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Resources

Field guides, briefing frameworks, and the reading list.

Three free, in-depth guides authored from NatiCrypto analysis — plus the methodology behind every briefing and the curated external sources the work draws on.

Free field guides

Three downloadable resources. One email to receive each.

For boards & family offices

Field guide · 6 pages

12 Questions a Board Should Ask Before Allocating to Bitcoin

The questions every fiduciary should be able to answer before approving a Bitcoin position. Custody architecture, accounting treatment, drawdown discipline, and the questions counterparties cannot dodge.

What's inside

  • The 12-question framework, with one paragraph of analysis per question
  • What FASB ASU 2023-08 changed, and what it did not
  • Custody architecture comparison (ETF · qualified custodian · self-custody)
  • Drawdown-discipline framing for the multi-generational horizon
  • Reference set: BIS, FASB, Treasury, named research

One email. The link arrives in your inbox. Unsubscribe with one click.

Field guide · 5 pages

DePIN Site Qualifier — A Checklist for Cincinnati Businesses

Before you fill out a host application, run your location through the scorecard. The ten factors that actually predict whether a Helium-compatible deployment will earn — and the five that don't.

What's inside

  • Ten-factor location scorecard with self-scoring tiers
  • What a strong host site looks like vs. a weak one
  • Realistic reward expectations (IoT vs. Mobile 5G)
  • What the host provides vs. what NatiCrypto provides
  • The qualification timeline, end-to-end

Useful even if you never submit a host application — the scorecard is the framework.

Field guide · 5 pages

Crypto Scam Field Guide — Six Patterns to Recognize

Six scam patterns account for roughly 95% of reported losses. This guide names them flat, shows the detection cues each one leaves on the wire, and gives the first-hour response checklist for when something is already wrong.

What's inside

  • The six dominant patterns: wallet drain · fake support · romance · investment-platform · job-offer · sextortion
  • The "irreversible payment" mindset shift, in one paragraph
  • Field-detection cues for each pattern
  • First-hour response checklist (wallets · exchanges · banks · reporting)
  • Where to report — IC3, FTC, exchange security teams, local FBI field office

Print it. Share it with your AP team, your parents, or your kids. It works on paper.

Methodology & approach

How NatiCrypto analysis is built.

Every briefing is anchored to a specific number, date, or named institution in the first three paragraphs. Claims name a mechanism, not just a state. When something is unproven or contested, it is qualified explicitly — not with hedge words, but with the limitation stated flat.

Primary sources used regularly: BIS and IMF working papers, US Treasury and Federal Reserve releases, Chainalysis and Glassnode reports, on-chain explorers (Etherscan, mempool.space, Dune), public SEC filings, and the FASB and IFRS guidance pages. Secondary sources are named when used.

The site does not republish wire stories with a take. If a piece does not have an original mechanism or framework, it does not run.

Curated external reading

Where the underlying work comes from.

A short, opinionated list — not exhaustive. Updated when something changes worth knowing about.

  • BIS Working Papers — on settlement, CBDCs, and cross-border payment architecture. Slow, dense, correct.
  • US Treasury OFAC guidance & designations — primary source for sanctions analysis; check before quoting policy claims.
  • Chainalysis Crypto Crime Report (annual) — the cleanest public dataset on illicit flows, ransomware, and exchange exposure.
  • Glassnode Insights — on-chain metrics with footnotes. Useful for cycle structure; less useful for short-term calls.
  • FASB ASU 2023-08 — the accounting standard that unlocked corporate Bitcoin treasury policy. Read once, then go re-read the corporate-Bitcoin coverage from before it landed.
  • The latest H.R. 5166 markup — Strategic Bitcoin Reserve custody standards; the live frame for federal accumulation policy.

Links omitted on purpose: regulator and central-bank URLs change. Source by name, then verify against the current official page.

Learning resources

Ten places to actually learn this.

A short, opinionated list. Beginner through operator. Each has earned its place — none are placeholders, and nothing on this list rents attention with hype.

  • Helium World — the annual conference for the Helium and DePIN ecosystem. Operators, manufacturers, network engineers, and infrastructure builders in one room. The clearest snapshot each year of where the working economics actually stand.
  • Mastering Bitcoin (Andreas Antonopoulos) — the canonical technical book on Bitcoin. Free online on the author's GitHub. Read the first three chapters before any serious conversation about custody, keys, or settlement.
  • Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies (Princeton) — Arvind Narayanan's free Princeton textbook plus the matching Coursera course. The cleanest academic foundation in the field; covers consensus, mining economics, and anonymity properly rather than as marketing copy.
  • MIT OpenCourseWare — Blockchain and Money — Gary Gensler's free lecture series, recorded before he ran the SEC. Worth the time for the regulatory frame alone, and the rare instance of an Ivy-equivalent course that does not condescend.
  • Bitcoin Optech — weekly newsletter on Bitcoin protocol development. Dense, technical, and the right altitude for anyone making decisions about custody, Lightning, or settlement infrastructure. The industry default.
  • a16z Crypto — the research arm of Andreessen Horowitz's crypto fund. Reading lists, founder essays, and the place where most crypto-VC thinking surfaces first. Strong on builder economics; read with the understanding that they are also the marginal investor.
  • Glassnode Insights — on-chain analytics with educational essays. The primary public resource for cycle structure, holder behavior, and exchange flow analysis. Better for medium-term framing than short-term calls.
  • Coin Center — DC-based crypto policy think tank. The clearest non-partisan writing on US regulation, sanctions architecture, and the constitutional questions around on-chain speech and self-custody.
  • Lyn Alden Investment Strategy — macro analyst newsletter on monetary systems, Bitcoin, and dollar dynamics. The intersection of trad-fi and crypto for readers who want substance over takes. The right voice if you need to brief a CFO who is skeptical.
  • Vitalik Buterin's blog — primary source for the design philosophy of Ethereum. Skip if you only care about Bitcoin; essential if you want to understand what is being built on the other major chain. Long-form, occasionally dense, always first-hand.

URLs intentionally omitted. Each name above is stable; the official URL is one search away. Verify against the current canonical page before linking from work-product.

Where to follow

New analysis lands first on LinkedIn, then here.

Daily and weekly posts on Bitcoin, stablecoins, sanctions, DePIN, and enterprise blockchain — most of what becomes long-form analysis on NatiCrypto starts on Jake's LinkedIn feed.

Read Jake's posts on LinkedIn Browse the published archive Book a private briefing