#TradingPairs101 – The Simple Way to Understand Crypto Swaps

Think of crypto trading pairs like ordering food in a foreign country. You can’t just point at what you want — you need the right currency to pay for it. That’s exactly what **trading pairs** do in the crypto world.

A trading pair, like **BTC/USDT**, tells you what you’re trading (BTC – Bitcoin) and what you're using to trade it (USDT – a stablecoin tied to the U.S. dollar). So if you want to buy Bitcoin, you need USDT. If you want to sell Bitcoin, you’ll get USDT in return.

Not every coin is directly tradable with another, so pairs help you move between different assets — like switching flights to get to your final destination.

Once you get the hang of reading trading pairs, navigating crypto becomes way less intimidating — like learning the basics of a new language. And that’s where your journey really begins.