Learning the friendly way

Look, we get it. Banking isn't exactly the most thrilling topic out there – but it's one of those adult things we all need to figure out. Whether you're finally setting up your first proper account or just tired of your current bank's prehistoric app, we're here to break down everything you need to know about managing your finances in the digital era.

Getting started 

There was a time when opening a bank account meant sitting in a stuffy branch office while someone in a suit explained terms and conditions for what felt like hours. Thankfully, those days are over. Here's what you actually need to know:

What you'll need to open a bank account

Let's keep this simple. To open a bank account, you'll need:

• A valid ID (passport, driver's license, ID card)
• Proof of address (utility bill, lease, etc.)
• Your phone + internet access
• A few minutes of your time 

No need to print anything, mail anything, or – heaven forbid – fax anything. Welcome to 2025, folks.

Banking basics explained

Types of accounts

Think of bank accounts like streaming services – different ones for different needs:

• Everyday accounts

Your go-to for daily life. Bills, coffee runs, online purchases.

• Savings accounts

Where your "adulting" money lives. 

• Joint bank account

If you’re looking to take a very big next step with your partner. Serious adults only. 

Let’s talk bank cards

Remember when cash was king? Now your phone probably has more payment methods than your wallet has actual cards. Here's what's what:

• Physical debit cards: The classic. Tap, chip, or swipe away.
• Virtual card: For all your online shopping needs.
• Digital wallet: Because sometimes carrying an actual wallet is just too much.

What is a bank account number?

A bank account number is basically the ID tag for your money. It’s a unique string of digits that tells your bank (and anyone sending you cash) exactly where your account lives (like your account’s home address in the financial world).

You’ll usually need it for things like receiving payments, setting up direct debits, or pretending to be super organised when you pay your bills on time. Just keep it safe – it’s not exactly the kind of number you want floating around the internet.

On that note - do not ever share your banking passwords, logins, card PINS or OTPs with anyone. Ever. 

The cool stuff you actually care about

While opening a traditional bank account isn't exactly rocket science, why not take the easier road?  Enter Tap – your modern money account that takes the complexity out of managing your finances. While traditional banks have their place, Tap offers something different: a seamless digital experience that fits right into your lifestyle (and pocket - it’s an app).

With Tap, you get all the essential features you'd expect for managing your money, but without the traditional banking hassles. And the bonus of crypto. Open your Tap account in minutes, right from your phone – no paperwork, no branch visits, and no complicated processes. 

Just straightforward money management for the digital age.

Instant money moves (for free between Tap users)

Gone are the days of "the check is in the mail." With Tap, sending money is as easy as sending a meme:

• Split bills without the awkward "who owes what" conversation
• Pay back your friend for lunch before you've even left the restaurant
• Send money internationally without selling a kidney to cover the fees

Security

We take security seriously. Obviously. That’s what being regulated is all about:

• Face ID/fingerprint login 
• Instant card freeze 
• Real-time notifications 

For those into crypto (not mandatory)

We've got you covered too (or if you're crypto-curious but not quite sure what it all means, that's also cool). At Tap, we make integrating crypto into your finances easy as pie:

• Buy and sell top cryptocurrencies right in your app
• Get access to our integrated smart router that finds the top prices in real time
• Store your crypto safely alongside your regular money – all in one place
• Track your crypto portfolio without getting a headache from complicated charts
• Convert between crypto and traditional currencies whenever you want 
• Load crypto or fiat currencies onto your Tap card and spend them anywhere, anytime

And if crypto isn't your thing? No pressure. Your Tap account works perfectly fine without ever touching crypto. We're all about giving you options.

Why Tap though?

Look, there are plenty of financial institutions out there. But here's why we think you'll vibe with us:

• We speak human, not banker
• Our app doesn't look like it was designed in 1995
• No hidden fees (because surprises are for birthdays, not bank statements)
• 24/7 support from real people who actually want to help
• We’re licenced and regulated (more info available on our website)
• We also offer premium accounts with extra perks

Ready to level up your banking?

