Stanford Blockchain Club's curated reading list to help you comprehensively understand the crypto industry

Author: Stanford Blockchain

Translation: TechFlow

*Note: This article is from the Stanford Blockchain Review. TechFlow is an official partner of the Stanford Blockchain Review and has been exclusively authorized to translate and republish this content.

About This Reading List

This reading list is designed for students new to the blockchain field who wish to gain a deeper understanding. The content primarily consists of accessible blog posts published by Stanford Blockchain on the Stanford Blockchain Review, accompanied by guiding questions to help you reflect on the question: “What is the meaning behind everything we are building?”

The material is organized into thematic modules, ranging from foundational principles of the field to specific subdomains within cryptocurrency, helping you discover your interests and chart your own path in this space.

Module 1 - Why Cryptocurrency? What Is Core to Web3?

Recommended Courses: CS 251, LAW 1043, MS&E 447

TechFlow note: These course codes refer to Stanford University class numbers, commonly found on certain open-course websites.

Module Objectives

This module introduces the design principles and guiding philosophies of the cryptocurrency/Web3 space. As you read, consider the following questions:

• Why do we need Web3? How can we situate the ideals of Web3 within the broader context of internet history?

• Why are blockchains important in Web3? What role do cryptographic tokens play?

• Why does cryptocurrency have such a distinct subculture compared to other emerging technologies like AI, AR, or robotics?

• How have Bitcoin and Ethereum become emblematic cases of crypto innovation?

Reading List

• Jay Yu’s “The Ideology of Web3”, published on Medium in October 2022.

• “#35 - Read Write Own: Chris Dixon on Building the Next Era of the Internet”, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review in January 2024.

Optional Reading List

• Chris Dixon’s “Read Write Own”. Full book – 2024.

• Vitalik Buterin’s “The Most Important Scarce Resource is Legitimacy”. March 2021, published on Vitalik’s blog. (This piece contains some technical complexity.)

• Bitcoin Whitepaper

• Ethereum Whitepaper

Module 2 - Modern Crypto Applications: How Cryptographic Technologies Apply to Daily Life

Recommended Course: BUSGEN 102

Module Objectives

Having understood the fundamental principles and goals of cryptocurrency, we now explore how these ideas impact everyday life. This module examines various consumer applications built on blockchain and cryptocurrency.

We will focus particularly on two major cryptographic technology applications: fungible tokens under the ERC-20 standard and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) under the ERC-721 standard, and how they integrate into daily experiences. As you read the following articles, consider these questions:

• What common themes emerge across these applications? How do ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens enable us to build applications that were previously impossible?

• How do these new applications help cryptocurrency achieve its goal of rebuilding the internet? What are their cultural implications?

• Which traditional industries or concepts might these technologies disrupt?

Reading List

ERC-721 Non-Fungible Tokens:

• Jay Yu’s “The Digital Future of Luxury: Minting Your Watch as an NFT”. May 2024, published on Medium.

• “#42 - LVMH x Web3: Bringing Your Handbag into the Metaverse”. May 2024, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review. Based on a conversation with Nelly Mensah, VP of Digital Innovation at LVMH.

ERC-20 Fungible Tokens:

• “#50 - USDC and the Future of the Dollar”. August 2024, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review. A dialogue with Heath Tarbert, Chief Legal Officer at Circle and former CFTC Chair.

• “#20 - Pepecoin and the Rise of Meme-Supported Money”. June 2023, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

Optional Reading List

• ERC-20 Token Standard. Ethereum Developer Documentation.

• ERC-721 Token Standard. Ethereum Developer Documentation.

• Ragzy’s “#31 - An Artist’s Perspective on NFTs”. December 2023, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

• Sean Yu’s “#07 - The Economics of Blockchain Gaming”. March 2023, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

• Bridget Harris and Gaby Goldberg’s “Revisiting Borderless Payments”. December 2023.

• Andrew Chow’s “Can Crypto Apps Be the Answer for Struggling Restaurants?”. July 2024, published in TIME Magazine.

