that functions on blockchain protocols like a corporation in the traditional world. Decision-making parameters are set in smart contracts and execute like within the hierarchy of a normal company. DAOs raise funds for different projects and initiatives by selling governance tokens that represent voting rights. Aave, the largest DeFi protocol in the crypto ecosystem, is also one of the largest DAO projects operating today.

• Rules are set for the purpose of the group, who can participate, along with any other agreements that are encoded on blockchain. Members are given governance rights for token holder delegation. The group discusses proposals for the project and vote on it with their wallet addresses that are verified, cutting out any fraud. The vote executes a decision based on approval thresholds.

How is traditional fractional reserve lending different than proof of reserves onchain?

• Traditional banks use fractional reserve lending to replace their deposit assets with liabilities from lending and borrowing activities - usually buying BOLI (Bank-Owned Life Insurance). They take your deposits and lend up to 90% of it out, meaning only a fraction of their deposit obligations are backed by immediately available (liquid) funds. For example, the U.S. Federal Reserve is $40+ trillion in debt with about $150-200 trillion in future obligations, so they will not stop printing wasteful fiat for a while.

• Proof of Reserves (PoR) is a blockchain verification mechanism that provides evidence that an entity has specific assets onchain. Transparency is at the core of blockchain, and proving it is available to anyone in real time. Even if traditional asset managers or governments, etc., claim they have certain assets, how do they actually prove that and most importantly, how can it be trusted? It can’t. With blockchain, it establishes trust and verification. Lastly, most blockchain protocols are over-collateralized, meaning over 100% of the assets are backed by real-time auditing anywhere in the world - claiming solvency at all times.

What is a node and what types exist (full, light, archival)?

• A node is software (also called a client) that a computer or server runs while connected to blockchain networks that verifies transactions and blocks, and stores or exchanges blockchain data. The different types of nodes represent how much data they verify and retain. There are currently over 10,000 nodes in the Ethereum ecosystem.

• A full node validates against the blockchain’s rules and requires more hardware and bandwidth than a light node. A light node verifies smaller sets of information that come from other nodes or headers of cryptographic sets. An archive node is a type of full node that stores extensive historical queries for state channels and other backup data scaling.

What is an oracle and why are they critical for DeFi?

• Blockchains need oracles to supply networks with reliable data. Oracles hold the keys to establishing trust, ranging from price feeds and collateral/liquidation calculations to being the trusted source of information the chain doesn’t natively know. Oracles reduce several risks associated with quality data by using multiple data sources to cross-reference the validity of safeguards required to operate protocols. Nothing is perfect and there can still be manipulated inputs, but compared to other traditional validation sources, oracles make the process a step better.

• Oracles are critical to DeFi because they are how smart contracts automatically execute based on the facts that oracles provide. The outcome of markets can become extremely distorted without the data from oracles. Some of the most well-known oracles are Chainlink, Pyth, Dia Data, and Band Protocol.

What do token standards represent? (ERC-20, BEP-20, ERC-3643, ERC-7943, etc.)

• Token standards define the technical rules for how tokens interact and the level of interoperability they offer. The standards are the basis of how tokens behave or function across blockchain protocols. For example, ERC-20 is probably the most widely used standard for fungible tokens in the Ethereum ecosystem, with interchangeable units like balances, supply, etc. ERC-3643, on the other hand, is a permissioned-token standard that adds identity checks, compliance rules, and backend token management.

What are wrapped tokens such as WBTC & WETH?

• Wrapped tokens are tokenized representations of another cryptocurrency. These tokens enable functionality that the native asset can't provide on its own. WBTC or Wrapped Bitcoin is Bitcoin minted in a smart contract that can be used for other ecosystem activities. The Bitcoin reserves are held by custodians and the Wrapped Bitcoin is 1:1 for Bitcoin exposure usable in Ethereum applications. Essentially, it brings a use case for Bitcoin in DeFi with liquidity for DEXs and token trades in the ERC-20 format. Very similarly, WETH or Wrapped Ethereum, is used for liquidity on DEXs and NFT markets, locked in a smart contract that represents 1:1 ETH.

What is the blockchain trilemma (decentralization, security, scalability)?

• The blockchain trilemma involves the attributes protocols sacrifice to achieve a certain outcome. If you build for strong decentralization, you will sacrifice some on the security and scalability of the protocol, and that goes for each one of them. You can not master all three of them for a single protocol, but you can do your best to make sure the branches that lack strength continue to improve over time. That is why we have a blockchain protocol for every application and why they all need to collaborate; purpose-built is the name of the game.

What are dynamic NFTs and how do they differ from regular NFTs?

• Regular NFTs are considered immutable, so they cannot be changed or updated, and that is a feature, not a bug. With the changing environment of blockchain technology, we now have protocols like Casper that allow us to update smart contracts, and likewise, we have NFTs that can be updated to reflect changing metrics that build a stronger profile of a token. For example, dynamic NFTs could be used in real estate markets for continuously building a bigger profile for each property with improvements and information. It could also be used for vehicles that have state changes such as clear/R titles or aftermarket improvements, as well as tracking real-time mileage, maintenance, or anything else.

What are the most common long-term strategies (HODL, trend-following, yield strategies, index allocations) and when do they make sense?

• There are no other viable solutions to asset management than having a long-term strategy. They build in a layered approach to protecting and growing your capital for generations to come. HODL or Hold On for Dear Life, is a crypto term that references the strategy of holding through the toughest lows and most euphoric highs while buying any time possible. This strategy makes sense all of the time, for the rest of history. Trend-following is a powerful strategy if you are deep into researching the latest trends and how markets are moving. For example, as this blog is written, the leading trend is currently privacy tokens, as we saw Zcash rise the most out of any token so far in the last few years.  More privacy will be a preset built into protocols to preserve information that does not need to be shared with other parties. Yield strategies should be a continuous tool in the toolbox to add to your positions with passive income earnings and other use cases across DeFi. They make sense as you start to accumulate more crypto over time, just like in traditional finance. Lastly, index allocations are currently becoming a more stable solution for amassing large amounts of crypto - dump it into an index that covers a certain portion of tokens or a category.

What are the pros and cons of holding native coins vs spot ETFs or ETPs (tracking, fees, custody risks)?

• First, Not Your Keys, Not Your Crypto. If you care about self-sovereignty and having control over your funds, holding the native coins in your own self-custodial or hardware wallets is a solid option for maximum security, privacy, and freedom. If you are a more passive investor or operator, having an institution hold your keys and manage your holdings may be the way to go. Doing so may incur added management fees, as in traditional brokerage investing. Either of these ways introduces some level of custody risk: the responsibility of holding your own keys or the risk of crime hacks of custodians, although they should have insurance or backups in place to replace stolen funds. ETFs/ETPs are a reputable way to gain exposure to a crypto position without holding the native asset and relying on others to make good decisions.

What are the main risks of staking and liquidity provision (smart contract risk, slashing, impermanent loss)?

• Staking is a surefire way to increase your passive income generation across crypto ecosystems, but like anything else, there are some risks. Staking involves smart contracts like described above, and vulnerabilities in the way a contract is created can be susceptible to attacks where the software or bugs can cause it to fail. Some things to prevent this from occurring are open-source coding, third-party audits, and a longer history of validators in operation. Staking directly through a validator rather than liquid staking across multiple protocols provides a more stable position. Slashing is a term for when validators violate certain rules that can force them to be removed from the validator set - if this happens, your funds can be at risk of losses. Each chain can have its own penalty rules, but they keep bad actors honest to an extent; the code does the rest of the execution. Impermanent loss is when a liquidity pool underperforms a position that you could’ve held yourself elsewhere. An AMM changes the quantity of tokens as people trade within the pool and, in turn, you can end up capturing less appreciation for your holdings than someone who holds the native asset.

How should I split assets between exchanges, hot wallets, different custodians, vaults, and hardware wallets as my stack grows?

