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Third Prime Crypto Reading List

Books emoji 118 items
By
7 contributors
The crypto space is a deep ocean of information and rabbit holes. We've pulled together a curated list of articles, videos, podcasts, and other resources to give you direction to efficiently get smart on the space.
Sections
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Why Crypto? 🧠

 
Why web3 matters
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Why decentralization matters
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a16z | Reinventing the Internet
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The Importance of Composability
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Web3 Use Cases: Today
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Introductory Articles 📑

 
Chris Dixon and Packy McCormick on the future of crypto
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Thoughts on Tokens: Balaji Srinivasan
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Cryptoeconomics 101
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Ethereum in 25 Minutes: Devcon Two
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Making Sense of Web 3
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Introduction to Ethereum 2.0
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The Blockchain Economy: A beginner’s guide to institutional cryptoeconomics
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Come for the creator, stay for the economy — Mirror
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A simple guide to the Web3 stack
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5 Mental Models for Web3 | Chris Dixon
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The Impact of the Blockchain Goes Beyond Financial Services
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Introductory Videos 📺

Curated videos that discuss a wide range of topics pertinent to succeeding in crypto
 
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a16z's Crypto Startup School provides a comprehensive overview
Crypto Startup School
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Chris Dixon of a16z provides a great introduction to crypto networks and why they matter
Crypto Networks and Why They Matter
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Balaji Srinivasan (formerly of Coinbase) discusses the applications that can be built on top of crypto-networks
Applications: Today & 2025
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Brian Brooks (former OCC) provides a framework for understanding tokens within existing securities regulations
Token Securities Framework and Launching a Network
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a16z takes you from the ground up on what crypto is, how it really works, and where it's going 
Crypto, an Oral Essay
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Macro Trends (Q2'22) 🗞

 
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Vance from Framework Ventures shares his insights on how to take advantage of this bear market in both public and private markets, while drawing comparisons from 2018. 
Bankless: 121 - The Bear Market Gift | Vance Spencer
 
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An annual overview of trends in the crypto industry (May 2022)
The State of Crypto 2022
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BTC & Layer 1 Blockchains ⛓

Underlying Infrastructure of which crypto's built on. Covering chains like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more.

 
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Satoshi Nakamoto's White Paper
Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System
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Not Boring: Own the Internet
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Smart Contracts: 4 Reasons Why We Desperately Need Them
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Technical book offering a guide to the operation and use of the Ethereum, smart contracts, and other compatible EVM-based open blockchains.
Mastering Ethereum, by Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gavin Wood
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Blockspace: An Introduction with Chris Dixon | The Generalist
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Avalanche Subnets - The Next Growth Engine in Crypto?
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Essential Q&As about Celestia and the modular stack
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Blockchain Modularity
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Decentralized Finance (DeFi) 🏦

A great section of resources on decentralized finance
 
Newsletter Bankless HQ
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DeFi and the Future of Finance
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Mapping Decentralized Finance (DeFi)
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Comparing DeFi Token Models
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Constant Function Market Makers: DeFi’s “Zero to One” Innovation
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Crypto Yield Sources: Not all Yield is Created Equal
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The Metaverse 🌐

 
Into the Void: Where Crypto Meets the Metaverse
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The Metaverse: What It Is, Where to Find It, Who Will Build It, and Fortnite
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An overview of the vision of a decentralized metaverse built on open protocols
The Open Metaverse Thesis
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Crypto Law & Governance 👩‍⚖️

While not legal advice, here are some articles that provide a perspective on legal topics related to crypto projects.
 
United States Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Resources
 
Legal Framework for DAOs
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Legal Structures for DAOs
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White paper written by Paradigm talking about legal structuring for DAOs
Legal Wrappers and DAOs
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Legal Options for DAOs by Paradigm
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Bitcoin in the Boardroom
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Governance Mining — liquidity mining for human capital
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Ultimate Guide to Metagovernance
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Illegible Enterprises: DAOs, Unwrapped
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Decentralized Governance Structures
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DAOlitical Parties and DAOliticians: A Future in the Metagovernance World
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World Economic Forum - DAOs - Beyond the Hype

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) 🖼

 
You’re Sleeping on Crypto Art
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A beginner’s guide to NFTs
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The NFT Bible: Everything you need to know about non-fungible tokens
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NFT Issuance Landscape
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NFTs make the internet ownable — Mirror
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1confirmation 2021 NFT Year in Review.pdf
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NFTs and A Thousand True Fans
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The Ownership Economy 2022 – Variant
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a year in music and web3...
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Not Boring: Status Monkeys
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Seven types of NFTs
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Zeneca_33 | Overpriced JPEGs
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Tokengated Commerce
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Podcast Episodes 🎙

Curated episodes discussing the evolution of crypto and what happens next.
 
