A common thread among all emergent technologies is that there numerous misconceptions, general confusion, and many times, outright dismissiveness of the particular technology.
While that is to be expected for most young technological innovations, it is striking in its gravity among Bitcoin’s critics and people who even still tout ‘blockchain, not Bitcoin.’
Historically, the rise of new technology — such as the Internet — presents unique challenges in helping people to overcome the barrier to understanding precisely what it is, as well as its potential. This is mainly because such technologies are unprecedented, and access to information was much less accessible before the modern web.
However, with Bitcoin, it’s different. People now have access to the most open and wide-ranging repository of information in history (i.e., the Internet) and sagacious analysis of the origins of money.
Despite the consistently increasing volumes of metrics, analysis, and general information on Bitcoin and its underlying technologies, the problem of onboarding more people is still evident.
People may disagree with the underlying value proposition of Bitcoin, but it is continually frustrating when the arguments against it draw from a place of ignorance about basic concepts within the technology and broader monetary perspective of the legacy cryptocurrency.
Conversely, for people seeking more resources on Bitcoin, it can seem like a daunting task. Varied information is dispersed across the Internet, the technology is complicated, the notion of social consensus abstract, and placing Bitcoin in the context of the history of money is bizarre for people who just learned that fiat money is a relatively new phenomenon.
Curated resource lists are hard to find many times, so we decided to provide a directory of some of the best resources for learning about Bitcoin, its technology, and social/economic impact.
We have created our own guide to Bitcoin here at Blockonomi, so use that as a starting point.
It is by no means a comprehensive list, and there will assuredly be quality content left out, but we hope it can be a start on the journey towards greater knowledge about Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Books
Books are often the best way to grasp the broader concept of a complex topic before diving into the details, and fortunately, some authors have furnished excellent works to help onboard people interested in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
- The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking — By Saifedean Ammous
Saifedean Ammous’ work is a comprehensive overview of how variants of money have developed dating back to the Yapese Rai Stones. By placing emphasis on specific characteristics of sound money and its effect on social and economic developments, Ammous provides a compelling narrative that places Bitcoin within the context of humanity’s perception of money. - Mastering Bitcoin: Programming The Open Blockchain — By Andreas Antonopoulos
Quite possibly the best spokesman for Bitcoin, Antonopoulos is one of the leading proponents for the legacy cryptocurrency, and his first book helped to inspire many people to join the Bitcoin community. While more technically focused than Ammous’ work, Mastering Bitcoin unveils some of the most profound design features and implications of Bitcoin and is a must-read for anyone looking to learn more. - The Internet of Money (Volumes 1 & 2) — By Andreas Antonopoulos
The next two works by Antonopoulos are derived from his many lectures, presentations, and public events from around the world where he has strived to promote and educate people about Bitcoin. Through a series of essays, The Internet of Money contextualizes the ‘why’ of Bitcoin and is an outstanding beginning for people looking for a broader, and briefer, overview of the cryptocurrency. - Programming Bitcoin: Learn How To Program Bitcoin From Scratch — By Jimmy Song
Recently released and developer-oriented, Song’s book focuses on teaching Python developers how to build a Bitcoin library from scratch. His book elucidates the more complex technical components of Bitcoin to developers (i.e., Bitcoin’s Script language), and is the most comprehensive guide to programming Bitcoin to date. - Bitcoin Money: A Tale of Bitville Discovering Good Money — By Michael Caras
Targeted towards children, Caras’ book takes the complex topics of Bitcoin and the economics behind it and conveys the content in a way that is digestible and valuable to children, and even adults. - Essays on Bitcoin — Compiled by John Gleeson
Essays on Bitcoin is a free e-book that is comprised of a series of essays from many prominent Bitcoin community members and their takes on the original cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin Blogs
There are some incredible blog series out there for people to follow that bring unique takes and analysis to the many components of Bitcoin that are often overlooked.
From data insights to abstract takes on the social impact of Bitcoin, blog series can become one of the most intuitive ways to gather relevant perspectives on the consistently evolving Bitcoin.
- The Bitcoin Whitepaper by Satoshi Nakamoto
- Nick Szabo — The Unenumerated — Speaks for itself.
