BITCOIN INFORMATION & RESOURCES
Some further resources to help learn more about Bitcoin and is found on Lopp.net from Jameson Lopp.
Getting Started➣
What is Bitcoin? Why is it unique? How does it work? Why should you care?
Setting up a Wallet➣
There are dozens of wallets to choose from when it comes to securing your private keys. Hardware, software, metal, paper, each with their own trade-offs. Remember: if you aren’t holding your own private keys, you don’t actually own BTC – you only own an IOU!
Running a Node➣
Holding your own keys ensures you can’t lose money due to mistakes made by other people. Running a full node ensures no one can trick you into accepting invalid payments. Running and using your own node gives you the strongest security model available.
The History of Bitcoin➣
Bitcoin didn’t appear out of thin air – it is the result of decades of work. Many digital currency projects failed before it succeeded. Understanding how we got here will help you understand where we’re going.
News Sites➣
It is hard to find trustworthy reporting in the crypto space. Many “news” sites are pay-to-play or have incentives to favor certain projects. My recommended sites feature quality content and don’t publish press releases as news.
Discussion Forums➣
Bitcoin is an open collaborative project. As such, public discussion of current events and improvement proposals is crucial to its healthy evolution.
Network Statistics➣
There are a plethora of metrics available about different aspects of the network. They can help us track its adoption and use.
Transaction Fee Estimates➣
Miners maximize their profits by confirming transactions with the highest processing fees. Since the demand for transactions fluctuates it can be hard to know the appropriate fee. A variety of fee estimation services are available to help users navigate the fee market.
Block Explorers➣
The blockchain is a public ledger of every transaction that has ever happened. Explorers provide us with a view of this history, enabling us to follow the flow of money. You can also drill down into specific addresses and transactions.
Visualizations➣
Visual representations of the data on the blockchain can simplify analysis of trends. Plus, some of them are entertaining to watch!
Mining➣
Mining is an important aspect of Bitcoin’s security. Miners timestamp batches of transactions and make it expensive to roll back history. The time, skills, and investment required to mine profitably place it out of reach for most hobbyists. Stay away from cloud mining – it’s often a scam, or more expensive than directly buying BTC!
Data Anchoring➣
The blockchain is useful for more than simple transfers of BTC between peers. It can also create immutable timestamped records of small amounts of data. This enables other protocols and applications to make use of Bitcoin’s security properties.
Technical Resources➣
If you want to understand low level details of the protocol, this documentation will get you up to speed. These resources are useful for developers who want to build robust applications on top of the blockchain.
Developer Tools➣
There are many open source tools available to help developers save time. There’s no need to re-invent the wheel!
Security➣
Managing private keys to “be your own bank” is no small task. It can involve complex processes if you want thorough protection against many threats. There’s also a balance against making it so complex that you lose access to your own keys – keep it as simple as possible!
Privacy➣
Contrary to popular belief, cryptocurrency is not anonymous. There are many ways you might leak information that can be used to identify your activity on the network. Understanding the risks can help you mitigate them with software and best practices.
Online & Offline Classes➣
Check these out if you learn well from structured lectures and challenges. The online courses are free or low cost while the offline ones are faster paced with more feedback.
Documentaries➣
Bitcoin is not just a technology – it’s helping people all around the world. You can learn about the impact it’s making from a variety of documentaries.
Video Presentations➣
Conferences, meetups, and individuals discuss every aspect of this multifaceted ecosystem. As a result, thousands of hours of educational content are available for free.
Podcasts➣
A great way to keep up with current events. Quality podcasts provide high signal / low noise digestible information.
Blogs➣
Long-form thought pieces go into far greater detail than you’ll find via other mediums. Quality blog posts expand our understanding via theses and analysis.
Books➣
These works go into great detail about the system or ideas that are foundational to its value and operation.
Twitter➣
It’s not a great medium for nuanced discussion, but Twitter is an easy way to track news and sentiment.
Investment Theses➣
Financial systems are complex and there are a variety of use cases for this system. As a result there are a variety of perspectives for why investing in BTC may be a prudent decision.
Buying & Earning BTC➣
If you want to use bitcoin you must first own some. You can exchange other money for BTC or you can earn it by selling goods & services. A variety of platforms are available for both buying & earning.
Advanced Trading➣
WARNING: a great way to lose your money is by playing the trading game as an amateur! Don’t invest more into BTC than you can afford to lose. Don’t trade more BTC than you are willing to lose, either!
Exchange Rate Data➣
Cryptocurrency trades 24/7/365 on hundreds of markets around the world. Due to volatility it can be important to have reliable realtime data if you’re engaging in trade with BTC.
Merchant Adoption➣
Today innumerable merchants accept BTC in return for goods and services. Many tools are available for merchants to integrate cryptocurrency payments into their systems.
Tax Accounting➣
Volatility, regulatory complexities, and poor software can make tax accounting a nightmare. These services can ingest transaction and trade data to calculate capital gains.
Careers➣
The investment of capital into the ecosystem grows each year. This results in more full time employment opportunities. You don’t have to be a developer to contribute to this industry!
Charities➣
Censorship resistant currency enables us to send money directly to those who need it. We no longer need worry about corrupt governments or fickle middlemen intercepting funds.
Legal➣
The regulatory landscape is in flux due to the rapid pace of technological development. Several firms and individuals focus on this sector and share their interpretation of recent events.
Economics➣
Permissionless protocols enable anyone to program their own economic rules. We can now experiment with economic theories at an unprecedented pace.
Governance➣
Bitcoin’s governance is often misunderstood because it’s informal. It’s further confusing to newcomers because it’s inverted in comparison to traditional governance. No one can dictate the system’s governance, but we can describe it from observation.
Forks➣
Because no one controls Bitcoin, no one can stop people from creating modified versions of it. But it’s hard to overcome the network effect and convince users to switch to a new protocol.
Other Resources➣
This site attempts to list every quality educational resource. Even so, you may find other resources compiled by the maintainers of these other lists.