# Introduction

> What tango.finance is, how buying a stock, supplying it and the strategy that earns on it fit together, and where to start reading.

Source: https://app.tango.finance/docs

tango.finance lets you buy tokenized stocks and supply them to earn more of the same stock. A tokenized stock is a token that tracks one share of a listed company, such as AAPL, on a blockchain network. When you supply it, a strategy posts it as collateral at money markets, borrows the network's stablecoin against it and lends that stablecoin out. The difference between what lending earns and what borrowing costs is turned back into more of your stock.

These docs explain how that works: where the yield comes from, the smart contract that holds supplied stock, the service that runs the strategy, and what the app does on top.

> **Key points**
>
> - Each stock has its own strategy. You supply the stock and receive shares, and your shares are counted in that stock, not in dollars.
> - The strategy borrows a stablecoin against your stock and lends it at other money markets. The spread between the two, plus money-market rewards, buys more of the same stock.
> - You can leave without anyone's approval and without a request queue. How much can leave at once depends on what the money markets can pay back.
> - Supplying is not risk-free. Prices, liquidations, smart contracts and the money markets themselves can all cause losses.

## How it fits together

Supplied stock goes through the same steps for every stock:

1. You buy a stock in the app, or bring one you already hold, and supply it. You receive shares for your part.
2. The strategy supplies the stock to money markets as collateral. In these docs, a money market used this way is a **borrow venue**.
3. It borrows the network's stablecoin against that collateral, and lends it to other money markets, called **lending venues**.
4. When lending earns more than borrowing costs, the profit is harvested. A performance fee is taken, and the rest buys more of the stock, so every share is worth more stock.
5. When you withdraw, you receive stock. If not enough stock is idle, collateral is released and debt repaid in the same transaction.

The stock you supply is held by a vault, a smart contract with one for each stock. [Using a vault](https://app.tango.finance/docs/vault/overview.md) explains what that means for you, and [Key concepts](https://app.tango.finance/docs/concepts.md) explains the other terms.

## Start here

| If you want to | Read |
| --- | --- |
| Understand where the yield comes from | [How yield is generated](https://app.tango.finance/docs/how-yield-is-generated.md) |
| See how your stock grows | [How your stock compounds](https://app.tango.finance/docs/how-your-stock-compounds.md) |
| See what makes Tango different | [What makes Tango different](https://app.tango.finance/docs/why-tango.md) |
| Learn the vocabulary | [Key concepts](https://app.tango.finance/docs/concepts.md) |
| Know what supplying means for you | [Using a vault](https://app.tango.finance/docs/vault/overview.md) |
| Buy or sell a stock | [Buy and sell](https://app.tango.finance/docs/app/buy-and-sell.md) |
| Supply or withdraw | [Supply a stock](https://app.tango.finance/docs/app/supply.md) and [Withdraw in the app](https://app.tango.finance/docs/app/withdraw.md) |
| Move money between networks | [Move funds](https://app.tango.finance/docs/app/move-funds.md) |
| Check who can change what | [Profiles and access control](https://app.tango.finance/docs/vault/roles.md) and [Timelocks](https://app.tango.finance/docs/vault/timelocks.md) |
| Understand what can go wrong | [Risks](https://app.tango.finance/docs/vault/risks.md) |

## Two layers

tango.finance has two layers: the smart contracts that hold supplied stock and run the strategy, and the app you use to buy, supply and withdraw.

The **contracts** count every holder's shares, decide what each role may do, and let any holder leave on their own. The How Yield Generation Works section, starting with [Using a vault](https://app.tango.finance/docs/vault/overview.md), describes them.

The **app** at [app.tango.finance](https://app.tango.finance/) is where you connect a wallet, buy and sell stocks, supply them and withdraw. It chooses how each withdrawal is sent, and shows the rates, fees and roles for every stock. The Using tango.finance section, starting with [Buy and sell](https://app.tango.finance/docs/app/buy-and-sell.md), describes it.

When the two differ, the contracts set what is possible, and the app sets what you do through tango.finance today.

## For AI assistants

Every page is available as Markdown at its own URL with `.md` added. The docs home is at https://app.tango.finance/docs/index.md. The index of all pages is at https://app.tango.finance/llms.txt, and every page in one file is at https://app.tango.finance/llms-full.txt. See [For AI assistants](https://app.tango.finance/docs/reference/for-ai-assistants.md).

## Before you supply

Supplying puts your stock to work at money markets you do not control. The strategy borrows against it, so a sharp fall in the stock's price can lead to a liquidation that takes part of the collateral. Smart contracts, price feeds, money markets, stablecoins and the tokenized stock itself can all fail. Rates change all the time and can turn negative. Roles, limits and timelocks constrain what can happen, but they do not guarantee returns or protect against every loss. Read [Risks](https://app.tango.finance/docs/vault/risks.md) and decide for yourself. Nothing here is investment advice.