Recommended Reading

Books

The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous
This classic book is the one that everyone even remotely interested in Bitcoin should read. Ammous goes into great depth on what makes a good money, and why. He writes about the best monies throughout history, and how when one type of money replaces another, those who hold on to the old form of money are impoverished.

Broken Money by Lyn Alden
Released in 2023, this book leverages Alden's background as an investment strategist to expose the cracks in our global financial system. It explores money's history from ancient eras to now, highlighting how fiat currencies, central banks, and money printing fuel inequality and inflation. Alden argues for Bitcoin and decentralized solutions as game-changers, including many real-world examples of how money is used and abused today. She contrasts these with Bitcoin, and shows how Bitcoin could fix many global problems.

Inventing Bitcoin by Yan Pritzker
A lot of helpful information is packed into this short book. Clear, concise, and easy to understand. Not a lot about the history of money, or the "why" of Bitcoin, but great information about cryptography, decentralization, and how the incentives work that help the Bitcoin network grow and thrive. Clear, direct explanations of many Bitcoin fundamentals such as mining, proof-of-work, and blockchain.

Articles and Magazines

The Bullish Case for Bitcoin by Vijay Boyapati
This short but enlightening article has introduced many people to the "why" of bitcoin. It's an inspiring introduction to Bitcoin, including a review of money throughout history. Boyapati writes a primer on the value of Bitcoin, and why it's superior to government currency, and even gold. He's also expanded the article into an entire book, also a great read.

Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System by Satoshi Nakamoto
This is the original 9 page white paper that started Bitcoin. Satoshi Nakamoto lays out a game-changing way to send digital cash directly between people, ditching banks and middlemen. Proof-of-work keeps everything honest and secure, basically inventing the technology that powers Bitcoin today. It's the spark that lit the fire - two months after it appeared, bitcoin mining began.

Bitcoin First Revisted by Fidelity Digital Assets
This article positions Bitcoin as the top digital money—think digital gold—with its decentralization, capped supply, and strong security. The piece warns about the risks of chasing altcoins, like potential centralization, regulatory issues, and less proven networks. It dives into Bitcoin's core strengths as money, the downsides of broad crypto investing, and why investors should focus on Bitcoin first.

Bitcoin Magazine
Launched in 2012, Bitcoin Magazine is one of the original sources for all things Bitcoin. It delivers in-depth articles, news, and analysis on Bitcoin's tech, economics, adoption trends, and cultural impact. Note that it is a magazine that makes money from advertising, so be aware of that when you're reading articles.

YouTube channels

BTC Sessions
BTC Sessions is a beginner-friendly channel with practical tutorials on Bitcoin basics like wallets, security, self-custody, and Lightning Network.

Bitcoin University
Matthew Kratter's, Bitcoin University delivers frequent, straightforward videos on Bitcoin as an investment. Also has self-custody information.

Aantonop
Andreas M. Antonopoulos is a best-selling author and educator in Bitcoin. He's one of the earlier Bitcoin evangelists, and is also famous as the author of the high-impact book Mastering Bitcoin. The channel is not very active now, but has some great classic videos.

Miscellaneous

Learn Me A Bitcoin
The site learnmeabitcoin.com has easy to understand, graphical explanations of many of the important concepts in Bitcoin. The creator, Greg Walker, says "I started work on this website in 2015 to try and explain how Bitcoin works in a way that everyone can understand. I think it's an incredibly useful technology, and if it's going to become used by more and more people, I think everyone should be able to understand how it actually works if they want to."

Bitcoin meetups
In person meetups are good for community building, if there are some in your area. Meeting bitcoiners face to face is a great way to learn, to meet people, and to hear about what's going on in Bitcoin locally. Avoid "crypto" meetups, and stick with Bitcoin-only meetups. You can check out Meetup.com for meetups in your area.

X (fomerly Twitter)
Many bitcoiners are active on x.com. One way to start is to follow your favorite content creators. Understand that the comments on popular Twitter accounts are often polluted with scammers.