Here’s a list — building on and including Chris’ last roundup — of crypto readings and resources. It’s organized from building blocks and basics; foundations (& history); and key concepts and beginners’ guides — followed by specific topics such as governance; development, privacy, and security; scaling; consensus; cryptoeconomics and investing; fundraising and token distribution; decentralized exchanges; stablecoins; and cryptoeconomic primitives (crytocollectibles, curation markets, games & culture). We also included a section with other resources, such as newsletters and courses, at the end.
We’ll soon be updating this regularly at crypto.a16z.com, for now we’ll keep it updated here. You can also find most of a16z’s writings, posts, and videos on the topic at a16z.com/crypto.
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Building Blocks and Basics
WTF is the blockchain? — understanding the problem it solves before defining it
by Mohit Mamoria
https://hackernoon.com/wtf-is-the-blockchain-1da89ba19348
Ever wonder how bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) actually work?
from 3Blue1Brown
https://youtu.be/bBC-nXj3Ng4
How the bitcoin protocol actually works
by Michael Nielsen
http://www.michaelnielsen.org/ddi/how-the-bitcoin-protocol-actually-works/
Ethereum in 25 minutes
by Vitalik Buterin
https://youtu.be/66SaEDzlmP4
How does Ethereum work, anyway? — how it functions at a technical level, without complex math
by Preethi Kasireddy
https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/how-does-ethereum-work-anyway-22d1df506369
Decrypting crypto, from bitcoin and blockchain to ICOs
by Alex Rampell
https://a16z.com/2017/12/08/summit-crypto-alex-rampell/
Cryptographic hash function — what they are, properties of, etc.
by Khan Academy
https://youtu.be/0WiTaBI82Mc
a basic primer on blockchain — ledger basics, why it matters
Chris Berg, Sinclair Davidson, and Jason Potts
https://medium.com/@cryptoeconomics/the-blockchain-economy-a-beginners-guide-to-institutional-cryptoeconomics-64bf2f2beec4
a basic glossary of terms — a few short and simple definitions
https://tangelo.co/insights/blog/techs-must-have-reference-guide-to-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency
Foundations (& History)
Bitcoin whitepaper (2009): A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
by Satoshi Nakamoto
https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
Ethereum whitepaper (2013+): A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform
by Vitalik Buterin et al
https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/White-Paper
The Byzantine Generals Problem (1982)
by Leslie Lamport, Robert Shostak, and Marshall Pease
https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~luca/cs174/byzantine.pdf
The Agoric papers series (1988)
by Mark Miller and K. Eric Drexler
https://e-drexler.com/d/09/00/AgoricsPapers/agoricpapers.html
The idea of smart contracts (1997)
by Nick Szabo
http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/rob/Courses/InformationInSpeech/CDROM/Literature/LOTwinterschool2006/szabo.best.vwh.net/idea.html
Why bitcoin matters (2014)
by Marc Andreessen
https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/why-bitcoin-matters/
Bitcoin’s academic pedigree (2017)
by Arvind Narayanan and Jeremy Clark
https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3136559
Key Concepts and Beginners’ Guides
Beyond the bitcoin bubble
by Steven Johnson
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/magazine/beyond-the-bitcoin-bubble.html
Crypto tokens: A breakthrough in open network design
by Chris Dixon
https://medium.com/@cdixon/crypto-tokens-a-breakthrough-in-open-network-design-e600975be2ef
Crypto tokens and the coming age of protocol innovation
by Albert Wenger
http://continuations.com/post/148098927445/crypto-tokens-and-the-coming-age-of-protocol
Fat protocols
by Joel Monegro
https://www.usv.com/blog/fat-protocols
Cryptocurrencies, app coins, and investing in protocols
Olaf Carson-Wee, Chris Dixon, and Sonal Chokshi
https://a16z.com/2017/04/03/cryptocurrencies-protocols-appcoins/
Getting applications into people’s hands
Juan Benet and Chris Dixon
https://a16z.com/2017/09/14/networks-protocols-labs-tokens/
How the U.S. government used blockchain to fight fraud
by Kathryn Haun
https://youtu.be/507wn9VcSAE
Bitcoin network effects
by Elad Gil
http://blog.eladgil.com/2017/12/bitcoin-network-effects_11.html
Keepers: workers that maintain blockchain networks — when designed correctly, tokens can act like rocket-fuel for driving network effects by incentivizing desired behaviors
by Ryan Zurrer
https://medium.com/@rzurrer/keepers-workers-that-maintain-blockchain-networks-a40182615b66
The quiet master of cryptocurrency — Nick Szabo in conversation with Naval Ravikant
by Tim Ferris
https://tim.blog/2017/06/04/nick-szabo/
Beginner’s guide series on cryptoassets (series) — from ethereum to litecoin
by Linda Xie
https://medium.com/@linda.xie/beginners-guide-series-on-cryptoassets-d897535d887
Why crypto tokens matter
Fred Ehrsam and Chris Dixon
https://a16z.com/2017/09/28/cryptocurrencies-networks-tokens/
Why it’s hard to “get” bitcoin: the blockchain spectrum
by Dhruv Bansal
https://blog.unchained-capital.com/blockchain-spectrum-806847e1c575
What do we mean by “blockchains are trustless”?
