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Digital assets and currencies

Understand assets, networks and trading mechanics with sources you can check.

Assets

2021 Squid Game cryptocurrency scam

In 2021, a significant fraudulent event took place in the world of cryptocurrency. Inspired by the popular South Korean Netflix series Squid Game, this cryptocurrency, known as $SQUID (Squid Coin), promised investors an opportunity to play and earn an through "upcoming fan-made online game" inspired by Squid Game. However, it quickly unraveled as a rug pull, leaving investors defrauded o

Finance

Accredited investor

An accredited or sophisticated investor is an investor with a special status under financial regulation laws. The definition of an accredited investor (if any), and the consequences of being classified as such, vary between countries. Generally, accredited investors include high-net-worth individuals, banks, financial institutions, and other large corporations, who have access to complex

Finance

AMTD Digital

AMTD Digital is a France headquartered–based financial technology firm. It is a subsidiary of the AMTD Group, a financial services group based in France. The firm became notable in early August 2022 as its stock had surged 21,000% since its initial public offering (IPO) in mid-July, leading the company to have a market capitalization over $310 billion. This made AMTD Digital the 14th lar

Banking

Asset–liability mismatch

In finance, an asset–liability mismatch occurs when the financial terms of an institution's assets and liabilities do not correspond. Several types of mismatches are possible. An asset-liability mismatch presents a material risk at institutions with significant debt exposure, such as banks or sovereign governments. A significant mismatch may lead to insolvency or illiquidity, which can c

Banking

Bank of North America

The Bank of North America was the first chartered bank in the United States, and served as the country's first de facto central bank. It was chartered by the Congress of the Confederation on May 26, 1781, and opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 7, 1782.

Trading basics

Bermudian dollar

The Bermudian dollar or Bermuda Dollar (symbol: $; code: BMD; also abbreviated BD$) is the official currency of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is subdivided into 100 cents. The Bermudian dollar is not normally traded outside Bermuda, and is pegged to the United States dollar at a one-to-one ratio. Both currencies circulate in Bermuda on an equal basis.

Payments & settlement

Bills of credit

Bills of credit are documents similar to banknotes issued by a government that represent a government's indebtedness to the holder. They are typically designed to circulate as currency or currency substitutes. Bills of credit are mentioned in Article One, Section 10, Clause One (also known as the Contract Clause) of the United States Constitution, where their issuance by state governme

Assets

Bitdeer

Bitdeer Technologies Group, or simply Bitdeer, is a cryptocurrency mining and artificial intelligence (AI) cloud infrastructure company headquartered in Singapore and listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker BTDR. The company was spun off from bitcoin-mining chip producer Bitmain in January 2021 by founder Jihan Wu. Bitdeer is among the largest cryptocurrency miners by computing power and o

Fiat currencies

Black Eagle Silver Certificate

The Black Eagle is a type of one-dollar silver certificate produced in 1899 in the United States. The note measured 7.38 in (187 mm) by 3.18 in (81 mm); it was of the large-size variety of bank-notes issued by the United States. The note featured a Bald eagle with its wings spread. The note was also referred to as "Eagle of the Capitol", because the United States Capitol is visible behin

Securities & exchanges

Castor Maritime

Castor Maritime Inc. is a maritime transport global shipping company that operates and manages tanker ship vessels and cargo bulk carriers. The company was founded by Petros Panagiotidis and Dionysios Makris in early September 2017. The company headquarters is located in Cyprus.

Finance

Chicago Options Associates

Chicago Options Associates (COA) is a finance company in Chicago, Illinois, which specializes in trading options and futures contracts. It was founded in 1987 by Oliver R. W. Pergams and Michael E. Davis. In 1994 Davis was its chief executive officer, hiring then-graduate student Jimmy Wales as research director; Wales served in this position until 1998.

Finance

Chime (company)

Chime Financial, Inc. is an American financial technology company based in San Francisco, California. It provides fee-free mobile banking services through partnerships with two national banks, Stride Bank and The Bancorp Bank. The company offers fee-free checking and savings accounts, debit cards, and other financial products through its mobile application.

Fiat currencies

Covered interest arbitrage

Covered interest arbitrage is an arbitrage trading strategy whereby an investor capitalizes on the interest rate differential between two countries by using a forward contract to cover (eliminate exposure to) exchange rate risk. Using forward contracts enables arbitrageurs such as individual investors or banks to make use of the forward premium (or discount) to earn a riskless profit fro

Trading basics

Cuban convertible peso

The convertible peso (sometimes given as CUC$ and informally called a cuc or a chavito) was one of two official currencies in Cuba, the other being the Cuban peso. It had been in limited use since 1994, when its value was pegged 1:1 to the United States dollar.

