Are you new to Bitcoin? Following the fast-paced Bitcoin and Blockchain industry can be tough. Here are some tips and tricks to navigate the space quickly and stay well informed.

1. Google has some neat tricks

Google serves over 3.5 billion searches per day and is the most visited website in the world. Here are two tricks that will help with your search for knowledge.

Want to know what Bitcoin’s current market capitalisation is?

Google: ‘Bitcoin market cap’

Data is provided by CoinMarketCap.com which tracks over 500 different digital currencies and assets in a single view. If its Ethereum or Ripple market cap data you are after, look no further.

Want a handy reference for the current bitcoin price?

Type in ‘Bitcoin Price’ or ‘1 BTC to USD’ to show current prices, this will work in your local currency

2. The white paper

Want to sound like a subject matter expert on all things Blockchain? Well look no further then to the original Bitcoin white-paper.

This short 8 page read from the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto himself is what has kicked off a multi-billion dollar FinTech frenzy. For those who have a basic technical understanding of computer systems, reading this will inspire your inner geek.

3. Bitcoin network node map

In 2013, a Forbes writer calculated that the computing power behind Bitcoin’s network was 256 times faster than the top 500 supercomputers combined.

Want to see what the network of supporting nodes looks like in realtime?

Check out Bitnodes by 21 Inc.

4. Breaking News

Every week, banks declare involvement with a new and exciting version of Blockchain technology. Find out who is doing what with industry insights provided by CoinDesk.

For breaking news and announcements in the Blockchain space

5. The Blockchain

Want to know what a transaction on the blockchain looks like? Look no further then the world’s most popular wallet and blockchain explorer, Blockchain.info.

Digital currencies are powerful because they operate from a real time public ledger. Use a public blockchain viewer to check the status of any transaction on the network.

Blockchain.info is a popular service for checking entries Bitcoin’s Blockchain

6. What about the blocksize debate?

In 2016, hot topic of the year goes to the blocksize debate. Every block on Bitcoin’s Blockchain has a 1 mb limit. Because the number of transactions is increasing daily, an upgrade to 2 mb blocks is due. Mempool is memory in the network allocated to storing pending transactions. Once the mempool exceeds 1 mb, transactions with lower fees will be delayed until the next block. These transactions disappear from mempool once they are included in a block. Monitoring the size of mempool lets you calculate the right fee to include ensuring your transaction is processed quickly.

TradeBlock provides a visual block explorer with Mempool monitoring statistics

7. Reddit /r/btc

Curated news is very nice, but what if you want to take the red pill and head down the rabbit-hole? Reddit is known for its communities which follow specific groups of interest in what its users call subreddits. Amongst the many digital currency subreddits /r/btc provides a community for open and often technical discussion underpinning the development of Bitcoin. This is the side of Bitcoin you won’t see in mainstream media.

Users can independently upvote and downvote news based on personal interest — https://www.reddit.com/r/Btc

8. Bitcoin Wiki

Wikipedia’s mission statement is to collect and disseminate knowledge around the world. In the spirit of this mission, Bitcoin also has a wiki. There you can find everything from the background of the industry’s many startups to technical specifications on how to construct transactions in hex code. Learn about every aspect of Bitcoin’s protocol and blockchains here.

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Magnr.com is not sponsored by any of the companies listed above. Recommendations and opinions express views of the writer Joseph Lee.