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Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

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  Course by Rustie Lin, Mengyi (Gloria) Wang and University of California, Berkeley
Course Features
  • Lectures
    6
  • Duration
    30 Hours
  • Level
    Beginner
  • Delivery
    Online
  • Audience
    Everyone
  • Provider
    University

The course provides a very broad introduction to blockchains that covers the blockchain/crypto history, criptography, Bitcoin protocol with user roles, proof-of-work and mining/attacking strategies based on the game theory and ends with the Ethereum blockchain and smart contracts. After finishing the course everybody will be able to actively participate in the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain ecosystems.

The course is designed for beginners even though sometimes discussions could become more technical.

There are no prerequisites for the course. However, some exposure to a cryptography and a game theory would be beneficial.

  • Content

    The topic discussions are structured as “theory – practice”. The “theory” is represented by concepts from cryptography, distributed systems theory, game theory, etc and the “practice” – by Bitcoin, Ethereum blockchains. The course follows and lists the following textbooks for the reference:
    1) Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies by A. Narayanan, J. Bonneau, E. Felten, A. Miller, and S. Goldfeder
    2) Mastering Bitcoin by A. Antonopoulos.
    This course differentiates from other courses primarily by providing a chapter on game-theoretic analysis of the Bitcoin blockchain operations.

  • Technology

    The course explains a lot of the high level yet detailed working mechanics behind Bitcoin and Ethereum. This knowledge will be most valuable to people that are seeking deeper blockchain understanding possibly required for coding, later academic studies or having plans to practically build, administrate a blockchain solution.

  • Applications

    Throughout the course a blockchain is mainly presented as a cryptocurrency platform and all the knowledge could be used to manage crypto wallets/keys, participate in mining, run full blockchain node or use blockchain browsing tools. In that context the mining process discussed in very detail - from double spend attacks to mining pool strategies and will be beneficial to every miner.

  • Delivery

    The course is prepared by students and follows an academic style. The learning material is primarily presented as short video lectures complemented with additional reading texts. Each chapter ends up with a great summary and external information pointers. The presentation approach encourages to take advantage of discussion forums and interaction with the other learners. Quizzes, tests and instructor feedback are available just in the paid version.

Developed by Blockchain at Berkeley and faculty from UC Berkeley's premier Computer Science department, this course presents Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as the motivation for blockchain technologies, and provides a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the fundamental concepts of the crypto space with a particular emphasis on Bitcoin.

The course covers basic properties of bitcoin, the mechanics behind it (e.g. including cryptographic hash functions, Bitcoin Script, privacy, and hash commitment schemes) and its roots in the Cypherpunk movement and Libertarian ideals. You'll learn about practical applications of Bitcoin such as wallets and mining, as well as how to destroy bitcoins, including network attacks and malicious mining strategies. We will also take a brief look at Ethereum and how blockchain can be used outside of cryptocurrencies.

This course is open to anyone with any background. Whether you are planning your next career move as a blockchain developer, crypto trader, data analyst, researcher, or consultant, or are just looking for an introduction to the Bitcoin technology. This course will help you to begin developing the critical skills needed to future-proof your career.

This course is part of the Blockchain Fundamentals Professional Certificate program. If you are planning to enroll in the entire series, we suggest starting with this course and then progressing on to CS198.2x Blockchain Technology.

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