Start Learning about Bitcoin while Stuck in Quarantine!

[GDragon]

Hello! I just realized that a lot of us are at home right now due to COVID-19. Many people will see this as a perfect time to learn about Bitcoin. I felt that there are a lot of newbies here silently reading and struggling to understand threads here. Please be patient. I remember it was really hard to comprehend the threads when I was starting. You are trying to be familiar with the website while trying to understand the technical world of Bitcoin.

While it's true that it is your responsibility as a newbie to read and research about Bitcoin. I would still like to share how I started to be interested and "continue" to be interested in learning about it. I believe that it's easy to start learning about Bitcoin, but the hardest part is to continue. The process I've gone through is by reading and by watching Youtube videos explaining about Bitcoin. One advice is start learning it in simple terms. You don't have to push yourself to engage in a discussion right away but it is your responsibility to learn, and this thread is only a guide on where you should start.

This thread is separated into three parts. First, Basic Informative Videos explaing Bitcoin in simple terms. Second, the basic fundamental terms you will always encounter in the discussions. Third, some of the complicated and advance terms in Bitcoin!

I. BASIC INFORMATIVE VIDEOS

If it's hard for you to jump right away in reading about bitcoin. Start with watching informative videos! 99Bitcoins in youtube helps me a lot. It is entertaining, easy to digest videos. Here's a few videos about Bitcoin in Easy terms.

What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin Explained Simply for Dummies
Blockchain Technology for Dummies - Blockchain Explained Simply
What is a Bitcoin Wallet? (in Plain English)
What is Bitcoin Mining= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BODyqM-V71E] What is Bitcoin Mining
Bitcoin Trading for Beginners (A Guide in Plain English)
Bitcoin Halving Explained Simple - Does it Affect Bitcoin's Price?  

II. TERMS YOU OFTEN ENCOUNTER

Start from the bottom, learn the basic terms that is often use in the discussions. I listed some of the terms that you should know which can help you understand complicated and technical terms.

Volatility - The fluctuation in an asset’s prices is measured by its Volatility. Cryptocurrency prices are notoriously Volatile compared to other assets as dramatic price shifts can happen quickly.

Blockchain - The blockchain is a digital ledger of all the transactions in a particular cryptocurrency ever made. It comprises of individual blocks that are chained to each other through a cryptographic signature. Each time a block’s capacity is reached, a new block is added to the chain. The blockchain is repeatedly copied and saved onto thousands of computers all around the world, and must always match each other. As there is no master copy stored in one location, it’s considered decentralized.

Bitcoin Mining - Bitcoin mining is the process of adding transaction records to Bitcoin's public ledger of past transactions or blockchain. In the process of solving the encryption challenges, the person donating the computer power is granted new fractions of the cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency - A form of money that exists as encrypted, digital information. Operating independently of any banks, a cryptocurrency uses sophisticated mathematics to regulate the creation and transfer of funds between entities.

Double spending - Double-spending is a potential flaw in a digital cash scheme in which the same single digital token can be spent more than once. Unlike physical cash, a digital token consists of a digital file that can be duplicated or falsified.

Fiat currency - Refers to money recognized as legal tender by governments, such as the US dollar, pound, Euro and Australian dollar.

Decentralized Applciation - A computer program that utilises a blockchain for data storage, runs autonomously, is not controlled or operated from a single entity, is open source, and has its use incentivised by the reward of fees or tokens.

Liquidity - The liquidity of a cryptocurrency is defined by how easily it can be bought and sold without impacting the overall market price.

Halving - Every time miners approve transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, they earn Bitcoin. As each block on the blockchain fills up with transactions, a certain amount of Bitcoin enter the marketplace. However, the number of Bitcoin that will ever be created is finite; locked at 21 million. In order to ensure this cap is kept, the amount of Bitcoin earned by miners for filling one block is halved at the completion of that block. This is called Halving, which takes place every four years. For the record, by the year 2140, all 21 million Bitcoin will be in circulation.

