Crypto & Digital Assets

Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins

~25 min · 6 lessons

What you'll learn

✓Distinguish BTC, ETH, stablecoins
✓Explain on-chain custody vs exchanges

Lessons

📜
A Whitepaper After Lehman
How Bitcoin showed up in 2008
Start →
What's a Blockchain, Really?
Finish the previous lesson to unlock
The Big Three: BTC, ETH, Stablecoins
Finish the previous lesson to unlock
Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins
Finish the previous lesson to unlock
When Crypto Blows Up
Finish the previous lesson to unlock
Final Boss: Mechanism, Not Advice
Finish the previous lesson to unlock

Sources

All content is drawn from the sources below. We deliberately avoid unverified material.

Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
Satoshi Nakamoto (2008) · academic
The original Bitcoin whitepaper. Source for lesson 1 (the 2008 publication, the peer-to-peer cash framing) and lesson 2 (proof-of-work mechanics).
https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform
Vitalik Buterin / Ethereum Foundation (2014) · academic
The Ethereum whitepaper. Source for lesson 3's claims about smart contracts and Ethereum's role as a programmable platform.
https://ethereum.org/en/whitepaper/
Stablecoins: risks, potential and regulation (Working Paper No. 905)
Bank for International Settlements · institutional
BIS WP 905 (2020) by Arner, Auer and Frost. Used in lessons 3 and 5 for stablecoin mechanics and the trust-shifting argument.
https://www.bis.org/publ/work905.htm
The Financial Stability Risks of Crypto-Asset Activities (2023 review)
Financial Stability Board · institutional
FSB review used to back claims in lesson 5 about Terra/Luna and ongoing risks at exchanges and stablecoin issuers.
https://www.fsb.org/2023/02/the-financial-stability-risks-of-crypto-asset-activities/
BIS Quarterly Review (September 2022): The crypto ecosystem
Bank for International Settlements · institutional
Documents the May 2022 Terra/Luna collapse and the algorithmic-stablecoin death spiral, used in lesson 5.
https://www.bis.org/publ/qtrpdf/r_qt2209.htm
CFTC Complaint vs. Bankman-Fried, Alameda, FTX (December 13, 2022)
U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission · institutional
Primary source for the FTX 2022 facts in lesson 5, including the commingling of customer funds with Alameda Research.
https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8638-22
Cryptocurrency Mechanics (academic survey)
Cohen et al. · academic
General reference for the technical material in lesson 2 (proof-of-work, blocks, nodes, mining) and lesson 4 (private keys, custody).
Mt. Gox bankruptcy filings and Tokyo District Court records (2014 onwards)
Tokyo District Court · reference
Reference for the 2014 Mt. Gox figures used in lesson 5 (around 850,000 BTC lost, peak ~70% of global BTC trading volume).
Federal Reserve History: The Fall of Lehman Brothers
Federal Reserve History · institutional
Backs the September 15, 2008 Lehman date and macro context used in the lesson 1 hook.
https://www.federalreservehistory.org/essays/lehman-brothers-bankruptcy