Bitcoin Forum

Hi guys,
I am a CS student and ever since I learned about Blockchain technology and understood the vision of a trust less ,decentralized, democratic world, I am losing sleep. I have already completed two cryptography courses, I have a solid foundation in software development and I am trying to figure out how to continue. Let me elaborate, every day I see posts and news about a new protocol, or a new company based on a Blockchain, and I want to be a part of this new thing that we are building, I tried diving into the bitcoin code to get a better understanding in hopes of finding how to be a part of this. But, unfortunately I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of code, thus I started taking an online course on Blochchain Technology by Princeton university. My question is: What would be the best course of action for someone with the aforementioned qualifications to get into Blockchain Research and be part of the future ?

Choose your specialization or focus on project you see as best promise for bitcoin.
For example, you are amazed by lighting extension of bitcoin, start from reading code repositories. Its possible you won't understand much, but try to at least. Then focus on some part of this huge projects. Why? Because computer science is like medicine nowadays, there are maybe close to hundred different specializations.
You could specialize in network communication, optimize sockets communication or udp or whatever method of decentralized communication is there.

Then you are better and better in it and you start earning at least $10 000 per month. Your job is done here, you are wanted in most specialized and best jobs you can get.

Blockchain research is broad and wide. If you are interested in pursuing research in such field, then apply for internship in a blockchain related field and apply your already know knowledge in computer science and build more interest from there.

If you want to take the holistic approach and maybe enter academia some way further down the road:

Subscribe to the Bitcoin Dev mailing list and follow the discussion on current and future developments:
https://lists.linuxfoundation.org/mailman/listinfo/bitcoin-dev

Read BIPs. Read whitepapers from cover to cover to get a fundamental understanding of protocol specifics and some of the more interesting alts out there. Maybe find yourself a project that you are interested in and that you can contribute to.


If you want to take the more direct approach at landing a job in the private economy:

Look for companies that are hiring engineers related to blockchain tech and cryptocurrency projects and see what skillset they expect and what profile they are after. See what skills are mentioned more often than not and focus on those. Contributing to open source cryptocurrency projects may improve both your relevant skills and your resumé.

One of the big problems in understanding wide-ranging technological changes is specialisation. You have made a good start by researching the technology, and it is my belief that you may need to understand the macro-economic changes that blockchain is bringing to the world of banking. It's greatest benefit could be in bringing to an end fractional reserve banking, and zero interest savings. You can't have capitalism without capital, and the corrupt fiat banking system has spent many years transferring wealth from governments, pension funds and populations, and into the hand of a few families in an elite super-national community. Your greatest benefit to the world will come from the marriage of good technical knowledge, and the economic benefits that these changes can bring to the general population.