What is it?

Satoshi Nakamoto created a decentralized digital currency in January 2009, and it operates without banks or governments.

How it Works

It uses blockchain, a secure public ledger in which transactions are verified by miners solving complex math problems.

Key Features

• Limited Supply: Only 21 million Bitcoins, making it scarce.
• Secure: Cryptography ensures tamper-proof transactions.
• Global: Enables fast, low-cost, borderless payments.

Why it Matters

Offers financial freedom, acts as "digital gold," and pioneered blockchain technology.

Risks

Price volatility, regulatory uncertainty

Uses

Payments, remittances, investment, and wealth preservation.

Litecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency created in 2011 by Charlie Lee as a fork of Bitcoin. It was designed to complement Bitcoin by offering faster transaction speeds and improved scalability.

Technology & Speed

Litecoin uses the Scrypt hashing algorithm, which enables quicker block generation and more efficient transaction processing compared to Bitcoin’s SHA-256. This results in faster confirmation times and lower fees, making it well-suited for everyday transactions.

Security & Decentralization

Like Bitcoin, Litecoin operates on a decentralized network that ensures secure and censorship-resistant transactions. It has also adopted upgrades such as Segregated Witness and the Lightning Network to improve scalability and overall network performance.

Use Case & Adoption

Litecoin is widely used for transferring value due to its speed and low cost. It has built a strong user base and remains one of the longest-standing cryptocurrencies, offering a reliable option for payments and participation in the digital economy.

Market Position

As one of the earliest cryptocurrencies, Litecoin continues to hold a stable position in the market. Its focus on efficiency, security, and accessibility has helped it remain relevant as the broader crypto landscape evolves.

Stellar is a decentralized blockchain network launched in 2014 by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim. It is designed to enable fast, low-cost cross-border payments and asset transfers, with a focus on improving global financial access.

Purpose & Vision

Stellar aims to promote financial inclusion by connecting banks, payment systems, and individuals on a single open network. It removes the need for traditional intermediaries in international transfers, making payments faster and more affordable, especially for underserved populations.

Technology & Consensus

The network uses the Stellar Consensus Protocol, which allows distributed nodes to quickly agree on transaction validity. This enables fast settlement times while maintaining decentralization, scalability, and security.

Asset Issuance & Payments

Stellar supports the creation and exchange of digital assets that can represent fiat currencies, commodities, or other value types. This makes it useful for remittances, cross-border payments, and tokenized financial instruments.

Adoption & Ecosystem

Stellar has established partnerships with financial institutions, payment providers, and nonprofit organizations to support global money movement. Its infrastructure and developer tools have helped expand its ecosystem across financial services and real-world payment applications.

Mission & Positioning

Stellar continues to focus on building an inclusive financial system that reduces barriers to global payments. Its emphasis on speed, low cost, and accessibility positions it as a practical solution for international money transfers and financial connectivity.

XRP is the native cryptocurrency of the Ripple payment network, designed to enable fast and low-cost cross-border transactions. It functions primarily as a bridge currency that helps facilitate international money transfers between different fiat currencies.

Purpose & Technology

The Ripple network focuses on improving global payments by replacing slow traditional banking systems with near-instant settlement technology. Transactions on the network typically settle in about 4–5 seconds, making it significantly faster than conventional international transfers.

Speed & Cost Efficiency

XRP transactions are known for extremely low fees and high efficiency. The cost per transaction is a fraction of a cent, making it suitable for large-scale financial operations and institutional use cases that require fast, frequent transfers.

Use in Financial Systems

The network supports exchanges between multiple currencies, including fiat and digital assets. This flexibility has helped position Ripple as a practical tool for banks and payment providers involved in global money movement.

Adoption & Legal Context

Ripple has gained adoption among financial institutions seeking faster cross-border payment solutions. It has also faced regulatory scrutiny, including a major lawsuit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020. In 2023, a court ruling found that certain XRP sales did not constitute securities offerings, a decision widely viewed as a significant milestone for the project and the broader crypto industry.

Market Position

Despite regulatory challenges, XRP remains one of the most recognized digital assets in the payments sector. Its focus on speed, low cost, and institutional integration continues to define its role in the evolving global financial system.

Avalanche (AVAX) is a decentralized platform that aims to provide a scalable and interoperable ecosystem for building custom blockchain networks and decentralized applications (DApps).

