Fundamentals of Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

Assessment pattern

·         Online Mid-term test: 30% of total marks

Structure: MCQ style with mix of theoretical and numerical/quantitative questions.

·         Assignment I: 35% of total marks (Group assignment)

Structure: a mix of tasks related to crypto transactions. Mine coins, send coins & generate payment requests using desk wallets. Students will be required to generate outputs as well as describe in detail the workings behind each transaction.

·         Assignment II: 35% of total marks (Individual assignment)

Structure: Students will be asked to understand the risk-return relationship in a particular cryptocurrency from the time of ICO to the present. A set of global risk crypto-specific and non-crypto specific risk factors, which has been established in the literature on cryptocurrencies, will be provided.

Core Textbooks:

The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains : An Introduction to Cryptocurrencies and the Technology that Powers Them, Lewis, Antony

Bitcoin For Dummies, Prypto, John Wiley & Sons, 2016

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies - A Comprehensive Introduction, Arvind Narayanan, Joseph Bonneau, et al., Princeton University press

Suggested reading

Part I – Features of Blockchain technology

Lecture 1: A Quick Intro to Cryptocurrencies via Bitcoin

• Bitcoin for dummies – Ch1 – Wiley

• The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains – Part 3 – Mango Publishing

• https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page

• https://bitcoin.org/en/gettingstarted

• https://learnmeabitcoin.com/

Lecture 2: The blockchain

• Bitcoin for dummies – Ch 6 and Ch 7 – Wiley

• The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains – Part 4 and Part 6 – Mango Publishing

Lecture 3: Mining process

• Bitcoin for dummies – Ch 4 and Ch 11 – Wiley

• The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains – Part 4 – Mango Publishing

• https://www.investopedia.com/tech/how-doesbitcoin-mining-work/

• https://www.euromoney.com/learning/blockchain-explained/how-transactions-get-into-the-blockchain

• https://blog.goodaudience.com/blockchain-forbeginners-what-is-blockchain-519db8c6677a

Lecture 4: Crypto Wallets

• Bitcoin for dummies – Ch 5 – Wiley

• The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains – Part 3 and Part 4 – Mango Publishing

• https://coinguides.org/adding-wallet-nodes/

Part II – Cryptocurrencies

Lecture 5: Bitcoin and beyond Cryptocurrencies as a new asset class

• Bitcoin for dummies – Ch 13 – Wiley

• Overview of Digital Assets and Blockchain by Goldman Sachs, November 2021

• Categories and Functions of Crypto-Tokens by Lin William Cong, Yizhou Xiao, pp 267-284, The Palgrave Handbook of FinTech and Blockchain, (2021).

• https://triple-a.io/crypto-ownership-data/

Lecture 6: Arbitrage Pricing Theory of Cryptocurrencies I

• Asset Pricing by John H Cochrane (2005) – Ch 20 – Princeton University Press

• Yukun Liu and Aleh Tsyvinski. “Risks and returns of cryptocurrency.” The Review of Financial Studies, 34(6):2689-2727, (2021)

Lecture 7: Arbitrage Pricing Theory of Cryptocurrencies II

• Yukun Liu, Aleh Tsyvinski, and Xi Wu, “Common risk factors in cryptocurrency.” The Journal of Finance, 77(2):1133-1177, (2022).

• Nicola Borri and Kirill Shakhnov, “The cross-section of cryptocurrency returns.” The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, 12(3):667-705, (2022).

Lecture 8: Cryptocurrency Trading

• Nicola Borri and Kirill Shakhnov, “Cryptomarket Discounts.” SSRN, (2022).

• Igor Makarov and Antoinette Schoar, “Trading and arbitrage in cryptocurrency markets.” Journal of Financial Economics, 135(2):293-319, (2020)

• Nicola Borri and Kirill Shakhnov, “Regulation spillovers across cryptocurrency markets.”, Finance Research Letters (2020)

Lecture 9: Blockchain Analysis

• Sean Foley, Jonathan R Karlsen, Tālis J Putniņš.  “Sex, Drugs, and Bitcoin: How Much Illegal Activity Is Financed through Cryptocurrencies?” The Review of Financial Studies, Volume 32, Issue 5, May (2019), Pages 1798–1853,

• Igor Makarov and Antoinette Schoar. “Blockchain Analysis of the Bitcoin Market.” NBER (2022)

Lecture 10: Beyond "Traditional" Cryptocurrencies: ICOs and NFTs

• Evgeny Lyandres, Dino Palazzo and Daniel Rabetti “ICO Success and Post-ICO Performance.” Management Science, (2023)

• Nicola Borri, Yukun Liu, and Aleh Tsyvinski “The Economics of Non-Fungible Tokens.” SSRN (2022)

• Kirill Shakhnov and Luana Zaccaria “(R)evolution in Entrepreneurial Finance? Utility Tokens and Pricing Power.” Management Science, (2023)