Articles and Videos

There is no shortage of articles and videos covering Web3 - some are good, many are useless.

Fortunately, I've consumed a ton and attempted to seperate the wheat from the chaff. Here are my favorites:

What is Web3?

The crypto and Web3 space can be confusing and intimidating to newcomers. To get started, I recommend checking out the following resources:

• An Intro to Crypto: Building Blocks by Linda Xie

• Cryptopia: Bitcoin, And The Future of the Internet on Amazon Prime

• The Latecomer’s Guide to Crypto by Kevin Roose

• Web3: in a Nutshell by Eshita Nandini

• Chris Dixon and Naval Ravikant — The Wonders of Web3 And Much More on The Tim Ferriss Show

Why is Web3 Important?

Web3 is poised to fundamentally restructure our economy. The following resources detail how:

• Bitcoin by Fred Wilson

• Why I’m Interested in Bitcoin by Chris Dixon

• Why Decentralization Matters by Chris Dixon

• Crypto Mega Thesis by Kyle Samani

• And What Has the Blockchain Ever Done for Us? by Balaji Srinivasan

• Web3 Use Cases: Today by Packy McCormick

• Web3 Use Cases: The Future by Packy McCormick

• The Slow Death of the Firm by Nick Tomaino

• Own the Internet by Packy McCormick

• Fat Protocols by Joel Monegro

• The Quiet Master of Cryptocurrency — Nick Szabo on The Tim Ferriss Show

• Crypto Tokens: A Breakthrough in Open Network Design by Chris Dixon

• The Ownership Economy 2022 by Li Jin

• Composability is the Most Powerful Creative Force in the Universe by Jon Radoff

• Understanding Web 3 — A User Controlled Internet by Emre Tekisalp

• Chain Reactions: How Creators, Web3, and the Metaverse Intersect by Rex Woodbury

How Does Crypto Work?

Cryptocurrencies rely on three distinct technologies – blockchains, digital key cryptography and consensus mining – to maintain decentralization. The following resouces explain on a deeper level:

• Two Generals Problem by Finematics
• What do We Mean by “Blockchains are Trustless”? by Preethi Kasireddy
• What is a Blockchain? by Whiteboard Crypto
• Public and Private Keys (Asymmetric Encryption Animated) by Whiteboard Crypto
• What is Proof of Work? by Whiteboard Crypto
• But How Does Bitcoin Actually Work? by 3Blue1Brown
• The Ethereum Whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin
• How does Ethereum work, anyway? By Preethi Kasireddy
• Ethereum Will Be the Backbone of the New Internet by James
• The Blockchain Economy: A beginner’s guide to institutional cryptoeconomics by Chris Berg, Sinclair Davidson and Jason Potts
• Distributed Systems 2.2: The Byzantine generals problem by Martin Kleppmann
• What is a Cryptographic Hashing Function? By Whiteboard Crypto
• WTF is The Blockchain? By Mohit Mamoria
• A Beginner’s Guide: Private and Public Key Cryptography Deciphered by Chris Coverdale
• What is Staking in Crypto? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What is a Mining Pool in Crypto? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What are Smart Contracts in Crypto? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What is Ethereum Gas? By Whiteboard Crypto

Cryptocurrencies

A cryptocurrency is a form of money that is created, distributed and owned directly by the public (as opposed to the government). The following resoruces explain how they work and why they're important:

• Bitcoin Whitepaper by Satoshi Nakamoto
• The Ethereum Whitepaper by Vitalik Buterin
• A Beginner’s Guide to Ethereum, by Linda Xie
• Ethereum is the Forefront of Digital Currency by Fred Ehrsam
• Ether: The Triple Point Asset by David Hoffman
• What is a Stablecoin? by Whiteboard Crypto
• The Moneyness of Bitcoin and Ethereum by Ryan Sean Adams
• What is Money? by Investopedia
• #8 Reasons Why Bitcoin is Better than Conventional Currency by Vishal Gupta
• The Triple Point Asset by David Hoffman
• Designing a Price-Stable Cryptocurrency by Haseeb Qureshi

DeFi

DeFi, or Decentralized Finance, refers to a global, peer-to-peer network that is built to replace the traditional banking system. A few resources covering the subject:

