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Blockchain, Bitcoin and Crypto for Newbies

Jobs on the Block
Adventures in Consumer Technology
8 min readSep 6, 2017

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So you would like to get to know more about Blockchain and Crypto, but you don’t know where to start…. Well you have come to the right place. This post is part 1 of 5 of the Jobs on the Block education series.

In our previous post, we talked about how much of a need there is for Blockchain Talent. This is still very much a rare skillset, and jobs in this area are very lucrative. We want to do our part in helping fill the skills gap so that you can take the next steps in your career.

The amount of information published about Bitcoin, Blockchain technologies and Cryptocurrency is astounding! When we first heard about this sector a few years ago, we were blown away with how much useful content the community publishes. The challenge with distributed technologies is that you also end up with lots of distributed information, so we did our best to aggregate some of the most useful starting points. Hopefully this guide will help you out whether you are just a n00b purchasing your first Bitcoin or Eth, or if you are ready to dive into your first DLT development project.

We are about to take you down the rabbit hole, so we hope you are ready….

Blockchain Background Information

If you are unfamiliar with BlockChain, Bitcoin and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) — this is where to start first.

Ethereum

Unlike Bitcoin, which is considered a Cryptocurrency, Ethereum is considered a distributed world computer. It is designed as infrastructure for distributed apps (dapps) and smart contracts. Ethereum is the building block behind many of the popular tokens and distributed projects that you are hearing about, as it can power everything from digital identity to title registrations and prediction markets.

Crypto News Sites

While many of the minute to minute developments in the community happen in forums, slack channels, and on subreddits — there are still a few highly reputable news sources that cover the bigger stories. You can find everything notable about major technology updates, new projects and regulation on these sites.

Utility Sites

Once you buy your first Bitcoin or crypto token, you will probably want to keep an eye on its value. These sites feature up to the minute information on token prices, but there are also lots of good utilities to learn more about other Blockchain projects and upcoming token sales. Once these teams raise funds, they will likely be on the hunt for talent. That being said, if you want to invest in new projects — just make sure that you do your own due diligence. Buyer beware!

  • Coin Market Cap: This site consolidates pricing information on over 800 different tokens from almost all the major exchanges. One thing to keep an eye on is the overall market cap for all Crypto’s. It was roughly $18B on January 1st 2017, $98B on July 1st 2017 and $161B as of today (September 6th 2017).
  • Crypto Compare: This site also features live token prices, but also features reviews of various services, exchanges and Crypto related products such as hardware wallets and mining equipment. There are also various community features including publicly shared portfolios.
  • Blockfolio: A handy mobile app for keeping track of coin prices on the go. The alerts are very useful if you are trading more actively.
  • ICO Alert: This site features tons of information including a calendar of upcoming token and crowdsales. They also have detailed reviews of some of the more popular upcoming projects. Just be careful and invest in new tokens at your own risk.
  • Smith + Crown: This company produces some of the finest detailed research on the crypto market that there is. Their consulting services are utilized by banks and other large financial institutions. They also do a good job covering new token launches and major projects.
  • ICO Rating: This service acts as a rating agency for ICO’s. They perform detailed research and they have developed a proprietary method for scoring upcoming ICO’s.

Online Communities

This is where all the real hype and fodder surrounding Crypto comes from. There’s real news, fake news, meme’s, dreams, doubts and everything in between. Every project generally has its own subreddit, twitter, slack/telegram channel and github repo. These are the best ways to learn more from the user communities and get in touch with the core dev teams. You can usually find links to these specific communities on the footer of project websites.

Bitcoin & Token Wallets

Once you buy some Bitcoin or Tokens, you have to keep it somewhere secure. A wallet stores your private encryption key making sure that only you can access and send your tokens to others. That being said, there are online wallets, mobile wallets, offline wallets and even paper wallets. Most projects have their own wallet which you can install on your computer or mobile device, but it’s often easier to use a multi-token wallet.

  • Coinbase: Coinbase is technically a web based wallet, but it’s also the easiest place to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin and keep your wallet online. This service is very user friendly, and this is where you would tell your mom to buy bitcoin if she ever asked.
  • Ledger Wallet: One of the leading hardware “cold storage” wallets that lets you maintain ownership of your private keys offline.
  • Myetherwallet: A popular client-side browser based wallet for storing Ethereum and ERC-20 compatible tokens. Follow their security guidelines closely.

Popular Token Exchanges

Unless you plan on starting to mine your own coins, you will likely need to purchase them from an exchange. There are dozens of exchanges all over the world, but these are the more popular US Based exchanges where you can trade FIAT currencies into various tokens. The exchanges also handle the storage and security of your private keys. However, if you want a more secure option you will more than likely require your own wallet.

Podcasts

These shows are great material for your commute. Some of them feature shorter market and project roundups, while others go more in depth into certain topics.

  • Unchained: In this Forbes podcast, host Laura Shin talks with industry pioneers across tech, financial services, health care, government and other sectors about how the blockchain and fintech will open up new opportunities for incumbents, startups and everyday people to interact more efficiently, directly and globally.
  • Epicenter: Every week, hosts Brian Fabian Crain, Sebastien Couture and Meher Roy bring you in-depth conversations with some of the brightest minds in this burgeoning ecosystem of startups and open source projects. Their guests, which range from entrepreneurs, to academics, to industry experts, join the conversation from different locations around the globe, which gives Epicenter a truly international scope.
  • The Cryptoverse: Chris Coney’s daily show which features news and commentary on Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies and blockchains.
  • Bitcoin and Markets: This show comes out a few times a week and discusses cryptocurrency, blockchain, free markets and geopolitics.
  • The Blockchain Show: This weekly podcast that demystifies and promotes widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technology.

Reading Lists

We wish we could cover it all, but we can’t. There is a wealth of knowledge out there and we wanted to link you to some of the best compilations of more information on Blockchain technologies.

If only someone had only put together a comprehensive list like this when we got started in our Blockchain journey… We hope that this resource gets you started on your adventure and that this post wasn’t tl;dr.

If you found this blog post useful, please share it on social media!

If you have any thoughts, comments or additions, we would love to hear from you. Email us at contact@jobsontheblock.com

Stay tuned for part 2 of our Jobs on the Block Education Series: The most important skills for Blockchain Developers.

Originally published at jobsontheblock.com.

Blockchain
Bitcoin
Ethereum
Jobs
Cryptocurrency

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Jobs on the Block
Adventures in Consumer Technology

Written by Jobs on the Block

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Jobs on the Block is a resource for employers and job seekers to connect about exciting new opportunities in the Blockchain technology sector.

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