Crypto currency is not a simple matter. A while ago, before there was any direct connection between cryptography and finance, terms like proof of work, private key, digital signature and identity certificate were used almost exclusively by academics and IT professionals. Even now, when crypto currency news are plaguing mainstream media, deep understanding of the true meaning of those terms is not that common.

That's because most people, as well as most news organisations, believe that cryptocurrency topic is way too complicated to describe in layman terms. Instead they use abstract terms like "mining" and "wallet" and leave it at that. It serves the purpose, to some degree. But abstractions are only good when they serve as a shortcut for underlying knowledge. By itself they can be rather confusing. That confusion serves as a fuel to further strengthen the myth about the inaccessibility of cryptocurrencies inner workings.

Dilbert.com on a blockchain

What can we do about it?

There is nothing magical about blockchain (or cryptography itself for that matter). While it's true that you'd better have university degree to work in a field as a researcher, I assure you that you need no more than high school education and common sense to grasp the underlying basic principles of cryptocurrency networks. Just like with anything else, stepping into the world of cryptography requires only a bit of effort and some imagination.

I've started this blog with clear intention to describe technical topics in simple term. I do this because I believe that crypto currency can be so much more than it is right now. But passion alone is not enough for such an ambitious project. I was stalling work this last couple of days, deciding where to start. Now I've formed a rough action plan in my mind. Rather than grabbing random topic and deconstructing it, I'll structure articles around related topics, each one will add a little piece in a blockchain puzzle. Furthermore, I've decided to organise posts in a historical order. How so? Well, even though the blockchain technology itself is amazingly young, some principles it relies on are as old as computer science itself (although, computer science itself is not that old). This way readers will follow the steps of the researchers who discovered new scientific principles and invented new techniques by relying on experience of their predecessors. As a final milestone I will bring it all together by describing original Bitcoin design using topics from previous articles.

I already have some scratches of the future articles ready, but they need lots of improvement to be released. I will try to stick to the roughly weekly release schedule.

Who can benefit from this articles

• Traders, who need to understand the technology to find the most promising investment candidates;
• Novice software developers, who are interested in blockchain;
• Curious characters who just want to know how stuff works;
• Everybody who ever tried to read Bitcoin Whitepaper and failed.

What will I learn?

Here's couple example titles for posts I am planning to write:

• Library the size of the Universe (or what is a hash function)
• How to fight package thiefs (or asymmetrical cryptography)
• Salary negotiation tactics (or Proof-of-Work systems)

Request for help

This is the first time that I'm in a position of a writer. That's why the importance of your feedback is something that cannot be overstated. Upvotes are great, we all love upvotes, but in addition to that I'd like you to take your time and comment on my posts, point out inaccuracies and provide constructive criticism. Feel free to resteem my articles as well, if you think your followers will appreciate them.

If you intent to read this series of posts, follow me and let's stay in touch!