[gtrubetskoy]

Start out with Bitcoin, and make sure you understand it well. For example it has its own stack-based language (mini smart contracts of sorts), you need to understand how that works, the different types of payments such as P2SH, etc.

The O'Reilly book is good, you should also look at code in your preferred language, ideally the C++ in which Bitcoin core is written.

Last but absolutely not least - you should buy some Bitcoin and send it to someone, or buy something with it. I'd also recommend going through the trouble of running Bitcoin-Qt and downloading the whole blockchain (which takes several days and requires lots of disk space).

Once you understand all this, the smart contracts thing will be a lot clearer, and you might even have a different opinion on it.

[MoBattah]

....advising learning bitcoin....smart contracts...don't think these two belong in the same sentence.

[Cakez0r]

> For example it has its own stack-based language

You can create "smart contracts" with bitcoin.