Decentralized Finance: The Future of Finance is a set of four courses taught by Campbell R. Harvey (Professor of Finance at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research) that focus on decentralized finance (DeFi). In this first course, we begin by exploring the origins of DeFi and take a broad historical view from the earliest barter economies, such as the first peer-to-peer exchanges of bartering, to present day. The course also looks at historical examples of money having value even though it is not officially backed.
This course is part of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Finance Specialization
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About this Course
Having some background knowledge of interest rate mechanics; basic financial concepts; familiarity with collateral; and money supply is helpful.
Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?
Try Coursera for BusinessWhat you will learn
Articulate the history and origins of decentralized finance
Define the key components of decentralized finance's infrastructure
Explain which problems decentralized finance is designed to solve and how
Identify myths or common misconceptions about decentralized finance
Skills you will gain
- Cryptography
- Smart Contract
- Decentralized Protocols
- governance
- Blockchain Mechanics
Having some background knowledge of interest rate mechanics; basic financial concepts; familiarity with collateral; and money supply is helpful.
Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?
Try Coursera for BusinessOffered by
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
The History of Decentralized Finance
DeFi Foundations
Problems DeFi Solves
DeFi Myths and Facts
Reviews
- 5 stars82.96%
- 4 stars14.48%
- 3 stars1.87%
- 2 stars0.42%
- 1 star0.25%
TOP REVIEWS FROM DECENTRALIZED FINANCE (DEFI) INFRASTRUCTURE
The course is useful but too much jargon is thrown around in the various models, making it very hard to keep up or truly understand their meaning.
Brilliant intro of Prof Campbell Harvey. Coming from traditional finance degree in Econometrics and Finance, he bridges in a excellent way the centralized with the decentralized finance.
Everybody who wants to quickly get around all these new and exciting decentrilized technologies is advised to take the series of courses. Info provided is deep enough, easy to grasp, and concise.
The course largely follows the instructor's book albeit with an easier to follow introduction. As such, this first course is an overview and it gets us ready for the information to follow.
About the Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Finance Specialization

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