Nakamoto is a journal of technology, philosophy, and culture. We publish pieces of general interest to the crypto community as a whole, for beginner and expert alike.
Our scope is broad and ranges from introductory articles on Bitcoin and Ethereum, to technical tutorials on zero knowledge proofs and smart contracts, to broader topics of interest to the community such as startup cities, digital privacy, and monetary policy. We attract a numerate audience and welcome submissions that include source code, equations, tables, figures, and visuals of all kinds.
- To see our current contributors, go here
- To read more about our goals for Nakamoto, see here
- To submit a contribution, click here
Contributors
All Nakamoto contributors share one non-negotiable value: they must be pro-Bitcoin (BTC) for the long-term. We believe that a commitment to the long-term success of Bitcoin captures many of the values we believe in as a community. Beyond that, we are ecumenical in our approach and publish a variety of points of view, eschewing tribalism for technology.
Contributors to Nakamoto range from some of the most accomplished people in cryptocurrency to those who are just at the beginning of their careers. We welcome pseudonymous contributors and contributions from people in the developing world.
Initially, senior contributors are writing for Nakamoto because they want to help build a journal with our values. Junior contributors will receive Bitcoin depending on the length and complexity of the piece. We plan to add more incentives to contribute to Nakamoto over time.
Content
The ideal Nakamoto article is (a) of general interest to the crypto community at a whole and (b) makes the reader stronger.
On the first point, when addressing a general crypto audience, Nakamoto contributors should assume intelligent readers who possess intellectual curiousity but may lack familiarity with a particular subdiscipline. Terminology should be defined, illustrations should be created, and links should be provided.
On the second point, a Nakamoto article should strengthen the reader by giving them a new lens on the world or equipping them with a new skill. We thus seek technical tutorials, mathematical analyses, philosophical treatises, review articles, management case studies, and investment theses. And we avoid breaking news, transient social media disputes, rumors, personal attacks, press releases, and areas we judge to not be of lasting significance.
Topics
Our ambit is broad, but here is a list of representative topics.
- Technology. Accessible pieces on consensus algorithms, smart contracts, zero knowledge proofs, formal verification, game theory, and the technologies underpinning cryptocurrency and blockchain. Glossary-style articles ("What is SHA-256?") that define a term and cover it in depth are also interesting.
- Philosophy. Articles on "macroeconomic" topics like monetary policy, economic history, governance, property rights, and contract law are of interest, as are articles on "microeconomic" matters like startup domiciles, remote teams, decentralized communities, and crypto governance.
- Culture. Hal Finney was interested in cryonics, and we are too. The crypto community is naturally attracted to contrarian bets with high upside, like keto, digital nomadism, and startup cities. And it is interested in the crypto perspective on cultural topics like freedom of speech and algorithmic epistemology in an adversarial environment.
As a general guideline, we desire submissions on topics that are important as distinct from new, that are more evergreen than au courant, and that are educational rather than simply entertaining.
Please also note that while many contributors to Nakamoto have disclosed interests in coins and companies, and while we support these efforts in the abstract, Nakamoto itself is not an appropriate venue for sales pitches or price discussion. With that said, if an article on a product or digital asset has educational value to our readers, we will seek to run a piece that reads like a journal article rather than an advertisement.
Format
- Title. The title of your article should be as pithy as possible.
- Visuals. Your contribution should be as visual as possible to aid comprehension. Figures, tables, gifs, animations, interactive widgets, and the like are all welcome. At a minimum, we need at least one 2000x1216 summary figure for each article to serve as the resizeable OpenGraph image for social media. If you do not have such a figure, we can help you prepare one.
- Length. A Nakamoto article should be as short as possible, but no shorter. Use figures, gifs, videos, equations, or code rather than words whenever possible. There is no upper or lower bound on article length.
Submit
We accept contributions through this form. A link to a Google Doc, Google Drive folder, or Dropbox folder with your files is preferred. Alternatively, a link to existing content that you have the right to republish is also acceptable. Please review the format instructions above before submitting.
FAQ
- Can I re-publish my contribution to Nakamoto on another site? Yes. All that we request is that you link back to the Nakamoto article.
- Can I re-use a previously published article? Yes, if we believe your article is relevant to a general crypto audience.