I want to learn about Bitcoin, how do I learn about it?
Can I just rely on articles on virtual currency websites?
There is a lot of media information about Bitcoin on the Internet, but unfortunately, not all of it is reliable.
Beginners should be especially careful, as there are scattered media outlets that strongly recommend registering for certain services or recommending certain coins without sufficient research.
In this article, I'll explain what to look for when studying Bitcoin, the problems with virtual currency media, and effective ways to study Bitcoin.
This article was written in Japanese and converted to English using a translation tool.
Date of writing (Japanese version): December 2023
Cautions When Studying Bitcoin
I'm going to refer to a virtual currency website when studying Bitcoin…
There are many websites about virtual currency, but some of them have problems, so you need to be careful.
Beware of Affiliate Sites for Virtual Currency
Affiliate sites are media outlets that make a profit by introducing advertisements placed by companies.
Some affiliate sites strongly recommend "products and services with high advertising revenue" to their readers in order to pursue profits for their own media.
The problem with virtual currency affiliate sites is that they often state that "00 coins have a bright future, so sign up for a virtual currency exchange called 00 and buy them!" The media will say, "The reader should register with the exchange and buy the coin."
Media outlets make a profit by "getting readers to sign up for an exchange," so they include a lot of information that makes people want to buy the virtual currency.
As a result, there are many statements recommending fraudulent coins and misinformation dissemination.
There are many different genres of affiliate marketing, including video on demand (VOD), online English conversation, e-books, and many others.
The virtual currency genre is one of the most profitable, and many large affiliate companies have recently entered this market.
I googled "virtual currency affiliate how much" and found that different exchanges have very different advertising revenues.
I think that the number of virtual currency affiliate sites will surely increase if the reward is from a few thousand yen to more than 10,000 yen for just one registration.
How to Identify Sites to Watch Out For
Affiliate sites that mass-produce large numbers of articles are often found to contain incorrect information.
Virtual Currency Sites to Watch Out For
- Sites with a large number of button links or banner images such as "Click here to register for free on the 00 exchange."
→In recent years, affiliate sites often include more than 10,000 words of content in order to achieve high search rankings. The assumption is that "readers will not read the whole article," and in some cases, links to the exchanges are placed in each headline. - Use of negative words in titles
→The title of the article is designed to make readers feel uneasy and click on it, such as "00 coins are bad" or "terrible," while "XX coins have a great future!" encourages readers to click and register with the exchange.
Problems with Affiliate Sites
- Some affiliate sites hire writers from crowdsourcing services to write a large number of articles at a low cost, and some of them are written by writers who do not have sufficient knowledge of virtual currency.
- There are media outlets where "the director creates the structure of the article, and the writer writes the article according to the structure." In some cases, the director is knowledgeable about media management but does not necessarily have in-depth knowledge of virtual currency, resulting in mass production of template-type articles and articles with inappropriate headlines.
- The method of writing affiliate articles is established as "writing articles based on the top 5 to 10 articles in a search," but most of the top articles are incorrectly described, and the incorrect information is further spread.
I was going to look into Bitcoin, but when all I see are suspicious affiliate sites, Bitcoin seems somewhat suspicious to me…
I think there will be more and more affiliate sites of the type where AI mass-produces articles from now on, and it will become increasingly difficult to find accurate information through a search engine.
Be Careful About What You Send Out on Social Networking Sites
Some influencers on social networking sites recommend certain services or virtual currency for the purpose of rewarding themselves or soliciting others to join a paid salon.
There are also communities that attract beginners by offering free salons or DAOs that anyone can join for free, but then direct them to VIP programs that cost tens or hundreds of thousands of yen.
Examples of Sources of Information to Be Wary Of
- Accounts that recommend purchasing a specific virtual currency or NFT, using NFT games or DeFi, or registering with a specific exchange.
- Accounts that relentlessly promote some virtual currency or NFT and encourage you to join the community.
