Blockchain 101: A Starters Guide

What is blockchain? Some links to get you started

Here’s a bold prediction: Blockchain will do to transactions what the internet did to information.

It sounds far-reaching, because it is.

Blockchain is a digital record;

At its heart, a blockchain is a record of transactions, like a traditional ledger. These transactions can be any movement of money, goods or secure data. It’s designed to store information in a way that makes it virtually impossible to add, remove or change data without being detected by other users making it extremely secure, and since verification comes from the consensus of multiple users – it’s completely decentralized, essentially cutting out middle-men and authorities such as governments, credit cards or clearing houses.

People who know me can attest that I tend to get passionate about certain things, and with blockchain technology, I’ve certainly found myself ranting about blockchain to friends, family and even strangers:P

“Okay cool – where can I learn more about blockchain”

 – is a question I occasionally get. So if you too are interested in better understanding the basic concepts and lingo – keep reading, these links are for you:

• “The Blockchain and Us” by Manuel Stagars is a fantastic documentary that gives a great overview of the potential role blockchain will play in the future of tech:

• Nick Szabo (“smart contract” ideator) and & Naval Ravikant (of AngelList) delve deep into the philosophy of transactions and discuss Bitcoin, Ethereum, Blockchain, ICOs and much more with Tim Ferris:

• If you’re looking for a deeper understanding of the mechanics of Blockchain – check out this video.

Blockchain news & updates

• Coindesk and CoinTelegraph are my go to destinations for staying informed with blockchain news.
• Coindesk release a “Q1 2017 State of the Blockchain” whitepaper that can be found here.
• ETHNews is a great resource

Cryptocurrencies

• Coinmarketcap is where I go to see real time crates and transaction data of all cryptocurrencies.
• “Wait, there are other cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin?” Yes – 850 and counting. Should you know all of them? Heck no. Most of them are copycat garbage at best. This article gives a nice overview of the cryptocurrencies worth knowing (although there are certainly some additional ones that deserve an honerable mention IMO including Golem, Steem, Basic Attention Token and more…).

What is Ethereum?

• Think decentralized supercomputer – here’s a great 2 minute video by CNBC explaining Bitcoin vs. Ethereum:

• Interested in digging deeper into Ethereum? My buddy Alex Fisher put together this Intro to Ethereum presentation

Some additional resources:

Wallets:
– https://www.bitaddress.org
– https://www.myetherwallet.com/
– https://electrum.org/#home
– Tails OS: https://tails.boum.org/install/mac/usb/index.en.html
– Tails OS: https://tails.boum.org/contribute/design/installation/
– Puri.sm: https://puri.sm/
– https://www.bitcoin.com/choose-your-wallet/bitcoin-com-wallet
– https://btcarmory.com/
– Cold Storage: https://glacierprotocol.org/

Transaction Tracking:
– Blockchain.info – https://blockchain.info
– https://blockchain.info/unconfirmed-transactions
– ** Ethereum Block Explorer: https://etherscan.io/

Docs:
– ** https://cryptohustle.com/bitcoin-and-cryptocurrencies-for-beginners
– https://99bitcoins.com
– https://medium.com/blockchain-blog/31-must-read-blockchain-crypto-currency-documents-af287334830e
– Rowlingstone Weekly Report Newsletter – https://us5.campaign-archive.com/?u=466bdbd90d1a5b0e6f7ef0eab&id=60720cc270
– Hutch Report Newsletter – https://www.thehutchreport.com/feature-report/
– Fivedogit’s Ethereum 101: Fivedogit’s Ethereum 101

Hardware Wallets:
– https://99bitcoins.com/ledger-nano-s-review-bitcoin-wallet-better-than-trezor/
– https://99bitcoins.com/trezor-vs-ledger-hands-hardware-wallets-review/
– https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/6wxtm7/ledger_nano_s_vs_trezor_comparison/

Podcasts:

• The Ether Review is a great resource
• The folks at Epicenter.TV do long form interviews with top industry experts
• Primer on Cryptos
• Charts:
• Cryptowatch 
• Coincap
• Crypto visualization / heatmap
• https://www.tradingview.com/

Exchanges:
Exchange Volume: https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/volume/24-hour/
ShapeShift
* Binance – https://www.binance.com
HitBTC – https://hitbtc.com/
* GDAX
Changelly – https://changelly.com/ – Exchange formats
Coinigy- https://www.coinigy.com/ – Multiple Exchanges
* bittrex
(avoid) Bitfinex – https://www.bitfinex.com/
BitMEX – https://www.bitmex.com/
https://www.bitfinex.com/ethfinex
Uphold – https://uphold.com/
Poloniex – https://poloniex.com/exchange

ICOs:
OmiseGO – OMG
Golem – imapp – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1QCm09BvP4
NEO (Chinese)
BCH – https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin-cash/
LTC
Ripple
Gold Peg – Digixdao – https://medium.com/@colbymort/digixdao-the-future-of-gold-a-solid-investment-cdcd68ff4735
Loopring – https://loopr.io/
Colony – decentralized platform – 2018q2 – https://blog.colony.io/the-colony-token-sale-7ac14c845bc0

Intro:
– Crypto Meetup – “Be Your Own Bank” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoYB6WpR4EI&list=PLMYXOECmZ0df9hC_VZI6ZU8LyUmGa3YRo

Privacy:
– https://www.amazon.com/Art-Invisibility-Worlds-Teaches-Brother/dp/0316380504

Miners:
– https://whattomine.com/
– Relative Profits for Which Miners: https://fork.lol/

Example dApps:
– https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/7d1g5v/mainstream_companies_are_building_apps_on_the/
– https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/comments/7fw7xo/ethereum_dapps_expected_to_launch_very_soon/

– https://funfair.io/
– https://www.larvalabs.com/cryptopunks
– https://www.uport.me/
– https://www.provenance.org/
– https://www.openbazaar.org/
– https://augur.net/
– https://saltlending.com/

I’ll do my best to keep adding resources and keep this page up to date. Anything important I forgot? Send me a note!