• No one answer is the correct one. At TCIG, we believe having multiple custody positions is the best way to escape the ultimate risk of cybercrimes and hacks. A mix of custody options gives you less exposure to a single failure. Additionally, at TCIG, we believe everyone should have some exposure to self-custody hardware wallets, as they are currently the most secure way to hold your crypto, besides biohacking. New DeFi vaults open up new custody options to the public that were not once possible. Just like a dangerous physical safe or vault in your house, DeFi vaults give you digital storage in a hardware-backed scenario. Some things to take into consideration when deciding what fits best for you are liquidity access, key management, privacy complexities, and custody risks.

GOAT

What are cryptoassets vs digital assets vs cryptocurrencies vs tokenized assets (RWAs)?

• There are tiers to all things. People get confused with the different ways crypto is categorized, and rightfully so. Most of the time, the way they’re described is very similar to each other. Starting from a macro view, digital assets represent any asset that exists in digital form - TCIG is best described as Digital Asset Self-Custody Education. We help people understand digital assets from the broadest sense, all the way down to the finest details if desired. Digital assets can range from cryptoassets themselves to tokenized securities, credentials and licenses, IP, media, and anything else in between. Working further inward, cryptoassets are blockchain native assets that are actually recorded on ledgers and transferable without a central administrator, such as BTC/ETH, stablecoins, and other DeFi tokens. Cryptocurrencies are even more refined than cryptoassets, representing mainly payment-oriented tokens to transfer value on blockchain - any crypto that is used as a medium of exchange or store of value. As we move into the future of tokenized RWAs, they represent any asset that is minted on blockchain in digital form (usually as permissioned tokens) that has a designer, issuer, and administrator (i.e. real estate, commodities, capital raises, funds, equity, royalties, payroll, etc.)

What are different ways to accrue passive income in crypto yield strategies?

• Staking: lock tokens in protocols (ETH, SOL, BNB, AVAX, TRX, etc.) to support consensus and network security - APY return 3-15%

• Liquid Staking: stake crypto and then receive liquid derivatives (stETH, sUSDe, JITOSOL, etc.) to use in other DeFi activities - 5-20%

• Restaking: restake certain cryptoassets to earn extra rewards and receive specialized tokens such as eETH, brBTC, sSOL, etc. - 10-20%

• DeFi Lending: deploy crypto into lending/borrwing platforms like Aave or Morpho for interest - 5-20%

• Advanced DeFi yield generation: innovative methods of tokenizing future yields or other strategies across ecosystems - 10-50%

• Real-World Assets (RWAs): simply deploying stablecoins into tokenized financial assets for a return - 4-10%

• Liquidity Pools: deposit crypto into LPs on DEXs and earn on trading fees and other network incentives - 5-100%

How do different consensus mechanisms (PoW, PoS, PoA, BFT variant additives, etc.) compare on security and performance?

• PoW or Proof of Work is by far the most secure consensus mechanism, tying verification of blocks to actual physical hardware. Like all trade-offs in life, with extreme security comes costly infrastructure, energy-intensive processes, unnecessary repetition being outdated by innovation protocols, and other issues like natural disasters, malicious actors, or foreign threats. The performance of PoW is the longest-running of any mechanism so it is tried and true, but much slower than recent developments in blockchain technology.

• PoS or Proof of Stake revolutionized economic incentives for performing the same validated processes but with over 99% less energy. It requires more trust in people, as dishonest behavior of validators can trigger financial penalties like those described above, and security depends on how the staking is distributed or monitored. Besides this, it can support increasing advancements in finality and throughput. It turns miner rewards into staking yield rewards that protocol participants benefit from.

• PoA or Proof of Authority is one of the most popular consensus mechanisms other than the first two, which validates based on an approved set of validators. Rather than trusting an unknown number of validators, you can become approved based on time and amount, making it a smaller sample for coordination that is easier to capture or disable. As the mechanism designs become more selective, it helps validate even more quickly and confidently across networks.

• BFT or Byzantine Fault Tolerant variants are an addition to mechanisms (PBFT, QBFT, IBFT, etc.) that enable immediate finality but need quorum agreement to complete the voting process in block confirmations. Ordinary designs usually require less than 1/3 of voting power to be Byzantine, cutting down on required network participation, energy, time, etc.

