Blue Belt (1 Day)
Last updated
Last updated
If you want a little more background, but don’t have much more than a day, check out the following resources.
What are Cryptocurrencies?
Crypto can be confusing and intimidating to newcomers. To get started, I recommend checking out the following two newbie-friendly resources:
on Amazon Prime provides a beginner-friendly and broad introduction to the space, and it takes about 90 minutes to watch
While I don’t agree with everything in Kevin Roose’s , it nonetheless is a good guide for newbies (bonus points if you want to read ahead by clicking the links at the bottom for NFTs, web3, DAOs and DeFi)
Why are Cryptocurrencies Important?
In a word, “decentralization”. Decentralization refers to the ability for crypto to exist outside of the purview of centralized third parties. This brings a host of benefits such as the potential to create a borderless currency that isn’t controlled by governments, a financial system that isn’t controlled by banks and a web that isn’t controlled by Big Tech companies such as Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google (also known as “Web3”). Nine articles to understand this better are:
Fred Wilson’s was one of the first to recognize the potential of a currency not controlled by governments or banks
Chris Dixon’s and
Kyle Samani dicusses the potential of open finance, Web3 and global, state-free money in Multicoin Capital’s
Balaji Srinivasan notes how Bitcoin was already creating value in 2018 in his work
Packy McCormick discusses how cryptocurrencies are already creating value and will likely continue to do so in the future in Web 3 Use Cases and
Nick Tomaino explains how cryptocurrencies could replace corporations in
Joel Monegro lays the groundwork for Web3 by discussing how crypto could return value to creators in
How Does Crypto Work?
Cryptocurrencies rely on three distinct technologies – blockchains, digital key cryptography and consensus mining – to maintain decentralization. The following resources describe how this system works:
Finematics explains why we need centralize parties to establish trust in the
Preethi Kasireddy explains the concept of trustlessness in
Whiteboard Crypto breaks down each of these primitives in three articles: 1) ,2) and 3)
3Blue1Brown ties it all together in
What are the Key Components of the Crypto Ecosystem?
Since its creation, crypto has evolved into a number of verticals. Let’s dig a bit deeper into each of these:
What Does the Future Hold for Crypto?
Ultimately, cryptocurrencies have the potential to grow massively and even create a new nations. A few more resources are below:
Decentralized Money: A cryptocurrency is a form of money that is created, distributed and owned directly by the public (as opposed to the government). There are three main types of “decentralized money” that you need to know: 1) Bitcoin: Bitcoin is the grandaddy of all cryptocurrencies, and you can learn more about it in the official , 2) Ethereum: After Bitcoin came Ethereum, a form of “programmable money”. Linda Xie gives a great explanation in , Fred Ehrsam talks about its disruptive potential in and David Hoffman argues that ETH is the perfect form of money in ,3) Stablecoins: Stablecoins are a very important form of decentralized money. You can learn more about them in by Whiteboard Crypto
Smart Contract Platforms: Ethereum expanded on the technology of Bitcoin by turning it into a decentralized “world computer”, known primarily as a smart contract platform (or “Layer-1”). Whiteboard Crypto gives a good overview of smart contracts in And Finematics gives another good one in . Finally, Grayscale dives into to most important smart contract platforms in by Grayscale
DeFi: DeFi, or Decentralized Finance, refers to a global, peer-to-peer network that is built to replace the traditional banking system. Finematics explains more in
NFTs: An NFT – or “non-fungible token”– is a certificate of ownership for a digital good that is recorded onto a blockchain. Whiteboard Crypto elaborates in
DAOs: DAOs are blockchain-based organizations that may replace the modern corporation. Packy McCormick highlights their potential impact in
Metaverse: The metaverse is an interconnected network of virtual worlds that will replace the web as the primary way in which we access information. Matthew Ball provides a nine-part overview in
Web: Web3 refers to an internet that is owned by the users instead of companies such as Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple. Whiteboard Crypto explains more in
Cathie Wood explains how Ethereum and Bitcoin still have the potential to 100x in her (note: free download required, you can skip to the sections on Public Blockchains, Bitcoin, Ethereum & Defi and Web3)
David Hoffman and Ryan Sean Adams describes how cryptocurrencies are forming new nations in A Bankless Nation and
Tascha continues with the “nation-state” thesis in