# Crypto Canon

> Here’s a list of crypto readings and resources (2018-2019). It’s organized from building blocks and basics; foundations (& history); and key concepts — followed by specific topics such as governance; privacy and security; scaling; consensus and governance; cryptoeconomics, cryptoassets, and investin...

- URL: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/crypto-readings-resources
- Authors: [Sonal Chokshi](https://a16zcrypto.com/team/sonal-chokshi), [Chris Dixon](https://a16zcrypto.com/team/chris-dixon), [Denis Nazarov](https://a16zcrypto.com/team/denis-nazarov), [Jesse Walden](https://a16zcrypto.com/team/jesse-walden), [Ali Yahya](https://a16zcrypto.com/team/ali-yahya)
- Published: 2018-02-10
- Updated: 2024-09-09
- Focus areas: company building
- Tags: what we're reading, how innovation happens

---

Here’s a list of crypto readings and resources (2018-2019). It’s organized from building blocks and basics; foundations (& history); and key concepts — followed by specific topics such as governance; privacy and security; scaling; consensus and governance; cryptoeconomics, cryptoassets, and investing; fundraising and token distribution; decentralized exchanges; stablecoins; and cryptoeconomic primitives and crypto goods (non-fungible tokens, cryptocollectibles, token-curated registries, curation markets). We also included a section with developer tutorials, practical guides, and maker stories — as well as other resources, such as newsletters/updates and courses, at the end. \[You can find a16z’s writings, posts, and videos on the topic at a16z.com/crypto.\]

For a list of resources dedicated to NFTs, applications, community/social tokens and creator DAOs, please see [a16z.com/nftcanon](https://a16z.com/2021/04/02/nfts-readings-resources/).

\*   \*   \*

### Building Blocks and Basics

**WTF is the blockchain?** — understanding the problem it solves before defining it  
by Mohit Mamoria  
[https://hackernoon.com/wtf-is-the-blockchain-1da89ba19348](https://hackernoon.com/wtf-is-the-blockchain-1da89ba19348)

**Ever wonder how bitcoin (and other cryptocurrencies) actually work?  
**from 3Blue1Brown  
[https://youtu.be/bBC-nXj3Ng4](https://youtu.be/bBC-nXj3Ng4)

**How the bitcoin protocol actually works  
**by Michael Nielsen  
[http://www.michaelnielsen.org/ddi/how-the-bitcoin-protocol-actually-works/](http://www.michaelnielsen.org/ddi/how-the-bitcoin-protocol-actually-works/)

**Ethereum in 25 minutes  
**by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://youtu.be/66SaEDzlmP4](https://youtu.be/66SaEDzlmP4)

**How does Ethereum work, anyway?** — how it functions at a technical level, without complex math  
by Preethi Kasireddy  
[https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/how-does-ethereum-work-anyway-22d1df506369](https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/how-does-ethereum-work-anyway-22d1df506369)

**Decrypting crypto, from bitcoin and blockchain to ICOs  
**by Alex Rampell  
[https://a16z.com/2017/12/08/summit-crypto-alex-rampell/](https://a16z.com/2017/12/08/summit-crypto-alex-rampell/)

**An introduction to crypto**  
by Linda Xie  
[https://a16z.com/2018/05/04/intro-to-crypto/](https://a16z.com/2018/05/04/intro-to-crypto/)

**Cryptographic hash function** — what they are, properties of, etc.by Khan Academy  
[https://youtu.be/0WiTaBI82Mc](https://youtu.be/0WiTaBI82Mc)

**Basic primer on blockchain** — ledger basics, why it matters  
by Chris Berg, Sinclair Davidson, and Jason Potts  
[https://medium.com/@cryptoeconomics/the-blockchain-economy-a-beginners-guide-to-institutional-cryptoeconomics-64bf2f2beec4](https://medium.com/@cryptoeconomics/the-blockchain-economy-a-beginners-guide-to-institutional-cryptoeconomics-64bf2f2beec4)

**Basic terminology for Ethereum** — from gas to dapps (distributed apps)  
by Matt Condon  
[https://medium.com/@mattcondon/getting-up-to-speed-on-ethereum-63ed28821bbe](https://medium.com/@mattcondon/getting-up-to-speed-on-ethereum-63ed28821bbe)

**Crypto Glossary: Cryptocurrencies & Blockchains** — key concepts and terms to know that relate to NFTs (cryptography, proof of stake, more)  
by Alex Pruden and Sonal Chokshi  
[https://a16z.com/2019/11/08/crypto-glossary/](https://a16z.com/2019/11/08/crypto-glossary/)

**Beginner’s guide series on cryptoassets (series)** — from ethereum to litecoin  
by Linda Xie  
[https://medium.com/@linda.xie/beginners-guide-series-on-cryptoassets-d897535d887](https://medium.com/@linda.xie/beginners-guide-series-on-cryptoassets-d897535d887) 

### Foundations (& History)

**Bitcoin whitepaper (2009): A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System  
**by Satoshi Nakamoto  
[https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf](https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf)

**Ethereum whitepaper (2013+): A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform  
**by Vitalik Buterin et al  
[https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/White-Paper](https://github.com/ethereum/wiki/wiki/White-Paper)

**The Byzantine Generals Problem (1982)**  
by Leslie Lamport, Robert Shostak, and Marshall Pease  
[https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/byz.pdf](https://lamport.azurewebsites.net/pubs/byz.pdf)

**The Agoric papers series (1988)  
**by Mark Miller and K. Eric Drexler  
[https://agoric.com/references/#aos](https://agoric.com/references/#aos)

