DeFi and the Future of Finance is a set of four courses that focus on decentralized finance. The final course is called DeFi Opportunities and Risks. It is essential that you complete the first three courses: I. DeFi Infrastructure; II. DeFi Primitives; and III. DeFi Deep Dive before beginning the fourth course. The course starts with the premise that an analysis of any new technology must clearly gauge the risks and challenges. Given that DeFi is only a few years old there are plenty of risks. The course begins with the most obvious risk: smart contract risk. Smart contracts are foundational for DeFi. The code of these contracts is public - opening a clear attack vector for hackers. That is, in traditional finance, hackers need to break into a system to get access to the code and data. In DeFi, everything is open source.There are many other risks studied including: Governance risk; Oracle risk; Scaling risk; Decentralized Exchange or DEX risk; Custodial risk; Environmental risk; and Regulatory risk.
This course is part of the Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Finance Specialization
Offered By
About this Course
It is essential to complete Course I, DeFi Infrastructure, Course II, DeFi Primitives and Course III, DeFi Deep Dive.
What you will learn
A framework to evaluate DeFi risk; Environmental implications of cryptocurrency; and winners and losers in the future of finance.
Skills you will gain
- Understanding smart contract risk
- Different approaches to custody
- Ethereum 2.0 approaches to scaling
- Mechanics and risks of decentralized exchange
- Assessing regulatory risk
It is essential to complete Course I, DeFi Infrastructure, Course II, DeFi Primitives and Course III, DeFi Deep Dive.
Offered by
Duke University
Duke University has about 13,000 undergraduate and graduate students and a world-class faculty helping to expand the frontiers of knowledge. The university has a strong commitment to applying knowledge in service to society, both near its North Carolina campus and around the world.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Smart Contract Risk
The first model explores both logic errors and economic exploits that characterize smart contract risk. We then focus on some specific exploits including the Yearn.finance exploit that utilized a massive flash loan.
Governance, DNS, Oracle, DEX and Custodial Risk
The second model explores additional risks including governance attacks, DNS attacks, oracle vulnerabilities, and DEX risk. The module ends with an exploration of the different types of custodial arrangements and the risks that each approach creates.
Scaling Risk
Scaling risk is one of the biggest risks facing DeFi. Current capacity of the Ethereum blockchain is only about 15 transactions per second whereas the Visa network is 65,000. This module explores potential solutions to the scaling problem.
Regulatory and Environmental Risk
The final module explores the regulatory risk that the DeFi space faces from KYC/AML to the potential declaration that some DeFi tokens are securities. Central bank digital currencies are also explored. We then explore the environmental impact of Proof of Work consensus and the migration to the environmentally friendly Proof of Stake.
Winners and Losers
Reviews
- 5 stars90.74%
- 4 stars8.02%
- 3 stars1.23%
TOP REVIEWS FROM DECENTRALIZED FINANCE (DEFI) OPPORTUNITIES AND RISKS
Amazing course specialization! Take all four of these courses. Up to date as of early 2022, unlike the Consesnys course I took prior to this one.
Good finish. I would have like to have more of the "cons" during the course (e.g. the deep dive) instead of the end. Would have given a more rounded view.
Excelente formación, agradecida con la oportunidad.
Great course for getting an idea of the basics of the DeFi landscape
About the Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Finance Specialization
DeFi and the Future of Finance is a four course learning experience. DeFi or Decentralized Finance is a new technology whereby users interact as peers with algorithms or smart contracts rather than through traditional intermediaries such as banks, brokerages or insurance companies. The technology has the potential to transform finance as we know it. It solves key problems in traditional finance such as lack of inclusion, inefficiency, opacity, centralized control and lack of interoperability.
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