
Ask HN: Resources to learn blockchain and smart contracts? - dnt404-1
What resources are available to get into these two and related topics?<p>Would be also better if there are papers&#x2F;books that introduces to these concepts (and toy implementation)?
======
aerovistae
The book "Mastering Bitcoin" really helped me to understand the blockchain and
bitcoin properly. It's available free online here~

[http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000001802/index.ht...](http://chimera.labs.oreilly.com/books/1234000001802/index.html)

The author is putting out a similar book called "Mastering Ethereum" in
February, also through O'Reilly.

~~~
djb_hackernews
I just read the preface and have to ask... is this heavy on marketing,
cheerleading and kool-aid? First the author makes it sound like the Nakamoto
paper was sent from the heavens and then this:

> I became obsessed and enthralled, spending 12 or more hours each day glued
> to a screen, reading, writing, coding, and learning as much as I could. I
> emerged from this state of fugue, more than 20 pounds lighter from lack of
> consistent meals, determined to dedicate myself to working on bitcoin.

To me, this seems a little dramatic for what should be a technical topic.

~~~
cooervo
Once again the autistic, asocial programmer clise gets autoconfirmed.

~~~
mosselman
Why so hateful? What does having autism have to do with this? I don't really
like the quoted piece from the preface either, and even if the author has
autism, what does it matter? Isn't it more fair to people with autism and more
powerful with regards to your dislike to the author to just not like the
author based on that you don't like him as a person? That way you don't insult
everyone with autism and you insult him more.

Also, your diagnose does not make much sense; you state that the dramatised
telling in the preface means that the author has autism? In that case that
would mean that people like Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert or in that case
most Americans (compared to us reserved Dutch people) would have autism.

On top of this you seem to suggest that you have to have some sort of mental
condition to do things 'wrong' (as far as you want to call the preface wrong).
What disorder do you have that led you to write cliché as 'clise'? Or did you
mean 'sexy young man'?[1]

[1]:
[http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=clise](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=clise)

~~~
dabockster
> Or did you mean 'sexy young man'?

So 4chan is invading HN now? I thought they considered us too intertwined in
the cargo cult botnet.

------
apo
I recently published an intermediate-level e-book on Bitcoin:

[http://bitzuma.com/owning-bitcoin/](http://bitzuma.com/owning-bitcoin/)

This is the book I wish had existed when I started learning about Bitcoin in
2011. It's a technical deep-dive for a non-expert audience. Only knowledge of
high school algebra and a willingness to learn are assumed. Every technical
term comes with a definition. Over 300 figures help visual learners understand
complex technical topics. Hundreds of footnotes provide jumping-off points and
links to online demos. Cross-links allow you to quickly review prior material
in later chapters.

There are eight chapters:

1\. Bitcoin from Scratch (the view from 20,000 feet of Bitcoin and its
subsystems)

2\. Authentication (elliptic curve cryptography)

3\. Authorization (Script, transactions, and contracts)

4\. Network (block chain, consensus, hard/soft forks, governance, segwit,
Lightning Network)

5\. Privacy (what can and can't be discovered about users of a public block
chain)

6\. Security (what to protect and why)

7\. Wallets (software for using Bitcoin)

8\. Bitcoin in Practice (a complete system for using Bitcoin based on the
content in the first seven chapters)

~~~
MattSayar
Would you consider putting this on Google Play as well? I have a lot of Play
credit I'd like to use on your book

~~~
apo
I wanted to, but Google Play Books has been closed to new publishers for some
time.

------
tommynicholas
Compiled these resources while building my first smart contract. I can't
promise they're the best, but I can promise I built something that works
following these resources + learned a ton:

[https://blankslate.io/?note=48627](https://blankslate.io/?note=48627)

(if you want just tutorials:
[http://truffleframework.com/tutorials/](http://truffleframework.com/tutorials/))

------
rwieruch
Checkout what
[https://twitter.com/iam_preethi](https://twitter.com/iam_preethi) is tweeting
about these topics. Really liked her last article about Etherum:
[https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/how-does-ethereum-
work-...](https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/how-does-ethereum-work-
anyway-22d1df506369)

------
throwaway613834
Could someone offer a quick explanation as to what kinds of things there even
_are_ to learn about blockchains? I mean from a conceptual user perspective of
"let's use blockchain for my next product", not from a Bitcoin-dev perspective
of "how do we fix this thing in our blockchain implementation".

~~~
indigochill
Disclaimer: I've mostly absorbed this stuff through osmosis and lazy web
searching, but I thought I'd take a shot with my understanding and someone can
correct me if I'm mistaken.

Blockchains are designed to solve a certain set of problems. Understanding
those problems and their relation to your product will help you determine
whether a blockchain is a reasonable solution.

1\. Do you need a distributed ledger?
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_ledger](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distributed_ledger))

2\. Do you need proof of work? ([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof-of-
work_system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof-of-work_system))

3\. Does your distributed ledger need to record things such that one block
follows the next, as opposed to blocks of data being saved independently of
each other?
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blockchain))

If the answer to all of the above is yes, using a blockchain probably makes
sense. Otherwise, you probably want to use something other than a blockchain
(for instance, if you just need a distributed ledger, just use a distributed
ledger. No need to chain each block together unless that's actually useful for
your product).

~~~
throwaway613834
Those are in line with my understanding too, but I'm asking what is there to
learn about blockchain technology, not what the use cases are. (That's
actually also a question I have, but a separate question to me.)

To me a blockchain is just a tree, where the "parent pointers" are just hashes
of the parent nodes rather than their addresses. And I guess to pick one as
the "correct" one, you just choose the one with (say) the longest chain. End
of story? What else _is_ there to learn about this that people are looking
for? (Btw, isn't this just a Merkle tree, which has been around since at least
1979? What's so revolutionary or even different in a blockchain?)

~~~
deepGem
Based on my cursory understanding of the topic, The Merkle tree has been
around for a while, but Satoshi figured out how to use that to achieve
decentralization, and consensus building. If you ask me, that's quite
revolutionary. Yes, the blockchain is just a gigantic DAG, but adding and
deleting nodes on the graph is where the crux of the matter is I guess. I am
starting to understand the logic from a currency perspective. Still trying to
understand how the same translates to smart contracts.

~~~
throwaway613834
Is there more to consensus and decentralization than just pinging a few other
computers and picking the longest chain you find?

And proof of work is literally just the hash having a certain number of zero
bits, right? Definitely a neat idea but hardly revolutionary if that's all
there is to it.

~~~
mbrock
Something can be "revolutionary" and made up of pieces not in themselves
groundbreaking. Linux was revolutionary and it was just a Unix clone for IBM
PCs.

------
jashmenn
I just started a new site for teaching this!

I've found that smart contracts have a lot of jargon that can be opaque, but
the concepts are familiar to web developers (and not that hard to learn).

For example, in traditional webdev we use our browser to connect to an app
server, which is connected to a centralized database.

In Ethereum dev, _every node_ has a copy of the entire database. To write
distributed apps, you read from your _local copy_. That is, for a JavaScript
DApp, you use the web3 JavaScript library to connect to a _local node_ you
have running on your own machine.

Writes are little more involved, because you need the network to agree that
your writes are valid. So to perform writes, you submit a transaction to the
network.

The result is _reads are free and writes cost money_.

Solidity is tricky, but not that bad if you're careful. If you know JavaScript
already, you can totally learn to program smart contracts.

In any case, my site is here. I'll be making the first course free shortly:
[https://www.newline.co/](https://www.newline.co/)

------
animesh
This article was on HN a few days ago. “Learn Blockchains by Building One”
@van_flymen [https://hackernoon.com/learn-blockchains-by-building-
one-117...](https://hackernoon.com/learn-blockchains-by-building-
one-117428612f46)

~~~
submeta
That's an excellent article. And a very hands-down approach using code
examples in Python.

------
roro5678
What I am currently attending :
[https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryptocurrency/home/welcome](https://www.coursera.org/learn/cryptocurrency/home/welcome)

~~~
dnt404-1
I quickly checked the syllabus, however didn't find smart contracts? Do they
go into that in some of the videos? How much time do you think this course
takes?

