Crypto, explained simply
No jargon. Each tab is a five-minute guide with the exact buttons to press on ArtChain — from your first wallet to minting NFTs, meme coins, utilities, social selling and safe investing.
Crypto is digital money that lives on a shared public ledger called a blockchain. Nobody can secretly change it, and you can send it to anyone in the world without a bank in the middle.
- 1Blockchain = a shared notebook
Imagine a notebook that thousands of computers hold identical copies of. Every payment is a line in the notebook. Because everyone has the same copy, nobody can cheat or erase a line.
- 2Coins and tokens
Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Solana (SOL) are coins — the main money of their own blockchain. Tokens (like ARTC on ArtChain) are built on top of a blockchain and can stand for anything: a vote, a ticket, a share of something, or a collectable.
- 3Wallets hold your keys, not your coins
Your coins live on the blockchain. A wallet is the app that holds the secret key proving they're yours. Lose the key, lose the coins — which is why ArtChain offers a built-in wallet that needs no key file.
- 4Prices move fast
Crypto can rise or fall 10% in a day. Only ever use money you can afford to lose, and treat anything promising guaranteed returns as a scam.
- 5Fees
Sending crypto costs a small network fee ("gas"). On ArtChain the fees are simple: $20 start-up, $50/yr membership, 5% on NFT sales (7% utility), 5% on withdrawals — all shown on the Pricing page.
- ArtChain is a marketplace and creative platform, not a bank, broker, exchange or licensed financial adviser. Nothing on this site is financial, investment, legal or tax advice.
- NFTs, crypto-currencies and the ARTC / POP tokens can lose value quickly. Speed Trading, Automation and popularity pools show simulated market references — past or projected figures are not a promise of future results. Only spend what you can afford to lose.
- Your ArtChain Wallet balance is a USD credit held by ArtChain for spending on the site. It is not a bank deposit, not insured and not interest-bearing. Withdrawals carry the flat 5% site fee and require your 2FA code.
- Card payments are processed by Stripe; PayPal payments are confirmed by transaction reference. Fees: $20 start-up, $50/yr membership, 5% NFT sales (+2% utility), 5% withdrawal, $100 unpaid-fee limit, min NFT price $5. See Pricing.
- You are responsible for your own taxes and for keeping your password, authenticator and wallet safe. ArtChain ID / Q-code recovery provides identity proof only — it cannot recover private keys or funds held elsewhere. 18+ only.