by Preethi Kasireddy
https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/eli5-what-do-we-mean-by-blockchains-are-trustless-aa420635d5f6
The meaning of decentralization — but what does that actually mean? nuances, depth
by Vitalik Buterin
https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/the-meaning-of-decentralization-a0c92b76a274
The slow death of the firm
by Nick Tomaino
https://thecontrol.co/the-slow-death-of-the-firm-1bd6cc81286b
Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum — Unchained: big ideas from the worlds of blockchain and cryptocurrency
by Laura Shin
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/unchained-big-ideas-from-worlds-blockchain-cryptocurrency/id1123922160
Mental models for understanding tokens
Nick Tomaino and Chris Dixon
https://a16z.com/2018/01/21/mental-models-tokens-crypto-trends/
Governance
The myth of the irrational token holder — why blockchain governance doesn’t fit squarely into any existing model
by Kathleen Breitman
https://medium.com/@kathleenbreit/the-myth-of-the-irrational-token-holder-c12438709afd
Blockchain governance — design components, approaches, suggestions
by Fred Ehrsam
https://medium.com/@FEhrsam/blockchain-governance-programming-our-future-c3bfe30f2d74
Against on-chain governance — refuting (and rebuking) the above post
by Vlad Zamfir
https://medium.com/@Vlad_Zamfir/against-on-chain-governance-a4ceacd040ca
Notes on blockchain governance
by Vitalik Buterin
http://vitalik.ca/general/2017/12/17/voting.html
A self-amending crypto-ledger — Tezos position paper
by Arthur and Kathleen Breitman
https://www.tezos.com/static/papers/position_paper.pdf
Development, Privacy, and Security
The hitchhiker’s guide to smart contracts in Ethereum
by Manuel Araoz
https://blog.zeppelin.solutions/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-smart-contracts-in-ethereum-848f08001f05
Securing smart contracts (series) — 6 Solidity vulnerabilities and how to avoid them
from Loom
https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-secure-your-smart-contracts-6-solidity-vulnerabilities-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-1-c33048d4d17d
https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-secure-your-smart-contracts-6-solidity-vulnerabilities-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-2-730db0aa4834
Ethereum smart contract best practices
by ConsenSys Diligence
https://consensys.github.io/smart-contract-best-practices/
Devcon3 panel on formal verification
Phil Daian, Everett Hildenbrandt, Yoichi Hirai, and Loi Luu, moderated by Reto Trinkler
https://youtu.be/DrDIcirrhWM
Privacy on the blockchain
by Vitalik Buterin
https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/01/15/privacy-on-the-blockchain/
Epicenter — a trove of interviews with many different blockchain project leads
https://epicenter.tv/episodes/
Scaling
Blockchains don’t scale — not today, at least… but there’s hope
by Preethi Kasireddy
https://hackernoon.com/blockchains-dont-scale-not-today-at-least-but-there-s-hope-2cb43946551a
Platform currencies may soon be obsolete — here is my claim: within 5 years the biggest cryptocurrency by market cap will be an application token
by Aleksandr Bulkin
https://blog.coinfund.io/platform-currencies-may-soon-be-obsolete-78d9b263d902
The importance of layer two — an HTTP of bitcoin and blockchains
by Elizabeth Stark
https://youtu.be/3PcR4HWJnkY
What is the Lightning Network and how can it help bitcoin scale?
