Purple Belt (1 Week)

What is Web3? Web3 refers to an internet owned by users instead of Internet Giants such as Facebook, Apple, Amazon and Google. Below we have an article, book and podcast that you can peruse to get an overview.

• Article: Web3: in a Nutshell by Eshita Nandini

• Book: Token Economy by Shermin Voshmgir

• Podcast: 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.

• Own the Internet by Packy McCormick

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

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

• 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 Web3 Work? We’ve already covered some of the basics of how “blockchains” work, but let’s take a deeper dive…

• Ethereum – The World Computer: 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

• Digital Ledgers: The Blockchain Economy: A beginner’s guide to institutional cryptoeconomics by Chris Berg, Sinclair Davidson and Jason Potts

• The Byzantine General’s Problem: Distributed Systems 2.2: The Byzantine generals problem by Martin Kleppmann

• Hash Functions: What is a Cryptographic Hashing Function? By Whiteboard Crypto

• Blockchains: WTF is The Blockchain? By Mohit Mamoria

• Digital Key Cryptography: A Beginner’s Guide: Private and Public Key Cryptography Deciphered by Chris Coverdale

• Proof of Stake: What is Staking in Crypto? By Whiteboard Crypto

• Mining Pools: What is a Mining Pool in Crypto? By Whiteboard Crypto

• Smart Contracts: What are Smart Contracts in Crypto? By Whiteboard Crypto

• Gas: What is Ethereum Gas? By Whiteboard Crypto

What are Cryptocurrencies? Cryptocurrencies represent the potential to a “borderless” currency that doesn’t rely on central banks

• Overview: The Moneyness of Bitcoin and Ethereum by Ryan Sean Adams
• Money: What is Money? by Investopedia
• Bitcoin: #8 Reasons Why Bitcoin is Better than Conventional Currency by Vishal Gupta
• Ether: The Triple Point Asset by David Hoffman
• Stablecoins: Designing a Price-Stable Cryptocurrency by Haseeb Qureshi

What is DeFi? DeFi, or Decentralized Finance, refers to a global, peer-to-peer network that is built to replace the traditional banking system

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

What are NFTs? For the first time in our history, NFTs allow us to truly own the content we post online. The following resources discuss this fascinating space in more detail:

• Overview of NFTs: The Non-Fungible Token Bible: Everything you need to know about NFTs by Devin Finzer
• Why are NFTs Important: The Bull Case for NFTs by Jake Burkhman & Andrew Steinwold, Signaling as a Service by Julian
• Art: Rise Of A New Disruptor: How NFTs Are Revolutionizing The Art And Entertainment Worlds by Michael Golomb
• PFPs: 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
• Virtual Worlds: Are We in the Metaverse Yet? By John Herrman and Kellen Browning
• Gaming: How Gamers are Making a Living: A Case Study on Axie Infinity by Benjamin Hor
• Utility: Not just for kitties, punks, and top shots: NFTs will change everything we know about subscriptions, membership, licensing by Matt Galligan
• Intellectual Property: NFTs Reshape Brand Marketing In The Creator Economy by Avi Dan
• Music: 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"
• Financialization of NFTs: Road to Financialization of NFTs by Ishanee Nagpurkar

What are DAOs? A DAO is a blockchain-based organization that may replace the modern corporation. Unlike a traditional corporation, no single person or group owns or controls a DAO. Below are several resources that can help you understand this groundbreaking concept better:

• Why are DAOs Important? DAOs: Social networks that can rewire the world by Justin Mart & Connor Dempsey
• DAO Landscape: DAO Landscape by Coopahtroopa
• Investment DAOs: What Is BitDAO and BIT Token? By Bybit Learn
• Charity DAOs: Philanthropy DAOs — The future of giving? By Yonca Braeckman
• Collector DAOs: ConstitutionDAO Hits $30M in Ethereum Raised, One Day Before Sotheby’s Auction by Kate Irwin
• Media DAOs: Will DAOs revolutionize media or just create a playground for the rich? By Leigh Cuen
• Service DAOs: Service DAOs - Landscape, Challenges, and Solutions by Terry Chung
• Social DAOs: This Social Club Runs on Crypto Tokens and Vibes by Erin Woo and Kevin Roose
• DAO Tooling: Organization Legos: The State of DAO Tooling by Nichanan Kesonpat
• How to DAO: 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
• Legal Considerations: 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

What are Smart Contract Platforms? Smart Contract Platforms are “world computers” that serve as the operational layer of Web3. Below are several resources that describe this phenomenon in more detail:

Smart Contract Platform Landscape:

• 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

Scalability:

• 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

Layer 1s:

• Ethereum 2.0 Upgrades Explained - Sharding, Beacon Chain, Proof of Stake by Whiteboard Crypto
• Solana: Solana Summer by Packy McCormick
• Terra: Terra: To the Moon and Back by Packy McCormick
• Avalanche: What Is Avalanche? A Look at the Popular ‘Ethereum-Killer’ Blockchain by Ekin Genç

Layer 2s:

• 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

What is the Metaverse? The metaverse is an interconnected network of virtual worlds that will replace the web as the primary way in which we access information. Read below to learn more:

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

What is Web3s Infrastructure? The infrastructure of Web3 will differ from what we are used to today. Below are several resources detailing the core components of this new world:

• Overview of Web3 Infrastructure: 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
• Decentralized Internet: Will Helium finally make IoT a reality? By Preethi Kasireddy
• Wallets & Identity: 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
• Providers: What is Infura? By Tim Copeland, Pocket Networks Investment Thesis by Dermot O’Riordan and Lior Messika
• Decentralized Storage: 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
• Querying: Our investment in The Graph by Kyle Samani
• Oracles: What is the Blockchain Oracle Problem? by Chainlink, Blockchain Oracles Explained by Vallery Mou, An Introduction to Chainlink by Grayscale
• Shared Compute: Rendering the Metaverse by Kyle Samani
• Bridges: 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:

• High Fees: Yes, Ethereum has a Gas Problem by Mike Fay
• Volatility: What Skeptics Get Wrong About Crypto’s Volatility by Omid Malekan
• Environmental Concerns: 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
• Interoperability: The Interoperability Trilemma by Arjun Bhuptani, Blockchains Have a ‘Bridge’ Problem, and Hackers Know It by Lily Hay Newman
• MEV: Miner Extractable Value: the good, the bad & the ugly by Panther Team
• User Experience: I think there is a User Experience problem in Web3 by Mentie Omotejowho
• Crime: 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:

• 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