Blockchain technology has transformed the landscape of financial markets by introducing decentralized systems that challenge traditional financial intermediaries. This lecture provides a foundational understanding of blockchain, with a focus on Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two most prominent platforms in the space.
Readings
The readings for this lecture will mostly consist of whitepapers. It is important to go to the source material when trying to understand this new technology, its vision, history and purpose.
Readings:
The Ethereum whitepaper can also be found in more of a markdown format at the Ethereum.org Website.
Note that both Bitcoin and Ethereum are evolving projects and their whitepapers serve as historical documents portraying their vision and lays the groundwork for understanding the protocols. However, to fully understand today’s version of the protocols further study is necessary.
For example,
An academic treatment of the economics of Ethereum can be found at:
The supplementary readings include:
The core building blocks of Bitcoin can be traced back to concepts from b-money and Hashcash. b-money was proposed by Wei Dai in 1998, b-money introduced key ideas such as a decentralized network, anonymous transactions, and the use of a ledger to keep track of balances, which influenced the development of Bitcoin. Hashcash was proposed by Adam Back in 2002, Hashcash is a proof-of-work system initially designed to prevent email spam and denial-of-service attacks. The proof-of-work concept from Hashcash was adapted by Satoshi Nakamoto for Bitcoin to secure the network and create new bitcoins.
The b-money whitepaper can also be found here, however the version at Wei Dai’s website seems to be down.
The Ethereum Yellow Paper is the technical specification of the Ethereum blockchain, detailing its underlying mechanics, protocols, and algorithms. Written by Gavin Wood in 2014, it serves as the formal definition of the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), providing the precise rules and instructions that govern how Ethereum operates, including how transactions are processed, blocks are validated, and smart contracts are executed. I very much recommend reading this paper for anyone that is interested in how Ethereum works.
Additionally, there are two books that I’ve found useful when learning the practical sides of the protocols:
As a last recommendation, for anyone interested in the history of Bitcoin and its development, I recommend looking into the “Cypherpunk mailing list”. This cryptography-focused mailing list from the 1990s was instrumental for the discussions and ideas that eventually influenced the creation of Bitcoin. The archived emails can be found and read online.