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Here Be Dragons

Cryptocurrency

Cryptocurrencies are digital assets whose ownership and transfer are enforced by a blockchain’s consensus rules, not by any issuer or custodian. Each network makes different tradeoffs between throughput, privacy, programmability, and decentralization.

Topics

  • Bitcoin, the original proof-of-work blockchain: UTXO model, SHA-256 mining, the 21M cap, Lightning Network, and Taproot
  • Ethereum, the programmable blockchain: EVM, smart contracts, proof-of-stake after the Merge, ERC token standards, and the rollup ecosystem
  • Monero, privacy by default: ring signatures, stealth addresses, RingCT with Bulletproofs, and RandomX ASIC-resistant mining
  • Tether and Stablecoins, fiat-pegged tokens: USDT, USDC, DAI, how reserves work, and the three models for how they break
  • Wrapped Currencies, tokenized cross-chain representations: WBTC, wETH, bridge protocols, and why bridges attract the largest exploits
  • Staking, locking tokens to participate in proof-of-stake: Ethereum validator duties, slashing, liquid staking (stETH, rETH), and restaking

How the topics connect

Bitcoin and Ethereum represent the two dominant architectures: UTXO model versus account model, proof-of-work versus proof-of-stake. Monero extends Bitcoin’s UTXO model with cryptographic privacy. Stablecoins like Tether and DAI run on Ethereum as ERC-20 tokens. Wrapped currencies let assets from one chain (WBTC from Bitcoin) be used on another (Ethereum DeFi). Staking is the economic mechanism that underlies Ethereum’s proof-of-stake security.

  • Consensus Mechanisms, how each network achieves agreement: PoW, PoS, and the alternatives
  • Distributed Cryptography, the cryptographic primitives that secure these networks: threshold signatures, ZKPs, and distributed key generation
  • Zero-Knowledge Proofs, used in ZK-rollups and Monero’s Bulletproofs
  • CAP Theorem, the consistency and availability tradeoff all blockchains navigate
Why the name "Here Be Dragons"?