The Foundation track is Alphacent's beginner trading course: 20 short courses and 101 lessons that assume you know nothing yet. It covers what stocks, crypto, commodities and ETFs are, how to think about risk before reward, and your first steps in chart reading. Every course is free. It suits anyone who has never placed a trade and wants the basics before practicing with paper money.
What you will be able to do
- Explain what a stock, a market index, an ETF, a commodity and a cryptocurrency are, and how they differ.
- Size a position so one losing trade costs a fixed slice of your account, and check the risk/reward ratio before you enter.
- Read a candlestick chart, mark support and resistance, and recognize single candles like the doji, hammer and shooting star.
- Work out why a 50% drawdown needs a 100% gain to get back to even, and set a maximum drawdown limit for yourself.
- Explain what calls and puts are, how bond prices react to interest rates, and what a P/E ratio can tell you about a company.
- Write a simple trading plan with entry, exit and risk rules, and keep a journal that catches fear and overconfidence.
Syllabus: 20 courses, 101 lessons
Cryptocurrency Fundamentals4 lessons · 5 min
Learn the basics of digital currencies, blockchain technology, and how crypto markets work.
- What is Bitcoin?
- Understanding Blockchain
- Wallets & Keys
- Crypto Trading Venues
Stock Market Basics5 lessons · 6 min
Understand how stock markets operate and what drives stock prices.
- What are Stocks?
- How Stock Markets Are Organized
- Market Indices
- Bull vs Bear Markets
- Market Hours
Commodities Trading Intro4 lessons · 5 min
Discover how to trade gold, silver, oil and other commodities as alternative asset classes.
- What are Commodities?
- Gold & Silver
- Oil & Energy
- Ways to Get Commodity Exposure
Risk Management Essentials6 lessons · 7 min
Learn to protect your capital by understanding and managing financial risk.
- Understanding Risk
- Position Sizing
- Stop Losses
- Diversification
- Risk/Reward Ratio
- Capital Preservation
Technical Analysis Intro7 lessons · 8 min
Master chart patterns and indicators to time your trading entries and exits.
- Reading Price Charts
- Support & Resistance
- Trend Lines
- Moving Averages
- RSI Indicator
- MACD
- Chart Patterns
Trading Psychology Basics5 lessons · 6 min
Understand the emotional aspects of trading and develop a winning mindset.
- Fear & Greed
- Overconfidence
- Loss Aversion
- Building Discipline
- Trading Journal
Fundamental Analysis Intro5 lessons · 6 min
Learn to evaluate assets based on financial data and intrinsic value.
- What is Fundamental Analysis?
- Reading Financial Statements
- Key Metrics
- Industry Analysis
- Economic Factors
Currency Markets Basics5 lessons · 6 min
Discover the world's largest financial market and how currency trading works.
- The Currency Market
- Currency Pairs
- Pips & Lots
- Major Pairs
- Currencies vs Stocks
Portfolio Building Blocks5 lessons · 6 min
Learn how a diversified portfolio is built and managed.
- What is a Portfolio?
- Asset Allocation
- Rebalancing
- ETFs & Mutual Funds
- Tax Efficiency
Derivatives Introduction5 lessons · 6 min
Understand futures, options, and other derivative instruments and their uses.
- What are Derivatives?
- Futures Contracts
- Options Basics
- Calls & Puts
- Leverage & Risk
DeFi Basics5 lessons · 6 min
Learn how decentralized finance works: staking, lending, and liquidity pools without traditional intermediaries.
- What is DeFi?
- Smart Contracts Explained
- Staking & Yield Farming
- Liquidity Pools
- DeFi Risks & Safety
ETF Fundamentals5 lessons · 6 min
Discover how ETFs work, the different types available, and how passive index funds are built.
- What is an ETF?
- Index Funds vs. ETFs
- Types of ETFs
- How Passive Index Funds Work
- Choosing Your First ETF
Intro to Bonds5 lessons · 6 min
Understand bonds: how they work, what drives their prices, and how to read yield curves.
- What is a Bond?
- Bond Prices & Interest Rates
- Yield Curves Explained
- Government vs. Corporate Bonds
- Bond ETFs & Bond Strategy
Options Fundamentals5 lessons · 6 min
Learn the building blocks of options: calls, puts, strike prices, premiums, and when traders use them.
- What is an Option?
- Calls, Puts & Strike Price
- Option Premiums
- In the Money, At the Money, Out of the Money
- Why Trade Options?
