Lessons

Articles to learn from the start, grouped into modules. Each track is read in order, from its first module to its last.

Start with the first lesson

Modules: 2
Lessons: 7
Reading: 28min

Beginner

From zero. No prior knowledge assumed.

2 modules

Lesson 1. What is money? A brief history of exchanges Before money existed, every exchange depended on an unlikely coincidence. This lesson shows what problem money solves — and why almost everything has served as money somewhere. 4 min read
Lesson 2. From bartering to paper money: why money evolves Metal, minted coin, gold receipt, banknote, fiat currency. Each step solved a real problem and created a new one — including the one we are still experiencing. 4 min read
Lesson 3. What gives value to money? Scarcity, trust, and consensus Gold is not valuable for being beautiful, and real currency is not valuable for being paper. This lesson lists the properties that make something function as money — and shows that the last of these is the most fragile. 4 min read
Lesson 4. Inflation explained: why your money loses value Inflation is not prices rising on their own. It is the money shrinking — and those who receive the new money first come out ahead. 4 min read
Lesson 5. The traditional banking system: how it works (and its problems) Your balance in the app is not money stored in a vault — it is a promise. This lesson shows how banks create money and what exactly you are accepting when you use them. 4 min read
Lesson 6. The 2008 crisis: the scenario that gave rise to Bitcoin A real estate market, a chain of wrapped debts, banks rescued with public money — and, five weeks after the collapse of Lehman, a nine-page document signed by a name that no one knew. 4 min read

Lesson 1. Satoshi's proposal: what the white paper really says Nine pages, no promise of getting rich. What the document proposes, in clear Portuguese — and the specific problem it solves. 4 min read