Cost basis is the starting number behind every crypto tax calculation. This post covers the accounting methods the IRS permits, why cross-wallet transfers break automatic tracking, how DeFi complicates basis further, and what 1099-DA changes — and doesn't.

Crypto is treated as property under US tax law — every sale, trade, and disposal is a reportable event. Here's how Form 8949, Schedule D, and the new 1099-DA fit together.

Choosing a validator is a risk evaluation exercise, not just a commission comparison. Here's what uptime, self-stake, slashing history, and protocol-specific mechanics actually mean for your decision.

How staking rewards are claimed differs by protocol. Solo ETH validators, liquid staking (Lido, Rocket Pool), Cosmos chains, and Solana each handle reward accrual and claiming differently — some automatic, some requiring manual transactions.

Unstaking crypto isn't instant — the mechanics depend on which protocol you used and how you staked. Ethereum has a withdrawal queue, Cosmos locks for 21 days, Polkadot for 28. This post explains unbonding periods, liquid staking exits, and what to check before you click unstake.

Exiting a liquidity position returns tokens in the current pool ratio, not your entry ratio — and impermanent loss crystallizes at exit. Here's how the mechanic works across v2, v3, and Curve pools.

Slippage tolerance controls how much price deviation your swap will accept before reverting. Set it too low and transactions fail repeatedly. Set it too high and bots can extract value from the gap. Here's how to calibrate it by pool type and context.

Every DeFi swap sits in a public mempool before confirmation. Bots watch that queue and insert trades ahead of yours to profit from the price impact. Here's how the mechanism works and which levers actually reduce exposure.

Gas cost estimation is multiplication: gas units times gas price. This post explains what each number represents, how EIP-1559 changed the fee structure, and how to read the estimate your wallet shows before you confirm.

Impermanent loss measures how much a liquidity position underperforms a simple hold. This post covers the calculation formula, worked examples for common price moves, and how to weigh it against fee income.

Evaluating a liquidity pool for safety means checking four distinct failure modes: exploitable contract code, admin key risk, compromised token contracts, and thin liquidity enabling manipulation. This post maps each risk and the on-chain checks that address them.

A token's smart contract defines the rules: who can mint, whether transfers can be paused, how fees are set. You don't need to be a developer to extract meaningful signal — you need to know where to look.