ICO (Initial Coin Offering) - In order to raise funds, the creator of a cryptocurrency will put an initial batch of its coins up for purchase. This is an Initial Coin Offering.

KYC - Acronym for “Know your Customer” and refers to a financial institution’s obligation to verify the identity of a customer in line with AML laws.

Whale - A term used to describe extremely wealthy investors or traders who have enough funds to manipulate the market.

In no time, you will be surprised how easy it was to comprehend discussions. This will help you think and engage in a certain topic about Bitcoin. Joining discussion will help you learn more about the crypto world, at the same time you will also easily contribute constructive and quality posts.

III. SOME TECHNICAL TERMS TODAY

Now, you already have a knowledge about bitcoin.  It is now your full responsibility to widen your knowledge in the crypto world. You are now ready to learn about the technical terms. I listed only three technical terms you will often encounter in the discussions today.

Lightning Network - Bitcoin transactions can get slow and expensive, especially during busy times. One of the main arguments why Bitcoin can't be used as medium of exchange is because of how slowly it works, and how expensive it is to send small payments to the network. This is where Lightning Network comes in. Lightning Network is a peer-to-peer system for cryptocurrency micropayments that is focused on low latency, instant payments. They’re typically low cost, scalable and can work across chains, and transactions can be public or private.

The Lightning Network adds another layer to Bitcoin’s blockchain and enables users to create payment channels between any two parties on that extra layer. These channels can exist for as long as required, and because they’re set up between two people, transactions will be almost instant and the fees will be extremely low or even non-existent. It brings new possibilities for Bitcoin to be use as a new payment method.

Here's a video that explained it simply.
What is the Lightning Network? (Explained Simply)
An article for you to easily understand how it works.
What Is Lightning Network And How It Works

Segwit - Segregated Witness fixed an issue called transaction malleability.  Every Bitcoin transaction has three parts: sender, recipient, digital signature (scriptSig). The scriptSig part of Segwit transactions is called the “witness data”. When Segwit transactions are sent to Legacy nodes the scriptSig is stripped. Segwit transactions put the scriptSig at the end. The key is that these “stripped” transactions are still valid transactions on Legacy nodes, which gives us a savings over non-Segwit transactions. This allows more transaction to be approved each time a block of transactions have been confirmed.

Here's a video that explained it simply.
What is Segwit? Segregated Witness Explained Simply

5G Network - 5G is the next generation of mobile broadband that will eventually replace, or at least augment, your 4G LTE connection. With 5G, you’ll see exponentially faster download and upload speeds. 5G and blockchain offer the promise of a potent combination. Blockchain can secure mobile banking networks that will have to secure transactions on a very granular level, while 5G itself will make sure these complex networks don’t strain under the weight of blockchains.

Here's a good read about 5G Network:
What is 5G?
Blockchain and 5G Network
Blockchain and 5G: Greatest promise is to transform the developing world

The terms I've included above are only those words I often see in the discussions today. There are a lot of terms in Bitcoin you need to understand. Here's a glossary you can always use: A to Z: The Ultimate Cryptocurrency Glossary

I hope this thread helps you stay interested and have longer patience in learning about bitcoin. If there's a word you want to add, basic or complicated, let us know! Try citing sources or try explaining it in simple terms. Let us all engage in an informative discussion for our newbies out there!

-GDragon

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[1715610213]

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[finaleshot2016]

Those informative videos are really helpful when I'm on the learning phase of my journey here especially the "What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin Explained Simply for Dummies" of 99bitcoins.

I think it's better to add some documentaries that can be watched on the whole day since quarantine days are very long and we have a lot of time.

[Chikito]

when reading the pinned message we can find a video for beginner how to learning bitcoin > The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical).

Maybe some people want to know prehistory of bitcoin?, this thread has useful information about that > Bitcoin Prehistory.

for more information, we can find full information about bitcoin by following index thread > https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4928968.0

[KrisAlex18]

You may use this current situation for you to become productive in you daily life, learning is really important thing in our lives, it is really important that we are continuously learning.