• Reza Jafery’s “What Is Polymarket? Decentralized Prediction Markets Explained”. July 2024, published on Decrypt.

Module 3 - Exploring Decentralization: DeFi, DePIN, and DAOs

Recommended Course: CS 352B/LAW 1078

Module Objectives

After gaining a foundational understanding of potential cryptocurrency applications, we now dive into one of its core promises—decentralization. Why is decentralization important? How do we design and maintain decentralized applications?

This module explores this ideal through case studies on decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized physical infrastructure networks (DePIN), and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). As you read, consider the following questions:

• Why do we need these decentralized systems? How do they contribute to the overarching goals of cryptocurrency?

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of decentralized applications? How can we ensure decentralized systems remain robust against sophisticated adversaries?

• To what extent are current crypto systems truly decentralized?

Reading List

DeFi

• Jay Yu’s “#11 - MEV and Flashbots: A Uniquely DeFi Story”. May 2023, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

• Kole Lee’s “#36 - To Jupiter and Beyond: Exploring Solana’s DeFi Hub and Its Future”. February 2024, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

DePIN

• Paul Veradittakit’s “#32 - DePIN: Where Decentralized Hardware Meets the New Data Economy”. December 2023, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

DAOs

• Poramin Insom’s “#27 - Integrating Bureaucratic Principles into Decentralized Governance”. October 2023, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

• Billy Gao’s “#47 - Uniswap’s BNB Chain Deployment Saga”. July 2024, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

Optional Reading List

• Daian et al.’s “Flash Boys 2.0: Frontrunning, Transaction Reordering, and Consensus Instability in Decentralized Exchanges”.

• Messari’s “State of DePIN 2023”.

Module 4 - Blockchain Infrastructure: The Forces Behind the Scenes Powering These Applications

Recommended Courses: CS 255, CS 244B, EE 374, CS 355

Module Objectives

So far, we’ve mainly examined cryptocurrency from an application-level perspective. Now, we delve into the infrastructure that powers these applications. Given the industry’s current emphasis on infrastructure development—and the impossibility of covering everything—we’ve selected representative projects to showcase different approaches to solving core blockchain infrastructure challenges.

In this section, consider the following questions:

• What core problems are these infrastructure projects aiming to solve?

• How does the infrastructure they build benefit applications and end users?

• What are the major trends and unresolved issues in the blockchain infrastructure space?

Reading List

• “#29 - Arbitrum Stylus: A New Standard for Smart Contract Composability”. Interview with Rachel Bousfield of Offchain Labs. October 2023, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

• Matt Katz’s “#25 - Caldera: The Case for Dedicated Rollups”. September 2023, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

• Kydo’s “#39 - EigenLayer Explained: You Could Have Invented EigenLayer”. February 2024, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

• Roy Lu’s “#22 - Moore’s Law for Zero-Knowledge Proofs”. August 2024, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

Optional Reading List

• “Scaling”. Ethereum Developer Documentation.

• “Data Availability”. Ethereum Developer Documentation.

• Vitalik Buterin’s “Different Types of ZK-EVMs”.

• EigenLayer Whitepaper

• Solana Whitepaper

• F.F. and Cameron Dennis’s “#43 - NEAR Protocol: Exploring Chain Abstraction”. June 2024, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

Module 5 - Current State and Future Outlook: The Prospects of Cryptocurrency

Recommended Course: MS&E 447

Module Objectives

Finally, we examine the state of the cryptocurrency industry as of September 2024. As you read these materials, reflect on the areas, topics, and sectors you’d like to explore further, and consider how, as an industry, we can continue moving forward to ultimately redefine the internet as we know it.

Reading List

• Bridget Harris and Gaby Goldberg’s “Good Things Take Time”. August 2024, published on Substack.

• Kole Lee’s “#41 - Electric Capital: 2024 Crypto Insights”. Interview with Avichal Garg and Maria Shen of Electric Capital. June 2024, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.

• Dr. Matt Stephenson’s “Demystifying the Riddle of NFTs”. October 2023, published on the Stanford Blockchain Review.