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Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Infrastructure

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Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Infrastructure

This course is part of Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Finance Specialization

Instructor: Campbell R. Harvey

60,280 already enrolled

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4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,606 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule

6 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

4 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

1,606 reviews

Beginner level

Recommended experience

Flexible schedule

6 hours to complete

Learn at your own pace

98%

Most learners liked this course

What you'll 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'll gain

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Assessments

4 assignments

Taught in English

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This course is part of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Finance Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

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There are 4 modules in this course

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.

We then focus on the key infrastructure components: blockchain, cryptocurrency, smart contracts, oracles, stablecoins and decentralized applications (or dApps). This includes discussion of the mechanics of the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains including cryptographic hashing. Next, we focus on the specific problems that DeFi is designed to solve: inefficiency (costly, slow, and insecure today), limited access (1.7 billion are unbanked), opacity (we need to trust regulators to monitor banks and the regulators have mixed records), centralized control (financial system is oligopolistic imposing higher fees than we would have in a competitive market) and lack of interoperability (it is difficult to move funds from one financial institution to another today). The course closes by exploring many of the myths about the crypto space.

Module details

This module provides a historical perspective of exchange beginning with early barter, specie currency (backed by, e.g., gold), fiat currency and electronic transfers. The module introduces some of the key problems that have arisen with the current system. It closes with the introduction to Satoshi Nakamoto’s famous 2008 paper which introduced cryptocurrency.

What's included

6 videos3 readings1 assignment

6 videosTotal 71 minutes

About This Specialization9 minutes
Evolution18 minutes
Can Money Have Intangible Value?9 minutes
Brief Overview of CeFi Problems13 minutes
Early CeDeFi8 minutes
Crypto Origins16 minutes

3 readingsTotal 25 minutes

About the Instructor10 minutes
DeFi and the Future of Finance 10 minutes
Report a problem with the course5 minutes

1 assignmentTotal 30 minutes

Module Quiz30 minutes

This module introduces the key foundations for DeFi, starting with the mechanics of blockchain including cryptographic hashing. The module then explores the innovation of smart contracting - a key ingredient for DeFi. There is also a discussion of the differences between the first cryptos and stablecoins.

What's included

6 videos1 assignment

This module explores the key problems with today’s legacy financial system which include: inefficiency (costly, slow, and insecure transactions); limited access (many cannot access banks and many that have bank accounts find it difficult to get loans); opacity (it is unclear how healthy our commercial financial institutions are); centralized control (current system is dominated by oligopolies that push prices higher than competitive prices) and interoperability (difficulty in moving funds across different legacy financial institutions).

What's included

5 videos1 assignment

The final module explores various different myths including: all cryptocurrencies are anonymous; blockchains are routinely hacked; quantum computing will destroy all blockchain based currencies; and the crypto ecosystem is so small that it is unlikely to compete with legacy financial institutions.

What's included

2 videos1 reading1 assignment

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Instructor

Instructor ratings

(543 ratings)

Campbell R. Harvey

Duke University

8 Courses86,408 learners

Offered by

Duke University

Learner reviews

5 stars
83.34%
4 stars
13.54%
3 stars
2.05%
2 stars
0.43%
1 star
0.62%

Showing 3 of 1606

Reviewed on Feb 18, 2023

Good for beginners to understand some basic ideas and terminologies in cryptocurrency area, but there are some computer science mistakes in the videos, though they're minor.

Reviewed on Jul 14, 2022

An excellent and much recommended course for beginners! Helped me understand the basics of blockchain technology and its operations. Definely enrolling for more courses from Mr. Campbell.

Reviewed on Feb 11, 2022

This is a great intro class to DeFi. If you are in finanace, this is a must take class. The pofessor knows what he is talking about, the pace is perfect for me, and the content is rich.

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