Bitcoin Education for Beginners: The Sovereign University

[Pmalek]

I came across a new resource that might interest beginners willing to read and learn about Bitcoin. It's called The Sovereign University.
According to Ninjastic Space, it has never been mentioned on this forum before.

- The platform has Free Courses you can start at any time. They are grouped according to your Bitcoin knowledge: Beginner, Intermediate, and Expert.
- The Resources section contains a library of suggested books to read, podcasts, and a builders portal. 
- The Tutorials section is divided into Wallet, Node, Mining, Merchant, Exchange, and Privacy pages.


Since the courses section is probably the most interesting one, I will cover that in more detail.
There are 8 courses, each one with multiple chapters. 3 are beginner, 5 intermediate, and 1 expert course. Each course has a textual tutorial and a YouTube video. Sadly, the videos are in French and won't be helpful for many members.

• BTC 101: The Bitcoin Journey (28 chapters)
• BTC 102: Getting your first bitcoins (8 chapters)
• SECU 101: Information Security & Data Management (10 chapters)
• BTC 205: Peer-to-Peer Bitcoin Buying and Selling Solution (3 chapters)
• ECON 201: Introduction to Austrian Economics (8 chapters)
• LN 201: Theoretical Introduction to the Lightning Network (11 chapters)
• LN 202: Setting up a Bitcoin & Lightning Node (15 chapters)
• CRYPTO 301: Introduction to Cryptography (7 chapters)

The Tutorial section has a lot of content. There are both textual and video guides. Some of the videos are in English, others are in French. Here are some of the topics you can learn about:

• Electrum
• Sparrow
• Foundation Passport
• Trezor
• Bitcoin Core
• LN Watch Towers
• Mining
• BTCPay Server
• Centralized exchanges
• Bisq
• Peach Bitcoin
• Robosats
• Coinjoin
• Linux Mint
• Tails

Screenshots

Source: https://sovereignuniversity.org/
Disclaimer: I have no connection to the site, nor is this a paid advertisement.

[Pingrapole]

This is very fun for us and will help us to avoid many misconceptions, we will learn a lot of new things as it is illegal in our country, he will make it very easy for us because There are all kinds of arrangements like public universities which can be taken from any part through online.Thank you very much for such a beautiful arrangement and your arrangement will play a very important role in our renewal.

[Faisal2202]

A good contribution for the newbies as well as for the experts too. I really liked the website as even though they have provided the option of registration, but did not ask us to register on the website in order to take courses or learn about anything. Videos are helpful too even though they are in French but sometimes, few tutorials like how to do that or this. kinds of tutorials don't actually need that much audio. Because people are just following the steps in such tutorials.

And I think this website is mainly made for French, because at the top of the wallet's courses, they said, special thanks to harman and Parman who translated this. This means the text was not mainly in English. The website is translated into 5 languages. This is also a good thing because here on BTT people find it hard to learn things in their own local language. The course contents of this virtual university are also good. But as a university, they should provide some certificates too. Or maybe some quiz.

Or I am the one missing them, while they are included?

[Doan9269]

What a wonderful compilation package for beginners, i must commend your efforts in bringing these together to serves as what our newbies could rely on a work with while on their journey to learning about bitcoin, i appreciate the entire contents because each category touches some very vital aspect of bitcoin which the begginers needed to know wjen starting, this will be included on my achieve as well as using it as recommendation for other newbies coming here, i hope @Ratimov would see this and add to his beginners and help encyclopedia list.

[Accardo]

I prefer reading such sites, especially those that provide resources to where they got their information. It'll only take few dedication for any bitcoin user to read through all the courses and understand more about bitcoin. I'll personally go through them gradually, especially the lightning network course. The few course sites I've read are not rich with information about LN. Such sites as this, is not only meant for newbies, any body can read them to understand bitcoin and add knowledge to existing ones. I'd advise newbies to ask questions regarding any term or information they don't understand on the website. It'll help the learning process of the newbie or reader and as well put some informative thread on the forum for everyone else to read and participate. Great resource OP.

[Pmalek]

But as a university, they should provide some certificates too.
Or I am the one missing them, while they are included?

Don't let the name confuse you into thinking this is a real university, as in a real educational institution where you will get a diploma or certificate of successful completion. It's just a name they picked for their website.

i hope @Ratimov would see this and add to his beginners and help encyclopedia list.

I must be honest and say that I haven't checked the quality and how detailed the provided information is. But the more eyes we have on it, the better we can determine if it's something worth recommending as a learning source or not.

Such sites as this, is not only meant for newbies, any body can read them to understand bitcoin and add knowledge to existing ones.

