Resources

Resources and articles are provided in no particular order. They may (or may not!) provide additional insight into one or more facets of Bitcoin understanding. Resources found below are not representative of the views of Qala or its members. Resources have not been verified as accurate; don't trust, verify!

Writing

Articles

Writing is one of the cornerstones of the Qala program. One benefit is that it can help make your learning process more effective by forcing you to think about the subject in more depth. Another benefit is that it contributes to your online portfolio. A good article is a valuable digital artifact that can help you get better exposure to employers, or to the industry in general. This guide contains information and tips on how to write better articles and get more out of your time spent on writing.

Technical Writing

As a SW engineer, you'll have to do quite a bit of technical writing. Technical writing is hard and not something most of us get taught, but doing it well makes all the difference to the reader and can really make your material stand out. If your project is kick ass but people struggle to understand or use it, is it really kick ass?

Link	Notes
Google tech writing	Technical writing for software engineers

Developer Tools

Link	Notes
Onboarding to Bitcoin Core	GitHub repository: link
LND developer resources
C-Lightning documentation	including information on how to write and use custom plugins in any language
Bitcoin Programming with BitcoinJS, Bitcoin Core and LND

Articles

bitcoin-resources.com has collected a great list of articles covering a broad range of subject areas in and around bitcoin.

In addition to this (and possibly with some overlap) some additional articles and resources are provided below.

Technical

Name	Author
Bitcoin Optech	Various
Bitcoin StackExchange	Various
From scratch tour of bitcoin in python	Karpathy
Bitcoin script 101	Grokchain
Bitcoins the hard way: Using the raw bitcoin protocol	Shirriff
Upgrade path to post-quantum	Ruffing
Taproot is coming. What is it and how will it benefit us	Van Wirdum
Using BDK to create BIP157 SPV wallet (aka Neutrino)	Maitra
Soft fork activation	Various
Timelocks in a nutshell	Hung
SPV node assumptions	Wuille
Understanding the block header	Rybarczyk
Why is it taking 20 minutes to mine this block?	O'Connor
Compact Block Filters Deep Dive	Mouton
Schnorr Basics	Rosenbaum
Compact Block Filters (BIP158) deep dive	Mouton

Economics

Name	Author
Why Bitcoin	Wiz
Cryptoeconomics	Voskuil et. al.
ASICs and decentralization	Poelstra
The bullish case for bitcoin	Boyapati
Shelling out: The origins of money	Szabo
Bitcoin for safety	O’Beirne
Check your financial privilege	Gladstein
The monetary case for bitcoin	Kaufman
Bitcoin is time	Gigi
Masters and slaves of Money	Breedlove
Reject Nocoiner orthodoxy	Ou
Financial freedom in the post-cash world	Gladstein
Fighting monetary colonialism	Gladstein
The humanitarian case for Bitcoin	Gladstein
Bitcoin is a trojan horse for freedom	Gladstein

Energy

Name	Author
End the FUD	Various
The hidden costs of the petrodollar	Gladstein
Nic Carter archive	Carter
Jack Dorsey says Bitcoin can make the world greener. Is he right?	Wieczner
Bitcoin does not waste energy	Lewis
Bitcoin is not backed by nothing	Lewis

Lightning

Name	Author
Lightning Network - Fundamental Limitations	Truthcoin (Paul Sztorc)
How Lightning Actually Works	Curious Inventor (Video)
Bitcoin and lightning Transactions & Protocol Deep Dive	Curious Inventor (Video)
Shortcomings of the Lightning Network May-2022	@nout
Async lightning payment recieving (with LSP)	Corallo
Creating a channel	Mouton
Updating state	Mouton
Revocation in more detail	Mouton
HTLC overview	Mouton
HTLC deep dive	Mouton

Culture

Name	Author
In defense of Bitcoin Maximalism	Vitalik Buterin
Various topics	Gigi
The Bitcoin Library	Various
Who controls Bitcoin Core	Lopp
Bitcoinstrings.com (OP_RETURN)	Anduck
Books recommended by Bitcoiners	Various
Search Bitcoin Stack Exchange	Various
Freelancing platforms which pay in Bitcoin	Various
True names not required	Gigi
I AM HODLING	GameKyuubi
The History of the Mt Gox Hack: Bitcoin’s Biggest Heist	Norry
The Rise and Fall of Mt. Gox (Podcast, transcript)	Darknet Diaries
The Blocksize War – Chapter 1 – First Strike	Bier/BitMex
MtGox investigation update and preliminary release	Wiz
Dr Bitcoin - The Man Who Wasn't Satoshi Nakamoto (Podcast)	CONTENT:ED Audio
The Craig Wright May 2016 Signing Sessions Debacle, In Full Context	MyLegacyKit
Private Presentations Aren't Proof	Wiz

Cryptography

Name	Author
ROAST is an async. protocol that makes t-of-n FROST signing robust: t honest signers can produce a Schnorr signature even if other signers disrupt.	Ruffing
Practical Cryptography for Developers	Nakov

In a Bitcoin context the chapters from Practical Cryptography for Developers (PCfD) on Digital Signatures and specifically ECDSA Signatures are well-worth reading, as is the chapter on Hash Functions.

In a lightning context, and in addition to the above, its worth also reading the MAC and Key Derivation and ECDH Key Exchange chapters from PCfD, both of which are used as part of the encrypted transport layer.