Finding Reliable Crypto Information

Craig: [00:00:20] Welcome to the crypto curious podcast designed to help you navigate the dynamic world of crypto currency. Hello, my name is tracey , and I'm joined, as always, by my colleagues from the bamboo app, Blake and Craig. Hey guys, how are you going? Blake: [00:00:34] Trace, it's great to be back. Craig: [00:00:38] Great to be back. Tracey: [00:00:39] Today's episode is going to touch on where the three of us get our crypto news and information. We're going to touch on what new sites we go to, what books we read, what YouTube channels we watch. We're going to talk about where we hang out and where we find all the information to better understand this ecosystem of cryptocurrency. So some of that information might be something you need to pay for or be behind a paywall. But most of it is free, and the three of us all have really different ways in which we like to digest our information and find our news and do our research, so there'll definitely be something for everyone. Craig: [00:01:19] before we jump in Trace, I'd like to do a bit of housekeeping, so we do have a survey in the show notes below, and we're really keen to know what you want to know about crypto. We've done the first 10 or 11 episodes of Covid The Basics. Now, for our next 10 or 11, you know, we're playing with some ideas, getting some guests on. But, you know, let us know what you want. So check out the survey and we'd really appreciate it if you could let us know your thoughts. Tracey: [00:01:44] Thanks, Craig. And you guys have already been really great at letting us know your thoughts and that's where today's episode comes from, because you've asked for some more details around where we do our research and where we understand more about crypto. So let's face it, the crypto market does move at breakneck speed, and most of us hardly had the time to do the research and find out where that quality news is. So to help you streamline your research and access what we think are the better sources of news and information, we'll take you through where we think all the good crypto news lives. And I think we should hear from Blake first as he's been in the game for a little longer, and he's had time to weed out a little bit of the rubbish content and find out where all the good info is. I guess so. Blake, do you want to tell us maybe what your daily routine is and how you keep in the loop with the industry on a whole because you know you've been in here in this industry since what was it, 2016 Blake: [00:02:43] that you got in there? Yeah. So it was a pretty different landscape when I started researching and looking into the sector back in 2015. There were communities primarily on places like Reddit and noticeboard websites and chat websites like Bitcoin Talk, and there was very little news out there. You know, I think some of the the news sites were just coming to prominence then, and you really had to scrape around the internet to find good quality content. Now there's a plethora of stuff, and it's almost the opposite. Know we find it so difficult to find the good stuff amongst the bad. Yep, you're on a day to day basis. I rely upon a few really key resources. I think Cointelegraph, which is a very prominent, if not the most prominent news website, provides high level articles on the day to day happenings in the crypto ecosystem. And then for things that are a little bit more in-depth, I like to listen to podcasts and jump into Discord channels. So one of the key podcasts I love listening to is up only, and that's sponsored by SGX. It's a really great podcast with some amazing guests coming through that show. And finally, with Discord, Discord is basically like a community news websites where community can get together and chat and discuss topics. And I love jumping in there and looking at people trying to solve real world problems, using your blockchain technology and seeing how the communities operating at a ground ground level. Tracey: [00:04:25] Yeah. So you've touched on some, some really good ones there, like Cointelegraph? Definitely 100 per cent. That's where I'm getting a lot of my daily stuff that really got their finger on the pulse. I think a lot of people are submitting to them, so they've definitely got the best day to day content and podcast only up. I'm sorry, app only. I know that's one of your fave. That's that's awesome. OK, what about you, Craig? Craig: [00:04:47] Yeah, similar to Blake, I listen to podcasts and also sit in a few interesting Discord channels. I think, you know, everyone has their own way of dissecting information, so it's important to have a group of people that you trust in a group chat where you know, you know, you know, with you, tracey , you're more of a YouTube video person. For me, I'm more of a crypto Twitter person. So, you know, there's two different sort of mediums Blake: [00:05:12] there and might