- Accounts that are constantly sending out offensive messages in an attempt to gain retweets or likes to increase their number of followers.
If you easily think, "I'll just follow people with a lot of followers for now," you'll have a very hard time in the world of virtual currency.
If you are a beginner and don't know what you are doing, you might think, "What people with a lot of followers are saying seems right!" I think I'm going to think that…
Don't Be Overly Reliant on a Particular Source
Even if you find a media outlet or sender that seems trustworthy, never be overly reliant.
It may be easy to take someone's opinion for granted, but in the world of virtual currency, where money is at stake, if you cannot think for yourself and make your own decisions, you will be hurt badly one day.
It is a common occurrence in this industry that a popular source goes dark (changes his/her policy to recommend an inappropriate virtual currency or service).
Always gather information from multiple sources and make it a habit to consider which information is correct.
The author of this article (Minami) also said that she once bought a virtual currency because of reasons such as "it's safe because it's collaborated with XXX" and lost a lot of money.
Of course, we should not overly trust the author of this article, and we should look for other sources of information on our own.
It's a world where someone loses money behind someone else's back, and it's really dangerous to believe in something too much.
Let's be strong in the spirit of "Don't Trust. Verify.", a common saying in Bitcoin and blockchain.
How to Study Bitcoin and Virtual Currency [For Beginners]
I'd like to know how to study bitcoin.
How should a beginner study?
Here are some sites and books to help beginners learn about bitcoin.
Dedicated Sites for Basic Knowledge
For those who want to learn about bitcoin, we recommend using sites that specialize in bitcoin rather than virtual currencies in general.
Websites Specializing in Bitcoin Information (Japanese)
- Bitcoin.org
→An unofficial information site run by the Bitcoin community. The domain name was acquired by Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto. - Bitcoin日本語情報サイト
→Operated by an anonymous individual. Contains basic information and a glossary of terms. - ロストイン・ビットコイン
→Operated by Fulgur, a Bitcoin-related company. Contains articles written by experts. - Diamond Hands Magazine
→A newsletter that provides important news and the latest topics related to the Bitcoin Lightning Network. Free and Pro versions available.
I get more correct and in-depth information from sites that specialize in bitcoin.
This website, "Know! Bitcoin Pictorial Book" also has easy-to-understand articles for beginners, so please read them!
Study with Bitcoin Books
The recommended book for those who want to learn bitcoin in depth is "Bitcoin Standard."
It is a basic book on bitcoin that is read around the world and discusses the value of bitcoin from an economics perspective, including the history of the coin, its problems, and bitcoin as digital gold.
If you are a beginner and looking for a casual book to read, we recommend "The Little Bitcoin Book" and "ビットコインはどのようにして動いているのか" which have less difficult terminology.
Recommended Books for Studying Bitcoin (iJapanese)
- ビットコインスタンダード（Bitcoin Standard）
→Japanese version of the basic bitcoin book read around the world - ビットコインの歩き方: 世界の今を知るとビットコインが見えてくる（The Little Bitcoin Book）
→Translated by Teruko Neriki, translator of the Bitcoin Standard.
Recommended Book to Learn About Bitcoin Technology
- ビットコインはどのようにして動いているのか
→The book is easy to read even if you don't have technical knowledge of bitcoin - 詳解ビットコイン（Grokking Bitcoin）
→The book is very easy to understand with illustrations and text. For those who want to study it thoroughly.
In addition to this, I recommend "Mastering Bitcoin" for those who want to learn Bitcoin technology in earnest.
It's challenging, but it's regarded as the best technical guide to bitcoin and is widely read around the world.
Some books seem to recommend other virtual currencies even though the title says "Bitcoin"…
It would be better to choose books that are written or translated by people who are continuously developing and disseminating bitcoin.
Using Apps for Study
While there are news and educational apps for bitcoin, you need to be able to judge the quality of the information when using them.
Be careful not to believe everything you read, but use them to keep up with the latest news.