High Performance and Consensus

Launched in September 2020 by Ava Labs, Avalanche distinguishes itself through its unique consensus protocol, Avalanche consensus, which offers high throughput, low latency, and security guarantees. With its focus on performance and flexibility, Avalanche aims to address the scalability limitations of existing blockchain platforms and enable a wide range of use cases, including DeFi, enterprise solutions, and asset tokenization.

Subnets and Custom Blockchains

One of the key features of Avalanche is its subnets architecture, which allows developers to create custom blockchain networks tailored to their specific requirements. These subnets can interoperate seamlessly with the Avalanche mainnet, providing interoperability and composability between different blockchain networks.

Avalanche’s architecture also enables efficient cross-chain asset transfers and communication, facilitating decentralized exchange and liquidity provision across multiple networks. Avalanche has quickly gained traction within the blockchain community, attracting developers, investors, and users seeking scalable and interoperable solutions. Its growing ecosystem includes a diverse range of projects and applications, from decentralized finance protocols to decentralized identity solutions and gaming platforms.

As Avalanche continues to evolve and expand its capabilities, it is poised to play a significant role in shaping the future of decentralized technology and driving innovation across various industries.

Solana is a high-performance blockchain platform launched in 2020 by Anatoly Yakovenko. It is designed to support decentralized applications and fast, low-cost cryptocurrency transactions at scale.

Technology & Performance

Solana combines Proof of History with Proof of Stake to achieve high throughput and low latency. This unique approach allows the network to process thousands of transactions per second with minimal fees, making it one of the fastest blockchain platforms available.

Role of SOL Token

The SOL token powers the ecosystem by enabling staking, transaction fees, and interaction with smart contracts. Users can stake SOL to help secure the network while earning rewards and participating in network activity.

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Solana has attracted a wide range of applications, including decentralized finance, NFTs, and other decentralized services. Its speed and efficiency have made it especially appealing to developers building scalable applications.

Market Position & Challenges

Solana has emerged as a strong competitor to platforms like Ethereum. While it has faced challenges such as occasional network outages, it continues to grow its ecosystem and refine its technology to deliver a scalable and user-friendly blockchain solution.

Shiba Inu is a decentralized cryptocurrency launched in 2020 by an anonymous founder known as Ryoshi. Built as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum, it was created as a playful alternative to Dogecoin and quickly gained attention for its meme-driven appeal.

Origins & Early Growth

SHIB rose to prominence in 2021 after Vitalik Buterin donated a large portion of the token supply to a COVID-19 relief fund and burned the rest. This event reduced supply and significantly increased global awareness of the project.

Ecosystem & Utility

While initially driven by community hype, Shiba Inu has expanded into a broader ecosystem that includes additional tokens like LEASH and BONE, as well as ShibaSwap, a decentralized exchange for trading, staking, and liquidity provision.

Community & Culture

The project is heavily supported by its community, known as the “SHIB Army,” which has played a major role in driving adoption and ongoing development. Its popularity highlights the influence of community-driven momentum in the crypto space.

Evolution & Market Position

Shiba Inu has worked to build more utility through developments like Shibarium, a layer-2 scaling solution, and SHIB: The Metaverse. Despite criticism around its large supply and speculative nature, it remains one of the most prominent cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, showing the staying power of meme-based projects.

Near Protocol is a layer-1 blockchain launched in 2020 by Alex Skidanov and Illia Polosukhin. It is designed to support decentralized applications with a strong focus on usability, scalability, and mainstream adoption.

Technology & Scalability

NEAR uses a sharding mechanism called Nightshade combined with Proof of Stake to achieve high transaction throughput and low fees. This architecture allows the network to scale efficiently while maintaining speed and performance for users and developers.

Role of NEAR Token

The NEAR token powers the ecosystem by enabling staking, transaction fees, and interaction with applications. Users can stake NEAR to help secure the network and earn rewards while also using it within dApps.

User & Developer Experience

NEAR emphasizes accessibility through features like human-readable account names and a developer-friendly toolkit. These improvements lower the barrier to entry and make it easier to build and use blockchain applications.

Ecosystem & Positioning

NEAR supports a wide range of use cases, including DeFi, gaming, and social applications. It has positioned itself as a competitor to platforms like Ethereum and Solana, continuing to grow its ecosystem through innovation, partnerships, and a focus on scalable, low-cost infrastructure.

Hedera Hashgraph is a decentralized public network launched in 2019 by Leemon Baird and Mance Harmon. It uses the Hashgraph consensus algorithm instead of traditional blockchain technology to deliver fast, secure, and fair transactions.

Technology & Performance

Hedera operates using a “gossip about gossip” protocol and virtual voting, enabling high throughput, low latency, and energy efficiency. This design allows the network to process thousands of transactions per second without relying on mining.

