COS 471: Blockchains, Decentralized Trust, and Their Applications

Spring 2024

General Information

J.P. Singh
Robert S. Fish

Instructors

J.P. Singh: (jps at cs dot princeton dot edu)
Robert S. Fish: (rfish at cs dot princeton dot edu)

Graduate TAs

NA
NA

UCAs

Yousef Amin: (yousef at princeton dot edu)
Jonathan Mindel: (jonathanmindel at princeton dot edu)
Sriyans Rauniyar: (rauniyar at princeton dot edu)

Required Books

Pritzker, Yan. Inventing Bitcoin. 2019.
Narayanan, A., Bonneau, J., Felten, E., Miller, A., and Goldfeder, S. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies. 2016.

Recommended Books

Alden, L. Broken Money. 2023.
Voshmgir, S. Token Economy. 2019.
Ammous, S. The Bitcoin Standard. 2018.

Meeting time and place

Wednesday 1:30-4:20PM, Robertson Hall 016.
Attendance is required. No more than one absence will be permitted.

Discussions

Discussions take place on our Ed board.
We'll use Canvas as well.

Office Hours

Course staff have scheduled office hours:

  • Dr. Fish: Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4:30pm in Corwin 037
  • Dr. Singh: By appointment
  • UCA's will schedule their office hours
Office hours are also available via Zoom

Description

This course serves as an introduction to the fast-developing world of blockchains, focused on the applications of blockchains, cryptocurrencies, and decentralization through technology.

Students will learn about blockchains and the decentralization of trust and power through technology, launch a cryptocurrency token, and build an application on a blockchain. We will also discuss applications, ethical implications, and policy questions around decentralization.

Weekly meetings may include a topical lecture, a guest speaker, and a class discussion. In some weeks students may be asked to prepare and give a presentation on a topic or on their project.

Grading

  1. Component Points
  2. Class Attendance 60
  3. Class Participation 60
  4. Assignments 140
    1. Assignment 1 40
    2. Assignment 2 100
  5. Topic Presentation 100
  6. Project 350
    1. Proposal 100
    2. Final Deliverable 250

Readings

Make sure you do the readings.

Readings are essential to this class. Without them you will be lost in the class discussions. Treat them as seriously as any other assignment.

Lateness

The penalty for late work is 10% per day late.

No work can be turned in after Dean's Date.

Schedule

The schedule and readings are subject to change.

    1. Date
    2. Session
    1. Jan 31
    2. Introduction to Web3 and Decentralization

      Guest Speaker: Lyn Alden - History of Money - - bio

    1. Feb 07
    2. Decentralization (cont.)

      Guest Speaker: Pete Briger - Financial Industry View of Blockchain

      Read: Inventing Bitcoin (book)
    1. Feb 14

      2. Interesting Readings

      Why it's too early to get excited about Web3

      Papers and Articles

      Nakamoto, S. "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System," 2008.
      Chaum, D. "Security without Identification: Transaction Systems to Make Big Brother Obsolete," Communications of the ACM, 28(70), 1985.

      Websites

      Open Zeppelin (reusable smart contracts that could be helpful for final projects)
      US Security and Exchange Commission on Initial Coin Offerings

      Tutorials

      Stacks NFT Tutorial (Clarity)

      Frequently Asked Questions


      May I partner with someone?
      In some circumstances, yes. We will let you know when partnering is appropriate.


      Will taking this course enable me to accumulate a crypto fortune?
      A wise person once said that the quickest way to a $1 million fortune was to start with a $5 million fortune and then trade speculatively.