I’ve started teaching a series of bitcoin workshops.

The goal of this project is to help people learn about bitcoin, that’s all.

I plan to open source this workshop, as in I’ll share pretty much every resource I use and the steps I take to teach it.

It’s not very hard and I’ve been lucky to have students who understood everything in every lesson so far.

The workshop is aimed at beginners.

Here’s some resources I’ve used. These are a shout out as well to say thank you.

I’ll post more articles about this on my blog. I’m sharing a page with most of the resources and links with the students, which is https://georgesaoulidis.com/workshop

You can support my project on TallyCoin or on Geyser Fund or directly at https://georgesaoulidis.com/like-what-i-made-then-buy-me-a-frappe/

Workshop Meetup Text:

Dear Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency friends, in this meetup we have tasked ourselves to teach you the basics of blockchains and bitcoin.

Digital Illiteracy and cryptocurrency illiteracy are evolving as major themes, and we are starting a series of meetups to help people with minimal knowledge around Blockchain and Bitcoin, understand basic concepts and feel at ease using this technology.

We are hosting a workshop led by our very own Anni and George in which we are going to help you develop the necessary skills to be able to deal and handle bitcoin & bitcoin payments.

No previous knowledge is needed, as we are going to start from scratch. Topics covered will be:

  • Introduction to blockchain and its applications
  • Introduction to bitcoin : what it is, what it means, bitcoin creation,
  • Onchain transactions,
  • Introduction to mining
  • Introduction to Lightning

Price:

  • 5EUR – the money will be used to buy equipment used in the workshop

What knowledge is required:

  • No prior knowledge is required as we are going to start from scratch.

What equipment do i need?

  • Mobile smartphone with free space to download applications that we will use

Will the event be filmed or streamed online?

  • No

We have a limited number of spots, so please do not Reserve if you do not Show.

When you reserve, also fill in the following google form, which will help us assess the level of people attending.

Space is limited, please RSVP only if you can attend and bring a laptop.

We would like to thank Orfium for making their offices available to us.

Outline of meetup

Proposal next meeting

  • Level: for starters
  • Bring your own equipment, laptop mobile etc
  • Up to 30 people
  • We need to ensure commitment, tickets, 5EUR entry, or donations – tbc
  • Dates:

The goal of the workshop is to develop the necessary skills to be able to deal and handle bitcoin for the next 10 years. Digital illiteracy as a problem and how it will evolve to include bitcoin payments.

15mins theory

45 mins workshop

15mins break

15 mins theory L@

45 mins workshop

drinks

Introduction to bitcoin Saoulidis- Anni

  • [Theory] Introduction to bitcoin : what it is, what it means, bitcoin creation, halvening Onchain transactions, mining introduction, Blockchain and uses
  • (Blockchain game)
  • [workshop] Everyday usage: how to procure bitcoins, how do I get bitcoins for me? Open an account at an exchange and other options (ATMs, paid for job, P2P etc)
    • Bitcoin wallet creation, soft and hard, why do I need my own wallet, instead of using third-party custodial wallets. Understanding of keys private and public
    • How to send, receive and hold btc in a wallet
  • [theory] Introduction to Lightning network
    • What is layer 2
  • (lightning game)
  • [workshop] Lightning wallet creation
    • Lightning torch
    • How to use lightning how to send and receive btc

Wallet proposals:

  • Bluewallet (BTC/lightning, phone)
  • Phoenix (lightning, phone)
  • Coinomi  (BTC, phone)
  • Sparrow (BTC, desktop)
  • Trezor (BTC, hardware)
  • bitbox02 (BTC, hardware)
  • Ledger (BTC, hardware)

Helpful links and notes can be found on https://georgesaoulidis.com/workshop/ and slides here https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1oUhyUdPDW5qkHwXAIEoUANco9RU9ZM_U?usp=sharing

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Bitcoin Games Explained

Bitcoin games for better teaching and comprehension. I suggest we do these after the theory and before the practical workshop stuff.