Role of HBAR Token

HBAR functions as both the network’s currency and its fuel. It is used to pay transaction fees, support staking for network security, and facilitate payments and application activity across the ecosystem.

Governance Model

Hedera is governed by the Hedera Governing Council, a group of global organizations such as Google, IBM, and LG. This structure is designed to balance decentralization with stability and enterprise trust.

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Hedera supports a wide range of applications, including decentralized apps, micropayments, supply chain tracking, tokenization, and identity verification. Its services, such as the Hedera Token Service and Hedera Consensus Service, expand its capabilities within DeFi, asset management, and verifiable data logging.

Positioning & Adoption

With its high speed, low fees, and low carbon footprint, Hedera has positioned itself as a strong option for enterprise and Web3 applications. While its governance model differs from fully permissionless networks, it continues to grow in adoption and demonstrates the potential of alternative distributed ledger technologies.

Chainlink is a decentralized oracle network launched in 2017 by Sergey Nazarov and Steve Ellis. It connects smart contracts to real-world data, solving the “oracle problem” of securely bringing off-chain information onto the blockchain.

How It Works

Chainlink uses a decentralized network of oracle nodes that retrieve, verify, and deliver data from external sources such as APIs, web services, and IoT devices. These nodes use cryptographic methods and incentives to ensure the data provided to smart contracts is accurate and resistant to manipulation.

Key Functionality

Chainlink enables smart contracts to access reliable external data, greatly expanding their capabilities. Its data feeds and aggregation services allow developers to build applications that depend on real-time information, improving the trust and usefulness of blockchain-based systems.

Use Cases & Adoption

Chainlink has become a critical piece of infrastructure across decentralized finance, gaming, insurance, and supply chain applications. Its widespread adoption reflects its role in enhancing smart contract functionality and enabling more complex, data-driven blockchain applications.

Role in Web3

As demand for secure data and interoperability increases, Chainlink plays a key role in bridging blockchain networks with the external world. Its technology helps power the next generation of decentralized applications by ensuring they can reliably interact with real-world information.

Filecoin is a decentralized storage network launched in 2020 by Protocol Labs and founded by Juan Benet. It enables users to store and retrieve data through a distributed marketplace, offering an alternative to centralized cloud storage by leveraging blockchain technology and the InterPlanetary File System.

How the Network Works

Filecoin allows individuals and organizations to rent out unused storage or purchase storage from providers across a global network. This creates a decentralized system where data is stored securely and redundantly, reducing reliance on traditional providers like Amazon S3 and Google Cloud.

Role of FIL Token

The FIL token powers the ecosystem by facilitating payments and incentives. Users pay in FIL to store or access data, while storage providers stake FIL as collateral and earn rewards for reliably maintaining data over time.

Security & Consensus

Filecoin uses Proof of Replication and Proof of Spacetime to verify that data is properly stored and continuously available. These mechanisms help ensure trust and reliability across the decentralized network.

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Filecoin plays an important role in the Web3 ecosystem by supporting decentralized applications, NFT storage, and long-term data preservation. While it faces challenges such as complexity and adoption, it continues to evolve as a scalable and resilient alternative for decentralized data storage.

Polkadot is a blockchain protocol launched in 2020 by Gavin Wood that connects multiple blockchains into a single unified network. Its goal is to enable different blockchains to communicate and share data, creating an “internet of blockchains.”

Core Architecture

Polkadot is built around a central relay chain that provides shared security and consensus, while connected blockchains called parachains handle specific applications and use cases. This structure allows multiple transactions to be processed in parallel, improving scalability and efficiency.

Interoperability & Use Case

A key strength of Polkadot is its ability to support cross-chain transfers of both data and assets. This enables different blockchain networks to interact seamlessly, expanding possibilities for decentralized applications across finance, gaming, and enterprise solutions.

Role of DOT Token

The DOT token powers the network by enabling governance, staking, and parachain bonding. Holders can vote on network changes, help secure the system through staking, and participate in auctions that determine which projects gain access to parachain slots.

Ecosystem & Positioning

Polkadot has established itself as a major player in blockchain interoperability, competing with platforms like Avalanche (AVAX) and Cosmos (ATOM). Its growing ecosystem, supported by the Substrate framework, includes projects across DeFi, NFTs, gaming, and enterprise applications, contributing to its role in the evolving Web3 landscape.