~~~
david_vc
No smart contracts - it's a Bitcoin course. Some of the authors also released
a tutorial on Solidity and smart contracts, which you can find on Andrew
Miller's webpage.

The Coursera class took around 20 hours end to end.

------
elorm
Here you go

[https://github.com/xel/blockchain-stuff](https://github.com/xel/blockchain-
stuff)

~~~
dnt404-1
that's quite a good resource :)

------
vjdhama
There's this course by the people who wrote `Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
Technologies`

It covers the basics pretty well.

[http://bitcoinbook.cs.princeton.edu/](http://bitcoinbook.cs.princeton.edu/)

~~~
socrates1024
I'd definitely recommend this book, it's great! Comes with decent video
lectures and such too. (disclosure: am a coauthor)

Also, this course page has some useful links and lecture notes/slides (mostly
geared towards graduate students and research)
[http://soc1024.ece.illinois.edu/teaching/ece598am/fall2016/](http://soc1024.ece.illinois.edu/teaching/ece598am/fall2016/)

------
rainloft
CS 251: Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies at Stanford
[https://crypto.stanford.edu/cs251/](https://crypto.stanford.edu/cs251/)

~~~
panzerboy
Can this course be also followed online? If yes, how? I can see the list of
lectures, but not the actual contents.

------
pors
I agree with the recommendation of "Mastering Bitcoin".

I recently also started diving into blockchain related tech, and I blog about
it here: [http://decentralized.blog/](http://decentralized.blog/)

So far mostly about IPFS, but soon more on the working of the different
blockchains out there.

~~~
coolandsmartrr
Thanks for your dissection of IPFS, really useful to understand! Looking
forward to more

------
ym705
If you're interested in Ethereum Smart Contracts I wrote:
[http://ethereumdev.io/](http://ethereumdev.io/)

~~~
sghiassy
Clearly written articles, thx!

I’m n00b in Smart Contracts but they seem like interfaces to reading/writing
to a data store.

If I didn’t totally botch what they are. Then I don’t really get why they’re
“smart”. The pitfalls of regular programming, seem to apply to contracts.
Seems like I could easily code a bug in a smart contract and have it t
deployed to the network?? Or did I miss something?

~~~
taternuts
You didn't miss anything, it's very easy to deploy a bug in a smart contract
and why anyone using it for anything important should have their contracts be
audited by a third party professional(s).

------
corbinpage
These videos by Jordan Leigh are really great for Ethereum concepts and
development.

[http://decypher.tv/series/ethereum-
development](http://decypher.tv/series/ethereum-development)

~~~
mvleming
I second this. Really great videos that balance breath vs depth well and that
are easily digestible. The guy is also enjoyable to listen to.

I am not associated with Jordan Leigh nor Decyper.TV in any way except as a
customer.

------
aaron_h
I've posted all my research on the subject here:
[https://www.insp3ct.re/blog/blockchain-security-reference-
gu...](https://www.insp3ct.re/blog/blockchain-security-reference-guide/). It's
focused on the security side of blockchain & cryptocurrencies, but it starts
out with a solid primer on how the technology works. I also did a conference
talk at DerbyCon on the subject, which is included in the blog post. Should be
really good to get you started.

------
ttyprintk
Mastering Bitcoin, Second Edition

[https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook](https://github.com/bitcoinbook/bitcoinbook)

~~~
hcaw
I second this, it's a very good resource. Mastering Ethereum should be out
early next year too.

------
nikivi
For blockchains :

[https://learn-anything.xyz/databases/distributed-
databases/b...](https://learn-anything.xyz/databases/distributed-
databases/blockchain)

For smart contracts :

[https://learn-anything.xyz/distributed-
computing/ethereum/sm...](https://learn-anything.xyz/distributed-
computing/ethereum/smart-contracts)

------
musgrove
I manage a website and Facebook page dedicated to resources:
[http://blockchainsaw.com](http://blockchainsaw.com) and
[http://facebook.com/bitcoinresources](http://facebook.com/bitcoinresources).
The FB page is updated a lot throughout the day and contains more than Bitcoin
stuff.

------
acoravos
If blockchain concepts are new for you, here are my favorite starting places
to learn:

Why Bitcoin Matters (2011, NYT) -
[https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/why-bitcoin-
matters/...](https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/why-bitcoin-
matters/?_r=0)

What is blockchain, really? An intro for regular people. (2017, Medium) -
[https://medium.com/@wen_xs/what-is-blockchain-really-an-
intr...](https://medium.com/@wen_xs/what-is-blockchain-really-an-intro-for-
regular-people-e51578d98a96)

Re: “Smart contracts” - here’s a few 101 pieces on ethereum:

A Beginner’s Guide to Ethereum (2017, Coinbase blog) -
[https://blog.coinbase.com/a-beginners-guide-to-
ethereum-46dd...](https://blog.coinbase.com/a-beginners-guide-to-
ethereum-46dd486ceecf)

Ethereum is the Forefront of Digital Currency (2017, Coinbase blog) -
[https://blog.coinbase.com/ethereum-is-the-forefront-of-
digit...](https://blog.coinbase.com/ethereum-is-the-forefront-of-digital-
currency-5300298f6c75)

Dan Romero has compiled an excellent "reading list" for digital currencies:
[https://medium.com/@dwr/digital-currency-reading-
list-6219f1...](https://medium.com/@dwr/digital-currency-reading-
list-6219f1623bfd)

And here's a 101 for developing a decentralized app (dApp):
[https://medium.com/@AndreaCoravos/dapps-101-how-do-i-
start-d...](https://medium.com/@AndreaCoravos/dapps-101-how-do-i-start-
developing-on-ethereum-da0d38ed973f)

------
AdrienChey
As a quick and visual introduction, I would recommend the great "Ever wonder
how Bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) actually work?" youtube video from
3Blue1Brown [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBC-
nXj3Ng4&t=3s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBC-nXj3Ng4&t=3s)

------
notindexed
[http://lopp.net/bitcoin.html](http://lopp.net/bitcoin.html)

~~~
statoshi
This is my site; I've probably spent at least 100 hours curating this list
over the years :-)

------
earlybike
Also an important question: How to get quickly tokens for a ETH test network
to be able to do anything. Last time I tried I wasn't successful because all
these places where you could get some free tokens didn't work and the only
thing possible was to mine them yourself which still took a day or two.

~~~
Cakez0r
The metamask testnet faucet worked for me -
[https://faucet.metamask.io/](https://faucet.metamask.io/)

~~~
earlybike
Thanks, this worked.

------
hdhzy
Contracts page on Bitcoin Wiki [0] is classic, unfortunately to understand
most of it one has to know how script and various extensions (lock time etc.)
work. Generally I'd advise reverse engineering how Bitcoin works, something
like this [1] in JavaScript. There is also high level description of some
contract types [2] but it's basically the same content as on Bitcoin Wiki.

[0]:
[https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Contract](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Contract)

[1]: [https://curiosity-driven.org/low-level-bitcoin](https://curiosity-
driven.org/low-level-bitcoin)

[2]: [https://curiosity-driven.org/bitcoin-contracts](https://curiosity-
driven.org/bitcoin-contracts)

------
gtrubetskoy
Start out with Bitcoin, and make sure you understand it well. For example it
has its own stack-based language (mini smart contracts of sorts), you need to
understand how that works, the different types of payments such as P2SH, etc.

The O'Reilly book is good, you should also look at code in your preferred
language, ideally the C++ in which Bitcoin core is written.

Last but absolutely not least - you should buy some Bitcoin and send it to
someone, or buy something with it. I'd also recommend going through the
trouble of running Bitcoin-Qt and downloading the whole blockchain (which
takes several days and requires lots of disk space).

Once you understand all this, the smart contracts thing will be a lot clearer,
and you might even have a different opinion on it.