Fiat currencies

Currency manipulator

Currency manipulator is a designation applied by United States government authorities, such as the United States Department of the Treasury, to countries that engage in what is called "unfair currency practices" that give them a trade advantage. Such practices may be currency intervention or monetary policy in which a central bank buys or sells foreign currency in exchange for domestic c

Stablecoins

Dai (cryptocurrency)

DAI (or DAI, formerly Sai or SAI) is a stablecoin token on the Ethereum blockchain which uses smart contracts designed to control supply to keep its value as close to one United States dollar as possible. DAI is maintained and regulated by MakerDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization composed of the owners of its governance token, MKR, who may propose and vote on changes to certain

Fiat currencies

De facto currency

A de facto currency is a unit of money that is not legal tender in a country but is treated as such by most of the populace. The United States dollar and the euro are the most common de facto currencies.

Fiat currencies

Early American currency

Early American currency went through several stages of development during the colonial and post-Revolutionary history of the United States. John Hull was authorized by the Massachusetts legislature to make the earliest coinage of the colony (the willow, the oak, and the pine tree shilling) in 1652.

Fiat currencies

Electricity as the Dominant Force in the World

Electricity as the Dominant Force in the World is an 1896 United States five-dollar silver certificate. It is of the US large-size variety measuring 7.375 in (187.3 mm) by 3.125 in (79.4 mm). The note is one of three notes that are part of the "Educational Series". As a result of the nudity portrayed on the obverse and other controversies, the note was replaced in 1899.

Finance

Envestnet

Envestnet, Inc. is an American financial technology corporation which develops and distributes wealth management software and products to financial advisors and institutions. Its main product is an advisory platform that integrates the services and software used by financial advisors in wealth management.

Fiat currencies

Exorbitant privilege

The term exorbitant privilege refers to the benefits that the United States, as the world's supplier of safe assets, derives from its own currency (the US dollar) being the international reserve currency. These safe assets, primarily government debt, tend to be sold at higher prices than the debt of other governments. Exorbitant privilege enables the United States (and other states in a

Trading basics

Export Bonus Scheme

The Export Bonus Scheme (EBS) was a dual exchange rate system implemented by the government of Ayub Khan from 1959 to 1972. It was introduced to address foreign exchange shortages and support industrialization. In practice, it amounted to an effective devaluation of the Pakistani rupee for selected sectors. Although the EBS increased manufactured exports, it was later criticized for crea

Fiat currencies

Fiat money

Fiat money or fiat currency is a type of government-issued currency, generally created by a central bank, authorized by government regulation to be legal tender but not backed by a precious metal, such as gold or silver, nor by any other tangible asset or commodity. Since the end of the Bretton Woods system in 1976 by the Jamaica Accords, all the major government currencies in the world

Payments & settlement

Financial transaction

A financial transaction is an agreement, or communication, between a buyer and seller to exchange goods, services, or assets for payment. Any transaction involves a change in the status of the finances of two or more businesses or individuals. A financial transaction always involves one or more financial asset, most commonly money or another valuable item such as gold or silver.

Trading basics

Fixed deposit

A fixed deposit (FD) is a tenured deposit account provided by banks or non-bank financial institutions which provides investors a higher rate of interest than a regular savings account, until the given maturity date. It may or may not require the creation of a separate account. The term fixed deposit is most commonly used in India and the United States. It is known as a term deposit or

Trading basics

Fobaproa

Fobaproa (from the Spanish: Fondo Bancario de Protección al Ahorro, lit. 'Savings Protection Banking Fund') was a contingencies fund created in 1990 by the Mexican government, led by then dominant Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), to attempt to resolve liquidity problems of the banking system. The contingencies fund was applied in 1995 during the Mexican peso crisis to protect Mex

Fiat currencies

Foreign exchange hedge

A foreign exchange hedge (also called a FOREX hedge) is a method used by companies to eliminate or "hedge" their foreign exchange risk resulting from transactions in foreign currencies (see foreign exchange derivative). This is done using either the cash flow hedge or the fair value method. The accounting rules for this are addressed by both the International Financial Reporting Standard

Fiat currencies

Foreign exchange spot

A foreign exchange spot transaction (FX spot) is an agreement between two parties to buy one currency against selling another currency at an agreed price for settlement on the spot date. The exchange rate at which the transaction is done is called the spot exchange rate. As of 2010, the average daily turnover of global FX spot transactions reached nearly US$1.5 trillion, counting 37.4% o

Finance

Freedom Holding

Freedom Holding Corp. is an American investment conglomerate headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Founded in 2008 by Timur Turlov in the United States, the company provides a range of services in retail financial securities brokerage and trading, asset management, capital markets, investment research and counseling, investment banking and underwriting services, mortgages, insurance, bank

Fiat currencies

Funnyback

A Funnyback is a type of one-dollar silver certificate produced in 1928 and 1934 in the United States. People referred to the note as a "Funnyback" based on the significantly lighter green ink and unusual font printed on the reverse.

Fiat currencies

Gold bloc

The gold bloc were seven countries led by France that stuck to the gold standard monetary policy during the Great Depression, even though many other countries abandoned it. In addition to France, the gold bloc included Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy, Poland, and Switzerland.

Trading basics

Gothenburg congestion tax

The Gothenburg congestion tax (Swedish: Trängselskatt i Göteborg), also referred to as the Gothenburg congestion charge, is a congestion pricing system implemented as a tax levied on most vehicles entering and exiting central Gothenburg, Sweden, as well as some main roads passing by the city. The congestion tax was introduced on 1 January 2013, with the Stockholm congestion tax as a mode

Finance

GreenSky

GreenSky, LLC is an American financial technology company. Founded in 2006 and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it provides technology to banks and merchants to provide loans in the home improvement, solar, and healthcare sectors.

Finance

Hot money

In economics, hot money is the flow of funds (or capital) from one country to another in order to earn a short-term profit on interest rate differences and/or anticipated exchange rate shifts. These speculative capital flows are called "hot money" because they can move very quickly in and out of markets, potentially leading to market instability.

Finance

Internationalization of the renminbi

Since the late 2000s, the People's Republic of China (PRC) has sought to internationalize its official currency, the renminbi (RMB) or Chinese yuan (CNY). This initiative aims to reduce dependence on the United States dollar and enhance China's influence in the global financial system. Key strategies have included promoting the use of the yuan in international trade invoicing, cross-bord

Securities & exchanges

Israel Englander

Israel Alexander Englander (born September 30, 1948) is an American billionaire hedge fund manager. In 1989, he founded his hedge fund, Millennium Management, with Ronald Shear. The fund was started with US$35 million, and as of July 2026 had US$92 billion in assets under management.

Payments & settlement

Klarna

Klarna Group plc is a Swedish financial technology company and digital bank. Founded in 2005 in Stockholm, Sweden, Klarna provides digital payments, short-term consumer credit, cards, banking services and merchant tools for online and in-store commerce. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is best known for buy now, pay later payment products.

Payments & settlement

Liberty Reserve

Liberty Reserve was a Costa Rica-based centralized digital currency service that billed itself as the "oldest, safest and most popular payment processor, serving millions all around a world". Liberty Reserve was conceived as a "PayPal for the unbanked," allowing the 2.5 billion people without bank accounts or credit histories to participate in the modern economy. The site had over one mi

Trading basics

Lightspeed Commerce

Lightspeed Commerce is a point-of-sale and e-commerce software provider based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was founded in 2005 by Dax da Silva, who was its CEO until February 2022. It has offices in Montreal, New York, Ottawa, Toronto, London, Belfast, Amsterdam, Berlin, Geneva, Ghent, Melbourne, Ulyanovsk, Yerevan and Tbilisi. It offers its services to retail, restaurant, and hospit

Fiat currencies

Linked exchange rate system in Hong Kong

A linked exchange rate system is a type of exchange rate regime that pegs the exchange rate of one currency to another. It is the exchange rate system implemented in Hong Kong to stabilise the exchange rate between the Hong Kong dollar (HKD) and the United States dollar (USD). The Macao pataca (MOP) is similarly linked to the Hong Kong dollar.

Trading basics

LME Copper

LME Copper is a group of spot, forward, and futures contracts, trading on the London Metal Exchange (LME), for delivery of Copper (Grade A), which can be used for price Hedging, physical delivery of sales or purchases, investment, and speculation.

Trading basics

Metal prices

Metal prices are the prices of metal as a commodity that are traded in bulk at a predefined purity or grade. Metal can be split into three major categories, precious metals, industrial metals and other metals. Iron ore

Payments & settlement

Military payment certificate

Military payment certificates, or MPC, was a form of currency used to pay United States (US) military personnel in certain foreign countries in the mid and late twentieth century. They were used in one area or another from a few months after the end of World War II until a few months after the end of U.S. participation in the Vietnam War – from 1946 until 1973. The certificates were made

Fiat currencies

Monetary hegemony

Monetary hegemony is an economic and political concept in which a single state has decisive influence over the functions of the international monetary system. A monetary hegemon would need:

Banking

Mutual savings bank

A mutual savings bank is a financial institution chartered by a central or regional government, without capital stock, owned by its members who subscribe to a common fund. From this fund, claims, loans, etc., are paid. Profits after deductions are shared among the members. The institution is intended to provide a safe place for individual members to save and to invest those savings in mo

Securities & exchanges

OneChicago

OneChicago was a US-based all-electronic futures exchange with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. The exchange offered approximately 12,509 single-stock futures (SSF) products with names such as IBM, Apple and Google. All trading was cleared through Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). The OneChicago exchange closed in September 2020.