**The idea of smart contracts (1997)  
**by Nick Szabo  
[http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/rob/Courses/InformationInSpeech/CDROM/Literature/LOTwinterschool2006/szabo.best.vwh.net/idea.html](http://www.fon.hum.uva.nl/rob/Courses/InformationInSpeech/CDROM/Literature/LOTwinterschool2006/szabo.best.vwh.net/idea.html)

**Why bitcoin matters (2014)  
**by Marc Andreessen  
[https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/why-bitcoin-matters/](https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/01/21/why-bitcoin-matters/)

**Bitcoin’s academic pedigree (2017)  
**by Arvind Narayanan and Jeremy Clark  
[https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3136559](https://queue.acm.org/detail.cfm?id=3136559)

### Key Concepts

**Beyond the bitcoin bubble  
**by Steven Johnson  
[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/magazine/beyond-the-bitcoin-bubble.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/magazine/beyond-the-bitcoin-bubble.html)

**Crypto tokens: A breakthrough in open network design  
**by Chris Dixon  
[https://medium.com/@cdixon/crypto-tokens-a-breakthrough-in-open-network-design-e600975be2ef](https://medium.com/@cdixon/crypto-tokens-a-breakthrough-in-open-network-design-e600975be2ef) 

**Crypto tokens and the coming age of protocol innovation  
**by Albert Wenger  
[http://continuations.com/post/148098927445/crypto-tokens-and-the-coming-age-of-protocol](http://continuations.com/post/148098927445/crypto-tokens-and-the-coming-age-of-protocol) 

**Fat protocols  
**by Joel Monegro  
[https://www.usv.com/blog/fat-protocols](https://www.usv.com/blog/fat-protocols) 

**Cryptocurrencies, app coins, and investing in protocols  
**Olaf Carson-Wee, Chris Dixon, and Sonal Chokshi  
[https://a16z.com/2017/04/03/cryptocurrencies-protocols-appcoins/](https://a16z.com/2017/04/03/cryptocurrencies-protocols-appcoins/)

**Getting applications into people’s hands  
**Juan Benet and Chris Dixon  
[https://a16z.com/2017/09/14/networks-protocols-labs-tokens/](https://a16z.com/2017/09/14/networks-protocols-labs-tokens/)

**Blockchain: what is it good for?** — including smart contracts  
by Ed Felten  
[http://freedom-to-tinker.com/2018/02/26/blockchain-what-is-it-good-for/](http://freedom-to-tinker.com/2018/02/26/blockchain-what-is-it-good-for/)

**How the U.S. government used blockchain to fight fraud  
**by Kathryn Haun  
[https://youtu.be/507wn9VcSAE](https://youtu.be/507wn9VcSAE) 

**Bitcoin network effects  
**by Elad Gil  
[http://blog.eladgil.com/2017/12/bitcoin-network-effects\_11.html](http://blog.eladgil.com/2017/12/bitcoin-network-effects_11.html)

**Keepers: workers that maintain blockchain networks** — when designed correctly, tokens can act like rocket-fuel for driving network effects by incentivizing desired behaviors  
by Ryan Zurrer  
[https://medium.com/@rzurrer/keepers-workers-that-maintain-blockchain-networks-a40182615b66](https://medium.com/@rzurrer/keepers-workers-that-maintain-blockchain-networks-a40182615b66)

**The quiet master of cryptocurrency** — Nick Szabo in conversation with Naval Ravikant  
by Tim Ferris  
[https://tim.blog/2017/06/04/nick-szabo/](https://tim.blog/2017/06/04/nick-szabo/)

**Why crypto tokens matter  
**Fred Ehrsam and Chris Dixon  
[https://a16z.com/2017/09/28/cryptocurrencies-networks-tokens/](https://a16z.com/2017/09/28/cryptocurrencies-networks-tokens/)

**What are cryptonetworks and why are tokens fundamental?** — with full deck  
by Nick Grossman  
[https://www.nickgrossman.xyz/2018/cryptonetworks-and-why-tokens-are-fundamental/](https://www.nickgrossman.xyz/2018/cryptonetworks-and-why-tokens-are-fundamental/)

**Why it’s hard to “get” bitcoin: the blockchain spectrum  
**by Dhruv Bansal  
[https://blog.unchained-capital.com/blockchain-spectrum-806847e1c575](https://blog.unchained-capital.com/blockchain-spectrum-806847e1c575)

**Money, blockchains, and social scalability**  
by Nick Szabo  
[http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2017/02/money-blockchains-and-social-scalability.html](http://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2017/02/money-blockchains-and-social-scalability.html)

**What do we mean by “blockchains are trustless”?  
**by Preethi Kasireddy  
[https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/eli5-what-do-we-mean-by-blockchains-are-trustless-aa420635d5f6](https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/eli5-what-do-we-mean-by-blockchains-are-trustless-aa420635d5f6) 

**Why decentralization matters** — from eras of the internet to cryptonetworks  
by Chris Dixon  
[https://medium.com/@cdixon/why-decentralization-matters-5e3f79f7638e](https://medium.com/@cdixon/why-decentralization-matters-5e3f79f7638e)

**The meaning of decentralization** — but what does that actually mean? nuances, depth  
by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/the-meaning-of-decentralization-a0c92b76a274](https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/the-meaning-of-decentralization-a0c92b76a274)

**Quantifying decentralization** — we must be able to measure blockchain decentralization before we can improve it  
by Balaji Srinivasan and Leland Lee  
[https://news.earn.com/quantifying-decentralization-e39db233c28e](https://news.earn.com/quantifying-decentralization-e39db233c28e)