~~~
MoBattah
....advising learning bitcoin....smart contracts...don't think these two
belong in the same sentence.

~~~
Cakez0r
> For example it has its own stack-based language

You can create "smart contracts" with bitcoin.

------
narulakeshav
I recently created a platform that has my hand-picked resources for bitcoin,
cryptocurrency, blockchain: [https://symphosis.com](https://symphosis.com)

It has resources for other concepts like Design, UX, JavaScript, Startups,
etc.

------
wayoflife
For explanation of both, watch this Video:
[https://anders.com/blockchain/](https://anders.com/blockchain/) and then
click on the "fork on github" link ;)

------
arcaster
Most of the grit of blockchain work is in the flows and practices used to
build apps / dapps around existing blockchains. There aren't any books that
you can read or comprehensive Medium blogs that cover this content.

Core blockchain dev, i.e. at a protocol level requires serious chops, not the
kind of thing you can just pick up in a few months.

I'd recommend brushing up on broad blockchain concepts and not just intensely
studying a single chain / platform. If you want to get into the industry your
best bet is to find a company willing to hire you and let you learn hands on.

------
arkj
Check out hyperledger and solidity.

[https://github.com/hyperledger/hyperledger/blob/master/hyper...](https://github.com/hyperledger/hyperledger/blob/master/hyperledger_Overview_Comparison_Guide.md)

[https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/solidity/](https://learnxinyminutes.com/docs/solidity/)

I found this visual tutorial on blockchain helpful.

[https://youtu.be/_160oMzblY8](https://youtu.be/_160oMzblY8)

------
Shrugs
I second the references to "Mastering Bitcoin", and also add my blog post
"Getting up to Speed on Ethereum" [1] that takes you from "I kinda understand
bitcoin" to "I understand ethereum at a deep level and know about the big
projects being built on top of it" over a few days.

[1] [https://medium.com/@mattcondon/getting-up-to-speed-on-
ethere...](https://medium.com/@mattcondon/getting-up-to-speed-on-
ethereum-63ed28821bbe)

------
ablaba
“Tutorial: Blockchains and Databases” at the 43rd International Conference on
Very Large Data Bases (VLDB) in Munich on 29 August 2017:
[https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7lNUaak0bK1ZDhkak05VHA0d00...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7lNUaak0bK1ZDhkak05VHA0d00/view)

------
josheth
W3kit let’s you interact with smart contracts and deploy your own Ethereum
node with ease. This way you can focus on writing and testing smart contracts
and not the underlying infrastructure.

The blog also has tutorials to get you started and teach Ethereum concepts.

[https://blog.w3k.it](https://blog.w3k.it)

------
samlewis
If you're interested in the nitty gritty of the mechanics of Bitcoin, check
out my blog post: [http://www.samlewis.me/2017/06/a-peek-under-bitcoins-
hood/](http://www.samlewis.me/2017/06/a-peek-under-bitcoins-hood/)

------
jc123
Solid material at "stackoverflow":

[https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com)

[https://ethereum.stackexchange.com](https://ethereum.stackexchange.com)

------
b0ba1lle
If you're looking for a toy implementation, I just released
[https://github.com/robinmonjo/coincoin](https://github.com/robinmonjo/coincoin)

It focuses on Blockchain and Digital Transactions

------
dabockster
Related, how does the blockchain structure look on paper? As in a data
structure? What fields does it have?

I have a project idea, but I want to build the data structure from scratch as
opposed to cargo culting something on top of Ethereum.

~~~
mbrock
It looks basically just like a Git repository. Mining is like competing for a
chance to merge a bunch of other people's commits (because you get a "commit
fee" for each of them). And you always want to merge into the longest
repository, because otherwise you're receiving those commit fees in a fork
that's unlikely to be cared about.

------
gkrypt
I have listed various different products, tools, and resources. If anyone is
interested do checkout [https://cryptostack.xyz](https://cryptostack.xyz)

------
agreen
Intro:

1\. [https://medium.freecodecamp.org/explain-bitcoin-like-im-
five...](https://medium.freecodecamp.org/explain-bitcoin-like-im-
five-73b4257ac833)

2\.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIxwTx7o_B4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIxwTx7o_B4)

3\. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBC-
nXj3Ng4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBC-nXj3Ng4)

4\.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_160oMzblY8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_160oMzblY8)

5\. [https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/244-the-quiet-master-
of-...](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/244-the-quiet-master-of-
cryptocurrency-nick-szabo/id863897795?i=1000386194955&mt=2)

6\.
[http://investorfieldguide.com/hashpower/](http://investorfieldguide.com/hashpower/)

Build Your Own Blockchain:

