Why should I get some bitcoin? (Begin here)

Instead of watching that movie, TV show, or sports game tonight, begin watching these presentations, in order:

How do I buy and hold bitcoin?

  • The methods of bitcoin ownership compared: An article comparing bitcoin ETFs vs. self-custody and other primary methods of owning bitcoin.

  • River.com: The best place to begin buying bitcoin for the first time.

  • Unchained.com: The best place to get help securing bitcoin holdings without single points of failure, protecting you from both third-party custodians, as well as from yourself. Unchained allows you to buy bitcoin, but setting up the secure custody is a prerequisite. You can even upgrade an IRA or 401k to bitcoin here.

  • 11 imperatives to defend your bitcoin from modern scammers: After you get bitcoin, you need to understand how to keep it safe and not become the victim of a trick. Learn the rules from this article, and memorize them.

How do I grow my comfort and conviction?

How does bitcoin work technically?

What are good tools for navigating bitcoin going forward?

  • Mempool.space: One of the most useful websites for visualizing the bitcoin protocol acting in real time; its API is also available for people running their own node.

  • Clark Moody Dashboard: A nice dashboard for up-to-date data related to bitcoin.

  • Timechain Calendar: Another nice dashboard for visualizing the current state of the bitcoin network.

  • Glassnode: Create a free or paid account for playing around with on-chain analysis.

  • checkonchain: A resource with many great charts to examine bitcoin trends and data.

  • Bull Bitcoin fee multiple: A tool to see if transaction fee rates are currently high or low compared to the past month or year.

  • BTCSessions (Youtube Channel): If you have your eye on software, hardware, or an app related to bitcoin, chances are Ben has a helpful tutorial on his channel.

  • Metal Seed Storage Reviews: Jameson Lopp has stress-tested most metal seed products on the market.

  • Bitcoin Optech: A weekly newsletter describing the current technical and directional debates in the bitcoin community and other bitcoin news. They also run a podcast.

  • Bitcoin University (Youtube Channel): Matthew Kratter produces short videos nearly every day about the current hot topics in the world of bitcoin. One of the few youtube channels that seems reliable in its integrity and knowledge on the topic.

Advanced Technical Tools

  • Transaction Size Calculator: Tool to learn how transaction sizes are calculated, and thus, transaction fees as well.

  • CPFP Calculator: I website I created to help calculate the fee rate for a CPFP transaction.

  • Deconstruct Transaction Hex: Learn how transactions work behind-the-scenes.

  • Coinb.in: Open source tool to create, verify, sign and broadcast raw transactions. Warning: unsafe for beginners.

  • Wallets Recovery: A list of derivation paths for recovering funds from different wallets.

  • IanColeman.io: A collection of useful tools to play with behind-the-scenes operations including BIP39 mnemonic code converter, and Shamir’s secret sharing. Warning: do not use for keys securing funds.

  • Address Calculator: Several tools to demonstrate how to start at private keys and end at addresses. Warning: do not enter private keys that are securing funds.

  • PSBT Explorer: Decode raw PSBT data.

  • PSBTv2 Explorer: Decode raw PSBT data.

  • OP_RETURN Bot: Easy way to create a permanent message in the bitcoin blockchain.

  • Txstats: A collection of interesting dashboards showing popularity of address types, etc.