How to Learn About Cryptocurrencies from Scratch

“Don’t get in, it’s a scam” “You’ll lose a lot of money” “The market is too complex”

These are just some of the comments people get every day, when talking about the cryptocurrency market. People all around the world look at the space as a money-losing machine, something too complex to understand. Well, if you want to lose money, there are thousands of other ways than just the crypto market. But if you can understand the technology, understand why it is important and what the future can be, the crypto market is a treasure chest.

It is Not as Difficult as You Think

It makes sense why people who are new to the field are easily discouraged to continue learning. Getting to understand Blockchain and cryptocurrency involves rigor and openness to learning new fields of knowledge.

Understanding the cryptocurrency sector, its technicalities, implications, and origins are something every prospective investor should do. Just like you research a company before buying its stock, you have to research the underlying technology – blockchain, before getting into cryptocurrencies.

In its essence, Blockchain is a new form of ideology. The roots of Blockchain lie in distributing trust in a network so that no one has to depend on any intermediary. Understanding how the trust is distributed, why would one need a distributed system and how its functions are a good start.

To help any upcoming person interested in understanding the new revolution, we have compiled a list of the best ways by which one can start doing so. We understand that going deep into the field and understanding the technical aspects might be tough. But to take a step back, understanding the functional aspects and looking at the big picture is not. That is what we aim to provide. If interested, one can surely dive deeper into the technical part, but only after grasping the entire picture.

All resources are compiled in the links column:

Best Resources to Start Learning

University Courses

One of the best ways to fully grasp Blockchain is to take the help of the people who are fully equipped in teaching it. Ever since Blockchain and cryptocurrency sector started raising eyebrows, there have been people toning down the concepts and letting other people know about it. In 2015, before reaching main-stream, University of Nicosia, Cyprus came out with a full-fledged online course on cryptocurrencies. The MOOC (Massively Open Online Course) in Introduction to Digital Currencies is a fully open and free course. It has been taken up by about 40,000 people and has inculcated a deep understanding of the subject.

Other top universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have also followed suit. Udemy is another platform with dozens of courses on the topic.

Links:

Follow Industry Experts



Last year was a crucial stepping stone for the market. 2019 has seen technologists, investors, policymakers and visionaries from all walks of life entering the crypto space, making for an interesting year in terms of cryptocurrency endorsement and regulation. On of the way, these key individuals understand what is going on is by taking the help of individuals well-equipped to tone down concepts for them. Andreas Antonopolous, also a faculty of the MOOC by the University of Nicosia, is known to be the foremost mass-educator. Other key individuals also do their job in spreading the word forward.

Links: Andreas Antonopolous, Vitalik Buterin, Charles Hoskinson, etc

Keep Reading

Blockchain and Cryptocurrency are technologies that involve multiple streams of knowledge to function. Some of them, but not limited to, include Economics, Network Theory, Cryptography, Distributed Computing, and Game Theory. To help people in their journey of understanding the technology, a new market has developed – the Market for Educators. A lot of the educators have summarized their thoughts into simple books that can help you understand concepts easily.

Reading the white paper of any project before investing is also immensely important. A whitepaper’s abstract is there to give you a quick overview of the project and to lure you in to read the entire paper to find out more about the project and its cryptocurrency. The whitepaper contains much useful information, such as the problem/issue the company is looking to solve. They also talk about the concept of the product/service, the utility of the tokens, go-to-market strategy and the timeline for implementation.

Along with books and whitepapers, staying unto date on the market is also a good idea. Cryptocurrency news platforms give you your daily dose of snippets that are crucial for the development of the market.

Links:

Ask the Community

It will be easier for you to learn and understand cryptocurrency if you have someone to work with. The time has come for mass adoption and widespread understanding of the value and utility of cryptocurrencies. We’re looking to bridge the “crypto chasm” and bring everyone into the fold. Following communities of like-minded individuals can help you go a long way. There are many platforms available online where people come together to push each other. Reddit, Telegram, BitcoinTalk, and other places are a good place to find communities helping you on the way.

Links:

Featured image courtesy of Shutterstock.

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