👩🏫 15 Free Online Resources To Learn Blockchain, Smart Contracts and Cryptocurrency
Start learning for free about blockchain and smart contracts today!
Hi frens 🧞♂️
We have been asked a lot about resources that will help our readers learn more about blockchain, cryptocurrency, smart contracts as well as web3 in a hope to become a web3 developer. Now it is the perfect time to pick up a skill and start building projects considering that all the false hype is gone. Days when you were able to get millions of dollars by selling JPEGs are long gone. And we do believe that this is a great thing that has happened.
Now it is the time to build projects, products which somehow make people’s life easier without the need of you having to constantly tell people on how they don’t get it and how this is all about decentralization.
List below is comprehensive and the order courses are places is completely random. None of them is more important than the other. One thing I have learnt from my past experience is that sometimes having so many resources to choose from will make it even more challenging as you will jump back and forth as soon as you get challenged in something in the hope that the other one will be easier.
FUN FACTS
Less than 2% of the courses people have registered for on Udemy have been watched entirely by users. What this tells you is that people register for a course, watch for an hour or two, to never come back to it.
If you are like every other human being, you tend to bookmark links and save it only to never go back to it again. Everyone has a ton of folders with bookmarks that they never check. Try to avoid that this time!
A couple of suggestions which hopefully will help you with your decision:
Go over the list and see what the courses cover. - List contains all different types of courses so it is good for you to go over the list quickly and get the idea of this list has the content type you are looking for.
Decide to focus in one topic. - Pretty self-explanatory. It is tempting to try so many different things at the same time and jump around. Unfortunately, that won’t help you, in contrary, it will hurt your chances of getting done with any of the courses.
Choose 1-3 courses. - Choose no more than 3 courses from the list and try each one of them for 2 weeks without checking into the other one.
Work on projects along the way. - Do not just sit and binge-watch the content. Work on a side for the same project that lecturer is working on, or start something on yourself and try to implement concepts you have learned.
Senior Developer vs. Junior Developer. - The only difference is that Senior Developer knows how to use Google, StackOverflow (and ChatGPT those days) better than the junior. You will never learn it all. Once you feel like you can build basic project and for the stuff you are challenged, you can google it and figure out how to solve it, then you can consider yourself senior!
While this newsletter’s edition covers only courses from where you can learn the basics, we are working on a list with courses which are more practical in nature where you get to develop smart contracts and other dApps. Stick around. If there is anything specific you’d like us to provide, email us at newsletter@web3lunch.com
Enough talk, here’s the list
Blochckain Technology. - UC Berkeley - Learn the fundamentals of blockchain technology and how it will power the economy of tomorrow.
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies. - UC Berkeley - Learn the fundamentals of Bitcoin and the Cryptocurrency space, including the basics of smart contracts, the Ethereum platform and how to build decentralized applications.
Blockchain and FinTech: Basics, Applications, and Limitations. - The University of Hong Kong - Understand the design rationale of blockchain technology, its emerging platforms and applications and uncover the limitations and the opportunities enabled by blockchain applications, particularly as it relates to finance.
Blockchain: Foundations and Use Cases. - Consensys Academy - This course is the definitive introduction to blockchain for both the developer and non-developer audience. Beyond the technology, this course will introduce you to some of the philosophy behind decentralization and why there is so much excitement around it.
Introduction to Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Course: What is Blockchain Technology. - Stanford University - This course will cover the technical aspects of cryptocurrencies, blockchain technologies, including distributed consensus, smart contracts, economics, scalability, and applications.
Blockchain Series. - University of Buffalo - This specialization is made of 4 different courses:
Blockchain Basics,
Smart Contracts,
Decentralized Applications (dApps), and
Blockchain Platforms
The Merkle Tree and Cryptocurrencies. - University of California Irvine - This course also introduces the concepts of proof of work and proof of stake, which play an important part in ensuring the integrity of the blockchain.
Blockchain Business Models. - Duke University - In this course you will learn what blockchain is and how it can create value by tokenization in cryptocurrencies and in many other practical applications.
Blockchain For Beginners.- Tech With Tim - Learn how to write and deploy smart contracts with solidity on the Ethereum blockchain!
Introduction to Blockchain Technology and Application. - Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur - Upon completion of the series, you may expect to be have an in depth understanding of the technology and its applications beyond cryptocurrency.
Web3 Blockchain Fundamentals MOOC. - Web3 Foundation - What is a blockchain? How is it stored? What are the different algorithms and protocols that are used in a blockchain? What’s the history of blockchain technology? It goes from absolute zero knowledge of blockchain or cryptography all the way to showing how to produce actual products on blockchain.
Blockchain Revolution Specialization. - INSEAD University - Learn the fundamentals of blockchain technology. Featuring Don Tapscott, world-renowned expert on business innovation and technology.
Cryptocurrency Engineering and Design. - MIT University - Bitcoin and other cryptographic currencies have gained attention over the years as the systems continue to evolve. This course looks at the design of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and how they function in practice, focusing on cryptography, game theory, and network architecture.
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain: An Introduction to Digital Currencies. - Wharton - University of Pennsylvania - You’ll learn how to define a currency, analyze the foundations of digital signatures and blockchain technology in cryptocurrency, and accurately assess the risks of cryptocurrency in a modern investment portfolio.
Blockchain and Money. - MIT University - The course begins with a review of Bitcoin and an understanding of the commercial, technical, and public policy fundamentals of blockchain technology, distributed ledgers, and smart contracts. The class then continues on to current and potential blockchain applications in the financial sector.
To be continued..
Let us know if this was helpful and if you would like to see more of this.
Cheers!