Well, learning bitcoin is really important thing that you have to do if you want to become a successful person in the future, all the videos that you have listed are all important things, it will really help you to understand the nature and the basics of the bitcoin. Each terms that you have listed are also important things that a beginner should know for them to become related on some posts in this forum.

[GDragon]

when reading the pinned message we can find a video for beginner how to learning bitcoin > The Essence of How Bitcoin Works (Non-Technical).

Maybe some people want to know prehistory of bitcoin?, this thread has useful information about that > Bitcoin Prehistory.

for more information, we can find full information about bitcoin by following index thread > https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4928968.0

Thanks for this! I hope newbies will see those threads!

I think it's better to add some documentaries that can be watched on the whole day since quarantine days are very long and we have a lot of time.

It's a good idea!! I will try looking for docu's and will post streaming links here!

[Maus0728]

I have given you a merit since I am looking for resources in youtube to make my stay at home become more productive. I know 99Bitcoins channel and it clearly explain the complex structure of blockchain and bitcoin and I am done watching most of their content. Furthermore, I would like to share Khan Academy channel that I recently found. If you are done watching 99Bitcoins I also recommend to watch their playlist intended only for bitcoin that focuses specifically in its technicalities.


[1] Khan Academy - Bitcoin

[GDragon]

I have given you a merit since I am looking for resources in youtube to make my stay at home become more productive. I know 99Bitcoins channel and it clearly explain the complex structure of blockchain and bitcoin and I am done watching most of their content. Furthermore, I would like to share Khan Academy channel that I recently found. If you are done watching 99Bitcoins I also recommend to watch their playlist intended only for bitcoin that focuses specifically in its technicalities.


[1] Khan Academy - Bitcoin

I'm glad it helps! And your recommendation helps too! I watched some videos from Khan Academy and it is comprehensive! This will help a lot, thankyou! Let's continue learning about bitcoin!

Adding few book or series of videos as additional reference/knowledge might be useful. I'd recommend this book https://github.com/aantonop/bitcoinbook

Take note each documentation see Bitcoin from different perspective such as economy, technology/technical, ideology or some of them.
Each user have different interest, so it might useful to mention it which perspective is documented on the documentation. But this require you to watch whole documentation, unless you can find good review.

Yes! I think I need to watch the full docu first before trying to suggest it to others, in that way I can give them a brief background about the docu.

Finally, a book reco! Thanks a lot, will try to read it soon!
I'm happy this thread serves its purpose!

[skarais]

~~~

Video is a medium that is included in several media that can be used for learning. A lot of someones experience about bitcoin is also shared via video and we can use it as an effort to increase knowledge. When a student needs a teacher to make it easy to understand something, the video will be very helpful when practicing directly without ignoring other learning media.

If too much reading can make us bored and difficult to understand something, then video is another alternative that we can use to learn and improve skills and knowledge when we are still in a difficult situation related to Covid-19 and is something that is recommended and I agree with OP.

[pooya87]

Segwit - (1) Segregated Witness is a method of scaling the Bitcoin network to confirm more transactions on each block (2) without increasing the block size itself. It is invented in order (3) to shrink the file size of a bitcoin transaction. Every Bitcoin transaction has three parts: sender, recipient, digital signature. The signature is considered to be "the witness" for the transaction. Segwit means that we are (4) separating the witness from the base transaction in order to make it (3) smaller in size. This allows more transaction to be approved each time a block of transactions have been confirmed.

i'm surprised that after 3 years people are still confused about SegWit and make mistakes about what it does!
you made 4 mistakes here.
(1) SegWit is not a scaling solution, it was mainly a malleability fix that also helped with scaling by increasing the capacity. it also paves the way for second layer solutions (for scaling) such as LN.
(2) SegWit did increase the block size, of course we no longer use "size" but "weight" instead but the raw byte size of a block is increased for example nowadays blocks grow as big as 1.2 MB with a record of 2.1 MB and they can grow to a little less than 4 MB
(3) neither block size nor transaction sizes were decreased. in fact in some cases they grow to bigger sizes when you use SegWit due to its overhead. the reason why more transactions can fit in a block is because capacity is increased  using 4 MB weight.
(4) signature is not "separated" from transactions. it is still a part of it, but now it is placed near the end of it before the locktime instead of inside txin's sigscript.

[GDragon]

~~~

Video is a medium that is included in several media that can be used for learning. A lot of someones experience about bitcoin is also shared via video and we can use it as an effort to increase knowledge. When a student needs a teacher to make it easy to understand something, the video will be very helpful when practicing directly without ignoring other learning media.