be really worth Craig just explaining what crypto Twitter is. Hmm. Craig: [00:05:19] So crypto. Twitter is like the crypto world of Twitter, where there is anonymous accounts and they all have their own banter, their own lingo and it's, you know, I do have my notifications on for a few of the big accounts to name a few. There's like Tetra Node, a little moon, Lambo, Kobe, Crypto Bit Lord like all these guys have been giving Tracey: [00:05:42] away some alpha here. Craig: [00:05:44] All these guys have been around for five years and you know, in saying that, don't blindly copy them, but they do provide a sense of comic relief. But also like you can sort of see how the general market sentiment is. Tracey: [00:05:59] It can be a little bit toxic, though, can it, Craig, the crypto Twitter that we're talking about? Craig: [00:06:04] Yeah, definitely. Like, I think for me, I try to stay away from crypto. Twitter if I know I have conviction in my investments because, you know, you always feel like you're chasing the pumps if you're just actioning of crypto, Twitter and Tracey: [00:06:18] very, very good advice there that you should probably try and stick to yourself. Blake: [00:06:23] So, Tracey Tracey, what do you do day to day? What's your routine? Yeah. Tracey: [00:06:28] Well, look, I've just mentioned that I that I really like Cointelegraph and that seems to pop up through, you know what? I'm checking daily, you know, on my LinkedIn and through Instagram. But if we're talking about general news, I tend to get that from those ones as well as my school group that I follow. But if I'm looking at in regards to more kind of research and technical analysis, then I've got a few quality YouTubers that I tend to look at every day. So for those that are going to go down that technical road, there's guys like Benjamin Cowan, you know, and he's got some easy to digest stuff. And another one that I really like, that's kind of no frills, which is guy from the coin bureau is really great for those who are at the beginning of their crypto journey or even intermediate, because the way he explains things is just really easy to understand and palatable information. And I really like his style. Blake: [00:07:19] Yeah, that's cool. And he's on YouTube. Is that right, Chris? Tracey: [00:07:21] Yeah, he's on. He's on YouTube, and you can also get his stuff via podcasting as well on Spotify. So let's explore some incredible tools which people use to understand the sector on a day to day basis. Craig, do you want to take us through one or two that we can use? Yeah. Craig: [00:07:36] So obviously a big part of crypto is the sentiment what people are saying and a really good tool to track this with AI and machine learning is a tool called learner crush. So Luna Crush essentially scours Twitter to see which coins people are talking about, and this is a really good way to pick up coins that are sort of building some higher being some community. And then you can actually go on, read some of the tweets. So if something like a piece of news does happen, then this random coin is being mentioned a lot. You know, you can read and say, OK, what's going on? You might find that they've done a deal with an investment firm. You might find that they've done a big update. So it's a really good way of collating all the information. Tracey: [00:08:18] Yeah. So I might just jump in there. It's not just Twitter, it's looking at Reddit is looking at, you know, Google search volumes, it's looking at everything that you haven't got time to do and and scouring it all and bringing it all together for you in one spot. And it's also free. So it's pretty cool. Craig: [00:08:31] Yeah, yeah, it's killer. Tracey: [00:08:34] OK, so that's a wrap for some of the people that we're following on Twitter and YouTube. So hopefully they get a big influx of followers now and some of the reputable, more reputable news sites to stalk and get all your alerts from. But while that helps us find out what is worthwhile listening to it, all that noise that's out there. What about the places to actually find out what all of that actually means? So where do you go to learn about what the projects actually are? Craig: [00:08:59] Yeah. So Tracey, are you referring to more like fundamental research? Like Where do you go to find the fundamentals? What projects are? Tracey: [00:09:06] Yeah. So like when you're killing me, this new favourite coin of, you know, one of the sites that I go to for this type of information is called Messari. So this is a data aggregator that helps you scout out for these different coins. So it's more for those who would like to adapt to more of a data driven approach to their research of a coin. So I like Mazari as it gives me a lot of options to see exactly what is trending in the space. And I've got the ability to play around with the screen and sort all of my own different fields. And I really like