Heidi Chakos
Co-FounderHeidi Chakos is co-founder of Learning Crypto and creator of the @cryptotips YouTube channel. A cryptocurrency educator and author with over a decade in the space, she specialises in Bitcoin fundamentals, self-custody, and on-chain analytics.
131 guides by Heidi.
Scams & RiskA No-Nonsense Guide to Spotting Crypto Scams
Crypto scams took an estimated $17 billion globally last year, with $11.4 billion in US losses reported to the FBI. The main types are phishing, rug pulls, pig butchering, impersonation and deepfakes, fake wallets and exchanges, and address poisoning. Transactions are irreversible, so prevention is on you: never share a seed phrase, verify full addresses, check liquidity locks and audits, and distrust urgency.
16 min read/Heidi ChakosStablecoins
StablecoinsUSDT vs USDC Compared: Reserves, Risks, and Which Is Safer
USDC is the lower-risk stablecoin on fundamentals: its reserves are cash and short-dated Treasuries, attestations are monthly, and Circle is authorized under MiCA and the GENIUS Act. USDT has deeper liquidity, more chains, and dominates offshore trading, but its reserves include secured loans and bitcoin, it lacks a Big Four audit, and it is not MiCA compliant. USDC for savings; USDT for high-volume offshore trading.
11 min read/Heidi ChakosDeFi
DeFiTradFi vs DeFi and The Birth of 'Invisible' Finance
TradFi and DeFi do the same jobs, holding, moving and lending money, but TradFi runs on permission and trust in institutions while DeFi runs on open code and self-custody. The five real differences are access, custody, yield, regulation and speed. The test that matters: if you hold the keys you are in DeFi; if an exchange or bank holds them you are in TradFi.
14 min read/Heidi ChakosAnalysis
AnalysisWhat Are Crypto Prediction Markets? How Polymarket and Onchain Betting Work
Crypto prediction markets are platforms where you buy yes or no shares on a future event, priced between $0 and $1 to reflect the crowd's probability; winning shares pay $1. Onchain platforms like Polymarket hold funds in smart contracts on Polygon, settle in USDC and resolve outcomes through UMA's optimistic oracle. Kalshi is the CFTC-regulated option for US residents.
17 min read/Heidi ChakosRegulation & Tax
Regulation & TaxMiCA: Europe's Crypto Regulation Framework Explained
MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation) is the EU's unified crypto law for all 27 member states. It licenses service providers (CASPs), sorts tokens into three categories, and makes stablecoin issuers hold full reserves and redeem at par. Circle's USDC and EURC complied; Tether did not, so USDT was delisted from regulated EU exchanges. Transitional periods end July 1, 2026; unlicensed providers are then in breach.
16 min read/Heidi ChakosAnalysis
AnalysisOn-Chain Analysis: Reading Blockchain Data to Understand Markets
On-chain analysis is reading the public transaction data on a blockchain (wallet movements, exchange flows, coin age, miner activity) to understand what participants are actually doing rather than only what price is doing. The core Bitcoin metrics are exchange netflow, MVRV, SOPR, active addresses, HODL waves and hash rate, available through Glassnode, CryptoQuant and Nansen. It gives cycle-level context; it does not predict price.
13 min read/Heidi ChakosAnalysis
AnalysisTokenomics Explained: Master Crypto Project Economies & Value
Tokenomics is the economic design of a crypto project: the rules for how a token is created, allocated, distributed and used. It rests on three pillars, supply, distribution and demand, and is usually hardcoded at launch. To analyze it, compare market cap with fully diluted valuation, check circulating supply and release schedules, and ask whether rewards come from real revenue or pure inflation.
14 min read/Heidi ChakosDeFi
DeFiWhat is Liquid Staking? Your Guide to Flexible Crypto Rewards
Liquid staking lets you stake crypto for network rewards while receiving a tradeable liquid staking token (LST), such as Lido's stETH or Rocket Pool's rETH, that represents your position. You can trade, lend, or post the LST as collateral while the stake keeps earning, with no 32 ETH minimum. The trade-offs: smart contract risk, LSTs trading below peg under stress, slashing, and concentration in Lido.
Heidi ChakosDeFi
DeFiWhat Is RWA Tokenization? Real World Assets on the Blockchain Explained
RWA tokenization creates a blockchain token that represents a legally defined claim on an off-chain asset such as property, gold, Treasury bills, or private loans. A token is only as good as the legal wrapper, custodian, and redemption mechanics behind it. Private credit is the largest segment, tokenized Treasuries passed $10 billion in early 2026, and PAXG and XAUT dominate gold. Key risks: regulation, liquidity.
17 min read/Heidi Chakos