1\. [https://dev.to/aunyks/lets-build-the-tiniest-
blockchain](https://dev.to/aunyks/lets-build-the-tiniest-blockchain)

2\. [https://hackernoon.com/learn-blockchains-by-building-
one-117...](https://hackernoon.com/learn-blockchains-by-building-
one-117428612f46)

3\.
[https://github.com/jamesob/tinychain](https://github.com/jamesob/tinychain)

Resource List for an Advanced Understanding (Multidisciplinary Approach):

1\.
[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UiMS4Br7LkTIRdEOPjCukOxG...](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UiMS4Br7LkTIRdEOPjCukOxG6gIdCJTOgXbeOPBHrcE/edit#)

\---

Additionally, here is some advice from Balaji Srinivasan (source:
[https://www.producthunt.com/live/balaji-s-
srinivasan](https://www.producthunt.com/live/balaji-s-srinivasan)):

1\. First, I'd master database and cryptography fundamentals, with something
like Dan Boneh's course for the latter

2\. Then, I'd read the Bitcoin.org and Ethereum documentation

3\. Then, you should write short Python or Go scripts to do things like
printing out the blockchain, formatting and signing a transaction by hand,
managing private keys, that type of thing. This will give you a feel for the
raw data structures.

4\. After doing all this, I'd take a look at application libraries like Ryan
Shea and Muneeb Ali's new blockstack.org

The reason I'd do it in this order is that you would learn fundamentals first
before proceeding to the cutting edge.

------
felipesabino
I compiled some of the resources I used to start understanding it.

It it a bit focused on ethereum, but I guess it is useful for starting to
understand blockchain and smart contracts in general regardless

\---

Watching

\- "GOTO 2017 • Blockchain: The Slowest (and most Fascinating) Database in the
World • Stefan Tilkov”
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li3rfBAP_fE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li3rfBAP_fE)

Explains how the blockchain works and walks through most of the technical
terms you will need to know

\- "Ethereum Vs. Bitcoin: What Sets Them Apart? | CNBC”
[https://youtu.be/0UBk1e5qnr4](https://youtu.be/0UBk1e5qnr4)

Uses the blockchain explanation to give you an idea of how the smart contract
idea differs Ethereum from Bitcoin

\- "Vitalik Buterin explains Ethereum"
[https://youtu.be/TDGq4aeevgY](https://youtu.be/TDGq4aeevgY)

3 minute macro explanation of what is Ethereum from its inventor Vitalik
Buterin

\- "DEVCON1: Ethereum for Dummies - Dr. Gavin Wood”
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_LK0t_qaPo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_LK0t_qaPo)

Ethereum's CTO Dr. Gavin Wood explains in a very macro way the Ethereum
concept with an idea of how the “Global Computer” works and what is the
“Ethereum Virtual Machine”

\- Devcon2: Ethereum in 25 Minutes
[https://youtu.be/66SaEDzlmP4](https://youtu.be/66SaEDzlmP4)

Vitalik Buterin give and overview of the Ethereum protocol and shows what is
an Ethereum transaction, what is Gas (and how computation time is actually
paid for miners), how the state machine works and what you can do with it

\- DEVCON1: Ethereum in the Enterprise Environment - Taylor Gerring
[https://youtu.be/HXNWhXuMNpw](https://youtu.be/HXNWhXuMNpw)

Expose core concepts about the blockchain and the Ethereum platform that are
valuable to enterprise and how companies can leverage that using web
technologies

\---

Reading

\- Coinbase - A beginner’s guide to Ethereum
[https://blog.coinbase.com/a-beginners-guide-to-
ethereum-46dd...](https://blog.coinbase.com/a-beginners-guide-to-
ethereum-46dd486ceecf)

\- Fat Protocols [http://www.usv.com/blog/fat-
protocols](http://www.usv.com/blog/fat-protocols)

\- The difference between App Coins and Protocol Tokens
[https://blog.0xproject.com/the-difference-between-app-
coins-...](https://blog.0xproject.com/the-difference-between-app-coins-and-
protocol-tokens-7281a428348c)

