What better way to learn something than writing about it, right? So here’s my first ever attempt at blogging my journey into the world of cryptocurrencies, blockchain and web3.
My background
First some background about me to give the readers some context about my perspective. I am a software engineer by profession with 5 years of experience. I have a Computer Science degree, always had an itch for having my own startup, but never got around working towards that goal.
So whenever I come to know about anything, be it a new technology or an emerging innovation space, I try to think how to enter into it with the view of having my own startup.
Being pseudonymous
I’ll be pseudonymous on public platforms as I have realized I might have social anxiety.
2017 Crypto Boom
The only thing I knew about Bitcoin was that it is a “cryptocurrency” built on top of a “blockchain” conceptualized by an anonymous “Satoshi Nakamoto”. That’s it. The quoted terms were just that, some terms that I didn’t understand. I never paid more attention to it than that.
Then the crypto boom happened in 2017 where due to FOMO, I put in a little money in a few popular currencies. Then the market crashed, and I decided that I won’t invest in something I don’t understand, to avoid stress. I never really paid attention to the cryptocurrencies after that.
2020-2021 Crypto Boom
My social media feed was buzzing with terms like “blockchain”, “Bitcoin”, “crypto”, “NFT” again. Due to my past failure, I didn’t put my money in any crypto. Instead, this time I began my learning.
I started looking for resources to learn, and by searching on various platforms like YouTube, Twitter, and Reddit, I stumbled upon material.
First was this video from the YouTube channel: 3blue1brown, which gives a good basic understanding of Bitcoin. Then, this coindesk article, which showed me the potential of blockchains.
Some more reading convinced me that this tech is here to stay and I then made my first investment in Bitcoin.
Fun fact: I came to know that Ethereum is not a cryptocurrency, rather it is a blockchain with Ether (ETH) as its native currency.
More learning
Here is the list of resources I went through. I don’t remember how I discovered them, though.
- MIT’s course on Blockchain and Money.
- Dapp University YouTube channel, introduced me to the blockchain development.
- Austin Griffith’s scaffold-eth github repository and YouTube channel, which introduced me to NFTs.
- Some twitter threads helped with more resources like The Complete Guide to Full Stack Ethereum Development.
- A series of challenges to hack smart contracts via a Solidity based wargame called Ethernaut.
- CryptoZombies, a gamified tutorial to code smart contracts.
- Balajis.com twitter profile, which gave me motivation and ideas.
Through these resources, I am now able to code basic smart contracts and understand some popular security hacks.
Investment
Now, I am able to make more informed decisions about investing in cryptocurrencies. I started watching YouTube videos which went into a deep analysis of these currencies and then following up with my own reading about those. (I still made speculative/FOMO investments like DOGE).
What am I doing now?
I am pretty comfortable with the basic crypto trading on centralized and decentralized exchanges, and things like staking. I am now learning about Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Automated Market Makers (AMMs), yield farming, protocols like Compound which can give me more returns on my investments.
What does the future hold?
I plan to continue my foray in this space, build my network, and hopefully it leads me to what I always want to do, however childish it may seem to others — a startup.