AI agents. Bitcoin fundamentals. The coding skills to put it together. A curriculum for people who want to operate at the frontier — not observe it from a distance.
Why sequence matters more than selection
Most people approach this domain backwards — they reach for the most advanced tools before building any foundations. The effective sequence runs the other way: understand how language models reason before you build an agent. Understand Bitcoin's monetary properties before you touch a wallet. Understand prompt engineering before you reach for an orchestration framework.
The foundations are not optional prerequisites to skip. They are the reason experienced builders make better architectural decisions than people who learned by copying tutorials. The gap between someone who understands attention mechanisms and someone who doesn't shows up immediately in how they design agent workflows — specifically in what they think is possible and what they think is impossible, and whether those beliefs are correct.
The learning paths below are structured as sequences. Start from the beginning of the path that matches your current level. The resources compound on each other.
Essential tools and courses
Home to Andrew Ng's Deep Learning Specialisation, AI for Everyone, Princeton's Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies, and Python for Everybody. These are the foundational courses — genuinely rigorous material produced by leading researchers, not marketing content dressed as education.
Affiliate — up to 45% commission on subscriptions Explore CourseraMacroeconomic analysis of Bitcoin and global monetary systems. Lyn Alden approaches Bitcoin not as a trade but as a monetary phenomenon — fixed supply, network effects, the long horizon. Her paid research is rare: genuinely rigorous, written for intelligent non-specialists, updated regularly. The best single investment you can make before allocating meaningful capital to Bitcoin.
Affiliate — commission on subscriptions Read Lyn AldenLearning to build with an AI-native editor changes the learning curve entirely. Cursor lets you ask questions about code you don't understand, get explanations, and move from understanding to implementation in the same environment. Faster path from zero to operational than any traditional editor.
Affiliate — we earn a commission Get CursorThe practical starting point for Bitcoin self-custody. Open-source firmware means the code is auditable. Verifiable supply chain means you know what you're getting. Physical button confirmation means no malware on your computer can sign transactions without your knowledge. Buy it, set it up, and actually hold your own keys.
Affiliate — up to 12% commission Get TrezorThe Bitcoin-only exchange for people who take self-custody seriously. River offers recurring purchase plans, strong self-custody support, and no altcoin distractions. For dollar-cost averaging into Bitcoin as part of a long-term structural position, it is the cleanest setup available in the US market.
Affiliate — per referral commission Get RiverAffiliate disclosure: links marked "affiliate" above generate a commission when you purchase through them, at no additional cost to you. We do not include resources based on affiliate economics — inclusion is based on merit. Notably absent: Jasper (poor quality), Perplexity (no affiliate program that justifies recommendation) — we link only to resources we'd use ourselves.