In layman’s terms, what is cryptocurrency? Is there a trustworthy site that explains what it is?

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Basically, it’s imaginary money that only exists as computer data on the Internet. It’s not backed by anything or regulated by any government, so it’s not actually worth anything, except people think it is, so it’s treated like it is. It uses blockchain technology to track transactions online, so you can buy some and trade or sell it to other people.

I think... I have no expertise here.  This is me just thinking out loud so someone can explain why I'm wrong,  but basically bitcoin is a thing that simulates a currency (in that it represents a sort of fluid, liquid value) but at the level of exchange functions more like a commodities market.  Commodities on the global market don't have their value insured by some larger government banking system, nor do they usually have a value secured by some other more stable commodity like gold or platinum.  Pork futures etc. on the global commodities market are generally on the whim of the myriad factors that affect supply and demand.   And while pork futures are also grounded by material concerns--rather than just being "fiat or faith based"-- like a limited amount of total pork consumers and the price they're willing to pay by the lbs, and there's an entire productive industry on the supply side, it's still the case that a process of financialization that's irresponsible can destabilize and even topple those otherwise secure commodity markets.  Think about tulips in Holland or the 2008 housing market crash.  

Well, yeah, currencies backed by a commodity can have their value manipulated, but the value of bitcoin is entirely undefinable, precisely because it's not attached to anything. Bitcoin is so volatile because there's no way to determine what it's actually worth. Really, anybody can create their own cryptocurrency and just make as much of it as they want. The question is, how do you convince merchants to accept it as a form of payment? Or, how do you convince somebody to buy it off you? If you can't do either of those things, then what can you really do with it?