Banking doesn't have to be boring, and it definitely doesn't have to be difficult. Tap is for people who’d rather focus on living their lives than worry about managing their money. No branches, no bureaucracy, just managing your finances in a way that works as fast as you do.

Download our app, and in the time it takes to order your morning coffee, you can create an account and get verified. 

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This year has seen a gradual but significant improvement in cryptocurrency prices from the chilly crypto winter of 2022. Factors such as cooling inflation and a more relaxed macroeconomic situation have given crypto the space to turn upward and settle in the green. While the road to recovery (to 2021 prices) might be long, there is definite hope on the horizon.

Before we dive in, let’s first review the previous crypto bull runs associated with halvings. When it comes to bull runs, there is a historical pattern of prices rising several months after a Bitcoin halving. This effect tends to take place twelve to eighteen months after the halving event.

This article tends to focus heavily on Bitcoin as the cryptocurrency holds a lot of weight in the industry. Bitcoin market trends tend to dictate the way forward for many other altcoins, while this isn’t black and white, it tends to be the norm. When Bitcoin enters a bull run, so too do other cryptocurrencies, and when the Bitcoin price is down, the same applies. 

What is a Bitcoin halving?

Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, strongly believed that scarcity creates value. When designing Bitcoin, it was decided that there would only ever be 21 million coins, and while these can be broken down into small decimal places, there is no changing that maximum supply. 

In order to leverage the scarcity and ensure an even distribution of new coins entering circulation, Nakamoto designed a halving mechanism. The mechanism ensures that the currency remains deflationary, controls how many new coins enter circulation, and plays little havoc on the market. 

To understand how a halving works, one must first understand how Bitcoins are mined. Through a decentralized network, new transactions are entered into a mempool while they await confirmation. Miners will then compete to verify them by completing a complex cryptographical puzzle. The first miner to successfully complete the puzzle is awarded the job of verifying the transactions as well as earning the rewards. 

Once all the transactions have been verified they are executed and the data from each transaction is added to a block, which is added to the blockchain in chronological order. The miner then receives a transaction fee from each transaction as well as a miner's reward for adding a new block to the blockchain. 

Every 210,000 blocks, roughly four years, this reward is halved, making it a significant factor in what is known as the halving experiences. In 2009, the miner's reward was 50 BTC, today it is worth 6.25 BTC. While the price tends to increase substantially, the reward is automatically halved at these intervals. Written into its code, the halvings are automated activities that cannot be altered.

Reviewing previous bull runs

Bitcoin's first mini bull run

The first recorded "bull run" in the crypto sector took place in April 2011 when the price of Bitcoin rose 3,000% over the space of three months. After reaching $1 in April 2011, the coin went on to reach $32 in June. However, this price increase was short-lived as the price returned to $2 in November.

The next year the cryptocurrency underwent its first halving in November, ending the year between the $13 and $14 price mark.

2012 halving / 2013 bull run

In the first few months after the halving, the price rose from $13 to $30. By April, one Bitcoin was trading for $100, its then all-time high, spurring interest from curious outsiders. By November, twelve months after the initial halving, Bitcoin broke the $1,000 barrier. This too was short-lived as the price dropped to around $530 a month later.

2016 halving / 2017 bull run

The next halving took place in July 2016, when the price was trading at around $600. After years of the Bitcoin price bouncing between $100 and $900, it finally hit the $1,000 mark again in January 2017, six months after the halving. By mid-May, the price had doubled to $2,000, and by December of the same year, the price sky-rocketed to just under $20,000.

Sparking a Bitcoin frenzy, the digital asset became a hot topic in mainstream media and many market participants hopped on the bandwagon. This also sparked widespread development within the industry, with many altcoins being launched and what has become known as the "ICO craze". Due to the quick ascent of this nascent technology, user adoption and regulation became prominent topics of discussion in financial and regulatory circles.

By December 2018, just a year later, the price had shrunk to $3,236, while in December 2019, Bitcoin was trading at $7,200.