**The truth about blockchain** — framework for adoption to help big company executives understand state of development; strategic investments; challenges, resources, processes to facilitate adoption  
by Marco Iansiti and Karim Lakhani  
[https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-truth-about-blockchain](https://hbr.org/2017/01/the-truth-about-blockchain)

**The slow death of the firm**  
by Nick Tomaino  
[https://thecontrol.co/the-slow-death-of-the-firm-1bd6cc81286b](https://thecontrol.co/the-slow-death-of-the-firm-1bd6cc81286b)

**Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum** — Unchained: big ideas from the worlds of blockchain and cryptocurrency  
by Laura Shin  
[https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/unchained-big-ideas-from-worlds-blockchain-cryptocurrency/id1123922160](https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/unchained-big-ideas-from-worlds-blockchain-cryptocurrency/id1123922160?mt=2&i=399418045)

**Mental models for understanding tokens  
**Nick Tomaino and Chris Dixon  
[https://a16z.com/2018/01/21/mental-models-tokens-crypto-trends/](https://a16z.com/2018/01/21/mental-models-tokens-crypto-trends/)

**Hard forks, soft forks, defaults, and coercion** — illustrating fork types, benefits, addressing criticisms  
by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://vitalik.ca/general/2017/03/14/forks\_and\_markets.html](https://vitalik.ca/general/2017/03/14/forks_and_markets.html)

### Governance

**An overview of governance in blockchains** — introduction slides to a working paper  
by Odysseas Sclavounis and Nic Carter  
[https://www.docdroid.net/ddz6VzP/overview-governance-blockchains-nc-zcon.pdf](https://www.docdroid.net/ddz6VzP/overview-governance-blockchains-nc-zcon.pdf)

**Governance deep dive** — slides from Blockchain at Berkeley  
[https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10cLFnYaR0r58DyPVYwMgJq3nJOFVkO02hxJf1hxGnJ0/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/10cLFnYaR0r58DyPVYwMgJq3nJOFVkO02hxJf1hxGnJ0/edit?usp=sharing)  
by Alexandra Tran and Steven Elleman

**The myth of the irrational token holder** — why blockchain governance doesn’t fit squarely into any existing model  
by Kathleen Breitman  
[https://medium.com/@kathleenbreit/the-myth-of-the-irrational-token-holder-c12438709afd](https://medium.com/@kathleenbreit/the-myth-of-the-irrational-token-holder-c12438709afd) 

**Blockchain governance/ governance 101** — talk from Ethereum Foundation at BeyondBlock Taipei 2017  
by Vlad Zamfir  
[https://youtu.be/9RtSod8EXn4](https://youtu.be/9RtSod8EXn4)

**Blockchain governance** — design components, approaches, suggestions  
by Fred Ehrsam  
[https://medium.com/@FEhrsam/blockchain-governance-programming-our-future-c3bfe30f2d74](https://medium.com/@FEhrsam/blockchain-governance-programming-our-future-c3bfe30f2d74)

**Against on-chain governance** — refuting (and rebuking) the above post  
by Vlad Zamfir  
[https://medium.com/@Vlad\_Zamfir/against-on-chain-governance-a4ceacd040ca](https://medium.com/@Vlad_Zamfir/against-on-chain-governance-a4ceacd040ca)

**On-chain vote buying and the rise of dark DAOs** — on on-chain voting and governance  
by Philip Daian, Tyler Kell, Ian Miers, and Ari Juels  
[http://hackingdistributed.com/2018/07/02/on-chain-vote-buying/](http://hackingdistributed.com/2018/07/02/on-chain-vote-buying/)

**Thoughts on governance and network effects**  
Luke Duncan  
[https://blog.aragon.one/thoughts-on-governance-and-network-effects-f40fda3e3f98](https://blog.aragon.one/thoughts-on-governance-and-network-effects-f40fda3e3f98)

**Notes on blockchain governance**  
by Vitalik Buterin  
[http://vitalik.ca/general/2017/12/17/voting.html](http://vitalik.ca/general/2017/12/17/voting.html)

**Tezos position paper** — a self-amending crypto-ledger by Arthur and Kathleen Breitman  
[https://www.tezos.com/static/papers/position\_paper.pdf](https://www.tezos.com/static/papers/position_paper.pdf)

**An Overview of Cosmos Hub Governance** — how a proposal is submitted, how deposits are collected, how the voting happens and how the final outcome is determined  
by Felix Lutsch  
[https://blog.chorus.one/an-overview-of-cosmos-hub-governance/](https://blog.chorus.one/an-overview-of-cosmos-hub-governance/)

### Privacy and Security

**Privacy on the blockchain**[  
](https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/01/15/privacy-on-the-blockchain/)by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/01/15/privacy-on-the-blockchain/](https://blog.ethereum.org/2016/01/15/privacy-on-the-blockchain/)

**Securing smart contracts (series)** — 6 Solidity vulnerabilities and how to avoid them  
from Loom  
[https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-secure-your-smart-contracts-6-solidity-vulnerabilities-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-1-c33048d4d17d](https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-secure-your-smart-contracts-6-solidity-vulnerabilities-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-1-c33048d4d17d)[  
](https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-secure-your-smart-contracts-6-solidity-vulnerabilities-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-1-c33048d4d17d)[https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-secure-your-smart-contracts-6-solidity-vulnerabilities-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-2-730db0aa4834](https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-secure-your-smart-contracts-6-solidity-vulnerabilities-and-how-to-avoid-them-part-2-730db0aa4834)

**Ethereum smart contract best practices  
**by ConsenSys Diligence  
[https://consensys.github.io/smart-contract-best-practices/](https://consensys.github.io/smart-contract-best-practices/)

**Town Crier: an authenticated data feed for smart contracts**  
by Fan Zhang, Ethan Cecchetti, Kyle Croman, Ari Juels, and Elaine Shi  
[https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/168.pdf](https://eprint.iacr.org/2016/168.pdf)

**Devcon3 panel on formal verification  
**Phil Daian, Everett Hildenbrandt, Yoichi Hirai, and Loi Luu, moderated by Reto Trinkler  
[https://youtu.be/DrDIcirrhWM](https://youtu.be/DrDIcirrhWM)

**What are zk-SNARKs?**  
by Jay Graber  
[https://z.cash/technology/zksnarks.html](https://z.cash/technology/zksnarks.html)

**Introduction to zero-knowledge proofs** — Zero Knowledge podcast episode 21, examples and underlying concepts  
by Fredrik Harrysson and Anna Rose  
[https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/21](https://www.zeroknowledge.fm/21)

**Understanding zero-knowledge proofs** — a summary based on the above episode of Zero Knowledge (with Fredrik Harrysson and Anna Rose)  
by Nicole Zhu  
[https://blog.goodaudience.com/understanding-zero-knowledge-proofs-through-simple-examples-df673f796d99](https://blog.goodaudience.com/understanding-zero-knowledge-proofs-through-simple-examples-df673f796d99)

**Zk-SNARKs: under the hood** **(series)** — assumes basic knowledge of zk-SNARKs (zero-knowledge succinct non-interactive argument of knowledge)  
by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/zk-snarks-under-the-hood-b33151a013f6](https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/zk-snarks-under-the-hood-b33151a013f6)

**STARKs, part I: proofs with polynomials** — general-purpose technology that can be used for all sorts of use cases ranging from verifiable computation to privacy-preserving cryptocurrency  
by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://vitalik.ca/general/2017/11/09/starks\_part\_1.html](https://vitalik.ca/general/2017/11/09/starks_part_1.html)

**Scalable, transparent, and post-quantum secure computational integrity** — on transparent zk-SNARKs (zk-STARKs) as a solution to the tension between personal privacy and institutional integrity  
by Eli Ben-Sasson, Iddo Bentov, Yinon Horesh, and Michael Riabzev  
[https://eprint.iacr.org/2018/046.pdf](https://eprint.iacr.org/2018/046.pdf)

**Succinct non-interactive zero knowledge for a von Neumann Architecture**  
by Eli Ben-Sasson, Alessandro Chiesa, Eran Tromer, and Madars Virza  
[https://eprint.iacr.org/2013/879.pdf](https://eprint.iacr.org/2013/879.pdf)

### Scaling

**Blockchains don’t scale** — not today, at least… but there’s hope  
by Preethi Kasireddy  
[https://hackernoon.com/blockchains-dont-scale-not-today-at-least-but-there-s-hope-2cb43946551a](https://hackernoon.com/blockchains-dont-scale-not-today-at-least-but-there-s-hope-2cb43946551a)

**The decentralized-consistent-scale (DCS) triangle** — on the “trilemma” of scalability, tradeoffs between decentralized, consistent, or scalable  
by Trent McConaghy  
[https://blog.bigchaindb.com/the-dcs-triangle-5ce0e9e0f1dc](https://blog.bigchaindb.com/the-dcs-triangle-5ce0e9e0f1dc) 

**Models for scaling trustless computation** — on the “trilemma” of scalability, tradeoffs between safety, scalability, and decentralization of block production  
by Kyle Samani  
[https://multicoin.capital/2018/02/23/models-scaling-trustless-computation/](https://multicoin.capital/2018/02/23/models-scaling-trustless-computation/)

**What are zk-SNARKs and why do they matter? (a fable)** — a tale of Ethereum scalability  
by Eric Gorski  
[https://blog.gnosis.pm/the-parrot-and-the-viper-a-tale-of-ethereum-scalability-3d121df3de87](https://hackernoon.com/the-parrot-and-the-viper-a-tale-of-ethereum-scalability-3fd3fb41d288)

**Platform currencies may soon be obsolete** — here is my claim: within 5 years the biggest cryptocurrency by market cap will be an application token  
by Aleksandr Bulkin  
[https://blog.coinfund.io/platform-currencies-may-soon-be-obsolete-78d9b263d902](https://blog.coinfund.io/platform-currencies-may-soon-be-obsolete-78d9b263d902)

**The importance of layer two** — an HTTP of bitcoin and blockchains  
by Elizabeth Stark  
[https://youtu.be/3PcR4HWJnkY](https://youtu.be/3PcR4HWJnkY)

**What is the Lightning Network and how can it help bitcoin scale?**  
by Elizabeth Stark  
[https://coincenter.org/entry/what-is-the-lightning-network](https://coincenter.org/entry/what-is-the-lightning-network)

**Making sense of Ethereum’s Layer 2 scaling solutions: state channels, Plasma, and Truebit**  
by Josh Stark  
[https://medium.com/l4-media/making-sense-of-ethereums-layer-2-scaling-solutions-state-channels-plasma-and-truebit-22cb40dcc2f4](https://medium.com/l4-media/making-sense-of-ethereums-layer-2-scaling-solutions-state-channels-plasma-and-truebit-22cb40dcc2f4)

