>Note that Ethereum and the other "smart contract" blockchains which link general program execution with transactions, are very different from Bitcoin and the o

>Note that Ethereum and the other "smart contract" blockchains which link general program execution with transactions, are very different from Bitcoin and the other "money only" blockchains. Smart contract blockchains like Ethereum have a lot that classic blockchains like Bitcoin don't have, but all of the lessons of classic blockchains are relevant to Ethereum. The original Bitcoin whitepaper by Satoshi is still a strong introduction to the goals and basics of cryptocurrency; understanding the goals of Bitcoin and the idea of solving double-spending in a decentralized manner is critical to understanding cryptocurrency. (But anyway after reading the Bitcoin whitepaper, just move on to reading docs about other projects like Ethereum. There's little interesting to Bitcoin beyond its initial invention.)