Correct. There are courses and guides on security, the Lightning Network, and cryptography. That's not exactly something a beginner will understand immediately.

[JunaidAzizi]

I came across a new resource that might interest beginners willing to read and learn about Bitcoin. It's called The Sovereign University

Op you did wonderful work I really love your work. It a great news for newbies and beginners who are interested in Bitcoin and their investments. I am also looking for the same thing to find for the beginners and to help them but you did it.

I am so excited while checking the sovereign university and what I found is that the courses cover a wide range of topics which are from the basic to the advanced level of bitcoin that is cryptography and the lightning network. While checkīng is I came to know that the course is both in the textual and video format which also increased my happiness, unfortunately, the video includes French language but somehow the textual format also present, and maybe the team of The Sovereign University in the future make some English tutorials videos for the beginners.

[Pmalek]

While checkīng is I came to know that the course is both in the textual and video format which also increased my happiness, unfortunately, the video includes French language.

I wonder if there is some AI software that we could use to create a voiceover from French into English? I don't care if it isn't perfect and sounds robotic, it's still better than a language you don't understand at all. It would immensely help if we had something like that, not just for the purposes of the videos from this website, but in everyday life where it's needed.

[Findingnemo]

While checkīng is I came to know that the course is both in the textual and video format which also increased my happiness, unfortunately, the video includes French language.

I wonder if there is some AI software that we could use to create a voiceover from French into English?

There are tons of AIs available for video translation for example Maestra. Which offers text-to-speech, translation, and Transcription and for far the accuracy is decent but the only thing is none of these AI tools are available for free so you have to spend hourly or take a monthly subscription to get access to the actual software.

I must be honest and say that I haven't checked the quality and how detailed the provided information is. But the more eyes we have on it, the better we can determine if it's something worth recommending as a learning source or not.

I checked random chapters in the beginners' courses which seems good but maybe a little higher standard for a real newbie once they get used to the crypto terms I believe these can be handy but if they give examples then it would be more better for example in setting up the wallet they didn't provide any wallet for setting up, they just mentioned the importance of keeping the seed words safe. I thought it would be better if they gave an example with a good wallet like electrum then it would be easier for one who wanted to learn.

[Pmalek]

...but if they give examples then it would be more better for example in setting up the wallet they didn't provide any wallet for setting up, they just mentioned the importance of keeping the seed words safe. I thought it would be better if they gave an example with a good wallet like electrum then it would be easier for one who wanted to learn.

It would be impossible to discuss everything in the Courses section because then the courses would take days to complete. Detailed setup guides for certain wallets can be found in the tutorials section. Here are just two examples: Electrum and Sparrow.

The Electrum one is particularly detailed, explaining how to download, verify, and install the software. It also discusses the differences of running and configuring the wallet on Linux, Mac, and Windows. There is information about generating seeds, recovering wallets, changing settings, connecting it to your own node, etc.

[Upgrade00]

Looks alright on first glance. What caught my eye first was the recommended softwares and hardware's which they included in the courses section. Many tutorials and courses will highlight only the most popular platforms which many of the times are centralized exchanges, they will also not be on the lookout for open source alternatives like bisq or passport which offers actual self custody.

This will be useful to beginners and not so beginners as well.

I must be honest and say that I haven't checked the quality and how detailed the provided information is. But the more eyes we have on it, the better we can determine if it's something worth recommending as a learning source or not.

They should have an option where users can recommend an update on the information available. So even if it's not the best now through community involvement it will become better.

[Pmalek]

What caught my eye first was the recommended softwares and hardware's which they included in the courses section. Many tutorials and courses will highlight only the most popular platforms which many of the times are centralized exchanges, they will also not be on the lookout for open source alternatives like bisq or passport which offers actual self custody.

It's much easier to explain to someone who has never bought or sold bitcoin how to purchase it on a centralized exchange than on Bisq. Even experienced CEX users need to first read BISQ's docs and/or watch a few videos to figure out how to work the platform properly. No matter what anyone says, I don't think it's suitable for a beginner. It offers greater privacy and no custody, but those are different topics. Bisq and Foundation Passport sections exist as tutorials. 

They should have an option where users can recommend an update on the information available. So even if it's not the best now through community involvement it will become better.

I agree. The website doesn't seem to be completed. Certain sections are still missing. I am sure the team can be reached over social media in case anyone has suggestions how to improve the site. There are links to their channels at the bottom of the website.

[Upgrade00]

It's much easier to explain to someone who has never bought or sold bitcoin how to purchase it on a centralized exchange than on Bisq.

It's also much easier to explain how to create an account on an exchange over how to create a non custodian wallet and safely back it up. This does not mean newbies should be encouraged to go with centralized exchanges for storage. Ease is not always the best option, cause newbies are more prone to use centralized the exchanges for storage by leaving their coins there and if they start off using them, it will become much more difficult to chabge later.

 

No matter what anyone says, I don't think it's suitable for a beginner. It offers greater privacy and no custody, but those are different topics. Bisq and Foundation Passport sections exist as tutorials. 

So no KYC exchanges are probably the best options for beginners.

[Pmalek]

It's also much easier to explain how to create an account on an exchange over how to create a non custodian wallet and safely back it up. This does not mean newbies should be encouraged to go with centralized exchanges for storage. Ease is not always the best option, cause newbies are more prone to use centralized the exchanges for storage by leaving their coins there and if they start off using them, it will become much more difficult to chabge later.

They should be taught the difference between an exchange and a non-custodial and private wallet. An exchange is, of course, not a wallet. Hence its name exchange. A place to exchange A for B, and that's it. Only experienced traders may use it as such because it's inconvenient and costly to move coins in and out all the time. But they will also have to face the consequences if something goes wrong.   

So no KYC exchanges are probably the best options for beginners.

No-KYC exchanges are better than KYC exchanges for everyone. The problem is, they are a dying breed. Regulatory requirements are turning them into unicorns, a thing of legends. 

[hugeblack]

What do you think of the content? Have you read the content of any of these Courses? Frankly, I liked the design of the site and it looks professional, and I am thinking of recommending it to friends.

I started with the first link and was struck by the definition of Bitcoin on the basis that it is the neutral currency. This is the first time I heard of it, and it seems that it has a deeper meaning than what was mentioned in the lesson.
In the second lesson, there is a nice infographic and I read the explanation. It is good and okay, despite their attempt to simplify many things.

[knowngunman]

This is really commendable. It will be helpful for both the beginners and experts who are interested in having bitcoin knowledge. The website design is also topnotch and attention catching but it will be more recommendable if all these courses are compile in a single pdf file so interested person can have access to them even offline. Especially in my side here, having access to the internet is becoming difficult day by day especially when it rains. For people like me to have access to those courses when needed will be somehow difficult some times. You did a wonderful job for bringing this to the notice of Forum users.

[Cricktor]

I had French in school, spent some vacations and some science lessons in a research lab in France but that was a long time ago. But once you have some sort of feeling for a language, it works somehow to understand enough even when your language knowledge is a bit rusty. At least that's what I can say for me.

I had to reduce the speed of the videos to 0.75x, listen carefully and with automated translation to English it's OK for me to follow. But I can't confidently say it would work for newbies, too. I'm no beginner or intermediate anymore, so I'm likely biased and it might be much easier for me to follow than for a newbie.

Definitely worth a closer look and a nice complement to e.g. https://learnmeabitcoin.com!

[Broadanbig]

I did a little check on the website and I must commend the design and UI. This is very much educative and engaging. Beginners  and novice can easily assimilate information from this website very fast and easy because everything on the website has been properly drafted to the least common understanding of the average person trying to adapt. I was also captivated by this "Bitcoin education is a journey not a destination"  I did understand it clear that a destination might possibly be the end of the of the road when one gets to their abode and journey  a continuous process which never ends. So therefore one needs to be more knowledgeable as it is a continuous process to keep learning.

I.am happy you did bring it here for us to see and as you see for yourself, people are commending you for your efforts which means that what you have done is very much beneficial to us all here.

[Pmalek]

What do you think of the content? Have you read the content of any of these Courses?

I looked at it very briefly but didn't go into any detail nor did I check it for accuracy and correctness. I took a look at some of the tutorials, like the one for Electrum. It's a lengthy read with everything you need to get started with this wallet.

The website design is also topnotch and attention catching but it will be more recommendable if all these courses are compile in a single pdf file so interested person can have access to them even offline. Especially in my side here, having access to the internet is becoming difficult day by day especially when it rains.

You can always save the pages you like for offline access later on. And I am sure there are easy ways and tools to save entire websites for offline reading.

[Saint-loup]

I'm confused because it really looks like a website from a french guy, Rogzy : https://academie.decouvrebitcoin.fr/en/courses/btc-101-bitcoin-fondamental/
But when I look at the "About us" page I don't see any reference to this website, and I don't see any identified author either. So I hope the content hasn't been stolen from the other website and the real author has gently given his stuff instead. Anyway it's a rather good website with interesting articles and tutorials.