Cryptocurrency Engineering and Design - Spring 2018

Explore the intricacies of cryptocurrency engineering and design in this comprehensive MIT course. Delve into the fundamental concepts of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, focusing on cryptography, game theory, and network architecture. Learn about signatures, hashing, proof of work, mining, transactions, and the UTXO model. Examine synchronization processes, pruning, wallets, and SPV. Investigate forks, fees, transaction malleability, and Segregated Witness. Discover advanced topics such as payment channels, Lightning Network, cross-chain swaps, and discreet log contracts. Explore anonymity techniques, confidential transactions, and alternative consensus mechanisms. Gain insights into new directions in crypto and zkLedger. Taught by instructors Neha Narula and Tadge Dryja, this course offers a deep dive into the technical aspects of cryptocurrency design and implementation.

Syllabus

1. Signatures, Hashing, Hash Chains, e-cash, and Motivation.
2. Proof of Work and Mining.
3. Signatures.
4. Transactions and the UTXO model.
5. Synchronization Process and Pruning.
6. Wallets and SPV.
7. Catena: Efficient Non-equivocation via Bitcoin.
8. Forks.
10. PoW Recap, Other Fork Types.
11. Fees.
12. Transaction Malleability and Segregated Witness.
13. Payment Channels and Lightning Network.
14. Lightning Network and Cross-chain Swaps.
15. Discreet Log Contracts.
16. MAST, Taproot, Graftroot.
17. Anonymity, Coinjoin and Signature Aggregation.
18. Confidential Transactions.
22. Alternative Consensus Mechanisms.
23. New Directions in Crypto.
24. zkLedger.