---
layout: post
title:  "Binaryphile's Big List of Bitcoin Resources"
date:   2013-12-29 00:00:00 +0000
categories: bitcoin
---

Like lots of folks, I've taken a much stronger interest in bitcoin as an
emerging technology of late, especially after the runup and crash of
November this year. While there is a ton of volatility in bitcoin, I
can't help but be optimistic about its place in the future. I've put
together this list of resources which I've found useful in getting to
know how to understand and use Bitcoin. Enjoy.

What's so great about Bitcoin? It's a payment system that's extremely
fast, reliable and most of all, inexpensive. It lets you purchase on the
Internet without the need for credit. It also lets you do what you want
with your money without having to involve a bank or credit institution,
no matter the size of the transaction. And it lets you give money to
family and friends, just like you can't do with a credit card. If you're
a small business, you can also receive money without an expensive
merchant account or the risk of chargebacks and asset freezes.

Before we start, I know there's one question that's killing you: is it
Bitcoin, bitcoin or BitCoin?

If you guessed BitCoin, wrong answer, that's right out.

Generally, Bitcoin with a capital B refers to the underlying payment
network and protocol, the technology which makes bitcoin possible.

Bitcoin with a little b refers to the unit of currency which gets paid
over the Bitcoin network. You own and pay with bitcoin. You use the
Bitcoin network and providers typically supply Bitcoin services.

Plural or singular? Nothing says newb to me like hearing "bitcoins".
That's just me though. While the community seems to prefer using the
singular all the time, you do hear people talk about "bitcoins"
periodically, especially when they are talking to someone who doesn't
know anything about the subject. Don't feel bad about calling them
bitcoins if you want though, it's up to you. I prefer the singular.

Generally I list things here in the order which I recommend them, but
investigate your options and decide for yourself which suit you.

### Bitcoin Basics

Basic information for those new to Bitcoin.

-   [bitcoin.org What is Bitcoin?] - YouTube

-   [Basics of Bitcoin] - YouTube

-   [Andreas Antanopoulos Cryptocurrency Crash Course] - YouTube

-   [bitcoin.org Introduction for Individuals]

-   [Bitcoin Wiki Introduction to Bitcoin]

### Bitcoin Under the Hood

Further down the rabbit hole. Take the red pill, Neo.

-   [How the Bitcoin Protocol Actually Works]

-   [How Bitcoin Works Under the Hood]

-   [The Truth About Bitcoin] - Good info, albeit from a particular
    political viewpoint. Not for everyone.

-   [Bitcoin History]

-   [Graphic of How a Bitcoin Transaction Works]

-   [Audiobook of Original Satoshi Nakamoto Whitepaper]

### Bitcoin Security

Don't even think about buying bitcoin without reading some of these
first.

-   [/r/BitcoinBeginners Security Guide]

-   [Bitcoin Security 101]

-   [Total Bitcoin Security PDF book] - not free

### Bitcoin Wallets

A warm, cozy home for your bitcoin.

-   [Armory] - featureful light wallet, Win/Mac/Linux

-   [Blockchain.info] - online/Android

-   [KryptoKit] - Chrome extension

-   [bitcoinpaperwallet.com]

-   [Official bitcoin-qt client] - heavy wallet, Win/Mac/Linux

-   [Electrum] - another light wallet, Win/Mac/Linux/Android

-   [Bitcoin Wiki Information on Paper Wallets]

-   [CoinKite] - online Bitcoin bank

### Ways to Buy Bitcoin

Don't be afraid to get your feet wet, but it's still a little bit of the
wild west out there. Caveat emptor and don't risk more than you can
afford to lose.

Reportedly not all banks are friendly to bitcoin, but it's mostly an
issue for businesses rather than consumers. You also don't need a bank
to help you buy bitcoin if you use some of the services below.

