Getting started with crypto: resources

Great illustration from The Verge

If you’re feeling new to bitcoin and crypto, you’re not alone: we’re all new to this. And it’s completely within reach to understand, despite it being enshrouded in cryptic and technical terminology. Having worked in crypto for nearly 7 months, I thought it’d be useful to share resources to help you get started on your crypto journey.

The basics: the origin of bitcoin and a high-level view

• A New York Times Magazine article Beyond the Bitcoin Bubble
• A 5 minute video about how bitcoin works
• Hash Power — A Documentary on Blockchains & Cryptocurrencies (3x 1-hour podcasts)
• Cryptocurrency’s Netscape Moment — by Elad Gil
• The Age of Cryptocurrency by Paul Vigna and Michael Casey from the WSJ — more a narrative look at the history of bitcoin/digital money and a good starting point.
• The Coinbase Secret Master Plan from CEO Brian Armstrong, which helps describe how we think crypto will evolve
• Tim Ferriss’s conversation with Naval Ravikant and Nick Szabo on his podcast
• This great talk by the founding developer of Ethereum, Vitalik Bueterin, in conversation with Naval Ravikant

More advanced topics

• A look at Cryptokitties and why non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are innovative
• Video about ERC20 tokens — there are many that will become important, some of which are already listed on Coinbase (like 0x and USD Coin)
• Taxonomy of stablecoins from Token Daily

Newsletters I subscribe to:

• Token Economy — weekly newsletter
• Token Daily — daily newsletter
• Crypto Weekly
• MIT Technology Review’s Chain Letter(Tuesdays and Thursdays)

Other reading lists

• a16z crypto canon (overwhelming)
• Coinbase’s reading list (better but less up-to-date)