Blockchain and Money

This course is for students wishing to explore blockchain technology's potential use—by entrepreneurs and incumbents—to change the world of money and finance. The course begins with a review of Bitcoin and an understanding of the commercial, technical, and public policy fundamentals of blockchain technology, distributed ledgers, and smart contracts. The class then continues on to current and potential blockchain applications in the financial sector.

1. Introduction for 15.S12 Blockchain and Money, Fall 2018.
2. Money, Ledgers & Bitcoin.
3. Blockchain Basics & Cryptography.
4. Blockchain Basics & Consensus.
5. Blockchain Basics & Transactions, UTXO and Script Code.
6. Smart Contracts and DApps.
7. Technical Challenges.
8. Public Policy.
9. Permissioned Systems.
10. Financial System Challenges & Opportunities.
11. Blockchain Economics.
12. Assessing Use Cases.
13. Payments, Part 1.
14. Payments, Part 2.
15. Central Banks & Commercial Banking, Part 1.
16. Central Banks & Commercial Banking, Part 2.
17. Secondary Markets & Crypto-Exchanges.
19. Primary Markets, ICOs & Venture Capital, Part 1.
20. Primary Markets, ICOs & Venture Capital, Part 2.
21. Post Trade Clearing, Settlement & Processing.
22. Trade Finance & Supply Chain.
23. Digital ID.
24. Conclusion.