Course outline
- 1What a crypto wallet is, and where the coins actually live
- 2Custodial vs non-custodial wallets: whose keys are they
- 3Types of crypto wallet: hot, cold, extensions and hardware
- 4The seed phrase: what it is and why you tell it to nobody
- 5Address, private key and password: how they differ
- 6Where to download a wallet without installing a fake
- 7How to install MetaMask and create a wallet
- 8How to install Rabby: a wallet for many EVM chains
- 9Phantom: a Solana wallet and how to download it
- 10Tonkeeper: how to get a wallet on TON
- 11Hardware wallets: why Ledger and Trezor, and where to buy them
- 12An exchange wallet: convenient, but the keys are not yours
- 13What DeFi is, in plain language
- 14CEX and DEX: where to swap, and what that implies
- 15Gas: why a swap will not send without ETH, SOL or TON
- 16How to buy crypto: fiat, exchange, network, DEX
- 17How to swap tokens on Uniswap (EVM)
- 18How to buy a token on Jupiter (Solana)
- 19How to swap a jetton on STON.fi (TON)
- 20Phishing: where you never type a seed phrase
- 21Why a tracker asks for an address, not a seed phrase
- 22How to check the purchase arrived: network, address, tracker
- 23Wallet security: short rules that actually work
- 24Twitter / X: how to find a project's real account and skip the clone
- 25DefiLlama: where to find a project's real site and Twitter
After a swap you want to close the tab. Two minutes of checking is cheaper than hunting “where the token went” a week later.
Three checks
- The transaction hash in the explorer for the chain you signed on (Etherscan / Basescan / Solscan / Tonviewer). Status success, not fail.
- The recipient is you. Not “the router, that is just how a DEX works” in the to field if you thought you were sending to cold storage. For a swap, to is often the pool — then look at the token balance on your address after.
- The network. A token on Base is invisible if the wallet is on Ethereum. A tracker without that chain will also show a hole.
If the token is missing
The hidden list in MetaMask / Phantom (custom token). Wrong withdrawal network from the exchange. A zero-liquidity scam the DEX showed for a second. Too early: the RPC has not caught up.
Do not type a seed “so Uniswap support can find the transaction”. They have no such button. See phishing.
You can restart the course: what a wallet is. Next: security, X/Twitter and DefiLlama.