Knowledge Graph
Dependencies across 72 chapters. Find which earlier chapter to revisit and where your current topic fits.
Curriculum data gives each chapter core concepts and capability tags. Those are labels, not structure. This page provides the structure: which chapter must be read before another.
It answers two questions:
- If I do not understand this chapter, which one should I revisit? Look at “Read First” at the top of the chapter or the dependency tables below.
- Where does my current topic fit in the Crypto world? Look at the main concept spine.
Main concept spine
The backbone of the course. Each link identifies the chapter where its concept is first properly established—not first mentioned, but first fully explained.
- 1MoneyChapter 1 · What exactly is money?Money is not a thing; it is a way to keep accounts and settle.
- 2LedgerChapter 2 · Why the world depends on ledgersYour assets are an entry in someone else's ledger.
- 3ConsensusChapter 3 · What if we do not trust the bookkeeper?How people who do not trust each other maintain the same state together.
- 4BitcoinChapter 4 · Why Bitcoin was inventedA scarce digital asset with no central issuer.
- 5BlockspaceChapter 7 · What exactly does a blockchain sell?A chain is a market, and blockspace is its product.
- 6Smart ContractChapter 9 · What did smart contracts change?The rules themselves became software.
- 7TokenChapter 10 · Why anyone can create a tokenThe cost of issuing assets approaches zero.
- 8StablecoinChapter 13 · Why stablecoins matter so muchAt last, the internet has native money.
- 9DEXChapter 14 · How a DEX can work without a centralized exchangeHow a market quotes prices without market makers.
- 10LiquidityChapter 15 · What is liquidity?The money you can actually recover.
- 11DeFi LendingChapter 16 · How DeFi lending worksCredit risk has been turned into liquidation risk.
- 12PerpetualChapter 18 · Why perpetuals became a core crypto productLeverage and feedback loops.
- 13Onchain MarketChapter 23 · How on-chain data can observe the real worldUse on-chain data to verify for yourself what is happening.
- 14Agent EconomyChapter 33 · Why AI agents might need cryptoSoftware becomes an economic actor.
- 15Machine EconomyChapter 35 · Will machine payments become a new internet protocol?Payments and settlement between machines.
One property matters: the first eleven links all appear within Part A's first 18 chapters. Once you finish its first three stages, you have the main Crypto concepts. Later chapters combine and apply those concepts rather than adding a new backbone.
How the two branches intertwine
Part B is not a technical translation of Part A. It has its own pace, but returns to Part A for concepts at key points.
The actual path from zero to Part B's final chapter looks like this:
To reach T36, read at least these 47 chapters in order:
It moves between the two parts. These are real dependencies: before writing an AMM, understand liquidity in chapter 15; before a liquidation engine, understand lending in chapter 16; before a risk engine, understand the unified risk model in chapter 24.
Even if you only want Part B, you still need these Part A chapters. This is why Part A chapters 1–12 are prerequisites for Part B.
Starting point and endpoints
The graph has one starting point:
Read first
No prerequisites; start hereAnd two endpoints, one for each part:
Read first
Chapter 1 What exactly is money?Chapter 30 How crypto startups find product-market fitChapter 35 Will machine payments become a new internet protocol?Unlocks
End of this branchRead first
T30 AuditT35 DeFi AgentUnlocks
End of this branchThere are also eight branch endpoints. No later chapter depends on them, but each is a complete topic: chapter 22 (Meme), T11 (Token Program), T18 (Realtime), T23 (Perp), T24 (MEV), T25 (data infrastructure), T26 (cross-chain), and T31 (AI-assisted development).
A branch endpoint is still important. It means you can read it at any time without blocking other chapters. When time is short, these are the easiest chapters to postpone.
Part A dependency table
Part B dependency table
How to use this graph
Go back when stuck instead of forcing your way through.
Check a chapter's “Read First” list when it becomes hard to follow. The dependencies are real: chapter 23 uses open interest, introduced in chapter 18. If you do not understand chapter 23, you probably have not mastered chapter 18.
Work out the path before skipping ahead.
If you are interested in just one chapter, trace backward through the tables and list its transitive dependencies. The path is usually shorter than you expect: most complete prerequisite chains contain fewer than ten chapters.
Look backward when researching.
Find an unfamiliar concept on the main spine, then read its chapter. Each link is a model that can stand on its own.
Trim branches when planning classes.
To shorten a course, remove the eight branch endpoints first. They do not affect later chapters' readability. Keep the spine: removing any link undermines everything that follows.
How it differs from learning paths
Learning paths provide a recommended sequence: chapters and pacing selected for a particular reader, forming an edited route.
The knowledge graph provides hard constraints: these dependencies hold whichever path you choose.
There can be many paths, but only one graph. It validates new paths. A route that sends readers to chapter 23 without chapter 15 is a bad route.