ECE 575 : Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

Credits 3.0

The introduction of cryptocurrencies has had significant financial, socioeconomic, and technological effects. This course introduces the technical aspects of blockchain technologies, consensus protocols and cryptocurrencies. The course emphasizes the engineering aspects of blockchain implementation towards efficiency, scalability, and security in practical blockchain designs. Students will learn the basics of blockchain systems to create cryptocurrencies. They will learn to identify the performance bottlenecks in blockchain systems and study new blockchain design proposals to learn how these bottlenecks are overcome. Further, the course will also cover the basics of Ethereum and smart contracts. Students will have the chance to learn programming smart contracts.