- Paul Sztorc — Truthcoin — Insightful and comprehensive analysis of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
- Satoshi Nakamoto Institute — The Complete Writings of Satoshi
- Satoshi Nakamoto Institute — Literature Section
- BitMEX Research — The best industry research in the space.
- Bitcoin Tech Talk — Medium publication featuring a variety of authors and analysis — Newsletter
- Vijay Boyapati — The Bullish Case for Bitcoin
- Jimmy Song — Bitcoin Educator and Developer.
- Jameson Lopp — Bitcoin Programmer and CTO at Casa.
- Willy Woo — Cryptocurrency investment and trading metrics analysis.
- Nic Carter — Partner at Castle Island Ventures with insightful analysis of Bitcoin.
- Hasu — Independent cryptocurrency researcher on multiple aspects of Bitcoin and crypto industry.
- BitFury Research — Comprehensive and insightful industry analysis.
- Tuur Demeester — Excellent economics analysis of Bitcoin.
- Elaine Ou — Elaine’s Idle Mind — Compelling cryptocurrency analysis among broader topics.
- Uncommon Core — A dual blog by Hasu and Su Zhu (CEO of Three Arrows Capital).
- Blockstream Blog — A leading Bitcoin development company with some fascinating technology products.
Bitcoin Online Courses and Resource/Metrics Repositories
Online courses are a powerful discovery for the hungry mind in the digital era. Classes and resources on Bitcoin, blockchain, and crypto are becoming increasingly prevalent and offer some of the most well-defined pathways for learning more about Bitcoin.
- Jameson Lopp’s Bitcoin Information and Resources — Likely the most comprehensive Bitcoin resource list available.
- Satoshi Nakamoto Institute — Various resources on Bitcoin’s history, design, literature, and more.
- Blockchain Transparency Institute — A must for new investors looking to avoid wash trading and bad exchanges.
- Coursera — Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies — Follows Princeton Book on Bitcoin.
- Udemy — Series of Bitcoin videos and lectures.
- Blockchain at Berkeley — edX Courses for Bitcoin and blockchain technology.
- Khan Academy — Bitcoin courses and video lectures.
- Buidl Bootcamp — Developer courses for Bitcoin (in Python) by Justin Moon.
- Bitcoin for Beginners — Andreas Antonopoulos YouTube series.
- Bitcoin Designed — Design resources and infographics for Bitcoin.
Statistical Charts, Network Charts, and Block Explorers
Once you have a firm grasp on the overarching concept of Bitcoin and how it functions, metrics websites and open-source analytics tools can become exceptionally useful for understanding the inner workings of a public blockchain.
Many of the below websites are powerful mediums for evaluating real-time data (i.e., mining difficulty, transaction volume, etc.) that can be practical for a variety of applications.
- Coinmetrics — Excellent data charts, graphs, insights, and analysis.
- Messari/OnChainFX — Everything from crypto news to analysis and metrics.
- BitcoinVisuals — In-depth Bitcoin blockchain and Lightning Network metrics.
- BitcoinWisdom — Excellent charts and data for Bitcoin’s mining and difficulty.
- Blockhain.com — Custodial wallet service with comprehensive charts and on-chain metrics for Bitocin.
- P2SH — Transaction and network metrics for Bitcoin.
- Nomics — Cryptocurrency resources and market data.
- CoinDance — Comprehensive metrics and network statistics on Bitcoin — includes interesting information on LocalBitcoins in various geographical regions as well.
Conclusion
Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list of all the quality resources available on Bitcoin. There are more categories, including podcasts, conferences, video presentations, the Bitcoin subreddit, merchant directories, professional trading resources, cryptoeconomics literature, developer tools, wiki guides, and much more. Bitcoin spawned an entire industry, and it is promising to know that its abundance of resources is continually expanding.
We believe that the above resources should be an effective start for any newcomer (or critic) who would like to learn more about the fundamental value proposition, technical design, and social/economic impact that Bitcoin can have.
For core cryptocurrency components, many of the above resources can also help to supplement your knowledge as we all know how fast everything in the crypto sphere moves.
And in the world of cryptocurrencies, always remember — don’t trust, verify.
