Crypto Basics
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Everyone's talking about it.

What is crypto, really?

Not the hype. Not the headlines. How it works and why it matters, explained clearly for people who think carefully about money.

Get on the list What you'll learn
Why it matters

Two things that are already true.

Fortunes have been lost by accident.

Somewhere between 2.3 and 4 million bitcoin are believed to be gone for good, more than one in ten of all that will ever exist. Most of it was never stolen. The owner died, or forgot, and nobody else had the key.

Congress wrote it into law.

The GENIUS Act placed dollar-backed stablecoins under federal supervision, and the banking regulators are writing the rules. Whatever you make of crypto, it no longer sits outside the system.

Neither of those is a reason to buy anything. They are reasons to understand it.

Lost-coin estimates: Chainalysis, River Financial, Ledger, and Unchained Capital, 2017 through 2026; analysts differ, and the true figure is unknowable by design. Stablecoin rulemaking: OCC and FDIC notices of proposed rulemaking, 2026. Current as of September 2026.

Meet us in person Douglas, MA Oktoberfest · October 3, 2026 · 9am–4pm
Who this is for

Built for people who've never had a good guide.

Plain English. No jargon, no assumptions.
Live sessions with real Q&A.
What you'll walk away knowing

A real foundation, not a sales pitch.

● How a blockchain actually works
● What your wallet really holds
● Coins vs. tokens and why it matters
● How to protect what you own
● What happened at FTX, and why
● What "not your keys" really means
● DeFi, stablecoins, and smart contracts
● Questions worth asking before you go deeper
How it works

Simple by design.

~3 hrs
Single session, start to finish
In person
Small group, real Q&A
Central MA
Locations announced to the list
Who's teaching this

A name, a face, and a bar number.

Shayne J. Picard
Shayne J. Picard
Attorney · Douglas, Massachusetts

He practices law in Douglas, has served as a prosecutor, and has taught high school math and physics. The classroom habits carry over: start where people actually are, and don't skip the steps everybody skips.

Crypto Basics grew out of the questions clients kept asking, and out of how little of what's written on the subject is written for someone meeting it for the first time.

Licensed in Massachusetts, BBO #666480. Worth verifying before you trust a word of it.

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Be first to know when sessions are scheduled.

No spam, no obligation, just a heads-up when we're near you. Dates and locations go out to the list as they're set.

Prefer to sign up in person? Find us at the Douglas, MA Oktoberfest, October 3, 2026.