Build on blockchains, audit smart contracts, and understand the decentralised financial system.
Crypto is not just Bitcoin and NFTs. Web3 is a new layer of the internet where applications run on public blockchains without central authorities. This track teaches you how blockchains actually work, how to write and audit smart contracts, how DeFi protocols are built, and how to analyse on-chain data — the skills that make Web3 developers the highest paid in all of software.
Salary range: $70,000–$200,000+/year
Follow each stage in order. Mark stages complete as you finish them.
Satoshi's original 9-page paper. Required reading for anyone in this field.
bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
The best official Ethereum learning resource. Comprehensive and regularly updated.
ethereum.org/en/learn
The best Solidity beginner course. Learn by building a game on-chain. Fun and effective.
cryptozombies.io
The most comprehensive free Solidity course. 32 hours covering everything from basics to advanced security.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=umepbfKp5rI
The complete language reference. Bookmark this before you write your first contract.
docs.soliditylang.org
Documentation for Foundry — the modern, faster alternative to Hardhat. Industry is moving here.
book.getfoundry.sh
Battle-tested smart contract libraries used in every serious protocol. Read the source code.
docs.openzeppelin.com/contracts
Smart contract security challenges by OpenZeppelin. Solve real exploit scenarios in a safe environment.
ethernaut.openzeppelin.com
Advanced DeFi exploit challenges used by real auditors to practice. Work through all 18 challenges.
www.damnvulnerabledefi.xyz
The best free smart contract security and auditing curriculum. Built by a top audit firm.
updraft.cyfrin.io
React hooks for Ethereum. The cleanest way to build Web3 UIs in 2025.
wagmi.sh
DeFi concepts explained visually and clearly. Start with AMMs and lending protocols.
www.youtube.com/c/Finematics
Write SQL queries against blockchain data. Build and publish public dashboards. Free.
dune.com
Post-mortems of every major DeFi exploit. Reading these is the most efficient security education available.
rekt.news
Project-based Solidity learning that builds difficulty. Built by the Scaffold-ETH team.
speedrunethereum.com
The world's premier Web3 hackathon series. Compete for large prizes and build your public profile.
ethglobal.com
Competitive smart contract audit platform. Find bugs in real protocols and get paid for valid findings.
code4rena.com
Track TVL, protocol revenue, and stablecoin data across every chain. Free and open source.
defillama.com
The most visual, interactive demonstration of how hashing and blockchains work. Use this in Stage 1.
andersbrownworth.com/blockchain
Full university-level DeFi course. Lectures by researchers and actual protocol founders. Free.
defi-learning.org
Write, test, and deploy a custom token to a testnet with name, symbol, supply cap, and access-controlled minting.
Contract that stores messages on-chain with wallet address and timestamp. Build a frontend with wallet connect and live message feed.
Build a public Dune Analytics dashboard for one protocol — explain every SQL query in plain English.
Governance contract with proposal creation, time-locked voting, quorum, and result tallying. Full Foundry test coverage.
Full ERC-721 collection with IPFS metadata, minting frontend, whitelist phase, and royalties (ERC-2981).
Pick any top-10 DeFi protocol. Write a full technical breakdown: how it works, revenue model, risks, smart money activity, 12-month TVL trends.
Build a constant-product AMM: add/remove liquidity, token swap, LP token minting, fee collection. No scaffolding — write every line. Foundry fuzz tests required.
Select an unaudited open-source contract. Run Slither, write Foundry fuzz tests, manually review logic. Produce a professional report: scope, findings by severity, PoC, and fixes.
DeFi concept explanations, Solidity code review, audit report drafting
Solidity code completion and test generation
Simulate and debug transactions before they touch mainnet
Explain how the x*y=k invariant in Uniswap V2 determines token price and why large trades cause more slippage than small ones.Review this Solidity function for reentrancy vulnerabilities and show me how to apply the checks-effects-interactions pattern: [paste code]Write a Foundry fuzz test for this ERC-20 transfer function that tests for balance underflow, approval bypass, and zero-address edge cases: [paste function]Explain the difference between msg.sender and tx.origin in Solidity, when each is used, and what the security implications of using tx.origin are.$70,000–$200,000+/year
In Web3, on-chain proof beats credentials every time. A GitHub with deployed contracts, a public Dune dashboard people use, or a Code4rena finding that paid out will get you further than any certificate. Start building in public from day one.