• All of these work towards creating a trustless environment of networks that can confirm that one party can seamlessly transfer data to another party automatically based on the parameters set by each protocol and what is built on top of it.

What is data availability (DA) in rollups and why is it a central bottleneck?

• This is a loaded question and leads into the next three questions. Independently accessing and verifying data without trusting the operator behind a hash (which is a string of letters and numbers or code that contains all of the transactions or data within a block) is an extremely important proving step in blockchain architecture - especially for rollups that batch transactions off-chain and publish data on the underlying blockchain. Think of it as seeing line items on a receipt (DA) versus just seeing a grand total (hash). One major bottleneck that is created is as follows: all nodes in a network need to update their data to match the inputs once verified, so engineers have come up with solutions to address the redundancy of copying the entire dataset by breaking down the proving into smaller pieces. It takes great bandwidth and resources to require every node to download all data, so blob transactions were introduced in Ethereum’s Dencun upgrade, danksharding extends the ability to scale blob structures, and PeerDAS was introduced in Ethereum’s latest upgrade, Fusaka. All of this is being refined daily to reduce costs, increase speeds, meet scaling needs, and decrease waste of available data storage.

• Some of the protocols tackling this bottleneck include: CelestiaDA, Avail, EigenDA, NEAR DA, and Ethereum native blobs/danksharding extended through PeerDAS

What is danksharding and how does it change the cost structure of Ethereum?

• Danksharding is scaling data availability (DA) by enabling layer 2 networks to publish much more data for less cost instead of Ethereum itself executing every transaction. It started as temporary data packages in 2024 called proto-danksharding and is now moving to full danksharding through data availability sampling (DAS). Before blobs were introduced, rollups would be paying Ethereum’s regular gas fees for data. Once blobs were introduced, they created a dedicated space with different fee structures that lowered data costs. As the evolution continues towards full danksharding and PeerDAS, rollups will be able to use samples that support keeping costs low as usage increases.

What is PeerDAS (Data Availability Sampling) and why is it a truly remarkable feat in blockchain technology?

• PeerDAS is the champion of accomplishing consensus without having any node in a network download the entire block - hence sampling. It has been running for about a year (as of writing 10/2026) with no flaws and has developed a way to achieve true decentralization without full replication. This kind of innovation will ripple through infrastructure, supporting mass adoption scaling.

How do modular chains improve interoperability via standardized interfaces between layers (consensus, execution, settlement, DA)?

• Modularity in anything gives layers a specific job, and when executed correctly, the outcome is usually more polished and higher quality. The same goes for blockchains. Some chains are built to do specific tasks, like achieving consensus, executing smaller tasks to scale larger network movements, focusing on settlement speed, or clearing bottlenecks like the data availability issue described above. Instead of one chain doing everything, just like one person or company trying to do everything, they can dial in on what they do best to help the ecosystem thrive as a whole. Modular chains like Celestia, EigenDA, or even Ethereum improve interoperability between ecosystems by optimizing each layer to elevate and strengthen each stack.

How have Ethereum’s latest upgrades (Pectra/Fusaka) affected the protocol and what is next?

• Pectra & Fusaka represent the 16th & 17th upgrades in the Ethereum sequence, with Glamsterdam up next soon. The MERGE in 2022 was for the protocol and Pectra is for the people. The upgrade combined the Prague & Electra subsets to enhance scalability, reduce fees, and introduce smart accounts. Creating a more modern network, it is easier and smarter as a whole, with fewer clicks to sign actions while making all wallets smart wallets, if desired. Your wallet now acts like a smart contract, enabling you to batch transactions, skip approval pop-ups, pay/sponsor gas fees in any token - all with cheaper transactions, more blobs, and more scaling for L2’s. Some other important features in the upgrade include a cleaner staking model for validators with added APR and no deposit delays, clearer bottlenecks replacing zkEVM with RISC-V, closer movement towards stateless, and of course, the EIP-7702 that allows you to batch multiple actions into one transaction with account abstraction. Fusaka really put the foot on the gas (or better yet, electric) to introduce PeerDAS, where nodes now store 1/8 of each blob, which we discussed more about above, and Blob Parameter Only (BPO) forks for larger blob capacities between upgrades with requiring a hard fork.