**On managing tradeoffs between Layer 1 and Layer 2 innovations**  
by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://vitalik.ca/general/2018/08/26/layer\_1.html](https://vitalik.ca/general/2018/08/26/layer_1.html)

**Scaling Tezos** — scaling with recursive SNARKs (succinct non-interactive zero-knowledge proofs of knowledge)  
by Arthur Breitman  
[https://hackernoon.com/scaling-tezo-8de241dd91bd](https://hackernoon.com/scaling-tezo-8de241dd91bd)

**Ethereum Foundation research initiatives** — primary topics in both pure and applied researchby Ethereum Foundation

**Ethereum scalability research and development subsidy programs  
**by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://blog.ethereum.org/2018/01/02/ethereum-scalability-research-development-subsidy-programs/](https://blog.ethereum.org/2018/01/02/ethereum-scalability-research-development-subsidy-programs/)

**A beginner’s guide to Ethermint  
**by Tendermint  
[https://blog.cosmos.network/a-beginners-guide-to-ethermint-38ee15f8a6f4](https://blog.cosmos.network/a-beginners-guide-to-ethermint-38ee15f8a6f4)

**Construction of a plasma chain 0x1  
**by David Knott

**Accounts, transactions, gas, and block gas limits in Ethereum  
**by Hudson Jameson  
[https://hudsonjameson.com/2017-06-27-accounts-transactions-gas-ethereum/](https://hudsonjameson.com/2017-06-27-accounts-transactions-gas-ethereum/)

**Interplanetary linked computing: separating Merkle Computing from blockchain computational courts  
**by Simon de la Rouviere  
[https://media.consensys.net/interplanetary-linked-computing-separating-merkle-computing-from-blockchain-computational-courts-1ade201ecf8a](https://media.consensys.net/interplanetary-linked-computing-separating-merkle-computing-from-blockchain-computational-courts-1ade201ecf8a)

**Ethereum sharding: overview and finality  
**by Hsiao-Wei Wang  
[https://medium.com/@icebearhww/ethereum-sharding-and-finality-65248951f649](https://medium.com/@icebearhww/ethereum-sharding-and-finality-65248951f649)

### Consensus

**What it means to have consensus in a distributed system** — brief basics of distributed systems and distributed “consensus”  
by Preethi Kasireddy  
[https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/lets-take-a-crack-at-understanding-distributed-consensus-dad23d0dc95](https://medium.com/@preethikasireddy/lets-take-a-crack-at-understanding-distributed-consensus-dad23d0dc95)

**Decentralization in bitcoin and ethereum  
**by Adem Efe Gencer, Soumya Basu, Ittay Eyal, Robbert van Renesse, and Emin Gün Sirer  
[http://hackingdistributed.com/2018/01/15/decentralization-bitcoin-ethereum/](http://hackingdistributed.com/2018/01/15/decentralization-bitcoin-ethereum/)

**A proof of stake design philosophy  
**by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/a-proof-of-stake-design-philosophy-506585978d51](https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/a-proof-of-stake-design-philosophy-506585978d51)

**Delegrated proof of stake: Features and tradeoffs**  
by Myles Snider  
[https://multicoin.capital/2018/03/02/delegated-proof-stake-features-tradeoffs/](https://multicoin.capital/2018/03/02/delegated-proof-stake-features-tradeoffs/)

**Seeking consensus on consensus** — DPOS (delegated proof of stake) and the Two Generals’ problem  
by Ian Grigg  
[https://steemit.com/eos/@iang/seeking-consensus-on-consensus-dpos-or-delegated-proof-of-stake-and-the-two-generals-problem](https://steemit.com/eos/@iang/seeking-consensus-on-consensus-dpos-or-delegated-proof-of-stake-and-the-two-generals-problem)

**Consensus Compare: Casper vs. Tendermint; Tendermint BFT vs. EOS dPoS  
**from Tendermint  
[https://blog.cosmos.network/consensus-compare-casper-vs-tendermint-6df154ad56ae  
](https://blog.cosmos.network/consensus-compare-casper-vs-tendermint-6df154ad56ae)[https://blog.cosmos.network/consensus-compare-tendermint-bft-vs-eos-dpos-46c5bca7204b](https://blog.cosmos.network/consensus-compare-tendermint-bft-vs-eos-dpos-46c5bca7204b)

**Ethereum Casper 101  
**by Jon Choi[https://medium.com/@jonchoi/ethereum-casper-101-7a851a4f1eb0](https://medium.com/@jonchoi/ethereum-casper-101-7a851a4f1eb0)  
**The history of Casper  (series)  
**by Vlad Zamfir  
[https://medium.com/@Vlad\_Zamfir/the-history-of-casper-part-1-59233819c9a9](https://medium.com/@Vlad_Zamfir/the-history-of-casper-part-1-59233819c9a9)

**Inflation and participation in stake-based token protocols  
**by Doug Petkanics  
[https://medium.com/@petkanics/inflation-and-participation-in-stake-based-token-protocols-1593688612bf](https://medium.com/@petkanics/inflation-and-participation-in-stake-based-token-protocols-1593688612bf)

### Cryptoeconomics, Cryptoassets, and Investing

**Making sense of cryptoeconomics** — the term and the concept  
by Josh Stark  
[https://hackernoon.com/making-sense-of-cryptoeconomics-5edea77e4e8d](https://hackernoon.com/making-sense-of-cryptoeconomics-5edea77e4e8d)

