Welcome back to "Orca for everyone"!

back toPart1,We show the basics of getting started with crypto - creating an account on a centralized exchange (a "CEX" like Coinbase or FTX), buying your first digital currency (in our case, Solana's SOL token ), and send it to your own Solana wallet (such as Phantom).

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DeFi and DEXs: Bringing Freedom to Finance

Thanks to the public chain technology used by encryption protocols such as Solana, a free and open financial system is not only possible, but also developing rapidly. This ecosystem is widely known as Decentralized Finance (DeFi for short). Within this space, users can access many services provided by the traditional financial system (and many others!). But compared to traditional finance, it is more efficient and has fewer gatekeepers. In the world of DeFi, users can trade, borrow, and earn yield using their cryptocurrencies without trusting middlemen or giving up custody of assets! Orca is one such DeFi application.

Orca is a decentralized crypto exchange, or DEX for short; here, you can exchange one cryptocurrency for another. (You can also use it to provide liquidity to earn yield - we'll touch on that in a future guide!) We take pride in making sure Orca is the most user-friendly DEX, not only in the Solana ecosystem, but In all DeFi. Today, we will show you how easy it is to enter the world of DeFi with Orca. Before we get started, a quick note: DeFi is a brave new frontier in the financial system that comes with its own unique risks. For new explorers like you, we strongly recommend only using a small amount of crypto until you get your bearings - it's easier than you think to lose your money by accident!

your first transactionNow after completing part1, you have some $SOL in your Phantom wallet, you can go directly toOrcaAnd let's get started. In this example, we will demonstrate how to conduct a simple transaction: exchanging SOL for ORCA, Orca's governance token. But you will find that we have a wide and wonderful variety of different tokens on the Solana chain!

On our home page, you'll see this screen:

First click on "Connect Wallet" and then select "Phantom". This will trigger a window in Phantom asking you to open your wallet and approve the connection to the exchange. Once you approve the connection, you'll see your wallet address appear in the upper right corner of the page. You can now exchange cryptocurrencies on Orca! For this example, we will trade SOL for ORCA - click on the assets listed under "Trade" and "for" to select them. (If "SOL" is already checked in the box below "For," click the middle arrow to move it to the top.) Or, if you want to quickly set up a deal, try using our magic bar: Click the Orca (cute whale with a crown!) field, type "orca to sol" and hit enter:

You can then enter the amount of SOL you want to trade ORCA in the box next to it. In this example we will buy 1 SOL worth of ORCA:

Cryptocurrency prices are volatile, so your trading screen will look different than this one. Note the green fair price indicator: with each transaction, Orca will show you whether the price in our pool is similar, cheap or expensive compared to the price tracker. In the middle of the trade panel, you can see the route your trade will take. If it would be more beneficial to go through a different pool route, we will handle it automatically to ensure you get the best price for the tokens you are buying. In the screenshot above, your SOL will be traded for USDC stablecoin first, and then USDC stablecoin will be traded for ORCA!

Before making a transaction, you may need to perform a Setup (as shown in the image above). Just click the yellow button and approve the confirmation that appears in your Phantom Wallet. You are now ready to do your first Swap (DeFi term for exchanging one cryptocurrency for another)! Click the Exchange button and approve the transaction in your wallet. Your ORCA tokens are now in your Phantom wallet. Just click on the Phantom icon in your extensions bar and you'll find them there.

Congratulations: you just closed your first transaction. You will soon be part of our pod. We hope you will experience many more adventures with us!

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