Image Credit: National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.
Bitcoin For Beginners: The Best Resources To Learn About Bitcoin
Bitcoin For Beginners: The Best Resources To Learn About Bitcoin
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The Best Books To Learn About Bitcoin
The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking
The Bitcoin Standard is the book to read to understand the history and characteristics of money, how Bitcoin works, Bitcoin’s principles as money, and its potential future as a global currency. If you’ve only heard about Bitcoin or just dabbled in some cryptocurrency investing and want to learn more, this is the best place to start.
Layered Money: From Gold and Dollars to Bitcoin and Central Bank Digital Currencies
I had never thought of money in layers until this book. It’ll make you not only consider Bitcoin, but examine the existing financial system through a new lens. Layered Money teaches you how money evolved throughout history, then sets the stage for where it might be going when money becomes fully digitized.
The Bullish Case for Bitcoin
This book is well-written, short look at how money becomes money within a culture, how digital money started (Bitcoin wasn’t the first), how Bitcoin compares to other forms of money, and Bitcoin’s potential path to becoming the world’s reserve currency. If you’re interested in analyzing Bitcoin like a product compared to other types of monies, this is a great book.
Why Buy Bitcoin: Investing Today in the Money of Tomorrow
The Author, Andy Edstrom, is a financial advisors with all of the acronyms at the end of his name: CFA, CFP, etc. You’d think he’d be the last person to recommend Bitcoin because the existing system can work well for financial advisors if they don’t rock the boat. Andy bucks that trend with “Why Buy Bitcoin.” You’ll learn the potential of Bitcoin as an investment for your personal portfolio. It’s a great starter-level book for those interested in investing and Bitcoin.
The Blocksize War: The battle for control over Bitcoin’s protocol rules
Arguably the most aspect of Bitcoin is its decentralization. If a group of people has control of the supply of money, inevitably they’ll print more and devalue the existing money in circulation. Bitcoin is built to have no controller, and therefore, makes it a form of money that will never be printed. This was put to the test between 2015-2017 as a group of people in Bitcoin attempted to make a massive change to Bitcoin’s fundamentals (the size of each block on the chain) without consensus. If you’re interested in the trials and history of Bitcoin so far, I recommend this book.
Inventing Bitcoin: The Technology Behind The First Truly Scarce and Decentralized Money Explained
If you are interested in how Bitcoin technically works, this is the best read for you. It only takes a few hours or a day and doesn’t require any knowledge about coding or Bitcoin. I had read a number of books about the history of money and the promise of Bitcoin before this one, but this was the best read on how it works as an open-source software system. The title is a bit misleading, however, as the author is not Satoshi–the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.
The Price of Tomorrow: Why Deflation is the Key to an Abundant Future
This book is not about Bitcoin. If memory serves, it only includes the word “Bitcoin” one time at the end of the book. So why is it on this list? The author, Jeff Booth, analyzes how the existing financial system and technological advancement are at odds with one another. Technology creates deflation while the financial system requires inflation. This dilemma requires a new financial system, and Bitcoin is best positioned as the solution.
The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age
Authors: James Dale Davidson & Lord William Rees-Mogg
This book was written in 1999, nine years before Bitcoin was created. But I imagine that Satoshi read the book. “The Sovereign Individual” predicts major geopolitical changes as a result of the information, or digital age. With the internet, individuals can hold the power to bring their income, businesses, digital cash, and wealth anywhere in the world. The power of governments would fall in relation to the individual. If the predictions of this book play out, Bitcoin will be at the center of the ride.
When Money Dies: The Nightmare of Deficit Spending, Devaluation, and Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany
Here’s another book that isn’t at all about Bitcoin and that was written decades before Bitcoin was invented. “When Money Dies” looks at the runaway hyperinflation in Germany that happened after World War I. The book examines what happens to a country when its money is printed into uselessness. Why is it on this list? Bitcoin is designed to fix the issues covered in this book.
Read the full chapter: The 21 Best Bitcoin Books: A Sortable List |
The Best Podcasts To Learn About Bitcoin
The “What is Money?” Show
Robert Breedlove is a deep thinker and a great speaker and writer about Bitcoin. I love the title and premise of his podcast, “What is Money?” My guess is that most people get the process of buying Bitcoin backward (including me): we first ask “what is Bitcoin?” because we are intrigued by the returns, volatility, or technology. We assume to ourselves that we first understand money. But once you get into Bitcoin, you learn that you don’t actually know anything about the purpose and history of money in general. Then you take the step back to learn about that. Breedlove built a show where he interviews fascinating guests in long-form series about the history, purpose, use, and types of money. I particularly recommend the Saylor Series in which Breedlove interviews Michael Saylor, the founder and CEO of MicroStrategy.
