BAN435 Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrencies

• Topics

  Blockchain and Ethereum technology is the most disruptive force in years. The Ethereum is a cryptocurrency as Bitcoin's successor, evolving very fast and enabling businesses to build compelling solutions at a lower cost.

  The purpose of this course: learning about Blockchains, Ethereum and how to build smart contracts.

  Ethereum was created to facilitate applications focused around transferring money or value from one party to another. Solidity is a programming language for writing Smart Contracts and quite similar to Javascript. With Solidity, we can write applications that simulate a crowdfunding campaign, a lottery, a loan, or any other type of financial instrument.

  We will look at core technologies and some use cases for Blockchain and Ethereum technology:

  • What is Blockchain?
  • Why is Blockchain essential?
  • How is Blockchain different from traditional technologies?
  • Benefits of using Blockchain technology
  • What are the different Blockchain technologies?
  • What is Ethereum: Ether along with its units and Gas in Ethereum?
  • What are Smart Contracts and how do they work?
  • Use cases of Ethereum
  • Use cases of Smart Contracts

• Learning outcome

  Upon successful completion of the course, the student will have attained the following:

  Knowledge:

  • Understand Blockchain basics
  • Comprehend what the blockchain and mining are
  • Understanding Ethereum: Ether, Gas and Ethereum Virtual Machine
  • Understand the fundamentals of smart contracts

   

  Skills:

  • Master Solidity and its basic concepts
  • Design, test, and deploy secure Smart Contracts
  • Use Ethereum development tools
  • Build compelling blockchain applications using the Ethereum Blockchain

   

  General competence:

  • can adjust to Ethereum no matter how the ecosystem changes

• Teaching

  This course combines lectures and programming tutorials. A Mac, PC, or Linux Machine is required for students.

  Due to the corona situation, some students will not be able to attend the lectures/tutorials physically, and the number of students admitted to the classroom is limited. For this reason, there will be a recorded video uploaded on canvas after each class. 

• Recommended prerequisites

  A basic programming experience

• Requirements for course approval

  One assignment to be submitted on canvas

• Assessment

  Group assignment (2-5 students in each group)

• Grading Scale

   Pass-Fail

• Computer tools

  Remix: Develop Smart Contracts for the Ethereum Blockchain. Remix is a Solidity IDE that's used to write, compile and debug Solidity code. 

  https://remix.ethereum.org/

• Literature

  • Drescher, D. Blockchain Basics: A Non-Technical Introduction in 25 Steps (2017). Daniel Drescher.
  • Antonopoulos, A. M., & Wood, G. (2018). Mastering ethereum: building smart contracts and dapps. O'reilly Media.