The Bitcoin Wiki
Having an unbiased and independent source of bitcoin information is a valuable asset to the virtual currency community, because there are constant changes, updates, and new services popping up. One of the most commonly used sources for information on the Internet is Wikipedia, and bitcoin has its own subsection explaining all of the terminology in finer detail.On the bitcoin wiki, you can find all sorts of information, ranging from info about creator Satoshi Nakamoto — even though he remains quite a mystery — to mining, running a bitcoin node, and much, much more. Definitely a source to keep an eye on, as there is always something to learn about bitcoin you didn't know yet.
BitcoinTalk Forums
One of the most popular places for bitcoin debates and service reviews is bitcointalk.org. These forums, dedicated to bitcoin and created many years ago, are home to breaking news, project development, services and goods, and much more. If there is anything regarding bitcoin you want to have a healthy discussion about, the BitcoinTalk forums are a must-visit.That being said, not everything posted on the BitcoinTalk forums is bitcoin-related, mind you. A dedicated section for alternate virtual currencies, including Litecoin, Dogecoin, and others, is available as well. Plus, there are special subforums for specific popular languages, including Dutch, French, Russian, and Chinese.
Bitcoin subReddit
Avid users of Reddit may already have stumbled upon the bitcoin subReddit at some point in their online browsing careers. The bitcoin subReddit is home to many discussions that can touch upon a variety of subjects: taking bitcoin to space and why payment processors are charging so few fees on transactions. Many more debates are opened and closed on a daily basis there.There is a downside to the bitcoin subReddit as well. At the time of writing, censorship is plaguing this platform at an alarming rate, and moderators often ban people and remove topics.
However, all in all, the bitcoin subReddit is still a good place from an information point of view, even if the overall community reaches toxic levels every now and then.Bitcoin.org (and bitcoin.com)
For the most part, bitcoin.org has been the "home page" of bitcoin on the Internet. A brief explanation of bitcoin, along with a few demo videos and wallet software download links, is what this portal is all about. Providing information in a useful and convenient manner, without overwhelming novice users, this website is a great way to present bitcoin to the outside world.One of the most common searched terms — when it comes to finding out more information about bitcoin on Google and Bing — is "bitcoin.com". Until a few months ago (at the time of writing), bitcoin.com was a domain redirecting to an entirely different website and only recently became a portal for all things bitcoin. In addition, and unlike bitcoin.org, bitcoin.com has added a news section, which is updated daily with fresh content and opinionated pieces.
Bitcoin news sites and blogs
Any type of trend or niche would not remain relevant without a few dedicated news sites covering everything about the subject matter. In the case of bitcoin, quite a few news blogs are out there, most of which are run as hobby projects and therefore are only updated every now and then. Bitcoin is still fairly new, and there is a lot of room for competition in the news scene.That being said, there are also dedicated bitcoin news outlets. Bitcoin magazine, Inside Bitcoins, CoinDesk, Bitcoinist, bitcoin.com, and CoinTelegraph are the most popular ones. Every news site tries to cover news in a completely different way, providing users with multiple angles on the same stories quite regularly. The beautiful thing about bitcoin is that everyone who is an active writer has their own take on things, and connecting seemingly random events makes the entire ecosystem so interesting.
Mainstream media
Even though mainstream media have a habit of putting bitcoin in a negative spotlight, there's more coverage on the topic of virtual currencies than ever before. And it's growing.The underlying technology is of great value to financial institutions and innovative companies, whereas bitcoin as a currency can help citizens legally bypass capital controls enforced by governments.
Although most of the bitcoin focus remains negative, mainstream media is keeping a close eye on the progression made by virtual currencies. More and more people are aware of bitcoin, and mainstream media outlets will have to keep up with this trend if they want to remain relevant.
Bitcoin documentaries
Over the years, multiple bitcoin documentaries have been created, following the history of this disruptive virtual currency so far. Nearly all of these documentaries can be found online and are free to watch. The main reason for putting together a bitcoin documentary seems to be not to make money, but to create a visual medium for everyday consumers to see and experience how bitcoin can, and will, change the world, one step at a time.By the time you are watching these documentaries, some of the information will be slightly out of date. However, these videos will likely withstand the test of time, as they all document the struggles and uphill battles bitcoin enthusiasts had to overcome.
Bitcoin price charts
Bitcoin is about more than just the current exchange price, but a lot of people want to focus their attention on keeping up to date with the current bitcoin value. There are various sites where you can see the current bitcoin price, the average trading volume, and charts distinguishing between buy and sell orders.BitcoinWisdom is one of the most often-used sites. It aggregates data from various exchanges around the world, broken down across major fiat currency trading pairs. All information is free to use and updated in real time (as far as the exchange APIs allow for that update frequency).
There is also Coinmarketcap.com, which shows the current market capitalization for all virtual currencies in existence today.
FiatLeak
For those who don't like to look at boring financial charts all day, FiatLeak.com is a fun way to see real time buying action. FiatLeak gives a visual representation of live bitcoin buy orders. Bitcoin symbols fly all across the world map shown on this website, indicating which country is responsible for the largest trading volume at any given moment.Watching this website is quite fun and mesmerizing at the same time — there is a lot more bitcoin trading going on than you might expect. The amount of bitcoin being traded across the world is simply amazing, and FiatLeak gives you a great visualization of where the funds are coming from and going to.
CoinMap and CoinATMRadar
If you're ever wondering where you can find a bitcoin ATM, to both buy and sell bitcoin in a convenient way in exchange for fiat currency, look no further than CoinATMRadar. On this website you can see a frequently updated list of bitcoin ATMs all around the world. In fact, there are more of these machines than one might think, even if they are far from being as common as regular bank ATMs.CoinMap, on the other hand, gives a worldwide overview of places where bitcoin can be spent in-store. Depending on where you live, the number of locations might be fairly limited, but more places will be added over time. CoinMap relies on information provided by the community to keep these maps up to date, so if you know of places where bitcoin can be spent, make sure to submit them.