• What is DeFi? by Finematics
• A Beginner’s Guide to Decentralized Finance (DeFi) by Sid Coelho-Prabhu
• What is Tether? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What’s MakerDAO and what’s going on with it? Explained with pictures by
• 3 Stablecoin Algorithms Explained (Rebase, Empty Set Dollar, Basis Cash, Iron Finance) by Whiteboard Crypto
• What is an Automated Market Maker? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What is Uniswap? By Whiteboard Crypto
• DeFi Series #1 - Decentralized Cryptoasset Lending & Borrowing by Binance Research (Calvin & Etienne)
• What is Aave? By Whiteboard Crypto
• Why insurance is needed for DeFi, and what it looks like by Shane Neagle
• Crypto Derivatives, Lending, and a touch of Stablecoin by Gary Basin
• What is Yield Farming? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What is Impermanent Loss? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What is a Liquidity Pool? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What is a Flash Loan? By Whiteboard Crypto
• The True Power of DeFi: Composability by Oxjim
• DEFI 2.0 - A New Narrative? OlympusDAO, Tokemak Explained by Finematics
• What is OlympusDAO? By Whiteboard Crypto
• How (Not) To Get Rekt – DeFi Hacks Explained by Jakub
• Bank Run in DeFi by Finematics

NFTs

An NFT – or “non-fungible token”– is a certificate of ownership for a digital good that is recorded onto a blockchain. Here are my favorite articles and videos on NFTs:

• What is an NFT? by Whiteboard Crypto
• The Non-Fungible Token Bible: Everything you need to know about NFTs by Devin Finzer
• The Bull Case for NFTs by Jake Burkhman & Andrew Steinwold
• Signaling as a Service by Julian
• Rise Of A New Disruptor: How NFTs Are Revolutionizing The Art And Entertainment Worlds by Michael Golomb
• 10 things to know about CryptoPunks, the original NFTs by Christie’s
• How Four NFT Novices Created a Billion-Dollar Ecosystem of Cartoon Apes by Samantha Hissong
• Sports: What is NBA Top Shot? Explaining the Blockchain NBA highlight collectables by Kyle Irving
• Are We in the Metaverse Yet? By John Herrman and Kellen Browning
• How Gamers are Making a Living: A Case Study on Axie Infinity by Benjamin Hor
• Not just for kitties, punks, and top shots: NFTs will change everything we know about subscriptions, membership, licensing by Matt Galligan
• NFTs Reshape Brand Marketing In The Creator Economy by Avi Dan
• Here's what NFTs are — and what they could do for the music industry, artists and fans by Mikel Jollett, lead singer, Airborne Toxic Event, and author, "Hollywood Park"
• Road to Financialization of NFTs by Ishanee Nagpurkar

DAOs

DAOs are blockchain-based organizations that may replace the modern corporation. The following resources explain on a deeper level:

• The Dao of DAOs by Packy McCormick
• DAOs: Social networks that can rewire the world by Justin Mart & Connor Dempsey
• DAO Landscape by Coopahtroopa
• What Is BitDAO and BIT Token? By Bybit Learn
• Philanthropy DAOs — The future of giving? By Yonca Braeckman
• ConstitutionDAO Hits $30M in Ethereum Raised, One Day Before Sotheby’s Auction by Kate Irwin
• Will DAOs revolutionize media or just create a playground for the rich? By Leigh Cuen
• Service DAOs - Landscape, Challenges, and Solutions by Terry Chung
• This Social Club Runs on Crypto Tokens and Vibes by Erin Woo and Kevin Roose
• Organization Legos: The State of DAO Tooling by Nichanan Kesonpat
• How to launch a DAO by Lucas Campbell
• What Is It Like to Join a DAO? By Aragon
• The Life of a Protocol Politician by Coopahtroopah
• A Legal Framework for Decentralized Autonomous Organization by David Kerr (Principal, Cowrie LLC) and Miles Jennings (General Counsel, Crypto, Andreessen Horowitz)
• The LAO: A For-Profit, Limited Liability Autonomous Organization by The LAO

Smart Contract Platforms

Smart contract platforms are decentralized "world computers" that run the Web3 ecosystem and are responsible for creating and enforcing the rules. The following resources dig deeper into what are often called "Layer 1s":

• What are Smart Contracts in Crypto? by Whiteboard Crypto
• Code is Law? Smart Contracts Explained by Finematics
• Get Smart on Smart Contract Platforms by Grayscale
• The Smart Contract Platform Sector Explained by Jodie Gunzberg
• Layer-1 Platforms: A Framework for Comparison by The Block Research
• Mental Models for L1 and L1 by Patrick McCorry
• Blockchains don’t scale. Not today at least. But there’s hope by Preethi Kasireddy
• Modular vs Monolithic Blockchains by Ryan Sean Adams and David Hoffman
• The DCS Triangle by Trent McConaghy
• Blockchain Layer 1s Vs Layer 2 – Key Differences by Georgia Weston
• Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake: Ethereum’s Recent Price Surge Shows Why the Difference Matters by Miranda Marquit
• What is Sharding in Crypto? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What are Rollups in Crypto? By Whiteboard Crypto
• What are Sidechains in Crypto? By Whiteboard Crypto
• Ethereum 2.0 Upgrades Explained - Sharding, Beacon Chain, Proof of Stake by Whiteboard Crypto
• Solana: Solana Summer by Packy McCormick
• Terra: To the Moon and Back by Packy McCormick
• What Is Avalanche? A Look at the Popular ‘Ethereum-Killer’ Blockchain by Ekin Genç
• Layer 2 Scaling Solutions Explained by Whiteboard Crypto
• A beginner’s guide on blockchain layer-2 scaling solutions by Cointelegraph
• Optimism by Packy McCormick
• Zero Knowledge by Pack McCormick
• Understanding Zero-knowledge proofs through illustrated examples by OxSage
• The Essential Guide to Arbitrum by Ben Give

Metaverse

The metaverse is an interconnected network of virtual worlds that will replace the web as the primary way in which we access information. A few resources covering the metaverse:

• The Metaverse Primer by Matthew Ball
• Metaverse: A guide to the Next-Gen internet by Credit Suisse
• The Metaverse: Web 3.0 Virtual Cloud Economies by Grayscale
• The Value Chain of the Open Metaverse by Packy McCormick
• Riffs by Raph: How Virtual Worlds Work - Part 1 by Raph Koster
• Otherside: Everything to Know About the New BAYC NFT Project by Langston Thomas
• Decentraland: Metaverse Land Boom Fueling MANA Token Growth by Grayscale
• What is The Sandbox by The Sandbox
• The Virtual Economy by L-Atelier
• Stay for Who You Can Be: Avatars in the Metaverse by Rex Woodbury

Web3 Infrastructure

Web3 refers to an internet that is owned by the users instead of companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple. Here are a few reads that explore the infrastructure powering Web3:

• What is Web 3.0 by Whiteboard Crypto
• The Architecture of a Web 3.0 application by Preethi Kasireddy
• A simple guide to the web3 developer stack by Jonathan King, Connor Dempsey, & Hoolie Tejwani
• Will Helium finally make IoT a reality? By Preethi Kasireddy
• An Overview of the Crypto Wallet Landscape by Richard Chen
• Your crypto wallet is the key to your Web3 identity by Michael Calce
• Mapping the Web3 Identity Landscape by dommy.eth
• What is Infura? By Tim Copeland
• Pocket Networks Investment Thesis by Dermot O’Riordan and Lior Messika
• Web3 Storage — Massive Growth and Capital Gains with Arweave, Filecoin and Stratos by Huobi Research
• An Introduction to Filecoin by Grayscale
• Investing in the Permaweb by Kyle Samani
• Our investment in The Graph by Kyle Samani
• What is the Blockchain Oracle Problem? by Chainlink
• Blockchain Oracles Explained by Vallery Mou
• An Introduction to Chainlink by Grayscale
• Rendering the Metaverse by Kyle Samani
• Blockchain Bridges: Building Networks of Cryptonetworks by Dmitriy Berenzon

What are the Challenges Faced by Web3?

Like any disruptive technology, Web3 has its problems. The below articles discuss in more detail:

• Yes, Ethereum has a Gas Problem by Mike Fay
• What Skeptics Get Wrong About Crypto’s Volatility by Omid Malekan
• Is Bitcoin Inherently Bad For The Environment? By Joshua Rhodes
• FACT CHECK: Is Bitcoin mining environmentally unfriendly? By Coinbase
• Bitcoin mining isn’t nearly as bad for the environment as it used to be, new data shows by MacKenzie Sigalos
• The Interoperability Trilemma by Arjun Bhuptani
• Blockchains Have a ‘Bridge’ Problem, and Hackers Know It by Lily Hay Newman
• Miner Extractable Value: the good, the bad & the ugly by Panther Team
• I think there is a User Experience problem in Web3 by Mentie Omotejowho
• The Chainalysis 2022 Crypto Crime Report by Chainalysis

What are the Criticisms of Web3?

Web 3 is not without its critics. Read some of the more popular detractors (as well as a few rebuttals) below:

• My first impressions of web3 by Moxie Marlinspike (Rebuttal: Vitalik Buterin via Reddit )
• Web3 by Scott Galloway (Rebuttal: The Web3 Debate by Packy McCormick)
• Line Goes Up – The Problem with NFTs by Folding Ideas (Rebuttals: Discussing the "Line Goes Up" NFT criticism video by Loopify and The line is not a line – the real problem with NFTs by The Defiant)

What are Pundits Predicting for Web3?

There is no shortage of Web3 coverage by analysts and VCs. Read some of the more popular reports below:

• Big Ideas 2022 Report by ARK Invest
• A Bankless Nation (Part I) by David Hoffman and Ryan Sean Adams
• A Bankless Nation (Part II) by David Hoffman and Ryan Sean Adams
• Public Blockchains Are the New National Economies of the Metaverse by Tascha
• Introducing the 2022 State of Crypto Report by a16z Crypto (by Daren Matsuoka, Eddy Lazzarin, Chris Dixon and Robert Hackett)
• Crypto Thesis for 2022 by Messari