FNAN 472: Fintech and Blockchain in Finance Master Syllabus
Course Instructor:
Office Number:
Office Hours:
Email:
Course Meeting Times:
Course Website: Canvas
Course Description and Objectives
As the underlying technology that enables decentralized peer-to-peer currencies such as Bitcoin, blockchain has been touted as a revolutionary innovation to fundamentally change many aspects of business. How does blockchain actually work? How could it be applied to different business scenarios? Is blockchain truly the "next big thing" or just another hyped up buzz word? In this course, we'll conduct an objective investigation into the current status of blockchain development, and have an open dialog around its future promises.
We'll start from explaining the functioning of Bitcoin in detail to illustrate the core concepts behind blockchain: hashing, immutable ledger, Merkle tree, distributed consensus; we'll introduce concepts such as smart contract, forking, proof-of-work/stake, token in the context of alternative cryptocurrencies; we may supplement our discussion with business applications from guest speakers; and importantly, we'll take the design of Bitcoin operations as an venue to study various finance/economics concepts/tools in the real world.
Textbook
A highly recommended introductory reference book is freely available here: A. Narayanan, J. Bonneau, E. Felten, A. Miller, S. Goldfeder. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies: A Comprehensive Introduction , Princeton University Press, 2016.
Recommended news letters/podcasts to subscribe to:
Coindesk "Late Confirmation" blockchain updates podcast
EpiCenter weekly blockchain podcast
Lecture slides and extra materials will be posted on the web site from time to time. There is no formal textbook for the class.
Exams and Grading
Grading will be based on a set of exams, class participation, and a final (team) project (including a written report along with multiple presentations).
- Exams: 30%
- Team project: 50%
- Class participation: 20%
The final grade will be based on all the points earned for the course. Suggestions on final project topics (to be constantly added): A variety of Hash functions; Merkle Patricia Trie; DAG; Digital Signatures Schemes (ECDSA, BLS, etc.);
Tentative Class Schedule (subject to change as we progress)
To print: Right-click and choose “Print,” then follow your browser’s print settings.
To download: Right-click and choose “Print,” then select “Save as PDF.”