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

4.8
stars
1,502 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

JP

Jul 29, 2022

G​reat introduction for a novice or someone that already has crypto knowlegable. A bit intermeidate with finance concepts, I recommend having some introductory knowledge.

CL

Sep 27, 2022

G​reat overview without diving the technical details associated with the crypto technology. Strong focus on application and how DeFi addresses the major pain points associated with Cefi.

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151 - 175 of 334 Reviews for Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Infrastructure

By Adrian Y H W

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Jun 5, 2023

Great Exposure to the DeFi world, Knowledgeable professor

By Aditya S

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Mar 17, 2023

Good overview to start journey on Decentralized finance.

By Quang A N

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May 14, 2022

It helps me understand the basic concepts of DeFI a lot.

By Joshua R

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Dec 8, 2021

Absolutely excellent, up to date and passionate lectures

By Emin A

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Oct 14, 2023

I like the course so far, though some info is outdated.

By Michel D

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Apr 11, 2022

Excellent Starting point for the DeFi and Crupto world.

By Joseph B

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Mar 10, 2022

great start. love the material. very excited about Defi

By Cobos B M N

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Sep 5, 2025

Para empezar en DeFi esta mas que bien, todo muy claro

By Nicholas G

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May 4, 2022

Excellent course with detailed, thorough information.

By Victor A

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Jan 29, 2022

Well paced, amazingly well taught material. Thank you!

By Shawn A

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Nov 14, 2021

Excellent introduction - well organized and explained.

By Clark T

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Oct 19, 2021

Outstanding introduction to DeFi. Highly recommended!

By KJ J

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May 27, 2022

Great information, great instructor and very useful.

By Fred T C

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Mar 8, 2022

A very good introduction to the fundamentals of DeFi.

By Alison M

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Nov 30, 2021

Excellent instruction. I will continue to the next.

By Riccardo O

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Aug 20, 2025

It is a very clear course about fundamental of DeFi

By Lucas K

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Oct 13, 2022

Brilliant course. Big thanks to Professor Harvey.

By Anele T

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Sep 5, 2022

Very imnformative introduction to the DeFi course.

By Andy P

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Jun 21, 2022

Outstanding broad overview of blockchain and DeFi.

By Anauyla B

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Mar 27, 2022

Great learnings from basics, I'm in love with DeFi

By Monica O

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Dec 27, 2021

Great overview of the basics, I learn a huge deal.

By avishkar v

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Apr 23, 2022

A wonderful experiance for new learners like me.

By Rajiv K

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Apr 18, 2022

Enjoyed the professor and well explained concepts

By Helin

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Dec 31, 2021

One of the few courses I really enjoy following!

By ZAIN M

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Jun 9, 2022

Very thorough breakdown of this brave new world