Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies

About this Course

To really understand what is special about Bitcoin, we need to understand how it works at a technical level. We’ll address the important questions about Bitcoin, such as:
How does Bitcoin work? What makes Bitcoin different? How secure are your Bitcoins? How anonymous are Bitcoin users? What determines the price of Bitcoins? Can cryptocurrencies be regulated? What might the future hold?

After this course, you’ll know everything you need to be able to separate fact from fiction when reading claims about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. You’ll have the conceptual foundations you need to engineer secure software that interacts with the Bitcoin network. And you’ll be able to integrate ideas from Bitcoin in your own projects.

Course Lecturers:
Arvind Narayanan, Princeton University


All the features of this course are available for free.  It does not offer a certificate upon completion.

Learner Career Outcomes

50%

started a new career after completing these courses

44%

got a tangible career benefit from this course

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Approx. 23 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, English, Spanish

Skills you will gain

Bitcoin NetworkBlockchainsCryptocurrencyBitcoin

Learner Career Outcomes

50%

started a new career after completing these courses

44%

got a tangible career benefit from this course

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Approx. 23 hours to complete

English

Subtitles: Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Vietnamese, German, Russian, English, Spanish

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.64/5 (125 Ratings)

Arvind Narayanan

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating95%(16,357 ratings)

Week

1

Week 1

4 hours to complete

Introduction to Crypto and Cryptocurrencies

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

4 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 59 min), 1 reading, 1 quiz

Week

2

Week 2

1 hour to complete

How Bitcoin Achieves Decentralization

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

1 hour to complete

5 videos (Total 74 min)

Week

3

Week 3

1 hour to complete

Mechanics of Bitcoin

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

1 hour to complete

6 videos (Total 78 min)

Week

4

Week 4

4 hours to complete

How to Store and Use Bitcoins

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.

4 hours to complete

7 videos (Total 81 min)

Week

5

Week 5

1 hour to complete

Bitcoin Mining

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?

1 hour to complete

5 videos (Total 86 min)

Week

6

Week 6

2 hours to complete

Bitcoin and Anonymity

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.

2 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 112 min)

Week

7

Week 7

4 hours to complete

Community, Politics, and Regulation

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.

4 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 75 min)

Week

8

Week 8

1 hour to complete

Alternative Mining Puzzles

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.

1 hour to complete

5 videos (Total 45 min)

Week

9

Week 9

1 hour to complete

Bitcoin as a Platform

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.

1 hour to complete

5 videos (Total 85 min)

Week

10

Week 10

1 hour to complete

Altcoins and the Cryptocurrency Ecosystem

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.

1 hour to complete

4 videos (Total 64 min)

Week

11

Week 11

1 hour to complete

The Future of Bitcoin?

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.

1 hour to complete

4 videos (Total 84 min)

Reviews

4.7

596 reviews

5 stars
74.30%
4 stars
19.74%
3 stars
3.86%
2 stars
0.90%
1 star
1.18%

TOP REVIEWS FROM BITCOIN AND CRYPTOCURRENCY TECHNOLOGIES

by MBMar 10, 2018

Great course, a very broad and in-depth overview of concepts surrounding cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin in particular. Would be great to have an update of course; perhaps once the ICO craze is over? (-:

by AGDec 22, 2017

I've gained a strong knowledge of Bitcoin's architecture but wish this course was updated to include the developments of the last two years. A few lectures on alt-coins would have been useful as well.

by LBJan 14, 2017

I find this course prepared very well. There are many perspectives and this course does not concentrate on the technology only. I find this course very helpful. The level is more then just beginner.

by OSSep 17, 2017

I enjoyed the lecture series. As many have stated previously, I do think that the assignments assume a sizeable amount of technological knowledge that is not necessarily cohesive with the lectures.

View all reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
Will I earn university credit for completing the Course?
This Course doesn't carry university credit, but some universities may choose to accept Course Certificates for credit. Check with your institution to learn more. Online Degrees and Mastertrack™ Certificates on Coursera provide the opportunity to earn university credit.

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies