I think studying crypto currencies is well invested time. It is like studying the internet in the early to mid 90ties. There are a gazillion pages to read about crypto. I recommend to start with Bitcoin. This will be your calibration in the space and enables you to assess other cryptos (so called alt(ernative coin)s). Here are three pointers:

• History Timeline
• solid compilation by the crypto cypherpunk Jameson Lopp
• educational and insightful channel of Andreas Antonopoulos