Ethereum DeFi Guide: Wallets, Gas, Protocols, and Layer 2s
Understand Ethereum accounts, gas, token approvals, protocol composability, layer 2 networks, bridges, and a disciplined transaction workflow.
Read the guide →The composable contract economy
Ethereum DeFi from accounts to layer 2s
Ethereum combines a shared execution environment with token standards and open smart contracts. Users interact through wallets, pay gas in ETH, and often cross several contracts in one protocol action.
Accounts, contracts, and gas
Externally owned accounts authorize transactions with keys; contract accounts execute code. Gas pays for computation and can be consumed even when a transaction reverts.
Token approvals give a contract permission to move assets. Review the spender, amount, network, and whether the approval remains active after the immediate action.
Composability and hidden dependencies
A liquid staking token can become lending collateral, liquidity, and vault input. The position may therefore rely on staking, an oracle, a lending market, an exchange pool, governance, and a front end at once.
Read the resulting receipt token and exit path. A convenient router can perform several internal steps that deserve independent simulation.
Layer 2s are distinct environments
Layer 2 networks lower cost and extend capacity under their own sequencer, bridge, upgrade, and finality designs. Contracts and liquidity differ from mainnet even when the application brand is the same.
Confirm the chain before signing and keep ETH for fees. A token on one network cannot be sent directly to another without a supported bridge or exchange route.
Go deeper
Related field guides.
Long-form explanations that expand the network, market, token, and risk layers introduced above.
DeFi Utopia Explained: A Beginner’s Guide to Decentralized Finance
A practical introduction to wallets, smart contracts, lending, exchanges, yield, and the risks every DeFi beginner should name before acting.
Read the guide →
Web3 Domain Names and DeFi Identity: ENS, Wallets, and Sign-In
Understand blockchain name resolution, Sign-In with Ethereum, public reputation, payment safety, privacy, governance, renewal, and recovery.
Read the guide →Every DeFi position has an exit route.
Write it down before you enter: asset, network, contract, dependency, liquidity, and the action you will take when assumptions change.