• Glamsterdam went live on Sepolia testnet on October 6, 2026, and features 19 EIPs. It will move from Sepolia to Hoodi and then to Ethereum mainnet sometime in Q4 2026 or early 2027. Instead of claiming a higher TPS, it aims to make larger workloads safer to verify by separating block production actions into one that builds it and one that proposes it (ePBS of EIP-7732). This will help L1 execution with higher block gas limits and block efficiency rails.

How do zkSNARKs differ from zkSTARKs?

• One of our next blogs will dive deep into ZK technology, but we will touch on these two briefly. ZK tech is imperative for the future of data privacy and as all tech goes, more advanced developments help address challenges that are detected as we continue to build. Simply put, zero-knowledge proofs verify a computation without revealing its inputs. We don’t realize how much information we share with others doing daily tasks, but more importantly, when it comes to sensitive information like healthcare patient data, underage student information in the education sector, secret government messaging and codes, etc., creating ciphertext through hashing or cryptographic encryption is a lifeline. To get to the question, zkSNARKs (Zero-Knowledge Succinct Non-interactive Argument of Knowledge) proofs are compact, require a trusted setup most of the time, are less expensive than the alternative, and are not quantum-resistant. zkSTARKs (Zero-Knowledge Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge) proofs are much larger, do not require a trusted setup with transparent environments, rely on a hash-based proof system rather than elliptic curve cryptography, and are generally post-quantum resistant.

• Some ZK protocols to explore: Zcash, Monero, Starknet, Loopring, Manta Network, Horizon, Movement, Cortex Labs, Dia Data, zkSync Era, Space and Time, Dusk Network, Polyhedra Network, Dash, Silent Data, Billions Network

What is the Bitcoin mathematical formula?

• Bitcoin runs on a mathematical summation equation; see the picture below.

• As you can see, it starts with i=0 below and 32 above the summation symbol, representing the number of epochs (halvings). We have only experienced 4 out of the 32 halvings and they happen every 4 years. The next one will be in 2028, 2032, and so on. The last halving will be in 2136 and the last block will be mined in 2140. The middle number of 210,000 represents the number of blocks in each halving and blocks are confirmed approximately every 10 minutes but that varies depending on block formation. The right side of the equation is a fraction with 50 representing the maximum block reward that started in the halving between 2009-2012. The current (10/2026) subsidy for mining a block is 3.125 Bitcoin per block. This is then divided by 2, representing the “halving” every four years, with an integer that changes and matches “i” in the beginning of the equation.

What is the correlation between Bitcoin mining, renewable energies, batteries, and AI?

• There has never been a technology in history to turn energy into money or waste into power. Bitcoin does this by transforming energy into digital compute to verify transactions or data traveling in cyberspace. Some of the largest drawbacks of renewable energy are the capacity to supply constant power within the energy duck curve and distributing the power from one place to another. Now, with Bitcoin, we have the ability to satisfy both of those needs at the same time, all of the time. Bitcoin also makes renewable energy, specifically solar power, profitable 24/7. The combination of this innovation with new battery technology provides the world with new abilities like virtual power banks, preventing blackouts and storing clean energy for the grid that can be increased or decreased in real-time like never before. In addition, Bitcoin can absorb waste energy like methane and use it to power miners. Lastly, with the convergence of crypto and AI, the efficiencies we are able to accomplish are breaking records every day and will continue to.

• One sentence on the data center debate: ~ Without spending years explaining it to you; if you want peace, pursue crypto, which is AI, which means data centers. ~

• Efficiency and optmization of decentralized data is the best shot at sustaining humanity for the longest time possible.

How might quantum computing impact our modern public-key cryptography and what are the current solutions to help the transition of AGI/ASI?

