Bitcoin or BTC is the first cryptocurrency created and currently the largest by market capitalization. The idea of Bitcoin was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008 when he released his whitepaper to the public. BTC is a digital asset that can be easily sent from person to person trustless and secure.

Ethereum or ETH is currently the 2nd largest by market capitalization and proposed by a programmer Vitalik Buterin in 2013. ETH is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Smart contracts allow programmable contracts to automatically execute, control or document legally relevant events and actions according to the terms of a contract.

A whitepaper is guide created by cryptocurrency companies to guide and inform readers about complex issues the currency plans to address and outlines the goals and roadmap for the currency.

According to data, as of April 2021 there are over 10,000 different types of cryptocurrency to invest in which is why it is extremely important to be educated on the subject and learn how to do your own research.

Cryptocurrencies are commonly bought on centralized exchanges like Coinbase or Binance for fiat currencies while other exchanges require using bitcoin or another cryptocurrency to purchase the coin like UniSwap or PancakeSwap.

HODL is one of the most commonly used slang terms in crypto, which simply means to hold and not sell the currency.

A pump and dump happens when a group of people promote a cryptocurrency as the next x100 that they already hold a decent amount of and then when people begin buying, they sell their holdings. You can avoid a pump & dump by not joining groups that promise to give you buy signals for guaranteed profits. You will be left holding bags because your buy signal will be the inside groups sell signal.