\- What’s the Difference Between an ‘ICO’ and a ‘Token Launch’? Coins vs.
Tokens (What is a SNGLS token?) [https://medium.com/@SingularDTV/whats-the-
difference-between...](https://medium.com/@SingularDTV/whats-the-difference-
between-an-ico-and-a-token-launch-7105edbb2112)

\---

Source of links, links and more links

\- /r/ethereum - getting started
[https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/61y5ix/welcome_to...](https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/61y5ix/welcome_to_rethereum_the_reddit_front_page_of_the/)

\- The Quiet Master of Cryptocurrency — Nick Szabo (Scroll to "Selected Links
from the Episode”) [https://tim.blog/2017/06/04/nick-
szabo/](https://tim.blog/2017/06/04/nick-szabo/)

\- What The Fuck Is Ethereum? ("I am a total nerd" option)
[http://whatthefuckisethereum.com/#nerd](http://whatthefuckisethereum.com/#nerd)

\---

Extra reading

\- Money, blockchains, and social scalability
[http://unenumerated.blogspot.com.br/2017/02/money-
blockchain...](http://unenumerated.blogspot.com.br/2017/02/money-blockchains-
and-social-scalability.html)

\- Does your dapp need a token? [https://medium.com/@simondlr/does-your-dapp-
need-a-token-394...](https://medium.com/@simondlr/does-your-dapp-need-a-
token-39412fd3c62c)

\- Ethereum documentation
[http://www.ethdocs.org/en/latest/index.html](http://www.ethdocs.org/en/latest/index.html)

\- Ethereum Wiki - FAQ
[https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/FAQ](https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/FAQ)

~~~
mbrock
Great list!

------
mmurthy
I started this a few months ago where you can learn smart contract development
by doing projects: [https://www.zastrin.com](https://www.zastrin.com)

------
grk
If you want to stay updated on current news, I can recommend the
[http://blockchainweekly.net/](http://blockchainweekly.net/) newsletter.

------
theylon
Blockgeeks is great for beginner material and to understand the basics.
[https://blockgeeks.com/](https://blockgeeks.com/)

------
swe445
Check out the blockstack stuff. They have a to-do list tutorial available.
Decentralized app development is kinda an etherem vs blockstack situation
right now.

------
tonymarks
Preethi Kasireddy has done a pretty good job with her blog:
[https://www.hashhack.it](https://www.hashhack.it)

------
thisisit
[https://blockchaintechblog.com/](https://blockchaintechblog.com/)

------
earlybike
Similar question: Which tutorial enables me to write and deploy my first smart
contract in Solidity within 120 minutes?

~~~
tommynicholas
[http://truffleframework.com/tutorials/](http://truffleframework.com/tutorials/)

Not sure the Ethereum network can even deploy in 120 minutes these days, but
you'll certainly have it built in that time :)

------
dvcoolster
I loved Decypher.tv for getting going with Ethereum Smart Contracts as well as
other requirements for a complete DApp

~~~
coralreef
Seems expensive, currently $60 USD. Worth it?

~~~
gnazarkin
Yep. I went through all of them and they are great

------
harrisreynolds
We recently launched a site to help people go from zero to hero with
Blockchain technology. Feel free to sign up for the weekly newsletter here:

[http://www.theblockchainhq.com/newsletter/](http://www.theblockchainhq.com/newsletter/)

We plan on covering "Getting started with Blockchain development" very soon as
there it still an opportunity here to make this much easier.

------
markatkinson
Might be worth learning about DAG, Tangle and IOTA too, here is their latest
whitepaper:
[https://iota.org/IOTA_Whitepaper.pdf](https://iota.org/IOTA_Whitepaper.pdf)

------
andrewfromx
shameless plug, but walk thru this example:
[https://simplecoin.life/ico](https://simplecoin.life/ico)

~~~
MoBattah
Does this end after /ico12?

~~~
andrewfromx
yeah, it's not finished. Working on
[https://github.com/andrewarrow/simplecoin.life](https://github.com/andrewarrow/simplecoin.life)
code and then I'll fix the rest of the site

~~~
MoBattah
Thank you for the response.

------
thebestia29
It will be excellent to learn of that subject would be fabulous, if they had
tutorials or videos pass lin link would be a good contribution