If too much reading can make us bored and difficult to understand something, then video is another alternative that we can use to learn and improve skills and knowledge when we are still in a difficult situation related to Covid-19 and is something that is recommended and I agree with OP.

Agree, videos are mostly very demonstration-friendly. Research has shown that 83% of human learning takes place visually, especially for an audience with a short attention span.  And videos, helps me a lot in efficiently learning a technical and complicated topic like Bitcoin.

Segwit - (1) Segregated Witness is a method of scaling the Bitcoin network to confirm more transactions on each block (2) without increasing the block size itself. It is invented in order (3) to shrink the file size of a bitcoin transaction. Every Bitcoin transaction has three parts: sender, recipient, digital signature. The signature is considered to be "the witness" for the transaction. Segwit means that we are (4) separating the witness from the base transaction in order to make it (3) smaller in size. This allows more transaction to be approved each time a block of transactions have been confirmed.

i'm surprised that after 3 years people are still confused about SegWit and make mistakes about what it does!
you made 4 mistakes here.
(1) SegWit is not a scaling solution, it was mainly a malleability fix that also helped with scaling by increasing the capacity. it also paves the way for second layer solutions (for scaling) such as LN.
(2) SegWit did increase the block size, of course we no longer use "size" but "weight" instead but the raw byte size of a block is increased for example nowadays blocks grow as big as 1.2 MB with a record of 2.1 MB and they can grow to a little less than 4 MB
(3) neither block size nor transaction sizes were decreased. in fact in some cases they grow to bigger sizes when you use SegWit due to its overhead. the reason why more transactions can fit in a block is because capacity is increased  using 4 MB weight.
(4) signature is not "separated" from transactions. it is still a part of it, but now it is placed near the end of it before the locktime instead of inside txin's sigscript.

Thanks for this, appreciate this one and it really helps me a lot too! So much articles about Segwit! Will fix this mistakes!

1. Segwit fixes transaction malleability that also helped with scaling by increasing the capacity.
2. Segwit blocks are restricted by weight. The raw byte size of a block is increased, though Legacy nodes will still receive blocks that are 1,000,000 bytes or lower due to stripped witness data.
3. More transactions can fit in a block because capacity is increased using 4 MB weight
4. scriptSig data is not separated but it is moved to the end of the transaction.

Thaks for reading the thread all the way through!

[bdbountyon]

Your article is worth reading for all. I learn a lot while in self-isolation. But internet is not stopped by lethal weapon of mass destruction. I am not going to be left behind. That's why I work at home with my laptop in front of me. I am observing everything on my laptop including news, podcast, social media engagement, viewing new blockchain startups, crowdsale, market crisis, forex prediction and bitcoinfutures.

[GDragon]

Your article is worth reading for all. I learn a lot while in self-isolation. But internet is not stopped by lethal weapon of mass destruction. I am not going to be left behind. That's why I work at home with my laptop in front of me. I am observing everything on my laptop including news, podcast, social media engagement, viewing new blockchain startups, crowdsale, market crisis, forex prediction and bitcoinfutures.

Yup! Let's continue gathering knowledge about bitcoin. Learning it really takes a lot of effort. Aside from the given materials in this topic, try reading all available informations here in the forum. There's a lot of good topics and posts. You will learn a lot! We have a lot of time anyways during quarantine.

