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How to Learn About Cryptocurrencies from Scratch

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“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 daily when discussing the cryptocurrency market. People worldwide consider the crypto space a money-losing machine, something too complex to understand. If you want to lose money, there are thousands of other ways than just the crypto market. But if you can understand the technology, why it is essential, 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 from continuing learning. However, landing blockchain and cryptocurrency involve rigor and openness to learning new areas of knowledge.

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

In its essence, a Blockchain is a new form of ideology. Blockchain’s roots lie in distributing trust in a network so that no one has to depend on any intermediary. Understanding how trust is distributed, why one needs a distributed system, and 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 know that going deep into the field and understanding the technical aspects might be challenging. But to take a step back, understanding the functional elements and looking at the big picture is not. That is what we aim to provide. If interested, one can 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 help them fully equip people to teach it. Since the Blockchain and cryptocurrency sector started raising eyebrows, people toned down the concepts and let others know about them. In 2015, before reaching the mainstream, the 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 open and accessible. It has been taken up by about 40,000 people and has taught a deep understanding of the subject.

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

Links:

  1. University of Nicosia MOOC
  2. MIT OpenCourseWare
  3. Udemy
  • 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 an exciting year in cryptocurrency endorsement and regulation. These key individuals understand what is going on by taking the help of individuals well-equipped to tone down concepts for them. Andreas Antonopolous, also a faculty of the MOOC at the University of Nicosia, is the foremost mass educator. Other vital 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 are not limited to, include Economics, Network Theory, Cryptography, Distributed Computing, and Game Theory. As a result, a new market has developed to help people understand the technology: the Market for Educators. Many 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 lure you in to read the entire paper to learn more about the project and its cryptocurrency. In addition, the whitepaper contains valuable information, such as the problem/issue the company is looking to solve. They also talk about the product/service concept, the utility of the tokens, the 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 crucial for developing the market.

Links:

  1. Read Books – Top 5 Cryptocurrency Books
  2. Whitepaper – WhitePaperDatabase
  3. News – NewsTop Crypto news platformsTop 50 Crypto Blogs
  • Ask the Community

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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 online platforms where people come together to push each other. Reddit, Telegram, BitcoinTalk, and other places are excellent places to find communities helping you on the way.

Links:

  1. Reddit – r/cryptocurrencyr/bitcoinr/cryptonews
  2. BitcoinTalk Forums 
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186 posts

Sudarshan M is a long-time crypto-enthusiast. Pulled in by bitcoin early on, it did not take long for Sudarshan to divert all of his academic attention from business studies to the blockchain by doing his Masters and eventually pursuing his Ph.D. in the subject.

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