2020 halving / 2021 bull run

In 2020 the world was struck by the Covid-19 pandemic, causing unprecedented damage to economies around the world. While Bitcoin and other digital currencies took a knock, the industry proved to be much more resilient than most other traditional markets.

Dropping almost 50% to lows of $4,900 in March 2020, the price gradually recovered to $9,000 in May when the next halving took place. The upward price trend continued its climb, reaching $29,374 in December, another all-time high.

In the early months of 2021, the Bitcoin price doubled in value reaching $64,000 in April. By July, it was trading around $30,000 again before skyrocketing to $68,000 in November. By January 2022 the price had corrected to $35,000 before the market was faced with several unfavorable factors.

Markets around the world took another hit when Russia declared war on Ukraine, sending the price of everyday items including fuel soaring. Governments increased interest rates to the highest they've been in decades, and global supply chain issues caused by the pandemic continued to drive upset.

With the world in financial uncertainty, not to mention the demise of several cryptocurrency networks and exchanges, many participants pulled their money from the crypto markets as well as tech-based stock investment markets. This saw the price of Bitcoin dip below the $20,000 mark for the first time in two years, causing widespread uncertainty and speculation.

2022 was officially declared a crypto winter and while prices rose roughly 29% year-on-date, 2023 wasn’t the promised land that crypto enthusiasts had dreamed of. 

Are we headed toward the next crypto bull run?

Price increases aside, the Bitcoin Fear and Greed meter observed ( at the time of writing) a hopeful incline from a state of “Extreme fear” to a “Greed” greed rating. This measure of market sentiment is a vast improvement from 2022 and, alongside expert analysis, indicates that the cryptocurrency has moved into the accumulation phase. According to the Wyckoff market cycles, this is the prerequisite to the mark-up phase and indicates the end of a bear cycle.

The digital asset market remains volatile and unpredictable, and one cannot predict what might happen in the coming months or even years. What we do know is that historically bull runs have succeeded halvings, so grab your popcorn we should be in for an interesting ride. 

TradFi (traditional finance) is one of the newer terms to emerge from the cryptocurrency space. A combination of the words traditional and finance, TradeFi encompasses centralized institutions like retail, commercial, and investment banks. The term originated to help differentiate these from the decentralized world of cryptocurrencies. 

What is TradFi (traditional finance)?

TradFi refers to the traditional finance institutions and fintech companies operating within the current mainstream financial system. These service providers are heavily centralized and regulated by governments and are primarily brick-and-mortar businesses that have provided banking and financial services for decades. They typically also carry high barriers to entry, and stringent KYC and AML processes.

TradFi includes everything from banks to hedge funds to brokerages. Examples of TradFi platforms include JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs (banks) as well as fintech companies like PayPal, Square, and SoFi. All these platforms execute financial transactions in a centralized and controlled manner.

Benefits of TradFi and the mainstream financial system

Only businesses with the appropriate licenses and accreditations can offer TradFi services. If these TradFi institutions' services falter in any way, customers can file complaints and receive compensation with the backing of regulatory bodies. Additionally, the amount of paperwork makes it difficult for scammers and fraudulent people to get involved, particularly with money laundering.

TradFi also assists the government by monitoring illegal spending and investments in the finance industry. In DeFi, because crypto transactions are anonymous, this is more challenging to do. By working together, TradFi institutions and governments can better achieve their goals.

TradFi has several limitations. The excessive rules and government intervention stifle development and innovation in the sector. It also keeps a significant portion of the population from accessing financial services. 

In the coming years, TradFi institutions, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrencies will hopefully find a way to collaborate to create an advanced financial infrastructure that is accessible to everyone.

TradFi vs DeFi

DeFi, or decentralized finance, is a financial infrastructure that doesn't require central authorities like banks or governments. It uses blockchain technology and smart contracts to verify and authorize transactions in a decentralized, peer-to-peer manner. 

