Welcome to the ChemistDeFi education series. This page brings every published lesson together in one place, with a clear reading order from the foundations of DeFi to liquidity, lending, and the networks that support onchain activity.
If you are new to the series, start with Part 01 and work through the lessons in order. If you are returning to a specific topic, use the links below to pick up where you left off.
How to use this guide
The 17 lessons below follow their original publication order. The part numbers track your progress across the whole series; titles such as DEX 101 and Lending 101 retain their original topic labels. Each link opens the full lesson, including its illustrations and examples.
Parts 01–05: Build the foundations
Part 01: What Is DeFi? Understanding Decentralized Finance From Scratch
Start from the foundations of decentralized finance: ownership, smart contracts, financial protocols, and the trade-offs behind using an open onchain system.
Part 02: How Crypto Wallets Actually Work
Understand private keys, seed phrases, signatures, and custody—and why a crypto wallet represents your authority rather than a place where coins are stored.
Part 03: How Blockchain Transactions Actually Work
Follow a blockchain transaction from signing to confirmation. Learn how gas, execution, approvals, and failed transactions shape everyday DeFi activity.
Part 04: What Are Tokens? Native Coins vs ERC-20 Explained for Beginners
Learn the difference between native coins and ERC-20 tokens, how token contracts work, and why approvals matter before swapping, lending, or using DeFi.
Part 05: Stablecoin 101: What Does "Stable" Mean, Peg and Risks
What makes a stablecoin stable? Explore pegs, collateral models, redemption, and the risks that can break the promise of a one-dollar asset.
Parts 06–12: Understand swaps and liquidity
Part 06: DEX 101: How Decentralized Exchanges Work?
Discover how decentralized exchanges execute swaps through liquidity pools and automated market makers—and what happens when you trade without an order book.
Part 07: DEX 102: Why Swap Prices Change
Understand slippage, price impact, and minimum received. Learn why a swap quote can change and how execution conditions affect the tokens you receive.
Part 08: DEX 103: Making Swaps More Intelligent
Build on the basics of DEX trading with a closer look at swap execution, liquidity, and the choices that make an onchain trade more informed.
Part 09: Liquidity Pools: The Hidden Engine Behind Every DEX Swap
Explore the reserves and pricing mechanics behind liquidity pools. See how swaps change a pool and why providing liquidity is different from simply holding tokens.
Part 10: Impermanent Loss: Why Your Position Changes Even When You Do Nothing
Learn why a liquidity position changes as prices move, how impermanent loss compares with holding, and why fees alone do not tell the full story.
Part 11: LP Strategies: Which Pool, Which Risk, Which Outcome?
Compare liquidity-provider strategies by pool structure, asset exposure, and expected outcomes. Understand the risks behind choosing where to provide liquidity.
Part 12: LP Operations: Tracking, Rebalancing, Exit Planning
A practical framework for managing a liquidity position: tracking performance, deciding when to rebalance, and planning an exit before conditions change.
Parts 13–16: Explore lending and borrowing risk
Part 13: Lending 101: Understanding Supply and Borrow in Simple Terms
Understand DeFi lending from both sides: supplying assets, borrowing against collateral, and the basic mechanics that connect lenders with borrowers.
Part 14: LTV, Health Factor, and Liquidation Risk
Connect loan-to-value, health factor, and liquidation thresholds. Learn how collateral prices and borrowing decisions change the safety of a lending position.
Part 15: How Interest Rates Work in DeFi Lending Protocols
See how utilization and interest-rate curves connect supply yield with borrowing costs—and why changing rates, incentives, and liquidity conditions matter.
Part 16: Leverage in DeFi: How Borrowing Can Amplify Risk
Explore how borrowing creates leverage in DeFi, why exposure can compound, and how market moves and debt costs amplify the risks of a position.
Part 17: Understand Layer 2 networks
Part 17: What Are Layer 2 Networks and Why Do They Exist?
Understand why Layer 2 networks exist, how they relate to Ethereum, and the scaling, transaction-cost, and security trade-offs behind using them.
Keep this page as your starting point
Use this guide as your table of contents whenever you want to revisit a concept or continue the series. All of these lessons are also grouped under the DeFi Education Series category.
Start with Part 01: What Is DeFi?
Post on X
Telegram