that because I'm a bit of a a bit of a nerd when it comes to excel and allows me to sort and move all the columns. And there's a filter button and there's tabs on there that let you sort all the different sectors and coin categories and social media stats. And you know, your market cap and there's a whole lot more that it does. So it's really useful. And if you want to separate things that have a look, maybe it just you DeFi coins or you stablecoins, it lets you do that. And if you want to look at things like separate it just to look at those with a really small market cap, you know you can do that also. So that's that's what I generally use. And there's a free version which is totally capable and that's fine. Or you can upgrade to to use a paid. And which I think from memories maybe 30, $40 a month, so that's what I'm using at the moment. Craig: [00:10:26] So how would you say that's different to like a queen gecko? Like what does it have that CoinGecko doesn't? Tracey: [00:10:31] CoinGecko it doesn't allow you to move and navigate and do your filters in that kind of thing on your own. Craig: [00:10:37] I see you cannot create like your own dashboard and you can say, Oh yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah. Tracey: [00:10:42] What about you? What are you using? Craig: [00:10:44] Well, I like to use this. This is the go on for the NFT flippers. It's called Nansen and it's Onchain Wallet profiling, and it's even mean. Yes. Let me tell you, let me try it. So this is this is paid, but you can get a free trial. I think it's a seven day free trial. It is expensive, about $100 a month. So what I say on wallet profiling is you can see what you can see, what smart money in inverted commas is buying. And this is in. So for instance, the NFT space, if a new NFT project comes out and you can see a bunch of NFT collectors, a bunch of funds that are buying into the NFT, you can make the assumption that you know they are worth buying. Yeah, worth buying. Yeah. Blake: [00:11:37] So this this gives you the opportunity to copy trade, you know, some of the the big funds and the big whales in the sector. Craig: [00:11:46] Yeah, exactly. And you can sort of see the wallets of like, you know, three arrows capital, Alameda Research and you can see what they're buying. Blake: [00:11:54] And these are both hedge funds. Craig: [00:11:56] Yes. Correct. [00:11:57][0.5] Tracey: [00:11:57] OK. So it's not just NFT. Craig: [00:11:59] It's yeah, it's and it's and it's coins. So like, yeah, it's a really great tool, but it can be a bit complicated. So I'd say just get the free trial tested out and Tracey: [00:12:10] OK, what about what about you? Like anything a little bit more basic? Blake: [00:12:12] Yes, sir. A really great place to get fundamental research is the finance education platform. Binance have really developed some great resources, and that's easy to navigate. That gives you everything from the basics to how you know the nuances of particular blockchains function and operate. And it's really great when you're getting started because you can dive into concepts that you haven't heard about before, and you can also look at more complicated things that you know you may not come across in your day to day research. And anyone can use that it's free to use. So we'll definitely play the link to that in the show notes. But you're a type, a tool, I suppose, that I use. That's a little bit different or you may have not heard about before you say code Glassnode in Glassnode is a website that allows or that provides you with data analytics from what's happening on the blockchain. So the good thing about blockchains is everything's transparent and audible, and it's created this new field of data science where people are, you know, trying to understand what's happening on the bitcoin network. For example, what are the behaviours? How are consumers behaving versus those people with bigger wallets? And what are the trends? And therefore, it's really data driven, and it's I find it extremely insightful. Now, Glassnode has videos on YouTube, but you can also interact with the web app. They have a free version available. But I would just preface this with this more of like an intermediate or an advanced tool, but certainly a great place to start is watching watching the YouTube videos, because that will give you a nice introduction. Tracey: [00:14:01] Yeah, OK. But some really good information there. So let's see. We've done our thought leaders aside from us, obviously, and our news sites and websites. So what about books? After the break, we'll take a look at a few page turners that you can get your hands on to level up your crypto knowledge. So it is the new start of the year, twenty twenty two, and I wonder whether you've set yourself any targets for the year. I myself a couple of years ago set myself the one book a month challenge, and I ended up having quite a few