One of the most prominent key differences between the two is that with TradFi services, the money is issued by the bank while decentralized finance platforms use a blockchain protocol to issue the funds to crypto users. Smart contracts then authorize the transaction between the two parties, while TradFi transactions are facilitated by banks. 

Touched on above, DeFi is much more financially inclusive, providing services to anyone who can fulfil the requirements (which typically involve providing collateral). TradFi platforms on the other hand will put the applicants through rigorous checking of financial statements and credit scores. 

You can get started with the crypto assets services offered by DeFi platforms in a few easy steps. TradFi investing has now been opened up to a much wider audience as a result of digitization, however, it still requires intensive KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) documentation.

TradFi vs CeFi

The centralized nature of CeFi (centralized finance) fuses together the best aspects of DeFi and TradFi. This system provides opportunities to investors who wish to use cryptocurrency-based accounts with less of the risk and might include crypto exchange services. These accounts have many benefits, with a strong similarity to traditional savings accounts.

However, the APYs (annual percentage yield) differ significantly from CeFi to TradFi platforms. You can borrow money against your crypto assets on CeFi platforms just like you would with a collateral-backed loan from a bank. This requires little to no documentation, unlike TradFi.

While some government-backed insurances cover TradFi deposits, this is not the case for CeFi deposits, making it a more risky endeavor.

How do TradFi financial institutions fit into the crypto world?

In order to stay afloat and keep up with the times, industries rely on implementing cutting-edge technologies. Today, blockchain technology and digital assets are at the forefront of a financial revolution.

If traditional financial institutions, TradFi platforms, want to maintain their relevance, they will have to eventually adopt cryptocurrencies into their systems, thus bringing them into mainstream use.

Due to traditional finance needing to comply with government regulations, the implementation of digital currencies into their platforms will likely have positive forward momentum for crypto regulation. 

While currently they remain separate, there is plenty of opportunity for traditional finance and crypto platforms across key sectors like lending and insurance to join forces and merge each one's progress thus far in terms of innovation, speed, and accountability. 

‍‍Slippage plays an important role in trading cryptocurrencies for retail investors as it determines the difference between the amount that you expected to pay in a transaction and the amount the trade was executed at. Below we're uncovering what slippage in crypto is, explaining how it can contribute to risk, and providing some practical examples on how to avoid it. 

What Is Slippage In Trading?

Slippage is when an investor opens a trade but between creating the trade and the trade executing, the price changes due to price movements in the greater market. This can often be a costly problem in the financial sector and particularly when trading digital currencies on crypto exchanges.

How Does Slippage Occur?

The two main causes of slippage are volatility and liquidity, outlined in more information below.

Volatility is when the price changes rapidly, as is common in cryptocurrency markets, and as a result the price changes between the time of creating the buy or sell order and the time of execution. 

Liquidity concerns on the other hand are when the coin you are trading is not traded very often and the range between the lowest ask and the highest bid is wide. This can cause sudden and dramatic price changes, resulting in slippage. Fewer people trading an asset results in fewer asking prices, resulting in less favourable prices. 

This is common among altcoins with low volume and liquidity. While slippage can occur in forex and stock markets too, it is much more prevalent in crypto markets, particularly on decentralised exchanges (DEXs). 

There are two types of slippages:

Positive Slippage

Positive slippage is when a trader creates a buy order and the executed price is lower than the price initially expected. This will result in the trader getting a better rate. The same is true for a sell order that experiences a higher price point at trade execution, resulting in more favourable value for the trader. Positive slippage banks profits.

Negative Slippage

Negative slippage is when the trader loses out on the trade, with the price of the buy order higher than expected at the time of execution. The opposite is true for sell orders, meaning that the execution price is lower at the time of execution, similarly resulting in losses for the trader. 

Can Slippage Be Avoided? How To Avoid Slippage

While one can't eradicate slippage entirely, there are several measures one can take to better manage slippage, as regularly falling victim to negative slippages can result in losing a lot of money. 

• Create limit orders

Instead of creating market orders, traders can instead create limit orders as these types of trades don't settle for unfavourable prices. Market orders are designed to execute a trade service as quickly as possible at the current available price.

• Set a slippage percentage

Traders can create a slippage percentage that eliminates trades happening outside of the predetermined range. This can range from 0.1% to 5%, however, if the slippage percentage is too low this could lead to the trade not being executed and the trader missing out on large drops/jumps.

• Understand the coin's volatility

When in doubt, get educated. Learn about the coin's volatility as well as the volatility on the trading platform you are using. Understanding more about previous patterns can assist in making more informed decisions on when to open and close a position, and avoiding negative slippages.

How To Calculate Slippage

Slippage can be calculated in two ways, either in dollar amount or percentage. Although to work out the percentage, you will first need the dollar amount. This is calculated by subtracting the price you expected to pay from the price you actually paid. This amount will indicate if you incurred a positive or negative slippage. 

Most exchanges express this amount in percentages. This is calculated by dividing the dollar amount of slippage by the difference between the price you expected to get and the limit price. Then multiply that by 100. 

For example, say you are looking to buy Bitcoin for $50,000, but are not willing to pay more than $50,500. When the price is at $50,000 you will create a limit order of $50,500, however, the order executes when the price reaches $50,250. This will result in a $250 slippage. 

To calculate the percentage, divide $250 by $500 (the difference between the price you expected to pay and the limit order). 0.5 multiplied by 100 equals 50%. 

In this case, your slippage was $250 or 50%. 

Want to know more about cryptocurrencies and trading? Check out all our other educational articles here. 

You've likely come across the term "ERC-20" in your crypto endeavours, with plenty of these token standards currently ranked in the top 10 (even top 100) cryptocurrencies. But what does ERC-20 actually mean, and what is a token standard? In this piece, we're uncovering everything you need to know about these popular crypto terms.

To start things off, ERC stands for Ethereum request for comment.

What is a token standard?

Let's start at the beginning. When Ethereum was created to provide developers with a platform on which to build decentralized apps (Dapps), the team incorporated several token standards. 

These token standards allow new projects to create, issue and deploy various functioning tokens on the blockchain. Each token standard is a smart contract that holds a set of particular "rules" that must be followed in order to be created.

In recent years a number of blockchain platforms that provide Dapp creation functionality have created their own token standards, however, for the sake of this article we are only looking at Ethereum.

The most popular token standards on Ethereum are the ERC-20, ERC-721, ERC-777, and ERC-1155 tokens. Each holds its own functionality and would be utilized depending on what the Dapp intends to use it for, i.e. will it be a transferable asset or be used to hold ownership rights. 

What is an ERC-20 token?

By far the most popular token standard utilized on the Ethereum network, the ERC-20 token is a fungible token that can be bought, sold and traded in the blockchain ecosystem. To date over 350,000 ERC-20 tokens have been created. 

Similar to the functioning of other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin, ERC-20 tokens also hold value and are able to be bought and sold, however, they operate solely on the Ethereum blockchain. This means that all ERC-20 transactions conducted are executed on the Ethereum blockchain network.

The rules associated with this particular token ensure that it can function optimally on the Ethereum blockchain, and must be submitted to the community leadership for approval prior to its launch. While some rules are mandatory and others optional, the required ERC-20 rules are as follows:

• total supply: defines the total supply of the token
• balance of: indicates how many tokens are in a wallet address
• transfer To, Transfer From: must be able to be transferred from one user to another
• allowance: ensures that wallets have a sufficient amount before making a transaction
• approve: checks total supply against transactions

The optional elements are centred around the token's name, its ticker symbol and how many decimal places it would have %u200BFor instance, Ethereum's token name is Ether, its ticker symbol is ETH and it is divisible by up to 18 decimal places.

Examples of ERC-20 tokens are Augur (REP), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Maker (MKR), USD Coin (USDC) and OmiseGO (OMG).

Can you mine ERC-20 tokens?

ERC-20 tokens, unlike Ethereum and its native coins (ether), cannot be mined. That is, new tokens are 'minted' when a planned initial token offering (ICO) or security token offering (STO) event takes place. Usually, these events involve users sending ether to a smart contract address and in return receiving the newly minted ERC-20 token.

