What is a Crypto Coin?

Created by Ryan D, Modified on Wed, 24 Jan at 6:35 PM by Ryan D

Coins are king in the crypto world. A crypto coin is the native asset to their respective blockchain, and essentially supports the entire infrastructure of that blockchain. Each blockchain can have only one native coin, but can have many other tokens or assets built on them.


One important thing to note is that coins aren’t built for utility the way other assets are. Their only function is to act as a native currency (a medium of exchange or representation of value) to one specific financial system — its blockchain — and can only be transferred between users within that specific platform.


Coins are traded based on an “agreed upon” value, usually dependent on market conditions. They can be traded for other coins, tokens or assets via crypto exchanges, private transactions, decentralized exchanges or atomic swaps.


Bitcoin and Ethereum are the most prominent examples of coins.

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