crypto books on the shelf in the last couple of years. So take a look at a few of those page turners that you can get your hands on. Blake: [00:14:39] Also, a couple of years ago, you would have been hard pressed to find good quality crypto books simply wasn't that many written? And what we've noticed here, particularly since Covid, there's been an explosion in books to read, and we're going to cover off on some of the some of the better ones. And tracey , I know that you've read most of these do and kick us off. Tracey: [00:15:00] Yep, definitely. And in saying that there's a lot of books out there on crypto, but some of them are a lot better than others. There's definitely some stuff to filter through there. And you're right, I have actually gone through a lot of books in the last two years with my one book a month challenge. The crypto books on the shelf are many now, in my opinion. Right now, the best book out there to start on is one called Crypto Currency The Future of Money. Now this is an overview of crypto in general, and it's not too technical at all. And this book takes a step back to help the reader kind of understand traditional finance tread fi, as everyone's calling it now, which apparently is what we say, and it goes back to the history of money before it delves into how crypto currency now fits the landscape, which I really like because it takes you right back. So you don't have to be, you know, an economist to understand anything. And what I loved about this book also is it ties into the beginnings of crypto and how the cypherpunks do things and the social developments of the community that grew to support bitcoin, which is, you know, a lot about what we'll speak about on this podcast. So this is probably my number one book. Blake: [00:16:09] Now, that's definitely a good one. I haven't read that one yet, but one that I have checked out is called the Internet of Money by Andre Antonopoulos. Andre Antonopoulos is well known character in our industry as an educator, and Andre is a big advocate for the sector, and he's been educating people on what bitcoin and blockchain is since about 2012, and he was on the circuit doing conferences for most of this time. He's been producing content and writing books, and he's very, very well-respected, and he's able to explain complicated things very simply so anyone can understand it. And there's a bit of a story about Andre just because he was a passionate educator in the sector. He didn't necessarily do that well financially from bitcoin. So when the community found out that he didn't earn very many bitcoins, there was millions of dollars donated to him as a charitable thing from from people who have done well or people that have learnt from him over the years and then gone on to do financially well. So a pretty interesting story there. And if you ever get the opportunity to watch Andre's YouTube videos, you know your time would be wasted. Tracey: [00:17:29] I didn't know that story about people giving him bitcoin. That's amazing shows how much he's done for the community. That's that's pretty cool. The next one that I want to mention is the bitcoin standard. Now this is a little bit heavier going than the other one previous one I mentioned. But this one gives you a great explanation of what money actually is. And this goes a long way back in time and talks about more primitive forms of money and rounds out some really good lessons on gold, explains the gold standard and the history of fiat money and the whole system in general. Blake: [00:17:59] What's fiat money, tracey ? Tracey: [00:18:01] Fiat money is another way of talking about the money that you and I transact with today. So those government issued money that we all have in our purse. The only issue I have with this book is the fact that it's written by a bitcoin maximalist, and I don't think we've covered that off before. But what that means is someone in our ecosystem who only believes in bitcoin as the one true coin out there that will be the only one like a like a pelican was blind. Blake: [00:18:27] This is kind of like a money. It's it's kind of like a monotheistic and monotheism is like someone that only believes in one God getting Tracey: [00:18:37] real heavy there. So I think that really is a whole conversation for another day. So we'll leave that there. But basically, it discounts all the other altcoins, including Ethereum, which is just madness. So if you can trade around all of those parts and just take in the overarching theory that is bitcoin is the innovation of this century. It's a it's a it's a good book to read. Now I'll finish off with two other books, which are a little bit more light hearted and those are bitcoin billionaires, which is the story of the Winklevoss twins who were the first known bitcoin billionaires. Aside from Satoshi, obviously. So this one was written to probably become a movie. It's entertaining, read