STAGE 4 · GO DEEPLEVEL · Intermediate8 LESSONSABOUT 41 MINBITCOIN FUNDAMENTALS
"Crypto" is a word that puts bitcoin in the same box as ten thousand tokens with founders, pre-mines and marketing budgets. This course explains why bitcoiners refuse the box. It is opinionated, and it shows its reasoning, so you can disagree with specifics. Eight lessons, about 50 minutes.
BY THE END OF THIS COURSE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
- Explain what makes Bitcoin's launch unrepeatable
- Compare proof of work and proof of stake on security and control
- Judge a project's decentralisation with concrete questions
- Say why Ethereum is a different thing, not a better Bitcoin
- Answer "why not diversify across crypto?"
Every lesson ends with a quiz or a challenge; the course is complete when each lesson is.
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LESSONS
01The immaculate conceptionBitcoin launched with no founder to lean on, no insiders, no company and no price. Every later coin had all four. That cannot be copied.▶ 1✓ quiz5 MIN✓02Proof of work versus proof of stakeProof of work ties security to real resources anyone can buy. Proof of stake ties it to existing wealth, concentrates control and recreates the system it was meant to replace.▶ 2✓ quiz6 MIN✓03Decentralisation is not a spectrumEither someone can change the rules or no one can. Five questions separate systems that are decentralised from systems that say they are.▶ 1✓ quiz5 MIN✓04Why Ethereum is not a better BitcoinEthereum is a platform with a foundation, a changing monetary policy and a rolled-back chain. It is a different project, not a better Bitcoin.▶ 1✓ quiz6 MIN✓05DeFi, NFTs and tokensMost of "crypto" is finance with the protections removed. Yield comes from lending or token printing; NFTs are links; tokens are unregistered equity.▶ 1✓ quiz5 MIN✓06Network effects and LindyMoney is the strongest network effect there is. Bitcoin has the users, the hash rate, the infrastructure and the longest record of just working.▶ 1✓ quiz5 MIN✓07Is there a second best?There is no second best because the category has one member. Diversifying across tokens adds issuer risk and correlation, not safety.▶ 1✓ quiz5 MIN✓08Why bitcoiners are "toxic"The reputation for harshness has a cause: the industry around bitcoin has separated millions of people from their savings, and politeness did not stop it.▶ 1✓ quiz4 MIN✓