CS 251: Blockchain Technologies

Course syllabus and readings

Fall 2021

Every lecture is accompanied by readings that support and expand on what was covered in the lecture. In the listings below we use NBFMG to refer to the course textbook Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies: A Comprehensive Introduction.

 
Lecture 1:
Mon 9/20/21
(DB)
Intro to cryptography & cryptocurrencies   [pdf, pptx]
References:
  • NBFMG Chapter 1

Bitcoin mechanics
 
Lecture 2:
Wed 9/22/21
(DB)
Bitcoin nuts and bolts   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 3:
Mon 9/27/21
(DB)
Wallets: managing and protecting crypto assets   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Consensus protocols
 
Lecture 4:
Wed 9/29/21
(BB)
Consensus: network models, corruption tolerance, sybil resistance   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 5:
Mon 10/ 4/21
(BB)
Nakamoto Consensus: security, attacks and incentives   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 6:
Wed 10/ 6/21
(BB)
Large Scale Consensus: Availability/Finality, Randomness Beacons,VDFs   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Ethereum and decentralized applications
 
Lecture 7:
Mon 10/11/21
(DB)
Ethereum: Decentralized Apps, EVM, and the Ethereum blockchain   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 8:
Wed 10/13/21
(DB)
Programming in solidity   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Decentralized finance and economics
 
Lecture 9:
Mon 10/18/21
(Guest)
Stablecoins and oracles (Dan Robinson, Georgios Konstantopoulos, Paradigm)   [pdf]
References:
 
Lecture 10:
Wed 10/20/21
(Guest)
Decentralized exchanges (Ali Yahya, a16z)   [pdf]
References:
 
Lecture 11:
Mon 10/25/21
(DB)
Lending systems   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 12:
Wed 10/27/21
(Guest)
Legal aspects and regulation (Jake Chervinsky, Compund Labs)   [pdf]
References:

Privacy on a public blockchain
 
Lecture 13:
Mon 11/ 1/21
(BB)
Privacy: de-anonymizing the blockchain and mixing   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 14:
Wed 11/ 3/21
(DB)
zk-SNARKs: what they are and how they are used   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 15:
Mon 11/ 8/21
(DB)
Constructing a preprocessing zk-SNARK   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Scaling the blockchain
 
Lecture 16:
Wed 11/10/21
(BB)
Scaling the blockchain: payment channels and state channels   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 17:
Mon 11/15/21
(BB)
Scaling the blockchain: Optimistic Rollup, ZK-Rollup, and Validium   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 18:
Wed 11/17/21
(BB)
Recursive SNARKs   [pdf, pptx]
References:
  • zkzkRollup: private proof-based Rollup using one level of recursion.
  • Mina, compressing the blockchain using many levels of recursion.
 
Holiday:   
Mon 11/22/21 		Thanksgiving
 
Holiday:   
Wed 11/24/21 		Thanksgiving

Final topics
 
Lecture 19:
Mon 11/29/21
(DB)
Final topics: blockchain interoperability, miner extractable value (MEV), and governance   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 20:
Wed 12/ 1/21
(Guest)
The future of blockchains (Olaf Carlson-Wee, Polychain)