it's pretty light-hearted, but also gives you. Good indication of what happened in the early days of crypto Blake: [00:19:22] and for those that don't know the Winklevoss twins, the guys that may have founded Facebook and got in a legal battle with Zuckerberg in the early days, and yeah, they've gone on to do great things Tracey: [00:19:34] regardless. And who I think are working with Facebook again now. So that's one that you get. There's a bit more light-hearted and easy, and the last one is my favourite code flash crash and I love this book, but this one's probably more for the traders out there. It's a real life story of a day trader who ended up operating out of his parent's home in Hounslow in the UK, and he kind of sits in folklore history now in in in the traders out there. He's kind of like JD level trader. The US government ended up knocking on his door and accusing him of triggering what was a huge market collapse in May 2010. Then his story is really enthralling. It's a really good read. He just had all of this money and didn't spend any of it. He just sat there in his basement and just did like amazing trades. But anyway, that's a really good insight into how the market works. So, yeah, that's those those books for you to check out. Craig: [00:20:28] Well, nice one, guys. That's a bunch of books. But if you're like me and you don't want to read a book, I've got two movies you can watch where you get most of the same information, but just maybe tenth of the time. So the first one is early days. I think it came out in 2016 called banking on bitcoin, and this really goes through the story. It does mention the Winklevoss twins. It also talks about how Finney in the early Satoshi days. It's a really great watch, really easy watch. And yeah, it just goes to what crypto was like at that time. So that was sort of before it really went mainstream in 2017 and 2020. And there's another one now that's come out in 2020 called crypto PR. And this is a docket more of a documentary style where the host interviews Vitalik, which is this Etherium founder and Charlie Lee, who founded Litecoin. So this is more of an industry based movie, but those two movies are really easy watches, and I'd recommend them if you don't want to read 20 books. Tracey: [00:21:32] Thanks, Craig. So I think if you do plan on going down the trading route, then you're definitely going to need to sit down and take the time to do a trading course or two or even three. So Blake and I have done this and we can recommend a few for you. I myself have completed a course called the Market Mastery. Now this is a course run by a couple of Aussie guys who for me were very helpful and also very accessible well after the course was over. And this you get access to a Discord group after the course, where you can ask others who have completed the course. Lots of questions. You know, I've since made friends through the course and branched out into other Discord's, and I've found it to be very beneficial. But when it comes to the trading course, I'll admit now that I did that course, you know, two or three times over to understand it. Trading is quite quite full on and I'm not trading right now just to let you know Disclaimer. Blake, what about you? How did you go with your courses? Blake: [00:22:26] There's so many great courses out there, but there's also a bit of a minefield when trying to select or who to do a course with. And there's many different types. There's those that focus on trading and those one your security and the fundamentals. So it's really important to pick one that's right for you and a couple that I could recommend. Digital Wealth Group Here in Australia, they're very reputable and they provide great content for people to get started. And they also provide coaching for people as well that want to turn things up and go to the next level. And as well as that, there's a course run by a guy named Trader Dan, which is top notch. And it's fascinating just learning a little bit from some of these guys because they've been doing these, these things for decades. And there's, of course, a lot to learn from these people Tracey: [00:23:20] and try to Daniel. So that's a really good daily YouTube updates, as well as another one to put on your list. So, yeah, I think what we'll do is we'll put some details in the show notes below on a few of those also. So I think on that note, let's leave it there for today and hopefully you've got some really good information out of today's episode, but we still want to know what you want to know. So send us an email at podcast I get bamboo Io or follow us on social media, and we're really keen for you guys to take part in the survey. All those details are in the show notes below. That's it for today. Please go ahead and write and review us on your podcast app. Thanks so much for joining us. See you later! Blake: [00:23:59] See you guys. See you guys.