Princeton University
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies
Princeton University

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies

Taught in English

Some content may not be translated

767,836 already enrolled

Course

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals

Arvind Narayanan

Instructor: Arvind Narayanan

4.6

(2,974 reviews)

23 hours to complete
3 weeks at 7 hours a week
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

Details to know

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There are 11 modules in this course

Learn about cryptographic building blocks ("primitives") and reason about their security. Work through how these primitives can be used to construct simple cryptocurrencies.

What's included

6 videos1 reading1 programming assignment

Learn Bitcoin's consensus mechanism and reason about its security. Appreciate how security comes from a combination of technical methods and clever incentive engineering.

What's included

5 videos

Learn how the individual components of the Bitcoin protocol make the whole system tick: transactions, script, blocks, and the peer-to-peer network.

What's included

6 videos

This week we'll explore how using Bitcoins works in practice: different ways of storing Bitcoin keys, security measures, and various types of services that allow you to trade and transact with bitcoins.

What's included

7 videos1 programming assignment

We already know that Bitcoin relies crucially on mining. But who are the miners? How did they get into this? How do they operate? What's the business model like for miners? What impact do they have on the environment?

What's included

5 videos

Is Bitcoin anonymous? What does that statement even mean—can we define it rigorously? We'll learn about the various ways to improve Bitcoin's anonymity and privacy and learn about Bitcoin's role in Silk Road and other hidden marketplaces.

What's included

6 videos

We'll look at all the ways that the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency technology touches the world of people. We'll discuss the community, politics within Bitcoin and the way that Bitcoin interacts with politics, and law enforcement and regulation issues.

What's included

8 videos1 programming assignment

Not everyone is happy about how Bitcoin mining works: its energy consumption and the fact that it requires specialized hardware are major sticking points. This week we'll look at how mining can be re-designed in alternative cryptocurrencies.

What's included

5 videos

One of the most exciting things about Bitcoin technology is its potential to support applications other than currency. We'll study several of these and study the properties of Bitcoin that makes this possible.

What's included

5 videos

Hundreds of altcoins, or alternative cryptocurrencies, have been started, either to fix Bitcoin's perceived flaws or to pursue different goals and properties. We'll look at everything that goes into an altcoin and how they interact with Bitcoin.

What's included

4 videos

The use of Bitcoin technology for decentralizing property, markets, and so on has been hailed as a recipe for economic and political disruption. We'll look at the technological underpinnings of these proposals and the potential impact on society.

What's included

4 videos

Instructor

Instructor ratings
4.6 (295 ratings)
Arvind Narayanan
Princeton University
2 Courses767,970 learners

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Recommended if you're interested in Computer Security and Networks

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4.6

2,974 reviews

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Reviewed on Mar 10, 2018

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Reviewed on May 9, 2020

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Reviewed on Jan 14, 2017

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