Launching the Introduction to Cryptocurrency
Today I’m launching Introduction to Cryptocurrency, an online course teaching the basics of programming cryptocurrencies. The first two modules are already released, and the remainder of the course will be coming out over the next few months.
Introduction to Cryptocurrency is a multidisciplinary exploration of cryptocurrencies from the ground up, spanning computer science, history, cryptography, and economics.
The course has nine modules in total:
- History: money, the cypherpunks, and Satoshi Nakamoto
- Cryptography 101: hashing, Merkle trees, and public-key crypto
- Decentralization, P2P networking, and gossip protocols (not yet released)
- Consensus, Byzantine fault-tolerance, and blockchains (not yet released)
- Game theory and cryptoeconomics (not yet released)
- Ethereum and decentralized computation (not yet released)
- Smart contract development 101 (not yet released)
- Smart contract security (not yet released)
- Approaches to scaling cryptocurrencies (not yet released)
I decided to make this Introduction to Cryptocurrency completely free, and I want to explain why.
When I first got into crypto, I had no idea where to start. There were no good educational resources — most textbooks and documentation were out of date, those that existed were poorly explained, and no one had laid out a clear path to learning this stuff. All of the important ideas were strewn across blog posts, articles, and Twitter conversations.
Eventually, I was able to get myself up to speed. But even today, there still are no good resources I’d confidently point a beginner towards. In my frustration, I decided a while back to write a short guide to blockchain development. To my chagrin, that post blew up and became the entrance point for many developers into the blockchain space. And it wasn’t even that good! It made me realize how hungry people are for a clear curriculum for understanding crypto.
I’m a teacher at heart. So I decided to make the course I would’ve wanted to take when I first started.
If you are in the same place I was, then this course is for you. There is so much innovation left to wring out of blockchains, and it’s the next generation of developers who’ll have to pick up that mantle. I’m hoping that’s you.
The course is primarily designed for programmers. But even if you’re not a programmer, you should get some value out of it. I encourage you to check it out — at worst, you’ll come away with a deeper appreciation for what makes cryptocurrencies so captivating and disruptive.