**A crash course in mechanism design for cryptoeconomic applications** — understanding the basic fundamentals of cryptoeconomicsfrom BlockChannel[https://medium.com/blockchannel/a-crash-course-in-mechanism-design-for-cryptoeconomic-applications-a9f06ab6a976](https://medium.com/blockchannel/a-crash-course-in-mechanism-design-for-cryptoeconomic-applications-a9f06ab6a976)

**The security token thesis** — when a broad array of assets moves to blockchain records of ownership (represented by tokens)  
by Stephen McKeon  
[https://hackernoon.com/the-security-token-thesis-4c5904761063](https://hackernoon.com/the-security-token-thesis-4c5904761063)

**Cryptoasset valuations** — a theory and framework for evaluating  
by Chris Burniske  
[https://medium.com/@cburniske/cryptoasset-valuations-ac83479ffca7](https://medium.com/@cburniske/cryptoasset-valuations-ac83479ffca7)

**An (institutional) investor’s take on cryptoassets**  
by John Pfeffer  
[https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/john-pfeffer/An+Investor%27s+Take+on+Cryptoassets+v6.pdf](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/john-pfeffer/An+Investor%27s+Take+on+Cryptoassets+v6.pdf)

**Comments on the above (tweetstorm)** — network effects?; programmability as feature of money  
by Kyle Samani  
[https://twitter.com/KyleSamani/status/943277077037506560](https://twitter.com/KyleSamani/status/943277077037506560)

**On value, velocity, and monetary theory** — a new approach to cryptoasset valuations  
by Alex Evans

**On the quantity theory of money for tokens** — take from a former research officer at Federal Reserve Bank (Minneapolis)  
by Warren Weber  
[https://blog.coinfund.io/the-quantity-theory-of-money-for-tokens-dbfbc5472423](https://blog.coinfund.io/the-quantity-theory-of-money-for-tokens-dbfbc5472423)

**On medium-of-exchange token valuations**  
by Vitalik Buterin  
[http://vitalik.ca/general/2017/10/17/moe.html](http://vitalik.ca/general/2017/10/17/moe.html)

**Understanding token velocity  
**by Kyle Samani  
[https://multicoin.capital/2017/12/08/understanding-token-velocity/](https://multicoin.capital/2017/12/08/understanding-token-velocity/)

**A process for evaluating new tokens  
**by Nick Tomaino[https://thecontrol.co/our-process-for-evaluating-new-tokens-4627ed97f500](https://thecontrol.co/our-process-for-evaluating-new-tokens-4627ed97f500)

**Token classification framework** — a multi-dimensional tool for understanding and classifying crypto tokens  
by Thomas Euler  
[http://www.untitled-inc.com/the-token-classification-framework-a-multi-dimensional-tool-for-understanding-and-classifying-crypto-tokens/](http://www.untitled-inc.com/the-token-classification-framework-a-multi-dimensional-tool-for-understanding-and-classifying-crypto-tokens/)

**On cryptocurrency communities**  
by Nick Tomaino  
[https://thecontrol.co/on-cryptocurrency-communities-f592b5ce6b0b](https://thecontrol.co/on-cryptocurrency-communities-f592b5ce6b0b)

**Fat protocols are not an investment thesis  
**by Jake Brukhman  
[https://blog.coinfund.io/fat-protocols-are-not-an-investment-thesis-17c8837c2734](https://blog.coinfund.io/fat-protocols-are-not-an-investment-thesis-17c8837c2734)

**Skin-in-the-game coins  
**by Ryan Selkis  
[https://medium.com/tbis-weekly-bits/skin-in-the-game-coins-da0afdfdc650](https://medium.com/tbis-weekly-bits/skin-in-the-game-coins-da0afdfdc650)

### Fundraising and Token Distribution

**Thoughts on tokens**  
by Balaji Srinivasan  
[https://news.earn.com/thoughts-on-tokens-436109aabcbe](https://news.earn.com/thoughts-on-tokens-436109aabcbe)

**Funding the evolution of blockchains  
**by Fred Ehrsam  
[https://medium.com/@FEhrsam/funding-the-evolution-of-blockchains-87d160988481](https://medium.com/@FEhrsam/funding-the-evolution-of-blockchains-87d160988481)

**Separating the staking token from the fee token** — introducing the Photon (the Hard Spoon explained)  
by Tendermint  
[https://blog.cosmos.network/cosmos-fee-token-introducing-the-photon-8a62b2f51aa](https://blog.cosmos.network/cosmos-fee-token-introducing-the-photon-8a62b2f51aa)

**Explanation of DAICOs**  
by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://ethresear.ch/t/explanation-of-daicos/465](https://ethresear.ch/t/explanation-of-daicos/465)

**The SAFT Project  
**[https://saftproject.com/](https://saftproject.com/)

**Regulatory environment and considerations** — updates and explainers  
from Coin Center  
[https://coincenter.org/our-work](https://coincenter.org/our-work)

### Decentralized Exchanges

**State of decentralized exchanges, 2018  
**by Nathan Sexer  
[https://media.consensys.net/state-of-decentralized-exchanges-2018-276dad340c79](https://media.consensys.net/state-of-decentralized-exchanges-2018-276dad340c79)

**Networked liquidity** — projects solving the chicken and egg problemby Radar Relay  
[https://medium.com/radarrelay/networked-liquidity-2030d85af897](https://medium.com/radarrelay/networked-liquidity-2030d85af897)

**List of decentralized exchanges** — of cryptocurrencies and tokens (does not yet include column for degree of decentralization)  
[https://github.com/PYMERVAL/decentradexchange](https://github.com/PYMERVAL/decentradexchange)

### Stablecoins

**Stablecoins: A holy grail in digital currency  
**by Nick Tomaino  
[https://thecontrol.co/stablecoins-a-holy-grail-in-digital-currency-b64f3371e111](https://thecontrol.co/stablecoins-a-holy-grail-in-digital-currency-b64f3371e111)

**An overview of stablecoins  
**by Myles Snider  
[https://multicoin.capital/2018/01/17/an-overview-of-stablecoins/](https://multicoin.capital/2018/01/17/an-overview-of-stablecoins/)

**The search for a stable cryptocurrency  
**by Vitalik Buterin  
[https://blog.ethereum.org/2014/11/11/search-stable-cryptocurrency/](https://blog.ethereum.org/2014/11/11/search-stable-cryptocurrency/)

**Maker for dummies: a plain English explanation of the Dai stablecoin  
**by Gregory DiPrisco  
[https://medium.com/cryptolinks/maker-for-dummies-a-plain-english-explanation-of-the-dai-stablecoin-e4481d79b90](https://medium.com/cryptolinks/maker-for-dummies-a-plain-english-explanation-of-the-dai-stablecoin-e4481d79b90)

### Cryptoeconomic Primitives and Crypto Goods: Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Cryptocollectibles, Token Curated Registries (TCRs), and Curation Markets

**The emergence of cryptoeconomic primitives** — definitions and building blocks of a token-based economy  
by Jacob Home  
[https://medium.com/@jacobscott/the-emergence-of-cryptoeconomic-primitives-14ef3300cc10](https://medium.com/@jacobscott/the-emergence-of-cryptoeconomic-primitives-14ef3300cc10)

**Token lexicon** — buzzwords related to curation markets and collectibles  
by Billy Rennekamp  
[https://medium.com/@billyrennekamp/token-lexicon-b4ed9a4ce363](https://medium.com/@billyrennekamp/token-lexicon-b4ed9a4ce363)

**Smart media tokens  
**from Steemit  
[https://smt.steem.io/smt-whitepaper.pdf](https://smt.steem.io/smt-whitepaper.pdf)

**Digital pets that don’t die  
**by Elaine Ou  
[https://elaineou.com/2017/12/03/digital-pets-that-dont-die/](https://elaineou.com/2017/12/03/digital-pets-that-dont-die/)

**Will cryptocurrencies be the art market’s next big thing?**  
by Scott Reyburn  
[https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/arts/cryptocurrency-art-market.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/arts/cryptocurrency-art-market.html)

**Digital collectibles and the weird future of “digibles”  
**by Josh Stark  
[https://hackernoon.com/digital-collectibles-and-the-weird-future-of-digibles-f75f4bf0f9aa](https://hackernoon.com/digital-collectibles-and-the-weird-future-of-digibles-f75f4bf0f9aa)

**Cryptocollectibles are XLNT, but nobody knows what’s next**  
by Matt Condon[https://medium.com/xlnt-art/cryptocollectibles-are-xlnt-but-nobody-knows-whats-next-a7892b311637](https://medium.com/xlnt-art/cryptocollectibles-are-xlnt-but-nobody-knows-whats-next-a7892b311637)

**Rare pepe** — what happens when you combine a crypto-asset with a meme and a trading card  
by Fred Wilson  
[http://avc.com/2017/05/rare-pepe/](http://avc.com/2017/05/rare-pepe/)

**Introducing curation markets** — trade popularity of memes and information (with code!)  
by Simon de la Rouviere  
[https://medium.com/@simondlr/introducing-curation-markets-trade-popularity-of-memes-information-with-code-70bf6fed9881](https://medium.com/@simondlr/introducing-curation-markets-trade-popularity-of-memes-information-with-code-70bf6fed9881)

**Curation markets (tweetstorm)** — summary and implications of  
by Fred Ehrsam  
[https://twitter.com/FEhrsam/status/958388803655184386](https://twitter.com/FEhrsam/status/958388803655184386)

**Early UIs for curation markets (tweetstorm)** — categories and some projects using markets to curate human readable information  
by Jesse Walden  
[https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/958733889643696128](https://twitter.com/jessewldn/status/958733889643696128)

**Making token curated registries (decentralized production of high-quality lists) work in practice** — voting is the mechanism at the center, but information environment matters too  
by Alex Tabarrok  
[https://medium.com/wireline/when-can-token-curated-registries-actually-work-%C2%B9-2ad908653aaf](https://medium.com/wireline/when-can-token-curated-registries-actually-work-%C2%B9-2ad908653aaf)

**Token curated registries** — a more formal but less-than-mathematical view of token-curated registries  
by Mike Goldin  
[https://medium.com/@ilovebagels/token-curated-registries-1-0-61a232f8dac7](https://medium.com/@ilovebagels/token-curated-registries-1-0-61a232f8dac7)

**Token curated registry design patterns** — design thinking and use case exploration for these building blocks of decentralized applications based on fungible tokens and digital scarcity  
by Matt Lockyer  
[https://medium.com/coinmonks/token-curated-registry-tcr-design-patterns-4de6d18efa15](https://medium.com/coinmonks/token-curated-registry-tcr-design-patterns-4de6d18efa15)

**Token curated registries that don’t work** — TCRs are a holy grail of decentralized computing (all about trustless systems), but have a number of subtle but significant problems  
by Aleksandr Bulkin  
[https://blog.coinfund.io/curate-this-token-curated-registries-that-dont-work-d76370b77150](https://blog.coinfund.io/curate-this-token-curated-registries-that-dont-work-d76370b77150)

