Course Description
This course provides you with a solid, overall, understanding of blockchain technology and how it relates to the finance industry. Together we cover the most essential areas and use-cases regarding blockchain technology, how it's disrupting the finance industry and how it can also generate new opportunities. You will be prepared to understand the changes that are, and will be occuring in various industries due to the revolutionising aspects of this technology.
What am I going to get from this course?
Understanding the fundamentals of blockchain technology, how it works, its history and design principles.
Understanding the challenges and possiblities, and getting a foundational understanding that will help you to make investments and analyse news.
Navigate the blockchain space with a new-found understanding and terminology.
Prerequisites and Target Audience
What will students need to know or do before starting this course?
No prequisites are required to follow this course.
Who should take this course? Who should not?
This course can be taken by anyone who is interested in understanding blockchain technology, and how it relates to finance and fintech. Professionals working within finance may derive even more benefit from this course.
This course is entry level, and also contains basic finance terminology.
Curriculum
Module 1: Why Blockchain - An Introduction to the Technology
36:52
Lecture 1
Database and distributed ledger technology - Where does it create value?
14:19
This lecture introduces the concept of blockchain technology. It touches upon the role (or lack thereof) of middlemen, zero trust and security.
This short quiz will briefly assess the information obtained throughout the first Lecture of "Blockchain for Finance Professionals" Course, Module 1. Hopefully, after this evaluation, you will understand better the knowledge presented in the lecture.
Lecture 2
Public Standards: Bitcoin, Ethereum
08:34
This lecture contains a brief history of Ethereum and Bitcoin, and compares the two industry-leading blockchains to eachother.
Lecture 3
Private blockchains and the race to the ultimate platform
13:59
In this lecture we review the different kind of blockchain protocols. We go through the development of the R3 consortium, and follow case studies of R3 CEV and Hyperledger.
Quiz 2
Quiz Lecture 2 & 3
This short quiz will briefly assess the information obtained throughout the second Lecture of "Blockchain for Finance Professionals" Course, Module 1. Hopefully, after this evaluation, you will understand better the knowledge presented in the lectures. There can be one or more correct answers.
Module 2: Challenges facing blockchain technology
04:57
Lecture 4
Transaction Speed
03:10
Transaction speed on the blockchain, and the various factors that determine it, are discussed in this lecture.
Lecture 5
Energy Consumption
00:54
A brief look at how energy consumption plays into the picture, and some of the energy challenges of the bitcoin blockchain.
Lecture 6
Volatile Transaction Costs
00:53
Among the challenges facing bitcoin are the volatile transaction costs. We briefly analyse the current situation, and how difficulties inherent in the protocol, as well as community, influence this.
Quiz 3
Quiz Lectures 4, 5 & 6
This short quiz will briefly assess the information obtained throughout the second Lecture of "Blockchain for Finance Professionals" Course, Module 2. Hopefully, after this evaluation, you will understand better the knowledge presented in the lectures. There can be one or more correct answers.
Lecture 7
Introduction : What we will cover in Module 3
00:46
Lecture 8
The Current Payment Systems
06:07
This lecture will cover the types of payments existing today. We will take a deep dive into how correspondent banking works, trends in doing payments and, lastly, the challenges facing the payment industry.
Lecture 9
Blockchain Technology for Payments
05:47
In this lecture we cover how payments using blockchain technology - or 'distributed ledger technology' (DLT) works. We go into the different opportunities that are arising, in using the technology in this way, along with the benefits and challenges.
Quiz 4
Quiz Lectures 7, 8 & 9
This short quiz will briefly assess the information obtained throughout the second Lecture of "Blockchain for Finance Professionals" Course, Module 3. Hopefully, after this evaluation, you will understand better the knowledge presented in the lectures. There can be one or more correct answers.
Lecture 10
How can established finance benefit
06:16
Blockchain technology isn't all about disruption and anarchy. Established finance institutions and corporations may benefit greatly from shifting to this technology. We discover some of these prospects. Finally we go through 3 real-world case studies of revolutionary payment systems, with: Abra, BitPesa and Ripple.
The lecture ends with some thoughts on what the future may hold.
Lecture 11
Introduction : What we will cover in Loans
00:47
Lecture 12
Syndicated Loans
03:12
This lecture delves into syndicated loans through the blockchain. Here its beneficial potentials for transparency, effeciency and reduction of overhead are put forward and discussed.
Lecture 13
Account Receivables and Inventory Lending
01:42
Utilizing blockchain technology allows the account receivables to be stored on the chain, whereby the banks are able to extract numbers instantaneously, and miscommunication and miscalculations are avoided. Here we also look at the potential of using smart contracts for these purposes.
Lecture 14
Construction Lending
02:05
Construction lending is used as an example of how blockchain technology can greatly facilitate transparency, and accessibility of information, for all the relevant stakeholders of a transaction.
Quiz 5
Quiz Lectures 10, 11 & 12
This short quiz will briefly assess the information obtained throughout the second Lecture of "Blockchain for Finance Professionals" Course, Module 4. Hopefully, after this evaluation, you will understand better the knowledge presented in the lectures. Remember that there can be one or more correct answers.
Module 5: Clearing and Settlement for Capital Markets
15:21
Lecture 15
Introduction
00:34
Lecture 16
Case Study - T0
07:23
In order to provide context for the emergening companies that are discussed later, we start out with a brief recap of the recent history of clearing and settlements. A wallstreet startup named T0 is used as a case study. T0 enables users to trade cryptographically-ensured smart contracts on a publicly distributed ledger system, which has large benefits, such as greatly reducing settlement time.
Lecture 17
Case Study - R3
02:19
R3 is a consortium of the world’s biggest banks and financial institutions. Its primary focus is on the financial world's innovation through the use of blockchain technology. We introduce you to R3, discuss its 'Utility Settlement Coin' and its potential impact on industry.
Lecture 18
The Impact of Blockchain Tech on High Frequency Trading
00:56
The recolutionary principles upon which blockchain technology is built, may greatly affect the realms of high frequency trading and microtransactions. This lecture provides a brief overview of the developments.
Lecture 19
Drawbacks & Challenges of Blockchain Technology
04:09
Blockchain technology does indeed carry immense potential. Nevertheless, as with all emerging technologies, there are drawbacks and challenges. As these have been mentioned throughout the course, they are summurized here. Lastly we ponder what the future may have in store.
Quiz 6
Quiz Lecture 14, 15 & 16
This short quiz will briefly assess the information obtained throughout the second Lecture of "Blockchain for Finance Professionals" Course, Module 5. Hopefully, after this evaluation, you will understand better the knowledge presented in the lectures. Remember that there can be one or more correct answers.
