Introduction to Blockchains, Cryptocurrencies, and Smart Contracts (CS765)
- Instructor:
Vinay Ribeiro
- Location: Online
- Time: Mon 8:30-9:25, Tue 9:30 - 10:25, Thu 10.30 - 11:25
- Pre-requisite: CS213 Data Structures and Algorithms
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Course Outline:
Motivation for Blockchain Systems. Introduction to Peer-to-Peer systems and Distributed systems - Consensus, Byzantine Fault Tolerance, Impossibility Results. Cryptographic Tools used in Blockchains. Bitcoin: proof-of-work (PoW) consensus, block structure and other details. Attacks on Bitcoin: double spend and selfish mining. Energy saving: proof of stake and comparison with PoW. Algorand -- committee based consensus. Ethereum, GHOST protocol, Solidity. Consensus for permissioned ledgers: RAFT, PBFT, Zyzzyva. Payment channel networks.
- Evaluation (tentative)
Item | Marks |
Assignments | 35 |
Quizzes | 15 |
Proctured Exam(s) | 50 |
Total | 100 |