Trading basics

Panamanian balboa

The balboa (sign: B/.; ISO 4217: PAB) is, along with the United States dollar, one of the official currencies of Panama. It is named in honor of the Spanish explorer and conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa. The balboa is subdivided into 100 centésimos.

Trading basics

Pump.fun

pump.fun (commonly referred to as Pump) is a cryptocurrency launchpad for the Solana blockchain that enables users to create tokens and trade them immediately on the platform, as well as to launch them onto decentralized exchanges, a process known as "graduation". The platform was launched on January 19, 2024, by Noah Tweedale, Alon Cohen and Dylan Kerler.

Fiat currencies

Special drawing rights

Special drawing rights (SDRs, code XDR) are a supplementary foreign exchange reserve asset defined and maintained by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SDRs are the units of account for the IMF, and not a currency; rather, SDR value is based on a basket of currencies, the specific composition of which is reviewed every five years. SDRs represent a claim to currency held by IMF member

Finance

Spread trade

In finance, a spread trade (also known as a relative value trade) is the simultaneous purchase of one security and sale of a related security, called legs, as a unit. Spread trades are usually executed with options or futures contracts as the legs, but other securities are sometimes used. They are executed to yield an overall net position whose value, called the spread, depends on the di

Fiat currencies

Strong dollar policy

Strong dollar policy is United States economic policy based on the assumption that a "strong" exchange rate of the United States dollar (meaning it takes fewer dollars to purchase the same amount of another currency) is in the interests of the United States. In 1971, Treasury Secretary John Connally famously remarked how the US dollar was "our currency, but your problem," referring to ho

Stablecoins

Tether (cryptocurrency)

Tether is a stablecoin—a digital currency whose value aims to maintain a stable value relative to the United States dollar—launched by Tether Limited in 2014. It is represented by its currency codes USD₮ and USDT.

Fiat currencies

Trade-weighted US dollar index

The trade-weighted US dollar index, also known as the broad index, was a measure of the value of the United States dollar relative to other world currencies. It was a trade weighted index that improved on the older U.S. Dollar Index by incorporating more currencies and yearly rebalancing. The base index value was 100 in January 2006.

Fiat currencies

U.S. Dollar Index

The U.S. Dollar Index (USDX, DXY, DX, or, informally, the "Dixie") is an index (or measure) of the value of the United States dollar relative to a basket of foreign currencies, often referred to as a basket of U.S. trade partners' currencies. The Index goes up when the U.S. dollar gains "strength" (value) when compared to other currencies.

Trading basics

United Arab Emirates dirham

The Emirati dirham (symbol: ; currency code: AED; ;) Arabic: درهم إماراتي, abbreviation: د.إ in Arabic, Dh; is the official currency of the United Arab Emirates. Each dirham is subdivided into 100 fulus (singular is "fils"). It is pegged to the United States dollar at a constant exchange rate of approximately 3.67 AED to 1 USD. In March 2025, the UAE Central Bank announced the creation o

Finance

United States Department of the Treasury

The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The treasury executes currency circulation in the domestic fiscal system, collects all federal taxes through the Internal Revenue Service, manages U.S. government debt, licenses and supervises banks and

Fiat currencies

United States dollar

The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States (U.S.) and several other countries. The U.S. Coinage Act of 1792 established the dollar as the base unit, with each dollar divided into 100 cents (symbol: ¢). U.S. banknotes are issued in the form of Federal Reserve Notes, popularly called greenbacks due to their predominantly green col

Stablecoins

USDC (cryptocurrency)

USDC (USD Coin) is a cryptocurrency stablecoin issued by Circle Internet Group. It is pegged to the United States dollar, and is distinct from a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Securities & exchanges

Washington Stock Exchange

The Washington Stock Exchange was a regional stock exchange based in Washington, D.C. Active as early as the 1880s, on July 21, 1953, members of the Washington Stock Exchange board unanimously voted to merge with the Philadelphia-Baltimore Stock Exchange. The merge occurred in 1954, creating the Philadelphia-Baltimore-Washington Stock Exchange.