Crypto Basics

Foundational concepts every crypto user should know.

Brand-new to crypto, or returning after a long break? Start here. These guides cover wallets, addresses, transactions, gas, mempools, and finality — the vocabulary you need before you touch real funds.

Square SSP Academy cover: hard forks and soft forks

Hard forks and soft forks: how blockchains change their rules

Blockchains upgrade without a central server, through soft forks that tighten the rules and hard forks that change them. How each works, when forks split a coin in two, and what upgrades mean for your wallet.

4 min
Square SSP Academy cover: halvings and supply schedules

Halvings and supply schedules: where new coins come from

Every proof-of-work coin decides in its rules how new coins are created. How Bitcoin's halving works, how Litecoin, Dogecoin, Kaspa and Ethereum differ, and what halvings do and don't mean for holders.

4 min
Square SSP Academy cover: the Lightning Network explained

The Lightning Network: Bitcoin payments without waiting for blocks

Lightning makes Bitcoin payments fast and cheap by moving them into two-party channels built on multisig and time locks. How channels and routing work, where Lightning shines, and the trade-offs it asks of you.

4 min
Square SSP Academy cover: paper wallets and cold storage

Paper wallets: why the old way of cold storage aged badly

Printing a private key on paper was once the gold standard of cold storage. Why web generation, printers, single addresses and change handling made paper wallets riskier than they looked, and how to safely sweep an old one.

4 min
Square SSP Academy cover: coins versus tokens and gas

Coins vs tokens: why you need ETH to send USDC

Your wallet says insufficient funds while you hold hundreds in USDC. The reason is the difference between a chain's native coin and the tokens that live inside contracts — and why every transaction is paid for in the coin.

4 min
Square SSP Academy cover: the mempool explained

The mempool: where your transaction waits before it's real

Between pressing send and the first confirmation, your transaction sits in the mempool. What it is, how block producers pick transactions, why some get stuck, and why a pending transaction is public but not yet final.

5 min
Square SSP Academy cover: how hash functions work in crypto

Hash functions: the quiet machinery under everything in crypto

Signatures decide who can spend; hash functions hold everything else together. What a hash is, where you meet one without noticing — txids, mining, addresses, the function selectors SSP decodes — and what hashes can't do.

4 min
Square SSP Academy cover: seed phrases, private keys and xpubs compared

Seed phrase, private key, xpub: what each one can actually do

Seed phrases and private keys can spend. An extended public key can only watch — but it watches everything in the account. How to tell which wallet material you're being asked for, and why 2-of-2 multisig changes what a single leaked seed is worth.

5 min
Square SSP Academy cover: layer 2 rollups versus sidechains

Layer 2s, sidechains, and the word everyone uses wrong

A real layer 2 inherits its security from the chain beneath it — and of the six EVM mainnets SSP supports, exactly one is a rollup. Why the same address across chains is a trap, and what a week-long withdrawal is actually buying you.

8 min
Square SSP Academy cover: blockchain confirmations, reorgs and finality

Confirmations and reorgs: how final is final?

Short reorgs are routine, six confirmations is a Bitcoin-scale convention rather than a law, and depth only means something relative to what a block costs to produce. Why confirmations matter when receiving and barely at all when sending.

7 min
Square SSP Academy cover: reading a blockchain explorer

How to read a block explorer, and why you should

An explorer lets you check your wallet's claims against the chain instead of taking them on faith. Which six fields actually matter, what an explorer can't tell you, and an honest note about whose node you're really reading when you tap through from SSP.

6 min
Square SSP Academy cover: proof of work versus proof of stake

Proof of work and proof of stake: what a blockchain is actually buying

Both mechanisms solve the same problem — making participation cost something real so identities can't be faked for free. One spends energy up front, the other risks the attacker's capital afterwards. What each actually buys, and why it matters far less to your security than you'd think.

6 min
Square SSP Academy cover: the UTXO model, account balances and Solana rent

Coins, balances and accounts: why "how much do I have" has three different answers

Bitcoin stores no balances at all, Ethereum stores a balance and a counter, and Solana charges rent for existing. Why that explains high fees on small payments, transactions that fail and still cost money, and tokens that seem to vanish.

6 min
Square SSP Academy cover: crypto address formats and failed sends

Why your address doesn't look like theirs: address formats, and why sends fail

An address is a compressed description of what has to be true for coins to move — which is why a 2-of-2 multisig address is longer than a single-key one. The formats, why SSP's look unusual, and the Bitcoin Cash trap that CashAddr was invented to fix.

6 min
SSP Academy square cover: comparing self-custody options

Comparing Self-Custody Options

Seed phrase, hardware wallet, MPC, multisig — an honest comparison of what each model actually guarantees, what it costs you, and how to pick.

7 min
SSP Academy cover for a beginner guide to mobile crypto wallets and SSP Key

Mobile Crypto Wallet: Strengths, Risks, and SSP Key

What mobile crypto wallets get right — always-on access, biometric unlock, QR scanning — where they fall short, and how SSP Key fits as a signer.

7 min
Illustration of a browser extension wallet protected by a sandbox and a 2-of-2 signing lock

Browser Extension Wallets, Explained

How browser extension wallets work, the security risks they carry, and how SSP contains them with LavaMoat sandboxing and a 2-of-2 design.

6 min
SSP Academy cover comparing a software wallet on a phone with a dedicated hardware wallet device

Software Wallet vs Hardware Wallet: A Guide

Software wallet vs hardware wallet, explained for beginners: what each is good at, where each is weak, and where SSP fits in between.

7 min
SSP Academy cover comparing a network-connected hot wallet with an offline cold wallet

Hot Wallet vs Cold Wallet: A Beginner Guide

Hot wallet vs cold wallet, explained for beginners: online convenience vs offline safety, what cold storage protects against, and the middle ground.

7 min
Illustration of a crypto wallet as a keyring holding private and public keys, with a blockchain ledger behind it

What Is a Crypto Wallet? Keys, Coins, and Control

A crypto wallet stores keys, not coins. Learn how private keys, public keys, addresses, and signatures work — and what a wallet really is.

7 min
Step-by-step illustration of an SSP wallet being set up on a phone and a browser

Setting up your first SSP wallet

Step-by-step setup guide for SSP Wallet: install the app and extension, pair two devices, generate a 2-of-2 wallet, and send your first transaction.

6 min
Square SSP Wallet brand cover with the SSP logo and self-custody icons.

Meet SSP Wallet: Self-Custody With 2-of-2 Multisig

SSP is a self-custody wallet with 2-of-2 multisig built in. Two devices co-sign every transaction; neither can move funds alone.

6 min