-   [coinbase] - purchase bitcoin from your bank account. seems to be
    suffering growth issues at the moment, see
    <http://www.reddit.com/r/coinbase/>

-   [LocalBitcoins] - purchase bitcoin for cash/bank transfer/wire
    transfer from people in your area

-   [purse.io] - earn bitcoin by purchasing retail items for others with
    dollars

-   [cash into coins] - deposit cash for bitcoin

### Ways to Spend Bitcoin

-   [gyft] - buy gift cards to well-known retailers with bitcoin

-   [purse.io] - purchase retail items through people willing to make
    the purchase for you in dollars in exchange for bitcoin

-   [coinmap.org] - map of local businesses accepting bitcoin

##### Bitcoin-branded Merchandise

-   [Bitcoin QR Code T-Shirt]

### Bitcoin Merchant Services

Services which help your business accept bitcoin and convert to dollars.

-   [bitpay] - the largest bitcoin payment processor

-   [coinbase] - seems to be suffering growth issues at the moment, see
    <http://www.reddit.com/r/coinbase>

### Bitcoin Charts and Statistics

-   [bitcoinity.org] - price ticker

-   [BitcoinWisdom] - price ticker

-   [CryptoCoinCharts] - exchange rates for cryptocurrencies

-   [BitInfoCharts] - market statistics for many cryptocurrencies

-   [Crypto-Currency Market Capitalizations]

-   [bitcoinpulse] - bitcoin adoption metrics

-   [fiatleak] - watch dollar value transactions of bitcoin

### Bitcoin Exchanges

Before trusting any Exchange with your funds, verify that you can
transact a small amount both into and out of their site. Also do your
research on their reputations. People *do* lose money to some of them.
The fact that I'm listing any here is not an endorsement. Caveat emptor.

**Always** use 2-factor authentication with a generator such as Google
Authenticator or Yubikey. SMS or email is not secure as a second factor.

Whatever you do, do **not** use bter.com.

-   [MtGox] - Japan

-   [BTC-e] - Russia

-   [Kraken] - US

-   [Alternative List of Exchanges]

### Bitcoin News and Articles

-   [Let's Talk Bitcoin Podcast]

-   [Bitcoin Magazine]

-   [newsBTC]

### Bitcoin and Taxes

There is a whole lot that is unclear yet with regards to taxes. Bitcoin
is unlike other investments and the IRS has no bitcoin-related guidance
to my knowledge. *Don't neglect to keep records and pay taxes on your
bitcoin transactions*. You'll probably want to give your accountant a
heads up so they have time to read and understand about Bitcoin before
they have to do your taxes.

-   [Bitcoin Magazine series on taxes] - find the three articles in the
    author's list

-   [Great Reddit thread on taxes]

### Bitcoin Regulation

-   [Legal Status of Bitcoin Around the World]

### Bitcoin Organizations

-   [Bitcoin Foundation] - industry organization which includes the core
    developers as members

-   [Bitcoin Alliance of Canada]

### Bitcoin Forums and Discussion

-   [reddit's /r/bitcoinbeginners]

-   [bitcointalk] - the first and biggest Bitcoin board

-   [reddit's /r/bitcoin]

-   [bitcoin on StackExchange]

### Bitcoin Weaknesses

-   [51% Attack]

-   [Tragedy of the Commons]

-   [Selfish Mining Attack]

-   [Sybil Attack]

-   [Bitcoin Wiki Weaknesses Page]

### Bitcoin Detractors

-   [Paul Krugman]

-   [Peter Schiff]

### Scams/Bubbles Bitcoin is Sometimes Compared To

-   [Ponzi Schemes]

-   [Pyramid Schemes]

-   [Tulip Mania]

### Bitcoin Tweeters

-   [@LetsTalkBitcoin](https://twitter.com/LetsTalkBitcoin)

-   [@aantonop](https://twitter.com/aantonop) - Andreas Antonopoulos

-   [@Cryptocoin\_News](https://twitter.com/Cryptocoin_News) - Justin
    Case

Enjoy and raise awareness for Bitcoin!

