3.0

credits

Average Course Rating

This course covers the basics of Bitcoin and the underlying technologies driving it. The course is intended for students interested in the cryptographic techniques devised to make digital currencies and payment systems secure. Topics include Bitcoin transactions, the blockchain, mining, and decentralized consensus. The course will include a brief introduction to public-key cryptography, digital signatures, hash functions, proof of work/space, multisignatures, and elliptic curve cryptography. The course concludes with an overview of the Bitcoin scripting language and Bitcoin 2.0 platforms. [Systems] Recommended Course Background: EN.600.344/444 (Computer Networks) and EN.550.171 (Discrete Math)