The Crypto Guide: How to find your way around the world of blockchain

 Have you discovered the magic of the crypto world but you are struggling to catch up with the latest trends, events and all the amazing projects out there? Well, this article is for you then. Don’t worry you are not the only one who experiences this problem. Blockchain is the buzzword of the year for a reason. Many of the brightest minds of today believe the blockchain technology will turn the world upside down in the same way the internet did a few decades ago.  

There is a plethora of sources out there where you can find why is that, thus I won’t go deeper into that. If you have caught a glimpse of the technology’s potential, however, you will certainly appreciate some advice how to stay up to date in the ever-evolving world of blockchain. I have been following Bitcoin since 2012, and here is what has been working quite well for me. Chances are it will work for you, too. 

 Nerds, Gurus, and Visionaries  

As mentioned above, Bitcoin has brought a completely new industry which now employs thousands of people. New projects as well as new personas with great insight are popping up constantly. There are a few prominent figures that are definitely worth to follow while on your journey to blockchain enlightenment. Andreas Antonopoulos is certainly such a person. In his book Mastering Bitcoin you will find everything you need to know about Bitcoin. It might be a bit too technical for a layman but it’s definitely worth to read. Roger Ver was supposedly the first one who invested in Bitcoin-related companies. He also runs bitcoin.com which is a great starting point for newbies. There is also bitcoin.org which is very similar site run by the core developers who are sometimes prone to censor certain opinions, though. Another pioneer is Vitalik Buterin, the mastermind behind Ethereum and all its recent controversy. Speaking of which, Charles Hoskinson abandoned Ethereum (or did he?) after the fork to continue developing the truly immutable version of Ethereum (Classic). The two might not share certain opinions but you can definitely learn from them. 

Adam Back is a highly esteemed cryptographer. He works at Blockstream on the concept of side chains. A very smart guy — and you should definitely follow him. It might be surprising but the Bitcoin world does not belong only to men! Powerful female figures include Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof  who founded Bitnation — the first virtual nation on the blockchain — or Pamela Morgan. If you are also into economics in general (and bowties) you might be interested to follow Jeffrey Tucker — I love him and you will love him as well. There are many smart people in the field but I can’t name them all so the last one I am going to mention is Erik Voorhees, one of the Bitcoin earliest early adopters.  

 Media

There are dozens of websites dedicated solely to the crypto world, but assuming you are merely a human being with 24 hours in a day, I am going to choose only few I consider to be the best. My favorite is The Cointelegraph. I don’t skip any of their updates they are sending me every day to my mailbox. Moreover, I love their pics! Coindesk is a must, too. On bitcoinist.net you can find pretty decent amount of blockchain-related information. My last top pick would be The Merkle.  

If you want to find out more not only about DASH, which is another very cool cryptocurrency, but also many other things I definitely recommend you to subscribe to Dash Detailed on youtube. Its host Amanda B. Johnson is not only entertaining and charming, but also a first human being paid by the blockchain! Oh yeah — that’s how awesome the governance model of DASH is. Have no clue what I am talking about? Never mind, just keep reading. If you want to explore how blockchain really works Khan Academy might be of some help, too.  
Podcasts are a very efficient way to soak up useful information. My number one is definitely Lets talk bitcoin! It is produced by a bunch of different people and it feeds your brain daily. And you know what? They pay you for listening. Sounds impossible? Well, check it out on your own. Once you run out of their episodes go for Bitcoin knowledge podcast.  
Needless to say that Reddit  is a very precious source of insightful takes on almost any matter. If you are truly serious about your new crypto passion then it is reasonable to go for books too. I mentioned Mastering Bitcoin where you can find pretty detailed information about the way Bitcoin works. If you prefer more big picture and more general approach opt for Tapscotts’ Blockchain Revolution. Non-technical beginners will appreciate The age of cryptocurrency. 

 Crypto projects

Well, to write about crypto projects is like writing about drops in ocean. They are just too many of them. Nonetheless, I am going to name a few that I haven’t so far, and I think you should know about it because they are amazing. Let’s start with Factom. They aim to change the way organizations and institutions secure and share their data. Decent on the other hand intends to build something like Amazon and Spotify combined on top of their blockchain. Synereo is going to be a platform upon which other applications can, and will be built. But the first thing what they want to accomplish is something like Facebook on blockchain — yes you hear right — a social media platform with no one to censor things! Storj is going to be an encrypted cloud storage. MaidSafe is even more ambitious than that. The group around David Irvine wants to encrypt and decentralize the whole internet. God bless those Scots! Christopher David and his folks at Arcade City are building up a decentralize ride-sharing app — don’t tell to Uber guys because they might get headache.  

 Others

There are few important links left to know in order to have all the knowledge necessary. First of all, a very nice overview of all crypto coins can be found at coinmarketcap.com. If you want to find out which exchanges, wallets or any other crypto services are best — you go to cryptocompare.com. If you think about investing into crypto there are plenty of exchanges to choose from. For buying bitcoins I’d suggest Bitstamp or Coinmate (accepting EUR through SEPA payments). When buying altcoins you can go for Poloniex, Bittrex or dozens of others. As in any field, it always pays off to be the first one to invest into the project that may rise to the moon. It is a common practice for crypto projects to get their funding through ICO (Initial Coin Offering). An overview of such events can be found for instance here.  

Okey, that’s about it. The crypto guide in a nutshell. I hope you find it useful, and that it will help you to explore the beautiful world of decentralization. I’d be more than happy to hear your comments, ideas, and suggestions for further quality sources. Thanks for reading!  
 

PS: If you made it all they way down here you certainly deserve to get something extra! There is one place in this world where all this crypto magic interferes with our physical world. As a Muslim goes to Mecca, a crypto-enthusiast must visit Paralelní Polis in Prague. More so at the end of September as all the crypto-lovers are gathering in Prague at HCPP16.