Apps for Studying Bitcoin（Japanese)
- Twitter
→The speed of information is fast and there is a lot of content being transmitted. However, be aware that not all of what is written is correct and there is a lot of position talk. - Coinpost App
→The latest bitcoin news can be found here. Since there are many articles other than bitcoin, it is easier to find news if you register only BTC in "My Coin".
How the Author Studies
- On PC, I often use Deepl Translate (free version); Ctrl+C+C for easy translation.
- Collect information using AI apps such as ChatGPT with specifications such as "based on information from English-speaking countries" (you also need to verify the authenticity of the information).
- When using translation software, it should be noted that the original English resource may not be good enough. However, be aware that unreliable articles tend to appear at the top of Google searches in Japanese, making it difficult to find correct information.
- Searching for "(information you want to find) + lang:ja" in the Twitter search window makes it easier to determine unreliable information senders (e.g., senders recommending problematic issues, etc.).
- If you are fluent in English and can directly contact overseas sources, English sources with a higher level of discussion are recommended. Overseas, there is a culture in which people point out mistakes to each other, even if they know each other, and if they say something incorrect, they are corrected vigorously. In Japan, however, it is difficult for people who know each other to discuss things with each other, and even incorrect messages are often praised and spread (because people can't distinguish between air-reading/opinions and personal attacks, and discussions don't take place).
Recommended Accounts for Bitcoin Information（Japanese)
- Koji Higashi（@Coin_and_Peace）
Reference link：ビットコイナー反省会 - cryptographile ₿（@cryptographile）
Reference link：不可避なビットコイン - Libertariman（@libertariman）
Reference link：リバタリマン・ラジオ - Teruko Neriki（@TerukoNeriki）
Reference link：ロスト・イン・ビットコイン - Yoshihiko Uchida（@uchida_tomato）
Reference link：金融史においてビットコインやDeFiはどこが画期的だったのか？【ダイジェスト版】｜ビットコイナー反省会
Bitcoin-related apps are a bit different when it comes to learning, though there are trading apps and charting apps.
Twitter is pretty good for gathering information.
There are accounts that call themselves Bitcoiners, but also encourage people to buy other virtual currencies and direct them to shady salons….
I think it's better to follow people who are sending out messages specifically about Bitcoin.
Study Bitcoin on YouTube
When studying on YouTube videos, the "Private Satoshi Academy" series of Bitcoiner Hanseikai is suitable for beginners.
Note that there are many videos on YouTube about bitcoin price movements, and finding videos to study bitcoin is a difficult aspect.
Channels that strongly recommend the use of specific services or the purchase of virtual currency or NFTs are not suitable for studying bitcoin.
It's valuable to hear about bitcoin security and mining from someone who really knows bitcoin!
Bitcoiner Hanseikai has been sent out since 2016, so it's a good way to get a feel for the old atmosphere of the virtual currency community.
Summary: If You Want to Study Bitcoin, Question the Media!
Key Points
- There are many virtual currency media, YouTube, and SNS accounts that disseminate information about bitcoin, but many of them promote specific services and virtual currencies.
- Be wary of sites and accounts with excessive promotion and advertising.
- It is necessary to think for yourself by referring to multiple sources of information, and not to trust a particular source.
Even the virtual currency media that show up at the top of Google searches aren't always transmitting the right information.
I'm going to study while looking for various information sources and wondering "Is it true? I'll try to study while looking for various information sources and wondering "Is it true?
Be wary of websites and accounts that are sending out messages such as "XXCoin is more powerful than Bitcoin! If you want to invest now, XX coins!"
In the world of virtual currency, where someone makes money and someone loses money, the frontrunners often target beginners for profit.
Bitcoin seems a bit difficult to understand, but after looking it up, it sounds kind of interesting and I'd like to know more about it.
I want to know more about Bitcoin!
Recommended Articles：What is Bitcoin?
Writer：Sigeru Minami
Creator of "Bitcoin-zukan.com."
Active as a handmade craftsman of Bitcoin goods.