[USBitcoinServices.Com]

Definitely learning about blockchain is a good thing these days, but not only these days because of the fearmongering virus, but people, in general, should have the habit of reading news related to bitcoin, altcoins, blockchain, encryption, privacy, cyber-security, etc. if people just spend from 1 to 5 hours a day reading, doing crypto stuff, using crypto wallets, etc, they soon will increase their knowledge and find the logic how crypto works!

[ShowOff]

-snip-

I just want someone to learn about bitcoin, cryptocurrency, etc, gradually and consistently and we just need to maintain enthusiasm to be able to maintain consistency of learning in the midst of world health problems that might affect mood, thoughts and other positive things and this is certainly can cause stress.

To be honest, we are currently faced with a very serious problem and this problem makes us have to stay at home until an unspecified time limit. If you, me, and others can use this situation to gain knowledge about bitcoin by learning, then this is truly a positive thing to do.

[GDragon]

Definitely learning about blockchain is a good thing these days, but not only these days because of the fearmongering virus, but people, in general, should have the habit of reading news related to bitcoin, altcoins, blockchain, encryption, privacy, cyber-security, etc. if people just spend from 1 to 5 hours a day reading, doing crypto stuff, using crypto wallets, etc, they soon will increase their knowledge and find the logic how crypto works!

Yup, they should follow everything about bitcoin not only during this quarantine. Everything is in the internet anyways. Reading articles also helps me, I make it a part of my social media time. I follow pages for updates about bitcoin. Learning while scrolling though my soc med accounts at the same time.

[Shimmiry]

I hope this thread helps you stay interested and have longer patience in learning about bitcoin. If there's a word you want to add, basic or complicated, let us know! Try citing sources or try explaining it in simple terms. Let us all engage in an informative discussion for our newbies out there!
-GDragon

For me, and I think for a lot of people, this quarantine time is the best time to get in touch more in cryptocurrencies most especially in bitcoin. We could be full time here for now. So, if you have nothing to do, invest your time here, this will be beneficial go you as time goes by. You will learn a lot and will be knowledgeable on how currencies works.  The market is good to observe now.

[1Dq]

Hello.

I'm a crypto artist and have made one painting specifically for the purpose of visualizing the Bitcoin structure and help new people get into it.

It's called Cryptoglyphs and is explained in detail here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5065782.0





(If this post doesn't help the thread please remove it)

Cheers!

[GDragon]

Adding few book or series of videos as additional reference/knowledge might be useful. I'd recommend this book https://github.com/aantonop/bitcoinbook

Take note each documentation see Bitcoin from different perspective such as economy, technology/technical, ideology or some of them.
Each user have different interest, so it might useful to mention it which perspective is documented on the documentation. But this require you to watch whole documentation, unless you can find good review.

Hi! I compiled highlights that I have taken from the documentary film "Banking on Bitcoin". The film is good!

[Discussion] Banking on Bitcoin Documentary Highlights

I think this topic is helpful to this thread! Hope everyone can watch it too. The link is also in the thread. The film can help you understand the history of Bitcoin and why Bitcoin has the status it has today.

[jv8155]

Yes, I also see this the perfect time to learn about Bitcoin, mining, masternode and so many other things.

I am also learning about alternative coin masternode, masternode ROI and other things as well. I want you guys to recommend mnroi for the masternode related trending, stats, or own coin monitoring because I love the layout & pleasing to the eyes with accurate data about coins.

[NavI_027]

For me, and I think for a lot of people, this quarantine time is the best time to get in touch more in cryptocurrencies most especially in bitcoin. We could be full time here for now. So, if you have nothing to do, invest your time here, this will be beneficial go you as time goes by.

Indeed, if not cryptocurrency then at least spend most of your time doing what you love. Making yourself more knowledgeable everyday feeds your self fulfillment and uplift your confidence. The feeling of being wiser among your colleagues is soo satisfying (but don't brag of course). So instead of stressing ourselves out of the news about the pandemic which are getting worse I think, try to unwind and be a better version of you .

Right now, I'm studying the fundamentals of a Diesel power plant. Who's with me?