2025 (Current Year) Faculty Courses School of Computing Department of Mathematical and Computing Science Graduate major in Mathematical and Computing Science
Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology
- Academic unit or major
- Graduate major in Mathematical and Computing Science
- Instructor(s)
- Keisuke Tanaka / Larangeira Junior Mario Rebello
- Class Format
- Lecture (Face-to-face)
- Media-enhanced courses
- -
- Day of week/Period
(Classrooms) - 5-6 Mon (W9-324(W933)) / 5-6 Thu (W9-324(W933))
- Class
- -
- Course Code
- MCS.M430
- Number of credits
- 200
- Course offered
- 2025
- Offered quarter
- 1Q
- Syllabus updated
- Apr 7, 2025
- Language
- English
Syllabus
Course overview and goals
Cryptocurrency, as the newest term is used, is an old dream for engineers and researchers, in particular, cryptographers. In the old days several other terms were also coined, as for example, electronic cash and digital money, however is that the most successful term, and piece of engineering, is what we see nowadays in the news: Cryptocurrency. In this course, students will learn history, theory, and practice of cryptocurrencies: components of cryptocurrency including wallets, mining, blockchain, and ledgers, and also cryptographic primitives including security models, commitments, secret sharing, and zero knowledge proofs.
Course description and aims
By the end of this course, students will be able to understand:
1) History, theory, and design of cryptocurrencies
2) Practical description of cryptocurrencies
3) Components of cryptocurrency and cryptographic primitives
Student learning outcomes
実務経験と講義内容との関連 (又は実践的教育内容)
The course will be the taught by instructions with experience in academia and industry, furthermore they are directly involved in the research and development of real world systems.
Keywords
cryptocurrency, blockchain, cryptography, information security, distributed system, bitcoin
Competencies
- Specialist skills
- Intercultural skills
- Communication skills
- Critical thinking skills
- Practical and/or problem-solving skills
Class flow
The classes will be conducted by presenting the main contents of the class and open for questions from the students at any time.
Course schedule/Objectives
| Course schedule | Objectives | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 1 | Course Introduction / Cryptographic Concepts |
Understanding cryptographic concepts |
| Class 2 | History of Cryptocurrencies / Electronic Money |
Understanding the history of cryptocurrencies and electronic money |
| Class 3 | Bitcoin in Depth |
Understanding Bitcoin |
| Class 4 | Proof of Work/Mining/Proof of Stake/Wallets |
Understanding Proof of Work/Mining/Proof of Stake/Wallets |
| Class 5 | Consensus with BFT and SMR |
Understanding consensus with BFT and SMR |
| Class 6 | SMR/Bitcoin and its Security Proof |
Understanding SMR/Bitcoin and its Security Proof |
| Class 7 | Smart Contracts |
Understanding smart contracts |
| Class 8 | Decentralized Exchange (DEX) |
Understanding decentralized exchange |
| Class 9 | Cryptography: Commitments / Secret Sharing / Signatures |
Understanding cryptographic primitives/protocols |
| Class 10 | Cryptography: provable security / ZK proofs |
Understanding cryptographic primitives |
| Class 11 | Applications: Credentials |
Understanding applications |
| Class 12 | Privacy in decentralized finance |
Understanding privacy preserving applications in decentralized finance |
| Class 13 | Scalability / Layer 2 (1) |
Understanding Scalability |
| Class 14 | Scalability / Layer 2 (2) |
Understanding Scalability |
Study advice (preparation and review)
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class. They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Textbook(s)
Textbooks will not be used in this course.
Reference books, course materials, etc.
References will be announced in classes.
Evaluation methods and criteria
It will consist of two reports during the course. The first will be delivered by the end of Lecture 7, and the second by the end of Lecture 14.
Related courses
- MCS.T213 ： Introduction to Algorithms and Data Structures
- MCS.T323 ： Theory of Computation
- XCO.T473 ： Foundation of Cybersecurity
- MCS.T214 ： Theory of Automata and Languages
- MCS.T405 ： Theory of Algorithms
- XCO.T474 ： Theory of Cryptography for Cybersecurity
Prerequisites
None. However, the knowledge on the basic notions of computer science can help students to understand the contents of the course smoothly.