Blockchain game.

  • Needs only pen and paper from participants. A board for the teacher and a 3D printed bitcoin to pass around. Some random items to trade for the bitcoin.
  • We play blockchain transactions on paper. Participants act as nodes.
  • Explain concepts and definitions on the way. Genesis block, block height, immutable ledger, append-only database, miner fees.
  • Give the coin to the first person, who is Satoshi. He sends the coin to someone else, everyone writes it down on blockheight 1. Everyone compares notes, approves the transaction.
  • Second transaction, third, etc. Explain stuff along the way.
  • Then have one participant go offline, catch up later by asking his connected peers for the updated blockchain. One participant has a catastrophic node failure, downloads the complete blockchain from his peers.
  • Important, have one participant try to double-spend his coin. Other nodes check their ledgers, reject the transaction.
  • Answer questions, wrap up the game.

Lightning game

  • Needs pieces of string and some hex nuts or metal washers, maybe. See what works better.
  • Explain lightning layer 2, pass around some sats to participants, e.g. 20 sats each.
  • Have them open a channel, hold the piece of string between them. Fund it with sats. Spend 1 sat for the on-chain transaction of channel open.
  • Push a payment through, push the sats along the string.
  • Open a second channel, transact.
  • Forward a payment, show how sats do not leave their channels.
  • Ask for a payment that does not have inbound liquidity. Explain how to fix this, incoming channel liquidity or circular rebalancing. Explain rings of fire, the best arrangements for increased connectivity. Explain channel girth.
  • Try some real world scenarios, one node is the baker, another is the cafeteria. Explain how channels open for recurring payments. Explain how merchants like not paying card fees and how the transactions are not reversible.
  • Explain channel closes and how to get your sats back on chain. Explain how it will become the internet of money.
  • Answer questions, wrap up the game.

1st Lesson Notes

Links at georgesaoulidis.com/workshop

Lots of metaphors. Be patient and don’t take things literally. Satoshi himself said that this is so hard to explain because there’s nothing to compare it to. Thankfully in the decade past there have been hundreds of educators and thinkers in the space and we’ve come up with simple, proven explanations for bitcoin concepts that work just fine for the layperson.

How old is bitcoin? Bitcoin has been in the making for over 50 years now.

Wallet/signing device
UTXOs.

Where is bitcoin stored? Not in the wallet.

Not your keys, not your coins. Andreas Antonopoulos NYKNYC. Drill the importance of this in, repeat it, explain it five different ways, make them say it themselves.

Download Bluewallet, a wonderful multitool. Get them all to do it themselves and learn the process. Create wallet, write down seed words. Delete wallet, restore.

Watch only address. Other people can watch too.
Avoid address reuse.

Explain wallet concepts and have them repeat it. The goal is for them to understand what they’re doing each time they use a wallet.

  • Custodial / Non-custodial
  • KYC / Non-KYC
  • Hot Wallet / Cold Wallet
  • Software Wallet / Hardware Wallet
  • Hosted/Unhosted wallet (Inverse terminology)

Hardware wallet.
Data hack dangers, Ledger. Giveaways only if they’re sent directly from the company. Never use Second-hand wallet. Buy only direct from the company.

NFT store them where?

Wallet discussion:
-Bluewallet (BTC/lightning, phone)
-Phoenix (lightning, phone)
-Coinomi (BTC, phone)
-Sparrow (BTC, desktop)
-Trezor (BTC, hardware)
-bitbox02 (BTC, hardware)
-Ledger (BTC, hardware)
-Breez (lightning, software) POS.
-Wallet of Satoshi (lightning, software)
-Metamask How to avoid scams. Does it hold BTC?
-Binance/Kraken

Did You Like What I Made? Then buy me a frappe. You can support me on Patreon, Starbackr or BuyMeACoffee. My preferred method is bitcoin sats over lightning. There is no exclusive content there but that way you can make sure these stories and renders keep on coming.

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