I am very passionate about teaching Blockchain, Distributed Ledgers, and DeFi at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, where I created a new lecture in 2024 that covers the relevant concepts and engineering aspects to understand, extend, and build on top of modern blockchain systems. To support learning, the lecture comes with pen-and-paper as well as hands-on practical exercises to master the concepts. The syllabus can be found below.
If you are interested in discussing lecture materials or attending continued education courses covering a subset of the topics below, please don't hesitate to reach out to me.
The Big Picture of Web3 and Blockchains
Digital Signatures and Hash Functions
Digital Identifiers, Transactions, Wallets & Wallet Security
Merkle-Trees and Merkle-Patricia-Tries
Ledger State: UTxO, eUTxO, Accounts
Case-Studies: Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum
Smart Contracts: Ledger Programs
Basics of P2P Networks, Overview of Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake Systems
In-depth Case Study I: Proof-of-Work and Bitcoin
In-depth Case Study II: Proof-of-Stake and Cardano (Nakamoto-style Blockchain)
In-depth Case Study III: Ethereum and Iterated-BFT constructions (Finality-based Blockchains)
Economic Principles of Blockchain Systems, Mechanism Design, Reward Structures, Congestion Handling
The Four Principles of Tokenomics and their appearance in Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum.
Current topics in Tokenomics Research
DeFi Classification and Security Considerations (Randomness, Front-Running, etc.)
Custom Tokens (fungible and non-fungible)
Oracles
Stablecoins: Centralized & Algorithmic Stablecoins, Single-Token Designs and Two-Token Designs
Lending
Decentralized Exchanges & AMMs
Modern Layer-2 Tech (Rollups), ZK-Tech, Compliance, Basic Design of Privacy-Coins