by Elizabeth Stark
https://coincenter.org/entry/what-is-the-lightning-network
Scaling Tezos — scaling with recursive SNARKs (succinct non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge)
by Arthur Breitman
https://hackernoon.com/scaling-tezo-8de241dd91bd
Ethereum Foundation research initiatives — primary topics in both pure and applied research
by Ethereum Foundation
http://notes.eth.sg/CwIwZgbAjADAxgUwLQEMUIKxOCsWCcIEwShAHCgEwJj4qyVA
Ethereum scalability research and development subsidy programs
by Vitalik Buterin
https://blog.ethereum.org/2018/01/02/ethereum-scalability-research-development-subsidy-programs/
A beginner’s guide to Ethermint
by Tendermint
https://blog.cosmos.network/a-beginners-guide-to-ethermint-38ee15f8a6f4
Construction of a plasma chain 0x1
by David Knott
https://blog.omisego.network/construction-of-a-plasma-chain-0x1-614f6ebd1612
Accounts, transactions, gas, and block gas limits in Ethereum
by Hudson Jameson
https://hudsonjameson.com/2017-06-27-accounts-transactions-gas-ethereum/
Interplanetary linked computing: separating Merkle Computing from blockchain computational courts
by Simon de la Rouviere
https://media.consensys.net/interplanetary-linked-computing-separating-merkle-computing-from-blockchain-computational-courts-1ade201ecf8a
Ethereum sharding: overview and finality
by Hsiao-Wei Wang
https://medium.com/@icebearhww/ethereum-sharding-and-finality-65248951f649
Consensus
Consensus Compare: Casper vs. Tendermint; Tendermint BFT vs. EOS dPoS
from Tendermint
https://blog.cosmos.network/consensus-compare-casper-vs-tendermint-6df154ad56ae
https://blog.cosmos.network/consensus-compare-tendermint-bft-vs-eos-dpos-46c5bca7204b
Ethereum Casper 101
by Jon Choi
https://medium.com/@jonchoi/ethereum-casper-101-7a851a4f1eb0
The history of Casper (series)
by Vlad Zamfir
https://medium.com/@Vlad_Zamfir/the-history-of-casper-part-1-59233819c9a9
Decentralization in bitcoin and ethereum
by Adem Efe Gencer, Soumya Basu, Ittay Eyal, Robbert van Renesse, and Emin Gün Sirer
http://hackingdistributed.com/2018/01/15/decentralization-bitcoin-ethereum/
Seeking consensus on consensus — DPOS (delegated proof of stake) and the Two Generals’ problem
by Ian Grigg
https://steemit.com/eos/@iang/seeking-consensus-on-consensus-dpos-or-delegated-proof-of-stake-and-the-two-generals-problem
A proof of stake design philosophy
by Vitalik Buterin
https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/a-proof-of-stake-design-philosophy-506585978d51
Inflation and participation in stake based token protocols
by Doug Petkanics
https://medium.com/@petkanics/inflation-and-participation-in-stake-based-token-protocols-1593688612bf
Cryptoeconomics and Investing
A crash course in mechanism design
from BlockChannel
https://medium.com/blockchannel/a-crash-course-in-mechanism-design-for-cryptoeconomic-applications-a9f06ab6a976
Cryptoasset valuations — a theory and framework for evaluating
by Chris Burniske
https://medium.com/@cburniske/cryptoasset-valuations-ac83479ffca7
A process for evaluating new tokens
by Nick Tomaino
https://thecontrol.co/our-process-for-evaluating-new-tokens-4627ed97f500
On medium-of-exchange token valuations
by Vitalik Buterin
http://vitalik.ca/general/2017/10/17/moe.html
Understanding token velocity
by Kyle Samani
https://multicoin.capital/2017/12/08/understanding-token-velocity/
Fat protocols are not an investment thesis
by Jake Brukhman
https://blog.coinfund.io/fat-protocols-are-not-an-investment-thesis-17c8837c2734
Skin-in-the-game coins
by Ryan Selkis
https://medium.com/tbis-weekly-bits/skin-in-the-game-coins-da0afdfdc650
Fundraising and Token Distribution
Thoughts on tokens
by Balaji Srinivasan
https://news.earn.com/thoughts-on-tokens-436109aabcbe
Funding the evolution of blockchains
by Fred Ehrsam
https://medium.com/@FEhrsam/funding-the-evolution-of-blockchains-87d160988481
The bitcoin model for crowdfunding
by Naval Ravikant
https://startupboy.com/2014/03/09/the-bitcoin-model-for-crowdfunding/
How to make bonding curves for the economic web — a novel token distribution mechanism for building healthy communities, a technical primer
by Slava Balasanov
https://hackernoon.com/how-to-make-bonding-curves-for-continuous-token-models-3784653f8b17
Separating the staking token from the fee token — introducing the Photon (the Hard Spoon explained)
by Tendermint
https://blog.cosmos.network/cosmos-fee-token-introducing-the-photon-8a62b2f51aa
Explanation of DAICOs
by Vitalik Buterin
https://ethresear.ch/t/explanation-of-daicos/465
The SAFT Project
https://saftproject.com/
Regulatory environment and considerations — updates and explainers
from Coin Center
https://coincenter.org/our-work
Decentralized Exchanges
State of decentralized exchanges, 2018
by Nathan Sexer
https://media.consensys.net/state-of-decentralized-exchanges-2018-276dad340c79
Networked liquidity — projects solving the chicken and egg problem
by Radar Relay
https://medium.com/radarrelay/networked-liquidity-2030d85af897
List of decentralized exchanges — of cryptocurrencies and tokens (does not yet include column for degree of decentralization)
https://github.com/PYMERVAL/decentradexchange
Stablecoins
Stablecoins: A holy grail in digital currency
by Nick Tomaino
https://thecontrol.co/stablecoins-a-holy-grail-in-digital-currency-b64f3371e111
An overview of stablecoins
by Myles Snider
https://multicoin.capital/2018/01/17/an-overview-of-stablecoins/
The search for a stable cryptocurrency
by Vitalik Buterin
https://blog.ethereum.org/2014/11/11/search-stable-cryptocurrency/
Maker for dummies: a plain English explanation of the Dai stablecoin
by Gregory DiPrisco
https://medium.com/cryptolinks/maker-for-dummies-a-plain-english-explanation-of-the-dai-stablecoin-e4481d79b90
Cryptoeconomic Primitives: Curation Markets, Cryptocollectibles, Games & Culture
Introducing curation markets — trade popularity of memes and information (with code!)
by Simon de la Rouviere
https://medium.com/@simondlr/introducing-curation-markets-trade-popularity-of-memes-information-with-code-70bf6fed9881
Curation markets (tweetstorm) — summary and implications of
by Fred Ehrsam
https://twitter.com/FEhrsam/status/958388803655184386
Early UIs for curation markets (tweetstorm) — categories and some projects using markets to curate human readable information
by Jesse Walden
https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/958733889643696128
Token-curated registries — a more formal but less-than-mathematical view of token-curated registries
by Mike Goldin
https://medium.com/@ilovebagels/token-curated-registries-1-0-61a232f8dac7
Building ‘Google for the economic web’ on the Ethereum blockchain
by Maciej Olpinski
https://blog.userfeeds.io/building-google-for-the-economic-web-on-the-ethereum-blockchain-de27cb3d23b
Smart media tokens
from Steemit
https://smt.steem.io/smt-whitepaper.pdf
Digital pets that don’t die
by Elaine Ou
https://elaineou.com/2017/12/03/digital-pets-that-dont-die/
Will cryptocurrencies be the art market’s next big thing?
by Scott Reyburn
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/arts/cryptocurrency-art-market.html
Digital collectibles and the weird future of “digibles”
by Josh Stark
https://hackernoon.com/digital-collectibles-and-the-weird-future-of-digibles-f75f4bf0f9aa
Cryptocollectibles are XLNT, but nobody knows what’s next
by Matt Condon
https://medium.com/xlnt-art/cryptocollectibles-are-xlnt-but-nobody-knows-whats-next-a7892b311637
Rare pepe — what happens when you combine a crypto-asset with a meme and a trading card
by Fred Wilson
http://avc.com/2017/05/rare-pepe/
How to code your own cryptokitties-style game on Ethereum
by James Martin Duffy
https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-code-your-own-cryptokitties-style-game-on-ethereum-7c8ac86a4eb3
Other Resources – Newsletters
Week in Ethereum News — tracking developments in the Ethereum ecosystem
by Evan Van Ness
http://www.weekinethereum.com/
The Control — on the entrepreneurs, projects and protocols that are putting control of power in the hands of the people
by 1confirmation
https://www.getrevue.co/profile/control
Token Economy — tracking new developments in distributed ledger tech
by Stefano Bernardi and Yannick Roux
https://tokeneconomy.co/
Proof of Work — projects and progress in crypto, also a view from China
by Eric Meltzer
https://tinyletter.com/proofofwork/archive
Other Resources – Courses
Cryptocurrency (2018)
by Susan Athey and Kathryn Haun
http://explorecourses.stanford.edu/search?view=catalog&filter-coursestatus-Active=on&q=MGTECON%20515:%20Cryptocurrency&academicYear=20172018
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies (2015)
by Arvind Narayan, Joseph Bonneau, Edward Felten, Andrew Miller
https://piazza.com/princeton/spring2015/btctech/home
Advanced topics in computer science: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency technologies (2014)
by Arvind Narayan
http://randomwalker.info/teaching/fall-2014-bitcoin/
A graduate course in applied cryptography (2017)
by Dan Boneh and Victor Shoup
http://toc.cryptobook.us/
