[AlexanderTheGr8]

When you say "reading bitcoin core v0.8.0", do you mean reading the source code? I want to learn more about the fundamentals (technical part) of bitcoin, but am not sure if diving into the 600k+ lines of src code is worth it. Do you know any way to understand bitcoin (or cryptocurrencies in general)?

[timobile]

I highly recommend the books "Mastering Bitcoin" by Andreas Antonopoulos (technical, for beginners) and "Programming Bitcoin" by Jimmy Song (very technical, advanced).