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Lecture

Blockchain Essentials: Decentralized Systems Engineering

In course

CS-438: Decentralized systems engineering

A decentralized system is one that works when no single party is in charge or fully trusted. This course teaches decentralized systems principles while guiding students through the engineering of their own decentralized system featuring messaging, file sha ...

Description

This lecture covers the fundamental concepts of blockchain technology, exploring the need for blockchain, decentralized systems engineering, and the structure of blockchain. It delves into key ideas such as proof-of-work, assumptions in blockchain, and the differences between UTXO and account-based transactions. The lecture also discusses Bitcoin transactions, scripting, limitations, and Ethereum's smart contracts, gas, and applications. It concludes with an overview of smart contract issues, limitations, and potential future developments in the field.

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Instructors (2)

Bryan Alexander Ford

Pierluca Borsò

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Computer engineering

Computer security: Blockchain

Related concepts (32)

Bitcoin

Bitcoin (abbreviation: BTC or XBT; sign: ₿) is a decentralized digital currency. Bitcoin transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain. The cryptocurrency was invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto. The currency began use in 2009, when its implementation was released as open-source software. The word "bitcoin" was defined in a white paper published on October 31, 2008.

Decentralized autonomous organization

A decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), sometimes called a decentralized autonomous corporation (DAC), is an organization managed in whole or in part by decentralized computer program, with voting and finances handled through a blockchain. In general terms, DAOs are member-owned communities without centralized leadership. The precise legal status of this type of business organization is unclear. A well-known example, intended for venture capital funding, was The DAO, which amassed 3.

Smart contract

A smart contract is a computer program or a transaction protocol that is intended to automatically execute, control or document events and actions according to the terms of a contract or an agreement. The objectives of smart contracts are the reduction of need for trusted intermediators, arbitration costs, and fraud losses, as well as the reduction of malicious and accidental exceptions. Smart contracts are commonly associated with cryptocurrencies, and the smart contracts introduced by Ethereum are generally considered a fundamental building block for decentralized finance (DeFi) and NFT applications.

Decentralized finance

Decentralized finance (often stylized as DeFi) offers financial instruments without relying on intermediaries such as brokerages, exchanges, or banks by using smart contracts on a blockchain, mainly Ethereum. DeFi platforms allow people to lend or borrow funds from others, speculate on price movements on assets using derivatives, trade cryptocurrencies, insure against risks, and earn interest in savings-like accounts. DeFi uses a layered architecture and highly composable building blocks.

Cryptocurrency

A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It is a decentralized system for verifying that the parties to a transaction have the money they claim to have, eliminating the need for traditional intermediaries, such as banks, when funds are being transferred between two entities.

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