CS 251: Blockchain Technologies

Course syllabus and readings

Fall 2022

Every lecture is accompanied by readings that support and expand on what was covered in the lecture.

 
Lecture 1:
Mon 9/26/22
(DB)
Intro to cryptography & cryptocurrencies   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Bitcoin mechanics
 
Lecture 2:
Wed 9/28/22
(DB)
Bitcoin nuts and bolts   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 3:
Mon 10/ 3/22
(DB)
Wallets: managing and protecting crypto assets   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Consensus protocols
 
Lecture 4:
Wed 10/ 5/22
(ENT)
Classical consensus: network models and properties of secure state machine replication (SMR)   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 5:
Mon 10/10/22
(ENT)
Consensus in the internet setting: dynamic availability, Nakamoto consensus, and sybil resistance   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 6:
Wed 10/12/22
(ENT)
Accountability and incentives in consensus: proof-of-stake   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Ethereum and decentralized applications
 
Lecture 7:
Mon 10/17/22
(DB)
Ethereum: Decentralized Apps, EVM, and the Ethereum blockchain   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 8:
Wed 10/19/22
(DB)
Programming in solidity   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Decentralized finance and economics
 
Lecture 9:
Mon 10/24/22
(DB)
Stablecoins and oracles   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 10:
Wed 10/26/22
(Guest)
Decentralized exchanges (Dan Robinson, Paradigm)   [pdf]
References:
 
Lecture 11:
Mon 10/31/22
(DB)
Lending systems   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 12:
Wed 11/ 2/22
(Guest)
Legal aspects and regulation (Jake Chervinsky, Blockchain Association)   [pdf]
References:

Privacy on a public blockchain
 
Lecture 13:
Mon 11/ 7/22
(DB)
Privacy: de-anonymizing the blockchain and mixing   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 14:
Wed 11/ 9/22
(DB)
zk-SNARKs: what they are and how they are used   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 15:
Mon 11/14/22
(DB)
Constructing a preprocessing zk-SNARK   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Scaling the blockchain
 
Lecture 16:
Wed 11/16/22
(DB)
Scaling the blockchain: payment channels and state channels   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Holiday:   
Mon 11/21/22 		Thanksgiving
 
Holiday:   
Wed 11/23/22 		Thanksgiving
 
Lecture 17:
Mon 11/28/22
(DB)
Scaling the blockchain: Optimistic Rollup, ZK-Rollup, and Validium   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 18:
Wed 11/30/22
(DB)
Recursive SNARKs   [pdf, pptx]
References:

Final topics
 
Lecture 19:
Mon 12/ 5/22
(DB)
Final topics: blockchain interoperability, maximal extractable value (MEV), and governance   [pdf, pptx]
References:
 
Lecture 20:
Wed 12/ 7/22
(Guest)
The future of blockchains (Ali Yaha, a16z)