April Plan ₿ Academy Newsletter
Happy Easter to those celebrating this weekend! Here's your monthly update from Plan ₿ Academy.
⛏️ Course Spotlight: Introduction to Bitcoin Mining
Ever wondered how Bitcoin actually works under the hood? The answer starts with mining. Our brand new course Introduction to Bitcoin Mining by Loïc Morel is now live on Plan ₿ Academy. In 5 hours, you'll go from zero to a solid understanding of proof-of-work, the difficulty adjustment, block rewards, halvings, and how the mining industry evolved from CPUs to modern ASICs.
The course is designed for beginners, but even intermediate bitcoiners will find precise explanations for concepts they thought they understood. By the end, you'll be able to explain how Bitcoin mining works in a simple and rigorous way.
And if the theory makes you want to get your hands dirty, keep reading.
Start the course now
A little bonus:
Check out the Bitcoin Mining History lecture replay by Kenobi (2h), a fascinating deep dive into how the mining industry evolved from Satoshi's laptop to today's global infrastructure.
🔧 Tutorial Highlights: Start Mining at Home
Finished the course and want to go from theory to practice? These two tutorials will get you mining at home this weekend.
Bitaxe: Build Your Own Bitcoin Miner
Bitaxe is an open-source mini-miner that reuses chips from industrial ASICs on a tiny board. For around $50 and 15 watts of power, you get a real Bitcoin miner sitting on your desk. Our step-by-step tutorial walks you through the full setup.
Public Pool: Connect and Start Solo Mining
Once your Bitaxe is ready, you need a pool. Public Pool is a free solo pool: you connect your miner, and if it finds a block, you keep the entire reward. Think of it as a Bitcoin lottery where the ticket costs just a few cents of electricity per day. The tutorial shows you exactly how to connect.
💡 Iran : when Fiat Currency Goes Off the Rails
Iran is a textbook example of what happens when a state controls money with no accountability. 52% inflation, a currency that lost 99.99% of its value in 47 years, and a regime that prints its way into funding wars and militias. In his latest article, Damien Theillier breaks down the mechanism: how fiat currency turns every citizen into an unwitting funder of the state's military apparatus, and why Bitcoin's mathematical scarcity is the antidote. Whether you're studying monetary theory or just trying to understand why sound money matters, this one's essential reading.
Read the full article
🎓 Plan ₿ Program Update
Week 10! The 2026 edition has entered its assignment phase. One third of the 370 students has been selected for individual assignments with real Bitcoin companies: Blockstream, Breez, Peach, Jan3/Aqua, Holepunch, and 15 others. They'll work on real-world case studies and compete for a spot at the Lugano Summer School this summer.
The rest of the cohort is diving into a brand new collective assignment: the Plan ₿ Signet Playground, a permanent private Bitcoin test network for the Academy. Dev students run nodes and mine blocks, Biz students build community strategy around the infrastructure. The best part: this Signet will live on for future cohorts to inherit and extend.
🌍 Introducing Plan ₿ Alumni
Big news: we're officially launching Plan ₿ Alumni, a community for all Plan ₿ Academy students, past and present. No matter where you are in your Bitcoin journey: if you're learning with us, you're welcome to join and share your ideas.
What's changing: our community calls are being renamed Plan ₿ Alumni Calls. Same energy, same open format, but now with a clear identity and a home for the long run.
Two calls are already scheduled this month:
- Wednesday April 15th, 4PM CET (10AM EST)
- Wednesday April 29th, 4PM CET (10AM EST)
The calls happen directly on Discord, so we can chat, share screens, and actually talk to each other. Come say hi, ask questions, share what you're working on, or just listen in.
Join the Discord
📚 Bitcoin Education Just Got a Shared Library
We mentioned it briefly in last month's newsletter, and now it's official: Educator Content is growing fast! The shared library already has 52 resources across 4 languages, and new materials are being added every week. We wrote a full article about why we built it and how it works.
Read the article
If you're a Bitcoin educator, come add your stone to the building! Share your slides, workshop materials, or curricula, and discover what other educators around the world have created. Your content could help someone teach their first Bitcoin class tomorrow.
Browse and contribute
That's all for this month. Thanks for learning with us. If you'd ever prefer not to receive these updates, you can opt out at any time, no hard feelings. That said, we truly hope you'll stay with us, as we're excited to keep sharing what we're building and learning together.
See you in May!
The Plan ₿ Academy Team