What To Read To Understand Cryptocurrencies
Just writing a quick blog post to answer a question I get asked many times: what should I read to ‘get’ cryptocurrencies.
The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains, by Anthony Lewis
It’s no fun to read but it’s also not tedious or difficult; it’s one of those rare reads that’s both approachable and complete.
If you understand the concepts in this, you’ll have a deeper understanding of cryptocurrencies than 99% of the population and Bitcoin will make sense to you, along with industry jargon like ‘proof of work’, ‘consensus mechanism’, ‘peer-to-peer’, decentralised, self-custody, hashrate, etc.
I’ve recommended this to some people who then responded they weren’t too keen on learning about Bitcoin as they saw this as an energy inefficient, slow and ‘not as useful as newer blockchains’. I really plead any of those to reconsider. The architecture and concept along with the success of Bitcoin are core to everything that ensued. Period. And just like learning Latin and Greek makes you understand latin languages in a more powerful way, having this foundation (Bitcoin) is crucial to understanding any blockchain architecture.
https://www.amazon.com.au/Basics-Bitcoins-Blockchains-Anthony-Lewis/dp/1633538001
“Bitcoin — The Libertarian Introduction”, Erik Voorhees
Definitely more opinionated and political but this 20–30min. read explains why cryptocurrency advocate, well, feel so strongly about cryptocurrencies. You’ll learn about the inherent flaws in the fiat -unbacked- currencies and the inevitable inflation (or in this case: long-term depreciation) of currencies along with the risks linked to trusting centralised entities, for those who can access it in the first place.
Youtube Channels: Coinbureau and Crypto Whiteboard
For the more visual of us, I’d recommend checking out two YouTube channels which cover a very broad range of topics in the crypto space.
Coinbureau is managed by a crypto OG who does an amazing job at staying clear, concise, complete while simplifying every concept and dynamic.
https://www.youtube.com/@CoinBureau
Whiteboard Crypto is definitely not as intelligent in the way it’s constructed but actually broaches on more complex concepts and tries to break them down in slightly more digestible pieces. Great for when you want to look at a specific part of the space (eg. “what are automated market maker” or “how do atomic swaps work”).
Both channels will give the opportunity to dive into much more recent and cutting edge stuff, with new protocol, new dApps, new tokenomics, money-making strategies and their inherent risks, etc.
Crypto is Macro Now, Noelle Acheson (newsletter)
I wouldn’t recommend a paid subscription for the uninitiated but this is the only newsletter I follow and diligently read every morning.
This will be more interesting for investors, ex-tradfi people or people familiar with macroeconomic concepts. Noelle is brilliant commentator, ex head of research at Coindesk, then Genesis, and now freelance. She’s often featured on Bloomberg and other financial media and shares thoughts in her newsletter on what’s happening in the world, with currencies, regulators, geopolitical news, crypto drama, innovation, charts, etc.
Podcasts from Blockworks and Delphi Digital
Not doing it on purpose but I realise I’m using different types of resources and they amount to essentially what I use in my own research.
They’re not easy to grasp but it’s worth checking out podcasts. My two favourite ones are: the different podcasts by Blockworks, and, The Delphi Podcast. I’d also give an honourable mention to Galaxy Brains.
Crypto-Native Research Firms
They’re really -really- hard to get into but for the people who worked in PE, VC, M&A and are used to long and in-depth reads, I can’t say enough good things about Delphi Digital research.
It’s also worth digging into Messari for shorter and more specific dynamics.
I also love to check out Glassnode for on-chain data, a quite specific but fundamental way to look at the crypto space and understand the activity that takes place on the various chains and across different wallets, entities, and smart-contracts. They give colour and a real sense to a lot of concepts that are discussed but never observed unless you use, benefit, suffer from, or actually study the onchain moves.
Other Interesting Things To Check Out
News will come mostly from Unfolded —
If you need to find any whitepaper:
