The world of crypto assets is often a rather daunting and confusing place. As a newcomer, it can be difficult to hone in on good information to start your Bitcoin educational journey off right.
With that in mind, we thought we’d put together this reading list of resources aimed to help newbies find their feet in crypto quicker. Every individual armed with good information and a passion for Bitcoin is a promotional asset to the wider digital currency movement, which, of course, we’d love to see grow.
Expand Your Bitcoin Knowledge, Fast!
In an effort to promote greater Bitcoin understanding globally, respected advocate of the space and CasaHODL CEO, Jameson Lopp has just overhauled one of the space’s best resources for those wanting to get started in digital currency. Lopp Tweeted the following of the website redesign earlier today:
https://t.co/8ZsrcEwSfa has been reorganized to improve readability and scalability – 500 links on a single page was a bit much! Still plenty of work to do, but feedback is appreciated.
— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) June 11, 2019
Lopp’s list of resources is reportedly open source and the coder and CEO requests that feedback on the material be submitted via GitHub. It is an ideal first stop for a budding crypto enthusiast or further learner and has pages dedicated to beginner concepts, along with much more advanced literature focused on mining, understanding how fees are calculated, and even working out what taxes you might owe through investing or trading.
The material Lopp has sourced is from a variety of different contributors and is presented in both original documents – such as the Bitcoin Whitepaper itself – along with video summaries of different concepts and numerous articles. Conveniently, Lopp has labelled different resources as “non-technical”, “a bit technical”, etc.
Another resource we recommend for those absolute beginners wanting to get an overview of the potential impact that Bitcoin could have on the planet is Andreas Antonopoulos’s second book on Bitcoin, The Internet of Money. We recommend starting with his second book since it has been comprised of talks by the computer scientist, often delivered to rooms full of people without technical backgrounds. As a primer to the subject, it’s a relatively easy read that has no doubt been responsible for the enduring crypto passions of many readers.
For those wanting to delve more into the computer science side of digital currency, Antonopoulos’s first book, Mastering Bitcoin, is perfect to start thinking about actually building applications on the Bitcoin network. Be warned, however, after the first few chapters, the author does get highly technical. We’d only recommend a deep dive into this one if you have an interest in creating applications, have a strong background in coding, or have read everything else you can get your hands on. This first chapters are also useful for starting to understand some technical aspects of Bitcoin from the layperson’s perspective. However, it does get deep pretty quickly.
If you’re more interested in the implications of Bitcoin set in historical context, we recommend Saifedean Ammous’s book, The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking. In his work, the Lebanese professor of economics discusses the current fiat monetary system as an historical anomaly. He looks at how economies of yesteryear that were based on sound money – gold – were able to prosper and how a future economy backed by Bitcoin could create a shift in the very consuming habits of humanity. He argues that hard money – gold, Bitcoin – encourage people to save rather than spend. This in turn could reduce the rampant consumerism that much of society is based around today and that is systematically destroying the delicate ecosystem in which we live through waste and unnecessary manufacturing.
Ammous’s book has been criticised by some for brushing over certain aspects of history to suit the Austrian economic narrative that the author obviously identifies with. Whilst we definitely recommend giving it a read if you’re wanting to understand more about where Bitcoin could be heading and why it is an important reaction against fiat currency, we also recommend taking a critical eye to the text, rather than receiving it as gospel.
Finally, if you have little ones and you want to get them started in the world of crypto, all of the above might be a little overwhelming for them. For these young learners, we recommend the recently penned, B is for Bitcoin. Author and crypto enthusiast Graham Moore explains his work in the following video.
This book might have your kid mining Bitcoin by their next birthday. pic.twitter.com/Sv1zzgIFQZ
— VICE Canada (@vicecanada) June 4, 2019
As you can see, B is for Bitcoin is certainly simplified and will introduce important concepts to your kids. However, as a parent, unless you’re up-to-speed with the other resources listed above you might find your little one asking you a few potentially awkward questions. Put simply, when you get up to “D is for Decentralise…. all of the things” you’re probably going to at least need to explain the concept of decentralisation in a way that a very young child can understand, as well as exactly why it’s perceived as being an important quality. So, you’d better hit the books first then!
Related Reading: Bitcoin Becomes “Money,” One Satoshi Now More Valuable Than Some National Currencies
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