Syllabus

The lectures of the LxBWS were planned with the goal of providing an overview of Blockchain. These sessions are composed of 5 talks, with each talk focusing on a single topic. Each session will be taught at the beginning of each day of the school, allowing students to learn the basics of Blockchain before applying their knowledge on the lab sessions that will take place later during the day.

Lectures

Introduction: Blockchain / DLT

  • What are blockchains and distributed ledgers?
    • Definition of blockchain and its evolution
    • Key characteristics of blockchain technology
  • Architecture
    • Main components of a blockchain network
    • Transactions and blocks
    • Miners
    • Wallets
  • Permissioned and Permissionless blockchain
    • Permissioned vs permissionless
    • Consensus mechanisms: PoW, PoS, Byzantine consensus
    • Distributed vs centralized
  • Main players
    • Permissionless: Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.
    • Permissioned: Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Besu, Corda, etc.
  • Blockchain use cases
    • Cryptocurrencies
    • Health
    • Insurance
    • Supply chain
    • Social good

Smart contracts

Introduction to smart contracts and some examples of use cases and applications

  • What are smart contracts?
    • Main characteristics and properties
    • Example
    • Limitations
  • Decentralized Applications (DApps)
    • How to call smart contracts from a web application
    • DApp architecture
    • Security
  • Token implementation in smart contracts
    • The concept of token and the role of standards
    • Non-fungible tokens
    • Fungible tokens
  • Smart contracts in industry
    • Supply chain
    • Insurance and finance
    • Health
  • Future of smart contracts

Applications - Digital Identity

Introduction to digital identity using DLT

  • Introduction: what is digital identity?
    • Digital identity before blockchain
    • Importance and benefits of digital identity
    • Self-Sovereign Identity
    • Main challenges and limitations
  • Digital identity use cases
    • Finance
    • Health
    • Education
  • Security threats
    • Data breaches
    • Sybil attacks
    • Abuse of power? (world coin)
  • Emerging technologies
    • Hyperledger Indy and Aries
  • Real world examples of digital identity
    • Estonia’s e-Residency system
    • EBSI

DeFi

Overview of decentralized finance, covering the basics, how it works, its applications and main security concerns.

    • Introduction to DeFi
    • Traditional digital finance
    • Definition of DeFi
    • Key features and benefits
    • Overview of the current state of DeFi
    • DeFi vs Traditional finance
  • DeFi applications
    • Decentralized Exchange
    • Lending and borrowing
    • Oracles
    • DeFi platforms vs traditional platforms
    • Derivatives
    • Insurance
    • Lending market
  • DeFi Security considerations
    • Security risks - vulnerabilities, attacks
    • Best practices

Interoperability - Layer 2

Overview of interoperability in blockchain, including current challenges and emerging technologies

  • Introduction to Interoperability
    • Interoperability
    • Heterogeneity of existing blockchain systems
    • Challenges
  • Overview of current interoperability solutions
    • Bridges and protocols
    • Sidechains
    • Cross-chain protocols
  • Interoperability in DeFi
    • Main concerns
    • Solutions for interoperability
  • Technologies and tools
    • Main technologies
    • Future and emerging technologies
  • Security risks

Lab sessions

The lab sessions will focus on providing the students with a set of practical exercises related to the topics that were taught in the lectures. We plan on having six one hour sessions to take place during the first three days of the school (two sessions per day.

Lab 1: Blockchain 101: Transactions

The first session will allow the students to interact with a public blockchain. More specifically in this session the students will consult transactions on a public blockchain (Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron), setup a wallet, and execute a transaction in a test network

Lab 2: Run your own test network

In the second session the students will set up a test network on their own devices. More specifically, the students will set up an instance of Hyperledger Fabric using Docker containers.

Lab 3: Smart contracts (parts I and II)

Given the complexity of Lab 3, this session will be divided into 2 parts. The goal of this session is to allow students to write their own smart contract and invoke this contract using the command line. The smart contract will follow a simple use case (acquisition of a car with insurance).

Lab 4: Build your decentralized app (parts I and II)

The final session will provide a set of exercises that will allow the students to write a decentralized app to interact with the smart contracts developed in the previous session.