If you’re new to Bitcoin, you’re lucky. You can stand on the shoulders of giants, avoid mistakes like a pro, and probably even make some money.
A good way to ensure such a positive outcome is to avoid using bad sources of information.
Avoid Philosophical Pitfalls
What can qualify something as a “bad” source of information about Bitcoin? Well, a number of things. For starters, information in cryptocurrency is often biased according to a provider’s belief system.
A number of Bitcoiners, for example, will advertise the remarkably disproven philosophy that there will “eventually be only one cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.”
These Bitcoiners are often referred to as “Bitcoin maximalmists.” This term was coined by Vitalik Buterin.
Market activity has proven quite the opposite.
Bitcoin remains the leading cryptocurrency due to its massive liquidity and name recognition footprint.
Its dominance is not a permanent fixture, however. If technological history is any lesson, then we should expect disruption rather than a lack thereof.
There are a few reliable sources of objective information about Bitcoin.
If you’re looking to learn about it rather than follow the news cycle, you can consult either the Bitcoin wiki or Andreas Antonopoulos’ book, Mastering Bitcoin.
Both resources are free, although for a fee you can acquire a printed copy of the latter.
To learn the history of Bitcoin, a good overview lives at HistoryofBitcoin.org.
From there, you may be interested in all the thousands of cryptocurrencies and tokens that Bitcoin has inspired into existence. One of the best resources for that is called Map of Coins.
For current price, you can check CoinMarketCap.com or Preev.com, and for a useful metric you can visit BuckofBitcoin.com.
Speaking of history, there are a number of excellent documentaries about Bitcoin. The best one to begin with is called The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin.
Crypto Social Media: Sharks Patrol These Waters
Having a baseline knowledge of Bitcoin, you can now begin to explore the “community.” This can be a woeful experience, depending on your temperment, so be advised.
On Twitter, there are dozens of high quality accounts to follow which can be found by searching for Bitcoin or cryptocurrency.
Twitter is perhaps the surest way to get bad information, as well. It is often the source of rumors and nearly always the chosen forum for drama in the crypto community.
The drama is so forthright that a television show about crypto Twitter drama actually emerged (and went defunct) earlier this year.
Reddit was once a go-to source of information about cryptocurrency, but seems to have lost ground to Twitter in recent times.
BitcoinTalk is the chaotic godfather of all crypto social media, and worth a browse if you’re looking for discussions about cryptocurrency.
Unless you tie your mast to a particular community, you’ll find it hard to keep a steady stream of good information coming your way. One way to deal with that problem is to follow a variety of communities.
Doing your own research is wise. Keeping out of the “hodl hodl hodl” crowd will probably make you a more likeable person.
With any luck, the resources in this article will help you get you further along your mission to become a knowledgable Bitcoin user.
