Short Course Description
This course will focus on "the future of finance" -- finance without financial intermediaries, or on other words "Decentralized finance" based on blockchain technology -- that some argue is one of the most disruptive technologies of the 21st century.
The course will be divided into two parts -- the theoretical part will focus on basic terms of the blockchain technology, and the practical part will focus on the most important applications of decentralized finance.
In the theoretical part we'll begin by outlining the most important innovations in financial technology in the last two decades. Then, we'll present the concept of blockchain, explain the foundations of the technology, discuss different types of blockchains, and focus on the bitcoin blockchain. We'll continue by presenting various crypto assets, and will describe the institutional framework of the crypto market. Then, we'll introduce the idea of smart contract, while focusing on the Ethereum blockchain.
In the practical part of the course, we'll begin by discussing Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and will focus on practical understanding of the following concepts:
Crypto exchanges
- Automated market making
- Aggregators
- Cross-chain bridging
- Concentrated liquidity
- AI in DeFi
- Flash loans
- Collateralized loans
- Derivatives
In this part of the course, the students will receive a starting amount in Stable coins that will be used for paying for transaction (gas) costs for practicing usage of various applications. Performance of various activities on the blockchain will form part of the grade.
Full Syllabus