(DOGE) is a cryptocurrency that began as a lighthearted parody but has grown into a widely recognized digital asset. Created in 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, it was inspired by the popular “Doge” Internet meme featuring a Shiba Inu dog. Initially intended to be a fun and friendly alternative to Bitcoin, Dogecoin has developed a strong community that uses it for tipping online content creators, fundraising, and other charitable activities.

New coins are continually mined

Technically, Dogecoin is based on the Litecoin codebase and utilizes the Scrypt algorithm, which allows for faster transaction times and lower fees compared to Bitcoin. Unlike Bitcoin, Dogecoin does not have a capped supply, meaning new coins are continually mined. This inflationary model is designed to encourage the currency’s use in transactions rather than hoarding as a store of value.

Growth in Popularity

Dogecoin gained significant attention in 2021 due to social media buzz and endorsements from high-profile figures. Its surge in popularity highlighted the influence of Internet culture on financial markets and sparked discussions about the role of meme-based assets in the cryptocurrency space. Despite its humorous origins, Dogecoin has become a notable player in the digital currency market, demonstrating the power of community engagement in driving adoption.

Algorand (ALGO) is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform designed to address the blockchain trilemma by offering scalability, security, and decentralization without compromise.

Founded by Turing Award winner Silvio Micali in 2017, Algorand utilizes a unique consensus mechanism known as Pure Proof of Stake (PPoS), which allows for fast and efficient transaction processing while ensuring that even small holders of ALGO tokens can participate in the network’s governance.

Features

Algorand’s PPoS consensus mechanism is designed to avoid the energy-intensive processes of traditional Proof of Work systems, making it an environmentally friendly blockchain solution. The platform supports a variety of use cases, including decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenized assets, and enterprise applications. Its high throughput and low transaction costs make it suitable for applications requiring fast settlement times, such as payments and remittances. Algorand has gained significant adoption due to its focus on innovation and performance, with partnerships across industries, including finance, real estate, and supply chain management.

Community

The Algorand Foundation, which oversees the development of the ecosystem, also supports a robust developer community through grants and educational initiatives. As the ecosystem continues to grow, Algorand aims to enable a more equitable and accessible global economy by providing the infrastructure for decentralized applications and financial products.

(BCH) Bitcoin Cash emerged as a fork of Bitcoin in August 2017, aiming to address scalability issues and improve transaction speed and cost-effectiveness. Advocates of Bitcoin Cash believed that increasing the block size limit would enable more transactions to be processed on the blockchain, thereby enhancing its utility as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. Since its inception, Bitcoin Cash has attracted a dedicated community of supporters who champion its vision of a scalable, low-cost digital currency.

Features

One of the key features of Bitcoin Cash is its commitment to on-chain scaling, which prioritizes larger block sizes to accommodate a higher volume of transactions. This approach diverges from Bitcoins Lightning Network solution, which seeks to facilitate off-chain transactions for scalability. Proponents of Bitcoin Cash argue that on-chain scaling preserves the decentralized nature of the network and ensures that transactions remain accessible to all participants without relying on third-party solutions.

Challenges

Despite its vision and technical innovations, Bitcoin Cash has faced challenges and controversies within the broader cryptocurrency community. Differences in opinion regarding the direction of the project have led to contentious debates and splits within the community. However, Bitcoin Cash continues to evolve, with developers working on improvements to enhance its scalability, security, and usability. As the cryptocurrency landscape evolves, Bitcoin Cash remains a prominent player, offering an alternative vision for the future of digital cash.

What is it?

Launched in 2020 by founder Stani Kulechov (initially as ETHLend in 2017), AAVE allows users to deposit assets into liquidity pools to earn interest or borrow against their crypto holdings.

Decentralized finance protocol

AAVE is a decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol built on the Ethereum blockchain, designed to facilitate lending and borrowing of cryptocurrencies without intermediaries.

It stands out with innovative features like flash loans—uncollateralized loans repaid within a single transaction—making it a pioneer in the DeFi space. The native token of the AAVE protocol is AAVE, which serves multiple purposes within the ecosystem. Holders can stake AAVE in the protocol’s Safety Module to help secure the network and earn rewards, while also using it to pay fees or participate in governance decisions.

The protocol supports a wide range of assets, enabling users to lend, borrow, and leverage their crypto in a decentralized and permissionless manner. AAVE has emerged as one of the leading DeFi platforms, competing with the likes of Compound and MakerDAO, thanks to its user-friendly interface and robust feature set. Its ability to offer flexible borrowing options and high liquidity has attracted significant attention from both retail and institutional users.

