Page last updated: May 16, 2022
Community guides and resources
Welcome to ethstake.exchange/learn, a set of resources to help you learn more about Ethereum. This page includes technical and non-technical articles, guides, and resources. If you’re totally new to Ethereum, we suggest you start here.
Here are some excellent starting points:
- Decentralizing Everything Sep 18, 2017 - Vitalik Buterin (Video)
- Why Decentralization Matters Feb 18, 2018 - Chris Dixon
- The Year in Ethereum 2021 Jan 17, 2022 - Josh Stark and Evan Van Ness
- The Year in Ethereum 2020 Jan 20, 2021 - Josh Stark and Evan Van Ness
- Ethereum is game-changing technology, literally Mar 29, 2019 - Virgil Griffith
In addition to the information on this page, there are many community-built resources worth exploring:
- EthHub Comprehensive knowledge base for all things Ethereum
- District0x An educational resource about Ethereum targeted at beginners
- Ethereum.wiki A community-built wiki about Ethereum’s technology
- Ethereum Foundation YouTube Videos and talks about Ethereum
- Week in Ethereum News A weekly newsletter covering key developments across the ecosystem
- What’s new in Eth2 A regular newsletter about Ethereum development
- ethresear.ch forum Deeper technical discussions on Ethereum for scaling and beyond
- ETHGlobal An Ethereum hackathon series - attend one near you!
- Web3 University A community-driven online resource focused on web3 development
- EtherWorld An Ethereum educational resource in the form of blogs and video guides
How Ethereum works
High-level explanations of Ethereum and blockchain technology generally.
- How does Ethereum work, anyway? Sept 27, 2017 - Preethi Kasireddy
- A Gentle Introduction to Ethereum Oct 2, 2016 - Antony Lewis
- Introduction to Blockchain through Cryptoeconomics - Part 1 Jan 26, 2018 - Zubin Koticha
- Introduction to Blockchain through Cryptoeconomics - Part 2 July 19, 2018 - Zubin Koticha
- Understanding Ethereum Apr 27, 2021 - Allan Gulley
- Ethereum's original Whitepaper
Smart contracts
A “smart contract” is simply a piece of code that is running on Ethereum. It’s called a “contract” because code that runs on Ethereum can control valuable things like ETH or other digital assets.
- Want to learn how to program on Ethereum with smart contracts? ethstake.exchange/developers
- What is a Smart Contract? Nov 12, 2018 - Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gavin Wood
- What are Smart Contracts/Decentralized Applications? Updated often - Ethhub
Ethereum development
Aspiring Ethereum developer? Check out our developer portal. It's got documentation, tutorials, and other resources for learning how to build Ethereum products. View developer portal
Proof-of-work and Mining
Ethereum currently uses a system called "proof-of-work". This allows the Ethereum network to agree on the state of all information recorded on the Ethereum blockchain, and prevents certain kinds of economic attacks.
- What does it mean to mine Ethereum? Updated often - Ethhub
You can learn more about proof of work and mining within our developer documentation.
After The Merge, Ethereum will be moving to a different system called "proof-of-stake". Read more about consensus layer upgrades below.
Clients and Nodes
The Ethereum network is made up of many nodes, each of which runs compatible client software.
You can learn how to run a node of your own or find a comprehensive list of all Ethereum clients within our developer documentation.
Enterprise Ethereum
Enterprise Ethereum refers to private, consortium, and hybrid implementations of the Ethereum codebase for business applications. Companies across the globe are already using Enterprise Ethereum to streamline financial markets, manage supply chains, and create new business models.
Read more about Enterprise Ethereum.
Improving Ethereum’s scalability
There are many efforts underway to make Ethereum more “scalable” by improving its speed and overall transaction throughput. Generally these are sorted into “Layer 1” and “Layer 2” solutions.
“Layer 1” refers to improving the core Ethereum protocol. Ethereum has a set of upgrades planned for the continual improvement of both the execution layer and the consensus layer.
“Layer 2” refers to technologies that are built “on top” of the base Ethereum protocol, enabling greater scalability without compromising on security. There are also “off-chain” technologies like side-chains, which enable greater scalability by making a different set of security tradeoffs.
Consensus layer upgrades
A set of upgrades (originally known as 'Serenity' or 'Eth2') that aim to upgrade the Ethereum protocol's core for a more scalable, sustainable future, utilizing a proof-of-stake consensus layer.
Learn everything you need to know about Ethereum upgrades.
Execution layer upgrades
Execution layer upgrades are a separate area of research from the consensus layer. The goal is to continue to improve and maintain the execution layer of Ethereum while the consensus layer is developed and implemented.
For more information, see EthHub’s explainer page about Ethereum's execution layer
Cryptoeconomics
“Cryptoeconomics” is the practical science of building distributed systems, where properties of those systems are secured by financial incentives, and where the economic mechanisms are guaranteed by cryptography. It is the general term for the practice of designing and scaling blockchains like Ethereum and Bitcoin.
- Cryptoeconomics.study
- Intro to Cryptoeconomics (Video) Aug 19, 2018 - Karl Floersch
- Making Sense of Cryptoeconomics Nov 16 2017 - Josh Stark
Critique and skepticism
Critical views of Ethereum and Cryptocurrencies.
- Ethereum’s roadmap isn’t ambitious enough March 27, 2019 - Interview with Rick Dudley
- The Challenges of Building Ethereum Infrastructure Jan 8, 2018 - Jameson Lopp
- Parsimonious Answers to Difficult Questions (Video) March 10, 2019 - Rick Dudley
- There’s no good reason to trust blockchain technology Feb 6, 2019 - Bruce Schneier
Books and podcasts
Books on Ethereum and Cryptocurrencies:
- Out of the Ether: The Amazing Story of Ethereum and the $55 Million Heist that Almost Destroyed It All September 29, 2020 - Matthew Leising
- The Infinite Machine: How an Army of Crypto-hackers Is Building the Next Internet with Ethereum July 14, 2020 - Camila Russo
- The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and the Blockchain Are Challenging the Global Economic Order January 12, 2016 - Paul Vigna, Michael J. Casey
- The Truth Machine: The Blockchain and the Future of Everything February 27, 2018 - Paul Vigna, Michael J. Casey
- Digital Gold: Bitcoin and the Inside Story of the Misfits and Millionaires Trying to Reinvent Money May 24, 2021 - Nathaniel Popper
- Kings of Crypto: One Startup's Quest to Take Cryptocurrency Out of Silicon Valley and Onto Wall Street December 15, 2020 - Jeff John Roberts
- Mastering Ethereum December 23, 2018 – Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gavin Wood Ph.D.
Podcasts addressing Ethereum and Cryptocurrencies:
- Into the Ether A podcast focusing on all things Ethereum and DeFi
- Bankless A guide to Crypto finance
- Uncommon Core Explores the transformative nature of trust-minimized currency and financial services
- Zero Knowledge Goes deep into the tech that will power the emerging decentralised web and the community building this
- Epicenter Explores the technical, economic, and social implications of the Crypto industry
- Unchained dives deep into the people building the decentralized internet, the details of this technology that could underpin our future, and some of the thorniest topics in crypto, such as regulation, security and privacy
Archived / No longer maintained:
Resources about Ethereum-related projects and resources which have been deprecated or are no longer maintained.
- Deprecated Software A list of deprecated software, dapps, and documentation