# Overview

This chapter is for users who are new to crypto wallets or stablecoins. Getting started on Market.Cards is straightforward: pick a login method (which doubles as your account) and grab some USDC for MintBox participation and trading. The overall process has three steps: register, deposit, and start trading.

Before that, there are two basic concepts to understand. Participation and trading on the platform are settled in USDC. USDC is a stablecoin pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. Market.Cards runs on Base, a Layer 2 public blockchain incubated by Coinbase and built on Ethereum.

The balance you see on the platform is essentially USDC on Base — but for most actions, you don't need to deal with blockchain complexity directly.


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# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.market.cards/getting-started/overview.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.