Ethereum (ETH) was launched on July 30, 2015, by a team led by Vitalik Buterin and co-founders Gavin Wood, Joseph Lubin, and others.

Ethereum (ETH) is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform that supports various applications, highlighting its adaptability and versatility.

Platform Functionality

A decentralized infrastructure empowers developers to create and deploy applications leveraging blockchain technology.

Smart Contracts

A core feature of Ethereum is its ability to facilitate the execution of smart contracts. These self-executing agreements with terms encoded directly into the system offer innovative solutions for payments and a wide range of other applications.

Digital investing means having the power to help shape your financial future right at your fingertips. Because the InvestiFi digital investing platform is available within your Online Banking experience, it’s never been more accessible to explore the crypto markets. Whether you’re using a desktop, laptop, or mobile device, the user-friendly tools for trading the coins of your choice are waiting for you.

InvestiFi is a fintech company based in Delaware that was founded in 2020 with a goal of democratizing investing by enabling direct investing from an existing account. InvestiFi's investment advisory services are provided through AdvisiFi, LLC, a registered investment adviser wholly owned by InvestiFi. Brokerage services are provided by InvestiFi Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer.

Summit Choice Credit Union has partnered with InvestiFi to integrate its digital investing platform into our Online Banking experience. This allows you to access InvestiFi’s learning and investing tools directly from within your banking interface and to invest directly from your checking account without having to transfer money to a third-party app.

No. Only account holders over the age of 18 and in good standing with Summit Choice Credit Union can buy, sell, or hold assets. Commercial accounts are not supported. Account holders residing in TX, ID, or NY are unable to trade.

InvestiFi Inc. has achieved SOC 2 Compliance, an enterprise-grade best practices standard for protecting customers’ data.

Measures taken to achieve this designation include:

• Network and application layer penetration tests performed by industry leading security firms
• Continuous security control monitoring using the highest possible standards
• Data encryption for in-transit--using TLS--and at rest
• Secure software development through a variety of manual and automatic data security and
• vulnerability
• Employee training for all staff on employing best practices when handling customer

• No external wallet transfers
• Cannot use crypto for purchases
• No interest earned on holdings
• Not insured by NCUSIF, FDIC, or SIPC

No. The two most important goals for us as a financial institution in offering cryptocurrency is to make it as easy and safe to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency as possible. In order to meet both of those goals (ease and safety), for a variety of both security and regulatory reasons, you are not able to send cryptocurrency outside of the financial institution.

Prior to you closing your account you can either liquidate your cryptocurrency holdings or elect to keep your digital assets directly with the Qualified Custodian.

We use a combination of systems to make sure your crypto that you store with your financial institution is secure. We independently monitor your crypto balance with our qualified custodian daily to ensure there is agreement on the balance between all parties, and immediately work to resolve any discrepancies if any do appear. Crypto being held with our qualified custodians is not used for any other purposes, and is there for you when you want to sell it.

Cryptocurrency purchased through our digital asset service offering is held with a regulated and insured qualified custodian. Please see “Is my Crypto Insured?” for more information.

Digital Assets are not insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). However, wallets storing digital assets for financial institution members are insured and covered by the qualified custodian's insurance policies. Your holdings are secure and protected against hacking or theft.

No, you do not need your own wallet for your cryptocurrency investments with your financial institution. Your cryptocurrency is held by your financial institution on your behalf with a qualified custodian - in a similar manner to the cash in your checking accounts.

Cryptocurrency markets are open 24/7/365, and prices change by the second. Depending on how long you took to confirm the trade, the price may have changed slightly based on the latest market prices.

No. Because trades are near instantaneous and are irreversible, trades cannot be refunded. For more information please review the Terms and Conditions.

A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that is designed to maintain a stable value relative to a specific asset, such as the U.S. dollar, gold, or another cryptocurrency. This stability is achieved through a variety of mechanisms, such as using a reserve of the underlying asset to back the stablecoin, or through algorithms that adjust the supply of the stablecoin in response to market conditions. These are not available via your financial institution and your account for trading at this time.

Some of the advantages of cryptocurrencies are:

• Fast, low-cost global transactions without intermediaries or censorship
• Transparency and inalterability via blockchain
• Financial inclusion for the unbanked
• Privacy options for users
• Innovation in tech, economics, and social systems Some of the disadvantages of cryptocurrencies are:
• High volatility and market speculation
• Possible risk of hacking, theft, scams, or user error
• Regulatory uncertainty across countries
• Requires some technical knowledge for safe use
• Significant energy consumption to generate, especially for proof-of-work network