STAGE 2 · UNDERSTAND BITCOINLEVEL · Beginner8 LESSONSABOUT 43 MINBITCOIN FUNDAMENTALS
A complete first course on Bitcoin itself. It covers the thing, the history, the value question, the mechanics you need as a user, and the objections you will hear at dinner. Each lesson has a video, a graphic and a check. About an hour.
BY THE END OF THIS COURSE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
- Explain what Bitcoin is in two sentences
- Tell the story of its origin and why no one is in charge
- Say why bitcoin has value without the word "backed"
- Read an address, a transaction and a confirmation
- Answer the first five questions every sceptic asks
Every lesson ends with a quiz or a challenge; the course is complete when each lesson is.
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LESSONS
01What is Bitcoin?Bitcoin is digital money with a fixed supply, run by a network that anyone can join and verify. There is no company behind it.▶ 1✓ quiz6 MIN✓02Satoshi and the origin storyBitcoin came out of the cypherpunk movement after decades of attempts at digital cash. Its creator published it, ran it for two years and left.▶ 1✓ quiz6 MIN✓03Why does bitcoin have value?Bitcoin has value for the same reason gold does: it is useful as money and it is scarce. Nothing "backs" it, and nothing backs the dollar either.▶ 1✓ quiz6 MIN✓04Sats, units and the priceA bitcoin divides into 100 million satoshis. You never need a whole coin, and thinking in sats makes the price easier to read.✓ quiz⚡ challenge4 MIN✓05Transactions, addresses and confirmationsTo get paid you share an address; to pay you sign a transaction. It waits in the mempool, a miner includes it, and each block after that is a confirmation.▶ 1✓ quiz6 MIN✓06Keys: what you actually ownYou do not store bitcoin; you store the keys that control it. A seed phrase recreates every key. Whoever has it has the coins.✓ quiz▭ cards5 MIN✓07The first five questionsAnonymous? Criminal? Ponzi? Hackable? Too late? Short, honest answers to the questions every newcomer gets asked.▶ 1✓ quiz7 MIN✓08Where to go nextYou know what Bitcoin is. Here is how to choose the next course based on what you want to do.✓ quiz3 MIN✓