Advanced Blockchain Concepts

Catalog description

The blockchain stack has five layers: decentralized application, smart contracts, protocol, operating system, and network layers. This course focuses on the blockchain protocol layer, the support provided by the layers below it, and the algorithms and techniques supporting its design and implementation. Topics include Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchain protocols, state and storage management using Merkle trees; consensus algorithms: proof of work, proof of authority, proof of stake, and practical byzantine fault tolerance methods; scalability issues and solutions: side channel, block size, sharding, network-layer solutions such as Tx and block relays; Universal digital identity and self-management of identity; Confidentiality, security, and privacy methods: zero-knowledge proofs, Zcash shielded transactions; Interoperability among protocols: baseline protocol; tokenization with fungible and non-fungible tokens; accessing external data sources using oracles; Ethereum standards and protocol improvement methods; private, public and permissioned blockchains. Upon completing the course, a student will be able to apply protocol level features in application development and will be able to contribute to blockchain protocol improvements. Dual listed with CSE 509.