**Building ‘Google for the economic web’ on the Ethereum blockchain  
**by Maciej Olpinski

### Developer Tutorials, Practical Guides, and Maker Stories

**Learn to code Ethereum dapps by building your own game** — designed for beginners to Solidity (even if you’ve never coded with Solidity before)  
[https://cryptozombies.io/](https://cryptozombies.io/)

**How to code your own cryptokitties-style game on Ethereum  
**by James Martin Duffy  
[https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-code-your-own-cryptokitties-style-game-on-ethereum-7c8ac86a4eb3](https://medium.com/loom-network/how-to-code-your-own-cryptokitties-style-game-on-ethereum-7c8ac86a4eb3)

**Learning Solidity** — commit-reveal voting  
by Karl Floersch  
[https://karl.tech/learning-solidity-part-2-voting/](https://karl.tech/learning-solidity-part-2-voting/)

**The hitchhiker’s guide to smart contracts in Ethereum  
**by Manuel Araoz  
[https://blog.openzeppelin.com/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-smart-contracts-in-ethereum-848f08001f05](https://blog.openzeppelin.com/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-smart-contracts-in-ethereum-848f08001f05)

**Introduction to zk-SNARKs with examples** — an overview of zk-SNARKs from a practical viewpoint  
Christian Lundkvist  
[https://media.consensys.net/introduction-to-zksnarks-with-examples-3283b554fc3b](https://media.consensys.net/introduction-to-zksnarks-with-examples-3283b554fc3b)

**zkSNARKs: driver’s ed** — practical beginner’s guide to creating, proving, verifying in contracts  
by Joseph Stockermans  
[https://github.com/jstoxrocky/zksnarks\_example](https://github.com/jstoxrocky/zksnarks_example)

**Epicenter** — a trove of interviews with many different blockchain project leads  
[https://epicenter.tv/episodes/](https://epicenter.tv/episodes/)

**The Ceremony** — Radiolab podcast featuring story of Zcash  
with Morgen Peck, Peter Todd, Peter Van Valkenburgh, Zooko Wilcox; by Molly Webster and Matt Kielty  
[http://www.radiolab.org/story/ceremony/](http://www.radiolab.org/story/ceremony/)

### Other Resources – Newsletters/ Updates

**Token Daily** — place to share/discover news, launches/ product updates, articles, discussions, and deep-dive Q&As with experts  
by Soona Amhaz, Ari Paul, Ryan Selkis, Dennis Stücken, Erik Torenberg, Ben Tossell, Linda Xie, et al

**Week in Ethereum News** — tracking developments in the Ethereum ecosystem  
by Evan Van Ness

**The Control** — on the entrepreneurs, projects and protocols that are putting control of power in the hands of the people  
by 1confirmation

**Token Economy** — tracking new developments in distributed ledger tech  
by Stefano Bernardi and Yannick Roux  
[https://tokeneconomy.co/](https://tokeneconomy.co/)

**Proof of Work** — projects and progress in crypto, also a view from China  
by Eric Meltzer  
[https://tinyletter.com/proofofwork/archive](https://tinyletter.com/proofofwork/archive)

**The Defiant** — daily newsletter “decrypting” the intersection of blockchain and finance  
by Camila Russo  
[https://thedefiant.io/](https://thedefiant.io) 

### Other Resources – Courses

**Cryptocurrency (2018)  
**by Susan Athey and Kathryn Haun  
[http://explorecourses.stanford.edu/search?view=catalog&filter-coursestatus-Active=on&q=MGTECON%20515:%20Cryptocurrency&academicYear=20172018](http://explorecourses.stanford.edu/search?view=catalog&filter-coursestatus-Active=on&q=MGTECON%20515:%20Cryptocurrency&academicYear=20172018)

**Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies (2015)  
**by Arvind Narayan, Joseph Bonneau, Edward Felten, Andrew Miller  
[https://piazza.com/princeton/spring2015/btctech/home](https://piazza.com/princeton/spring2015/btctech/home)

**Advanced topics in computer science: Bitcoin and cryptocurrency technologies (2014)  
**by Arvind Narayan  
[http://randomwalker.info/teaching/fall-2014-bitcoin/](http://randomwalker.info/teaching/fall-2014-bitcoin/)

**A graduate course in applied cryptography (2017-2018)  
**by Dan Boneh and Victor Shoup

*The views expressed here are those of the individual AH Capital Management, L.L.C. (“a16z”) personnel quoted and are not the views of a16z or its affiliates. Certain information contained in here has been obtained from third-party sources, including from portfolio companies of funds managed by a16z. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, a16z has not independently verified such information and makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation.*

*This content is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. You should consult your own advisers as to those matters. References to any securities or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only, and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Furthermore, this content is not directed at nor intended for use by any investors or prospective investors, and may not under any circumstances be relied upon when making a decision to invest in any fund managed by a16z. (An offering to invest in an a16z fund will be made only by the private placement memorandum, subscription agreement, and other relevant documentation of any such fund and should be read in their entirety.) Any investments or portfolio companies mentioned, referred to, or described are not representative of all investments in vehicles managed by a16z, and there can be no assurance that the investments will be profitable or that other investments made in the future will have similar characteristics or results. A list of investments made by funds managed by Andreessen Horowitz (excluding investments for which the issuer has not provided permission for a16z to disclose publicly as well as unannounced investments in publicly traded digital assets) is available at [https://a16z.com/investments/](https://a16z.com/investments/).*

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Source: [Crypto Canon](https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/crypto-readings-resources) — a16z crypto. Full archive: https://a16zcrypto.com/posts