Drawdown Recovery5 lessons · 6 min
Understand how drawdowns work, the math behind recovering losses, and strategies to rebuild your capital safely.
- What is a Drawdown?
- The Recovery Math
- Setting Maximum Drawdown Limits
- Rebuilding Capital Gradually
- Lessons from History
Candlestick Patterns5 lessons · 6 min
Master single-candle patterns like doji, hammer, and hanging man to read market sentiment and anticipate reversals.
- Reading a Candlestick
- Doji: The Indecision Candle
- Hammer & Inverted Hammer
- Shooting Star & Hanging Man
- Using Single Candles in Trading
Market Cap & Valuation5 lessons · 6 min
Understand how companies are valued: market capitalization, P/E ratios, and what the numbers tell you about opportunity.
- What is Market Capitalization?
- Why Market Cap Matters
- Introduction to the P/E Ratio
- Other Key Valuation Metrics
- Putting It All Together
Building a Trading Plan5 lessons · 6 min
Create a structured trading plan with rules, goals, and strategy templates that keep emotions out of your decisions.
- Why Every Trader Needs a Plan
- Defining Your Goals & Risk Tolerance
- Entry & Exit Rules
- Position Sizing & Risk Rules
- Reviewing & Evolving Your Plan
Dollar-Cost Averaging5 lessons · 6 min
Learn how DCA reduces timing risk, builds discipline, and harnesses compounding for long-term wealth growth.
- What is Dollar-Cost Averaging?
- Why Timing the Market Is Hard
- DCA vs. Lump Sum
- Applying DCA to Crypto & ETFs
- Building Wealth Through Consistency
Intro to Global Markets5 lessons · 6 min
Explore the world's major financial markets, reserve currencies, and how currency values shape global trade.
- The World's Major Financial Markets
- Reserve Currencies Explained
- How Currency Values Move
- Currency Pairs & Major Crosses
- Global Events & Market Impact
Start here if a price chart still looks like noise
You do not need a finance background, a trading account or any money. Basic arithmetic is enough.
The track also fits people who already hold some crypto or an ETF. Cryptocurrency Fundamentals and ETF Fundamentals are written for that gap.
Already sizing positions and keeping a journal? Skip ahead to the Practitioner track.
Short lessons, a quiz, then XP
Most courses have five short lessons, and the app lists each course at 5 to 8 minutes. The whole track adds up to about two hours.
Every lesson ends with a quiz, and finishing adds XP. One course a day is a better pace than twenty in a single sitting.
Why risk comes before charts
Half the courses explain markets: crypto and DeFi, stocks, commodities, ETFs, bonds, currencies, futures and options. The other half cover risk, psychology, planning, and reading charts and company numbers.
If you only take four, do Stock Market Basics, Risk Management Essentials, Technical Analysis Intro and Candlestick Patterns, in that order. Risk goes before charts for a reason.
A hypothetical: with $2,000 and 1% risk per trade, each loss costs $20, so ten losses in a row cost $200. Risk $200 a trade and the same streak empties the account. No chart skill fixes that, which is why position sizing and drawdown math come early.
After the last quiz
Reading about risk and watching a position move against you are different experiences. Alphacent gives every account $2,000 in paper money at live market prices, so you can open a long or short on Bitcoin or gold and feel a loss before real money is involved. What paper trading is covers where that helps and where it falls short.
Then move to the Practitioner track, also free. In the Master track, the first lesson of every course is free and the rest comes with Pro.
Questions people ask
Is the Foundation trading course really free?
Yes. All 20 Foundation courses are free in the Alphacent app, and so is the Practitioner track. In the Master track only the first lesson of each course is free. Pro also adds tools like stop-loss orders and leverage, which the free courses explain but do not require.
How long does it take to learn trading as a beginner?
The Foundation lessons take about two hours in total. Learning to trade takes far longer, because understanding an idea and acting on it while a price moves are separate skills. A course a day alongside a few small paper trades is a sensible pace.
Do I need money to start learning to trade?
No. The courses cost nothing and the simulator runs on paper money: every account starts with $2,000 in virtual cash that has no real-world value. You practice at live prices without a deposit or a trading account, and nothing can be withdrawn.
Is a beginner course enough to trade with real money?
On its own, probably not. Foundation gives you the vocabulary and basic risk math, not a tested method or any experience of how you react to a losing streak. The Practitioner track and a stretch of paper trading should come first. This is education, not financial advice.