• There is a time coming soon that is referenced as “Q Day”; the time when quantum computers could hypothetically decrypt public-key cryptography, exposing today’s RSA and elliptic-curve cryptographic digital signatures at risk of attacks. PQC (Post-Quantum Cryptography) is an evolution of current security layers towards new migrations of NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) signatures that are quantum resistant, such as lattice-based security. In the same future blog on ZK, we will be discussing PQC in more detail as well. This moment in time will clash with what is called AGI (Artifical General Intelligence) and ASI (Artifical Superintelligence) - where AI will be able to learn and apply knowledge without human intervention and where AI will hypothetically surpass all human knowledge or capabilities, respectively. These are moments in time we have never experienced before and will never again. All we can do is prepare as best as possible.

• NaoX Protocol (formerly Naoris Protocol), Krown Technologies & Quantum eMotion, Blockchain Research Institute (BRI), Quantum Chain, Quantum Core Institute, Blockstream, and SQE.io (Simulated Quantum Entanglement) are examples of platforms working to better prepare our systems for what is coming. There are thousands of companies and many more people working to solve problems that are completely invisible to most of the world’s population. One thing we know for sure is: if quantum computers and AI break cryptographic signatures and digital trust, we have a lot bigger problems than knowing where our crypto is - nuclear launch codes, any global software/firmware updates, banking and payments systems, enterprise and government identity, utility and industrial systems, etc. will all be impacted simultaneously.

People criticize data centers for being too loud, polluting our water sources, using too much electricity, and taking up too much land. What are some solutions for these challenges in the future of data centers?

• With one new solution comes one new problem - that goes for anything in life. The same goes for blockchain technology and the fate of data storage. People have some ground to stand on with the aforementioned complaints about data centers, but we’ve come up with solutions that will mitigate these problems. People don’t realize what we all depend on data centers for: email, gps, video meetings, cloud storage, online gaming, digital payments, global supply chain networks, AI. Billions of users with trillions of data points that rely on data centers and without them, most life as we know it would come to a halt.

• To address the problems listed; the complaint of data centers being too loud is pitiful when you think of all other industry noises, some data center operations may have dealt with polluting water sources in the past but most new operations used closed systems that recycled the same water over and over again, the electricity debate is one that will go on forever and can be favorable when understood in a bigger picture of energy usage, and the land critics can read the next bullet point.

• China has already created data centers that get submerged into the ocean for a few reasons: the noise, the land, and the cooling/water environment. The only problem is keeping them under water somehow, corrosion from the salt, and the process when a server goes bad. There’s also a company called OceanBit outfitting barges to be data centers using geothermal energy from ocean currents. Carbon-neutral and possibly able to absorb energy from natural disasters to lessen the impacts of storms on land are two important benefactors. Musk and SpaceX have already proposed ideas to launch data centers into space and on the moon. Space is extremely cold so cooling is accomplished but similarly, what if a server goes down or encountering other complications unforeseen in extraterrestrial environments. Lastly and most promising is the concept of putting data centers in bunkers. There’s potentially more infrastructure below our feet than above our heads. There are projects dedicating spaces inside already-built bunkers wasting away or waiting for a doomsday scenario that can be used for housing data centers. All of these are viable solutions to current challenges in the debate for more data centers and there will be others as we learn more about what it takes to run these machines as efficiently as possible, including the never-ending increase in blockchain infrastructure efficiencies that can free up more storage.

What are some of the most unique blockchain/crypto protocols I should read about?

Geodnet, Nockchain, QuarkChain, Holo Network, SpaceChain, Naoris Protocol, Dione Protocol, Space and Time, Starknet, Qubic, Alvara Finance, Casper, Origin Trail, ASI Alliance, Ravencoin, Oasis Network, Orbs, Jasmy, Powerledger, Chia Network, Constellation Network, Zilliqa, Zenith, Canton, Midnight

Where do I begin to learn more?

Right here… Read some of our other blogs, check out our LinkedIn, visit our X, watch our videos on YouTube or TikTok, etc.

Hint: TCIG’s Crypto Coin Cases series