Has Crypto Grown Up?
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Crypto Thesi‪s‬ with Avichal Garg
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Crypto M&A, with Sam Bronstein and Jordan Stastny
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Protocol Governance, with A16z's Jeff Amico
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Navigating the Legal Landscape in Crypto, with Marc Boiron and Jake Chervinsky
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Books for Deeper Learning 📚

 
Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story
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Cryptoassets: Investor's Guide to Bitcoin & Beyond
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Further your understanding of DEX's, AMM's, and the smart contracts serving as the building blocks of DeFi
DeFi and the Future of Finance

Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) 👩🏻‍💻

 
The ABCs of DAOs
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Scaling DAOs Won't Be Easy: Five Major Challenges to Overcome - The Defiant
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First DeFi, Then NFTs, Now DAOs, the Next Big Chapter of Crypto Is Already Here
 
Service DAOs - Landscape, Challenges, and Solutions
 
DAOs, a Canon
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DAOs and the Free-rider Problem
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Decentralized Governance Structures
 
Crypto Cities
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Key learnings from DAOs
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Navigating Web3 Compensation: A Framework Report
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Valve Running A DAO

Infrastructure 🛠

 
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A comparison between the state of crypto & the internet in the early 1990's
The "dial-up" era of cryptocurrency
 
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An overview of Digital Asset Custody
Digital Asset Custody 101: Its Key Role in Expanding Cryptocurrencies
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Web3 Storage — Massive Growth and Capital Gain with Arweave, Filecoin & Stratos - Huobi Research
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Blockchain Bridges: Building Networks of Cryptonetworks
 
Helium's Revolutionary Value: A Guiding Conversation
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On-chain identity landscape
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An overview of Arweave, Permanent Data Storage and why it's important
Arweave & the Permaweb
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Crypto protocols that can run for free and forever, without maintenance, interruption or intermediaries.
Hyperstructures
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Lockdrop + LBA: A Novel Token Launch Mechanism
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Blockchains are the new app stores
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Not Boring: Designing Token Economies
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A mental model for understanding the crypto landscape from a high level perspective
Blockchains are cities
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The web3 stack: how web3 will offer superior UX than web2
 
Cambridge Analytica in the Metaverse
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Treasury Management: A Guide to Navigating Downturns
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How can PoPW networks win?
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Towards Digital Self-Sovereignty: The Web3 Identity Stack
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Tokenomics 🔒

 
The Pillars of Tokenomics & The ve Token Model
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Optimizing Your Token Distribution
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The ultimate Guide to Designing Effective Token Launches
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Mental models for understanding tokens
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Incentives structures
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Token Vesting and Allocations Industry Benchmarks
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The Optimal Token Vest Schedule
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Getting Involved 🤝

 
How I learned Solidity programming in a month
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How to Break into Ethereum, Crypto, and Web3 as a Developer
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The Complete Guide to Full Stack Ethereum Development
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The Complete Guide to Full Stack Solana Development with React, Anchor, Rust, and Phantom
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Gaming 🎮

 
Blake Robbins: How Crypto Will Change Gaming and The Creator Economy
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Decentralized Social 💬

 
The Internet Reset | Alexis Ohanian
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Decentralized Identity 👤

 
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Non-Transferrable NFT's, aka, “Soulbound Tokens”, will be a key primitave to web3 identity in the future.
Decentralized Society: Finding Web3's Soul
 
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Vitalik chats with the Bankless team on his vision for Soulbound tokens and potential applications of this technology.
Soulbound: On or off Chain? | Vitalik Buterin and Evin McMullen
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A Novel Framework for Reputation-Based Systems
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Web3 Credentials → A Primer
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