Hey crypto enthusiasts! Welcome to the second monthly newsletter of the Phoenix Crypto chapter. In this series, I'll be sharing upcoming meeting topics, recaps of previous meetings and snazzy snippets of news from the Cryptoverse. It's a great time to be interested in crypto, so you're in the right place!
Meeting #3: Thursday, January 14 at 12 pm MST
I am STOKED for this upcoming meeting - I'll be chatting with Kenton Prescott, an Integrations Engineer at MakerDAO about his role at the company, how he got into crypto as an aerospace engineer and the biggest crypto headlines of 2020 ($40,000 BTC anyone??). Kenton is a personal friend of mine and a DeFi wizard; this will be a knowledge-filled, mind-blowing event you won't want to miss.
Meeting info and RSVP link:
Q&A with Kenton Prescott, Integrations Engineer at MakerDAO | Codecademy
Our second meeting of 2021 will be a technical meeting on coding blocks in the blockchain with Python. For more details, see our event page here and check out the "Learn the Basics of Blockchain with Python" course on Codecademy.
Recap of Meeting #2
Thank you to everyone who attended our second Phoenix Crypto meeting! I had a blast talking about ways to learn about cryptocurrencies as a nontechnical person, including reading the Bitcoin and Ethereum whitepapers, learning Solidity (the programming language of Smart Contracts) and watching Crypto Casey YouTube videos. Learning about crypto is truly like studying for a college course, so start hitting up the free online educational resources! My favorites include:
- Cryptocurrency 101 - extensive Medium post that details everything you need to know high-level about crypto
- Unchained Podcast - "Your no-hype resource for all things crypto"; awesome podcast by Laura Shin
- A Framework for Bitcoin Skeptics - a three-part Medium series that explains the context and potential of bitcoin
Check out the Google slides and video recording from meeting #2.
To the Cryptoverse and Beyond
This section will share a helpful/outlandish/trendy piece of crypto content that I've come across in my late-night tech binges:
PayPal, Coinbase Invest in Crypto Tax Automation Startup TaxBit - CoinDesk
Of course there's a startup for crypto tax software - and in addition to being backed by PayPal and Coinbase, Winklevoss Capital (yes, the Winklevoss twins from the Facebook scandal) is also throwing money at TaxBit. The IRS is going to tax the daylights out of short and long term capital gains on crypto, and tax law is notoriously complex and arbitrary. I also learned an interesting tidbit - crypto is classified as income (and is taxed accordingly) if you are a miner or staker in Bitcoin/Ethereum.
Connect with Phoenix Crypto
See all you crypto kitties on Thursday!
Your n00b chapter leader,
Mackenzie