Blockchains for Normies

July 14th, 2022

DESCRIPTION

A first-step guide to raise your knowledge about blockchains’ architecture. This article is a selection of various materials, including articles and videos, arranged in the chronological order to achieve the highest level of effectiveness in step-by-step learning.

I have to clarify – that’s NOT a guide for total beginners in crypto. All content mentioned in the article is for those who are aware of the basic terminology & crypto market in general. FYI, the guide is based on my personal experience.

DESCRIPTION
PART 1 – INTRODUCTION
PART 2 – BLOCKCHAINS
2.1 – Ethereum
2.2 – Cosmos
2.3 – Rollups
2.4 – Solana
2.5 – Near
PART 3 – CONCLUSION

Hey, thanks for checking out! If you don’t like author to be talkative, just skip the introduction and jump directly to PART 2.

PART 1 – INTRODUCTION

Lately, I’ve heard a lot of similar opinions like “That’s the best time to prepare yourself for the next bull market” or “Get out of charts and do some education instead”. If you actively participated in all the “degen” plays with tokens and NFTs, or were busy as a day-trader for a while, I’d presume there wasn’t enough time for such a silly thing as an Education. But isn’t that finally a perfect time as people keep telling us? What if we shift our focus to learn something fundamental? Of course, It’s always nice to earn money by investing or speculating on one or another asset. Especially, when we saw such a great performance of most of the projects and especially blockchains in 2021.

And I’m sure many of you got extremely good profits along with that rise. But here are few questions “Were you aware that LUNA’s death loop is inevitable? Did you try to buy this dip?”. I have a feeling there are some, at least, who were not and tried so (either was I). Let’s not make the same mistakes again. Without further more (I know you may get tired of a long introduction) let’s jump into what I prepared for you.

PART 2 – BLOCKCHAINS

So, education, huh? What can we start with? I’ve been thinking and perceived to start with just fundamental things – Blockchains and Ecosystems. If you’re interested in boosting your knowledge about blockchains and crypto in general, below you’ll find a selection of the related articles/videos. I found them extremely useful and perfectly fit for non-tech guys or normies.

I have to clarify that the author is aware about whitepapers and other official resources, and that it is the best way to get familiar with functionality of blockchains and crypto protocols. But since the topic of this article is “Blockchains for Normies”, I prepared a selection of easy to understand materials to form a basic knowledge of structure and understanding of various tech aspects.

2.1 – ΞTHEREUM

We will start with the leading blockchain, the father of Smart contracts, DeFi and NFT – ETHEREUM. Some of you could react as “WHAT?! Where the heck is Bitcoin??”. I’m not a big fan of Bitcoin, to be honest, and, since the concept of both blockchains is pretty similar (in relation to proof-of-work mechanism; please don’t kill me, I know there is a big difference called EVM – Ethereum Virtual Machine), I decided to start with that. The amazing article translated into various languages:
How does Ethereum work, anyway?.
(I recommend to read it in English since improving English skills is our next big goal – more about that later).

If you really decided to dive into all of these things, follow the chronology, since I organized that for better understanding of the whole blockchain theory. Terms met in the first articles can be mentioned in the following ones.

Also, if you’re not familiar at all with Decentralized finances, DApps & Smart contracts, it’s quite compatible to watch this video in parallel with the first article:

2.2 – COSMOS

Okay, we’ve learnt some basic things about how the amazing technology of blockchain actually works. But you may ask “What about proof-of-stake concept? I heard many blockchains are based on it as on more energy efficient & more scalable analogue” (or just “What’s next?”). Not a big deal – the whole validation & delegation idea is greatly described in the next article about COSMOS ecosystem (in 2 parts):
How does Cosmos work? How does it compare to Bitcoin and Ethereum? (Part 1);
How does Cosmos work? How does it compare to Bitcoin and Ethereum? (Part 2).

”Damn, man, you’re just sending the articles of one particular author… You could send us her link and finish it” – IT’S NOT MY FAULT that her articles are such great for normies. But don’t judge me so fast, here will be more stuff.

2.3 – ROLLUPS

As long as we’re aware about the difference between proof-of-stake and proof-of-work mechanisms, let’s talk about another hot topic – ZK ROLLUPS. That’s almost impossible you haven’t seen at least some videos or threads about how promising rollups are, determining it as a next huge trend. I guess, that’s worthy not to put it away: A normie's guide to rollups.
And the answer for “Which one is the best finally in that infinite battle?” can be found here and here.

Spoiler:
.
.
.
Nobody knows exactly.

2.4 – S◎LANA

Next is SOLANA. The killer of Ethe… Okay, stop it. Nobody kills nobody. I guess we’ve settled that long time ago, heh. We can start with this article giving us an idea of how the Solana’s proof-of-history concept works:
What Is Solana (SOL)? Learn About Ethereum’s Growing Rival.

Then check out this video:

And read the explanation by Solana’s founder Anatoly Yakovenko:
Proof of History: A Clock for Blockchain.

Seems more or less clear? I have to admit there are a lot of concerns and humors regarding Solana’s eligibility and transparency, especially regarding the concept of proof-of-history. But let’s leave it for scientists and mathematicians like Victor Shoup (You may have a look at it, but be careful, it can hurt your brain if you’re not a sort of such guys).

2.5 – NEAR

Let’s dive a little deeper and remind ourselves about Ethereum 2.0, its proof-of-stake mechanism and, what is the most important, learn about sharding technology (we need it for better understanding of the functionality of our next candidate). I have to warn you, this part is gonna be more complex comparing to the previous ones:
The authoritative guide to Blockchain Sharding.

Great! I’m feeling how these articles are becoming easier and easier to deal with (or not, because you just keep scrolling?!).

Author when you don't read the article carefully

To be honest, I spent several days trying to find similar easy to read material about the NEAR Protocol, but either it was huge, either quite complicated. Finally here it is, right after I spent the whole day reading an official doc (super lucky?). But first, if you’re not familiar with the Near protocol at all, briefly check this introduction from the official team: The Beginner’s Guide to the NEAR Blockchain.

For the rests – overview of the Near protocol: NEAR Protocol ($NEAR).

If you haven’t gone through all the links attached to this great article above (bet 99% you haven’t), some parts might seem not so clear. Don’t worry, there’re just 2 important links you need to open. But there is a tiny detail… One of these links is exactly the one I’ve called “huge” earlier. If you’re that crazy person – try your passion and patience by reading these:
Nightshades (37 pages, good luck);
Doomslug (much shorter).
Along with the tons of text, it also provides the illustrations which, imho, are pretty fruitful and worthy of time.

PART 3 – CONCLUSION

I guess that’s it. The idea was to provide you with an important base of knowledge of terms, structures and varieties about the blockchain industry. To sum up, careful studying all the materials mentioned above gives us a sufficient understanding of architectures and principles of Layer 1 & 2 blockchains, Smart contracts, DApps, Rollups, Proof-of-work & Proof-of-stake mechanisms. This knowledge will significantly simplify future studying of incredible Crypto world.

Few more notes before leaving.

I already have some plans and ideas for the future articles, so in case you enjoyed reading such stuff, would you mind to subscribe my twitter? You’ll be notified immediately once it’s ready! Oh, I forgot to give an idea what’s next… Well, I can’t promise anything, but can give you some hint: