Unit 2 · Level 1 · How Exchanges Work
Where trades happen
An exchange is a marketplace that matches buyers with sellers automatically. The New York Stock Exchange matches stock traders; Binance or Coinbase match crypto traders. Same job, different assets.
Free to play. No ads, no token, no account needed to start.
What this lesson covers
Brokers: your ticket in
Regular people usually can't plug into a stock exchange directly. You go through a broker (an app like your bank's, or Interactive Brokers). In crypto, the exchange usually IS the app: you sign up with Coinbase or Kraken and trade directly.
What you get asked
What is an exchange's core job?
The exchange is a matchmaking machine. It never decides prices; it just pairs up people who agree.
Match the player to their role
Stocks: you → broker → exchange. Crypto: you → exchange. One less middleman.
To buy shares on the stock market, most people place their order through a ___.
The broker passes your order to the exchange and holds your shares for you.
True or false: stock markets are open 24/7, just like crypto.
The NYSE trades ~6.5 hours on weekdays. Crypto trades every second of every day, which is why crypto traders need sleep discipline. 😴
It's Saturday night and markets news just broke. Which can you trade right now?
Weekend news often hits crypto first because it's the only market open. Stock traders wait for Monday's open, and prices can 'gap' to catch up.
The rest of this unit
Order books, order types, stop-losses, and the silent costs of every trade.