From zero to DeFi, one stage at a time.
DeFi Journey is a map for newcomers to decentralized finance. You start on the shore with one small practice round on Polygon: five real transactions you can check on the public ledger.
- Stage 1: Practice roundTwelve steps and five transactions on Polygon.
- Stage 2: TutorialsNot yet open
- Stage 3: SimulatorsNot yet open
One round trip, five transactions
Steps marked TX happen on Polygon. You read all five on the ledger in step 10.
What stage 1 asks of you
- $50
- in USDT, the referral reward when you open an exchange account with a referral link
- 5 USDT
- swapped for POL to start the practice round
- 2 DAI
- the stablecoin you swap to in TX 2
- TX 1–5
- five transactions you read yourself on Polygonscan
- Exchange
- TX 1To Trust WalletSend the POL from your exchange account to your Trust Wallet.
- TX 2POL to DAIIn Trust Wallet, swap POL for 2 DAI, a stablecoin.
- TX 3DAI to USDTSwap the DAI for USDT, another stablecoin.
- TX 4USDT to POLSwap the USDT back to POL.
- TX 5Back to exchangeSend the POL to your Gemini or Bybit account, then read TX 1–5 on Polygonscan.
- Exchange
Why DeFi, and why now
The tools a newcomer needs are ready today: a wallet you control, low fees, stable prices to learn with, and a public record of every step.
- You hold your own assets
- A self-custody wallet keeps the keys with you, not with a company.
- ethereum.org · Wallets explained
- Fees small enough to practice
- Polygon is a low-fee network. You pay each transaction's gas fee in POL.
- Polygon docs · POL tokenethereum.org · Gas and fees
- Stable prices to learn with
- Stablecoins such as USDT and DAI are built to hold a steady price, usually $1.
- ethereum.org · Stablecoins
- Every step is public
- Anyone can look up a transaction on the public ledger, so you can check your own work.
- PolygonScan · Polygon ledger