An ERC-20 token is technically a smart contract so it's possible for the developer team behind an ERC-20 token to issue new tokens at will. However, this isn't recommended because users would be less likely to trust these tokens if they could be minted at will. There must be a measure of scarcity in order for tokens to be valuable.

The pros & cons of ERC-20 tokens:

Some of the main benefits of ERC-20 tokens include: 

Fungible

Fungible ERC20 tokens are interchangeable, just like cash. Although the coins are technically distinct, they function in exactly the same way. You can trade one for another and they will be functionally equivalent, just like cash or gold.

Fungible tokens are fantastic, and there's a lot of value in the technical aspect. On a technical level, it's worth noting that fungible tokens don't add extra value to goods. They're typically beneficial in a variety of commercial scenarios.

Broad adoption

The popularity of ERC-20 tokens is quite apparent in the cryptocurrency industry. The number of exchanges, wallets, and smart contracts that already support newly-launched tokens has made it easy for new projects to integrate with them. There is plenty of developer support and documentation to go around.

Flexibility

The first thing to note about ERC-20 tokens is that they are highly flexible and may be used in a variety of circumstances and applications. This is due to the fact that these tokens are very customizable. They can be used in a lot of different scenarios such as Loyalty points programs, in-game currencies, or digital collectibles such as NFT's.

Some of the main cons of ERC-20 tokens include:

Mainstream

The popularity of ERC-20 tokens is also their greatest weakness. There are so many projects using the same standard that it's difficult to stand out from the crowd without differentiating your token in some way. Moreover, since they're essentially all the same on a technical level.

Fraud and Scams

It takes minimal effort to create a simple ERC-20 token, meaning that anyone could do it for good or bad purposes. As such you want to be careful with what you're investing in when considering blockchains projects because there are some Pyramid schemes masquerading as legitimate projects out there and trying to get unsuspecting investors involved in their scams. As a result, when looking at blockchain projects, you need to be cautious with what you invest in.

Other ERC Token Standards

While there is a large range of ERC tokens available, below we've outlined the most popular ones (excluding the ERC-20 one as it is listed above). 

ERC-721 

This token standard is for a non-fungible token (NFT) which gained huge popularity in the last year across the gaming and digital art worlds. These tokens represent ownership of something, and cannot be used interchangeably. 

ERC-777 

An evolution of the ERC-20 token, the ERC-777 provides more usability, particularly pertaining to its ability to mint or burn tokens. It also holds improved transaction privacy and an emergency recovery function. 

ERC-1155

This token standard allows for the creation of both utility tokens and non-fungible tokens. Making trading more efficient, the token standard allows for bundling of transactions which in turn saves costs. 

Learn more about cryptocurrencies and blockchain

You can learn more about crypto basics from our specially created Learn centre, which covers everything a trader ought to know about cryptocurrencies and the blockchain industry. 

We are delighted to announce the listing and support of Polygon ( MATIC ) on Tap!

MATIC is now available for trading on the Tap mobile app. Buy, Sell, Trade or hold MATIC for any of the other asset supported on the platform without any pair boundaries. Tap is pair agnostic, meaning you can trade any asset for any other asset without having to worries if a "trading pair" is available.

We believe supporting MATIC will provide value to our users. We are looking forward to continue supporting new crypto projects with the aim of providing access to financial power and freedom for all.
The MATIC token is highly liquid with a market cap of $8,031,194,777 at the time of writing.
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MATIC is an ERC-20 token native to the Polygon Network used for a variety of purposes, such as paying transaction fees, staking, and governance. Polygon (formerly Matic Network) is a Layer-2 solution that operates on the Ethereum network. By using sidechains, Polygon offers developers secure and instantaneous transactions that can easily scale. Those who create decentralized applications (DApps) will find the Polygon network advantageous due to its cheap fees and speedy transaction time.

Get to learn more on Polygon MATIC here.