  [bitcoin.org What is Bitcoin?]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um63OQz3bjo
  [Basics of Bitcoin]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyVeHC4X2eA
  [Andreas Antanopoulos Cryptocurrency Crash Course]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JP9-lAYngi4
  [bitcoin.org Introduction for Individuals]: http://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-for-individuals
  [Bitcoin Wiki Introduction to Bitcoin]: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Introduction
  [How the Bitcoin Protocol Actually Works]: http://www.michaelnielsen.org/ddi/how-the-bitcoin-protocol-actually-works/
  [How Bitcoin Works Under the Hood]: http://www.imponderablethings.com/2013/07/how-bitcoin-works-under-hood.html
  [The Truth About Bitcoin]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4HGVJjqDVk
  [Bitcoin History]: http://historyofbitcoin.org/
  [Graphic of How a Bitcoin Transaction Works]: http://i.imgur.com/Qy57QxM.jpg
  [Audiobook of Original Satoshi Nakamoto Whitepaper]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yYrYCE4i1c
  [/r/BitcoinBeginners Security Guide]: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1pxy4w/basic_bitcoin_security_guide/
  [Bitcoin Security 101]: http://bitcoinsecurity101.com/
  [Total Bitcoin Security PDF book]: http://www.totalbitcoinsecurity.com/
  [Armory]: https://bitcoinarmory.com/
  [Blockchain.info]: https://blockchain.info/
  [KryptoKit]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/kryptokit/lhhipingoaiddcoalochnbjlkifbpmoj?hl=en
  [bitcoinpaperwallet.com]: https://bitcoinpaperwallet.com/
  [Official bitcoin-qt client]: http://bitcoin.org/en/download
  [Electrum]: https://electrum.org/
  [Bitcoin Wiki Information on Paper Wallets]: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Paper_wallet
  [CoinKite]: https://coinkite.com/
  [coinbase]: https://coinbase.com/
  [LocalBitcoins]: https://localbitcoins.com/
  [purse.io]: http://purse.io/
  [cash into coins]: https://cashintocoins.com/
  [gyft]: http://www.gyft.com/
  [coinmap.org]: http://coinmap.org/
  [Bitcoin QR Code T-Shirt]: https://bitcoinshirts.co/
  [bitpay]: https://bitpay.com/
  [bitcoinity.org]: http://bitcoinity.org/markets
  [BitcoinWisdom]: http://bitcoinwisdom.com/
  [CryptoCoinCharts]: http://www.cryptocoincharts.info/v2/
  [BitInfoCharts]: http://bitinfocharts.com/
  [Crypto-Currency Market Capitalizations]: http://coinmarketcap.com/
  [bitcoinpulse]: http://www.bitcoinpulse.com/
  [fiatleak]: http://fiatleak.com/
  [MtGox]: https://www.mtgox.com/
  [BTC-e]: https://btc-e.com/
  [Kraken]: https://www.kraken.com/
  [Alternative List of Exchanges]: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1b9sak/alternatives_to_mtgox/
  [Let's Talk Bitcoin Podcast]: http://letstalkbitcoin.com/
  [Bitcoin Magazine]: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/
  [newsBTC]: http://newsbtc.com/
  [Bitcoin Magazine series on taxes]: http://bitcoinmagazine.com/author/jason-tyra/
  [Great Reddit thread on taxes]: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1uccfz/i_am_a_tax_attorney_here_are_my_answers_to_the/
  [Legal Status of Bitcoin Around the World]: http://www.bitlegal.net/index.html
  [Bitcoin Foundation]: https://bitcoinfoundation.org/
  [Bitcoin Alliance of Canada]: http://www.bitcoinalliance.ca/
  [reddit's /r/bitcoinbeginners]: http://www.reddit.com/r/bitcoinbeginners
  [bitcointalk]: https://bitcointalk.org/
  [reddit's /r/bitcoin]: http://www.reddit.com/r/bitcoin
  [bitcoin on StackExchange]: http://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/
  [51% Attack]: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses#Attacker_has_a_lot_of_computing_power
  [Tragedy of the Commons]: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_Commons
  [Selfish Mining Attack]: http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/bitcoin-isnt-broken-despite-a-potential-flaw
  [Sybil Attack]: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4335.0
  [Bitcoin Wiki Weaknesses Page]: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Weaknesses
  [Paul Krugman]: http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/28/bitcoin-is-evil/
  [Peter Schiff]: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-11-21/peter-schiff-gold-vs-bitcoin
  [Ponzi Schemes]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme
  [Pyramid Schemes]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme
  [Tulip Mania]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania
