Chevron Left
Back to Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Infrastructure

Learner Reviews & Feedback for Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Infrastructure by Duke University

4.8
stars
1,464 ratings

About the 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....

Top reviews

NA

Jan 13, 2022

I have fore-read about blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies, yet, this course was an excellent way to structure and review my knowledge. I am sure to join the next course of this specialization!

TN

Apr 12, 2022

Great introduction into DeFi, the professor walks us through key definitions, a bit of history, potential applications and common misunderstandings about this space. Good launching pad to dive deeper

Filter by:

251 - 275 of 333 Reviews for Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Infrastructure

By Dr. G M A

•

Mar 17, 2022

Excellent!

By Salman K

•

Sep 15, 2023

Fantastic,

By Jose G

•

Aug 16, 2022

Excelente.

By Laura V

•

Dec 30, 2024

Excelente

By SUPRAJA K

•

Nov 5, 2024

excellent

By Norman A

•

Jul 1, 2023

Excellent

By XYZ s

•

Jun 4, 2022

Great One

By Melvin C

•

Apr 20, 2022

Fantastic

By Shanthanalakshmi M

•

Apr 6, 2022

Very good

By Ben K

•

Dec 9, 2021

Inspiring

By Bruno F

•

Nov 26, 2021

MUITO BOM

By Ruben T

•

Nov 19, 2024

amazing!

By Andres J S L

•

Jun 27, 2024

Clear!!!

By Xavier c

•

Oct 1, 2023

EXCELENT

By JOSE E L E

•

Jan 17, 2023

GREAT !!

By José A M M

•

Mar 29, 2023

Amazing

By JONATHAN C

•

Mar 24, 2023

great !

By hongliang y

•

May 6, 2023

Great.

By Vvv P

•

Jan 7, 2023

good

By Nirav N

•

Dec 30, 2022

Good

By Joshua H M

•

Jun 2, 2022

Best

By Michael H

•

Jan 25, 2022

I expected a bit more technical depth to the course. But didn't realize that it was originally targeted to those with minimal pre-existing knowledge. I also watch the videos at 1.50X speed because the instructor goes a little slow for my taste. again, probably to cater to those new to the material.

By Oliver S

•

Nov 10, 2022

A very good overview into the DeFi space. For some items, I wish there had been more detailed explanations. It is hard (at least for me) to envision concepts I have never heard about and how they are actually applied. I am sure that is yet to come in the subsequent courses.

By Patrickpro g

•

Jun 29, 2025

Extremely foundational and deep-dive course, albeit it only talks about technical matters in non-technical metaphors. This is not a flaw whatsoever, just an annotation. Also, there are typos in a non-negligible amount of slides in the presentation. Overall great course.

By Christopher K

•

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.