Blockchain Specialization
Innovate with the Next Frontier in Technology. Learn how the blockchain is leading to a paradigm shift in decentralized application programming
Offered By

What you will learn
Understand smart contracts, a core idea and computational model of blockchain that enables automation, autonomy, scalability and transparency.
Have an understanding and working knowledge of the emerging blockchain technology.
How to design and program smart contracts and decentralized application.
How to think of innovative application models, leveraging the blockchain technology.
Skills you will gain
About this Specialization
Applied Learning Project
Learners will apply the concepts covered in the courses to deploy an instance of a blockchain and carry out peer-to-peer transactions, program and test smart contracts using Solidity language; and analyze, design and code a blockchain-based solution for decentralized applications.
Knowledge of at least one modern, high-level programming language is required.
Knowledge of at least one modern, high-level programming language is required.
How the Specialization Works
Take Courses
A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.
Hands-on Project
Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.
Earn a Certificate
When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.

There are 4 Courses in this Specialization
Blockchain Basics
This first course of the Blockchain specialization provides a broad overview of the essential concepts of blockchain technology – by initially exploring the Bitcoin protocol followed by the Ethereum protocol – to lay the foundation necessary for developing applications and programming. You will be equipped with the knowledge needed to create nodes on your personal Ethereum blockchain, create accounts, unlock accounts, mine, transact, transfer Ethers, and check balances.
Smart Contracts
This second course of the Blockchain specialization will help you design, code, deploy and execute a smart contract – the computational element of the blockchain technology. Smart contracts allow for implementing user-defined operations of arbitrary complexity that are not possible through plain cryptocurrency protocols. They allow users to implement conditions, rules and policies of the domain applications. Smart contracts are a powerful feature that, when properly designed and coded, can result in autonomous, efficient and transparent systems.
Decentralized Applications (Dapps)
This third course of the Blockchain specialization prepares you to design and develop end-to-end decentralized applications (Dapps) – which provide anyone with access to the blockchain’s features and services. You will use Truffle IDE, smart contracts, a simple web client and a MetaMask client. You will learn about the architecture of a Dapp: the front-end client interface, backed by the blockchain and smart contracts. The course covers the basic design of a Dapp, Truffle development process and commands (init, develop, test and migrate), test-driven development of Dapp, Dapp application models and emerging standards that are essential for predictable Dapp behavior.
Blockchain Platforms
This fourth course of the Blockchain specialization provides learners with an understanding of the broader blockchain ecosystem. Learners are introduced to other blockchain platforms, details of two decentralized application use cases, and challenges such as privacy and scalability. They are prepared to discuss permissioned blockchain architectures of Hyperledger and Microsoft Azure's blockchain as a service model and analyze the Augur and Grid+ decentralized application platforms. Course material includes emerging alternative decentralization models such as IPFS and Hashgraph, challenges in broader blockchain adoption, and continuous improvement solutions.
Offered by

University at Buffalo
The University at Buffalo (UB) is a premier, research-intensive public university and the largest, most comprehensive institution of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. UB offers more than 100 undergraduate degrees and nearly 300 graduate and professional programs.

The State University of New York
The State University of New York, with 64 unique institutions, is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States. Educating nearly 468,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs both on campus and online, SUNY has nearly 3 million alumni around the globe.
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