Introduction

<aside> 👋🏻 Welcome to my site! After spending hours on countless number of documentations, articles and podcasts, I have decided to share my crypto learnings here. There are 2 parts to the notes:

  1. A recommended reading list and
  2. my own personal notes. I recommend starting on (1) if you are new to the specific topic, and only refer back to (2) if required.

</aside>

Before we get into what blockchain/crypto is, I think it is crucial to understand the why, the reason for why the entire crypto market exists and how it has become a multi-trillion dollar industry today. Why Decentralization Matters by Chris Dixon explains the importance of decentralized protocols and why blockchain technology will forge the next era of Internet applications.

Centralized systems often start out fully baked, but only get better at the rate at which employees at the sponsoring company improve them. Decentralized systems start out half-baked but, under the right conditions, grow exponentially as they attract new contributors.

The main benefit of decentralization is that by removing the intermediary and allowing networks to operate peer-to-peer, more value accrues to both sides of the transaction. There are fewer entities in between taking a cut. For the purpose of the rest of the articles, we will be mostly focusing on decentralized blockchain ecosystems.

Crypto Fundamentals

First, we will dig into the rabbit hole of Blockchain, the fundamental technology behind cryptocurrencies & tokens.

After which, we dive into the latest asset class of the 21st century, Cryptocurrencies & Tokens.

Lastly, we look at the future of the internet, the disruptor of industries — [Web 3.0](https://ivanang.notion.site/Web-3-0-c5c85b6fcd7d4ce89192801c1843b67e).

The OGs: Bitcoin and Ethereum

Next, we explore Bitcoin, the first ever decentralized cryptocurrency created in 2008. Some argue that without Bitcoin, the crypto sphere wouldn't have been what it is today.

The next blockchain that changed crypto forever is Ethereum, a programmable blockchain that has since ignited a Cambrian explosion of decentralized applications (dApps) and gave rise to various novel use cases such as Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), stablecoins, DeFi, NFTs and many more.

Use Cases

<aside> 💡 I recommend completing the required reading lists for each topic first before reading my notes.

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