- Host: Robert Breedlove
- iTunes Rating: 4.9/5
We Study Billionaires: Bitcoin Fundamentals
We Study Billionaires is a podcast with three shows per week. The Sunday and Friday shows are about investing in the stock market from a value investing perspective and the Wednesday show is solely about Bitcoin. Why the split? Preston Pysh, one of the original hosts of the podcast and a value investor, started to learn about Bitcoin over the years. As he learned and invested more into Bitcoin, he started to theorize how value investing cannot work if the denominator (fiat money) is being printed. It’s hard to value a company’s future earnings if the supply of money is also changing rapidly. Preston started the Wednesday series in November of 2020 to discuss Bitcoin alone.
Preston’s perspective is fascinating: he’s an aerospace engineer, a former pilot in the Army, and Warren Buffett disciple. Each of those experiences seemed to help Preston better understand the fundamentals of money and Bitcoin, but also forced him to overcome some deep biases. Preston Pysh has done the work to understand Bitcoin deeply and it helps his ability to teach and discuss the topic clearly. His first Bitcoin Fundamentals podcast with Robert Breedlove, Bitcoin Common Misconceptions, is a great start.
- Host: Preston Pysh
- iTunes Rating: 4.6/5
The What Bitcoin Did Podcast
- Host: Peter McCormack
- iTunes Rating: 4.8/5
Peter McCormack is a self-proclaimed moron. But that’s good! He asks questions you as the listener would want to ask of really smart guests so you can truly understand what is being discussed. He’s just dumb enough to be a great podcast host. My one complaint, though, is that he’s getting a lot smarter at this stuff over the years. If you’re looking for a good introduction to many topics surrounding Bitcoin and want to learn more, this is the show to subscribe to. Peter puts out 3-4 shows per week with a wide-range of guests.
Stephan Livera Podcast
- Host: Stephan Livera
- iTunes Rating: 4.9/5
Stephan Livera is an Austrian economist and libertarian who found Bitcoin. Stephan can break down complex topics simply and coherently which makes it a great beginner-intermediate podcast. Typically, each episode is with a guest that covers a specific topic happening within Bitcoin rather than an overview of the technology itself. He’s hosted some of my favorite guests like Lyn Alden, Adam Back, Jeff Booth, and Caitlin Long.
Coin Stories
- Host: Natalie Brunell
- iTunes Rating: 5/5
Natalie Brunell was an investigative journalist and media personality for companies like ABC and Spectrum News who gave it all up recently (2021) to work in Bitcoin. She launched the Coin Stories podcast in May of 2021. Like Natalie, many of her guests gave up successful careers to dive deeply into Bitcoin once they truly understood what Bitcoin could become. Each podcast features a one-on-one discussion with people in Bitcoin. You’ll first learn about why these people got into Bitcoin and then their perspective on where it goes from here.
Read the full chapter: The 21 Best Bitcoin Podcasts + Guests |
The Best People To Follow For Bitcoin Analysis
Willy Woo
Specialty: On-chain analysis
Willy Woo is one of the original Bitcoin on-chain analysts. Woo has come up with a number of original metrics and charts to measure Bitcoin’s on-chain activity. You can listen to Willy’s thoughts on the What Bitcoin Did podcast (rated one of our top Bitcoin podcasts).
Insightful Tweet
In terms of adoption, Bitcoin has roughly the same users as the Internet had in 1997.
But Bitcoin’s growing faster. Next 4 years on current path will bring Bitcoin users to 1b people, that’s the equivalent of 2005 for the Internet. pic.twitter.com/Np9yTR3WkL
— Willy Woo (@woonomic) February 1, 2021
Website: http://charts.woobull.com/
Twitter: @woonomic
Substack: The Bitcoin Forecast (Willy just informed subscribers this would be ending by the spring of 2022)
Will Clemente
Specialty: On-chain analysis
Will Clemente is a 19-year old, East Carolina University dropout. As told through numerous podcasts, Will was studying finance and economics through the Keynesian lens while also studying Bitcoin. The two concepts didn’t reconcile, and Will decided to leave college to pursue a career in Bitcoin analysis. The move worked out as he gained hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers in a year and became the Lead Insights Analyst at Blockware Solutions.
Insightful Tweet
$47,000,000 of BTC shorts liquidated in an hour
Say hello to supply shocktober pic.twitter.com/BOOfQnzDjS
— Will Clemente (@WClementeIII) October 1, 2021
Twitter: @WClementeIII
Podcast: Blockware Intelligence Podcast
Substack: Blockware Intelligence Newsletter
Plan B
Specialty: Stock-to-flow model
Plan B is a pseudonymous investor who created Bitcoin’s stock-to-flow ratio, a way to predict Bitcoin’s future value based on it’s scarcity. Stock-to-flow is a financial ratio that has been around for a long time and is used to calculate, typically, a resource’s scarcity: stock is the existing supply of the resource, flow is the annual amount at which the resource is produced. Plan B is the first to model out Bitcoin’s stock-to-flow to predict future price in dollar terms. The model has been accurate for years, with the most recent year’s price sitting on the low-end of the model’s acceptable bound.
Insightful Tweet
#bitcoin long term momentum is rising fast pic.twitter.com/5Mp7nE6iVs
— PlanB (@100trillionUSD) November 7, 2021
Website: https://planbtc.com/
Twitter: @100trillionUSD
Medium: https://medium.com/@100trillionUSD
Caitlin Long
Specialty: Macro analysis
Caitlin Long is the Founder and CEO of Custodia Bank (formerly known as Avanti), the first official bank for digital assets like Bitcoin. Long is incredibly knowledgeable about how fiat currencies work, rehypothecation, the danger of paper claims on Bitcoin, Bitcoin’s role in politics, and much more.
Insightful Tweet
1/ THREAD ABOUT A HISTORIC DAY in #bitcoin: #ElSalvador president publicly announced support for legislation to make #BTC legal tender. *IF* it does become law, it wld have many secondary effects. Steel yourselves bc a big fight on this probably coming thohttps://t.co/BrrNxaLzpZ
— Caitlin Long 🔑⚡️🟠 (@CaitlinLong_) June 6, 2021
Website: https://caitlin-long.com/
Twitter: @caitlinlong_
Substack: (or something else)
Preston Pysh
Specialty: Macro analysis
Preston Pysh is an aerospace engineer, a former pilot in the Army, and Warren Buffett disciple. Each of those experiences seemed to help Preston better understand the fundamentals of money and Bitcoin, but also forced him to overcome some deep biases. Preston Pysh shares great macro analysis and charts explaining the state of fiat currencies and Bitcoin.
Insightful Tweet
Why does everything feel like the world is falling apart, yet the stock market has looked like this since 2009?
Well, here’s a thread w/ some interesting charts that will help you understand: what you see is NOT what you get.
— Preston Pysh (@PrestonPysh) December 14, 2021
Website: https://www.theinvestorspodcast.com/
Twitter: @PrestonPysh
Podcast: Wednesday episodes of We Study Billionaires (rated a top Bitcoin podcast)
Lyn Alden
Specialty: Macro analysis
Lyn Alden is the best macro analyst I follow. With a background as an engineer, Alden views the macroeconomy like a machine and has the ability to assess inputs, outputs, actions, and reactions with amazing clarity. In 2020, Lyn did a deep analysis on Bitcoin and decided to invest personally. Since then, she’s become a trusted source analyzing Bitcoin’s role in the future of the world economy.
Insightful Tweet
Fact check: Bitcoin consumes a small fraction of 1% of global power today compared to the WEF’s 2017 statement that it would consume all of it by now.
A lot of these estimates and articles unfortunately come from folks who don’t understand how Bitcoin works. https://t.co/bqUmTiJZGo
— Lyn Alden (@LynAldenContact) January 19, 2022
Website: https://www.lynalden.com/
Twitter: @LynAldenContact
Read the full chapter: 14 Best People To Follow For Bitcoin Analysis |
The Best Articles About Bitcoin
- “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System” by Satoshi Nakamoto
- “The Bullish Case For Bitcoin” by Vijay Boyapati (This is the original article that turned into the book we recommended above)
- “Bitcoin Is Venice” by Allen Farrington
- “Uncovering The Hidden Cost Of The Petrodollar” by Alex Gladstein
- “7 Misconceptions About Bitcoin” by Lyn Alden
- “Why Bitcoin is Not a Ponzi Scheme: Point by Point” by Lyn Alden
- “Bitcoin: digital gold or digital cash? Both.” by Tuur Demeester
The (Other) Helpful Bitcoin Resource Libraries
- Jameson Lopp’s Bitcoin Information & Research
- Gigi’s Bitcoin Resources
- Bitcoin Is Hope (Michael Saylor of Microstrategy)
- The Best Of Bitcoin Magazine
- Nakamoto Institute
- Bitcoin Only
Where To Buy Bitcoin
After starting with Cash App, then Coinbase, then Gemini… I’ve landed on my solution. I buy bitcoin with Swan Bitcoin. I like the low fees (0.99%), recurring buys, and auto-withdrawal to self custody. Serious Bitcoiners are building this business. |