Fintech Innovation Series

March 29, 2021 by Bina

What is blockchain?

Twentieth Century Club Presentation

September 6, 2023 by Bina

Getting Ready for the Crypto Economy presentation.

Blockchain in action

January 2021 by Bina

Here is my 5-star rated book.

Blockchain Presentations and Podcasts

February 2021 by Bina

• I conducted a hands-on workshop at Morgan State University FinTech Center to HBCU educators. Here is the presentation.
• I enjoyed career chatting with Latashia Martin on Career chats podcast.
• A candid chat about many open questions on blockchain with Mark Shriner on Secure Talk Podcast; the video is available on youtube.
• Introduction to blockchain workshop at LBS College of Engineering, Kasaragod, Kerala, India. You can find the presentation here.
• Panel/presentation/Open forum at SWE IIT Ropar Global Student Conference. Presentation is here.

Coursera MOOC Specialization on Blockchain

June 12, 2018 by Bina

This highly rated (4.6/5.0) Blockchain Specialization launched on May 28, 2018. Please check this out here.

The blockchain is hailed to be a technology similar in impact to the Internet. With its complex but the strong theoretical foundation, it is expected to lead to a paradigm shift in data structures and application design. It is disrupting the way countries, businesses, people, and things operate. In simple terms, a Blockchain is a distributed ledger that facilitates the transfer of assets among participating peer-entities. Some of the foundational concepts that distinguish it from existing technologies are a robust trust model, robust encryption model, peer-peer mode of operation without an intermediary, immutability of records and consensus by the participants. Though the Blockchain originated from the cryptocurrency Bitcoin, assets other than currency can be transacted over it. Newer Blockchain-based application models and platforms are emerging. There is an urgent need for people who can design and develop applications on Blockchain. What are we doing about it?

UB SEAS has produced a four-course specialization on Blockchain. This is offered as a Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) format on the Coursera platform. The first three courses launched on May 28, 2018. Please see here

Here are some details about the Blockchain Specialization that can be taken for online certification through Coursera.

Name of the specialization: Blockchain

• Course 1: Blockchain Basics: Covers origins of blockchain in Bitcoin. Also provides the details of the techniques and algorithms that power the blockchain technology. Includes a hands-on exercise using Ethereum blockchain.
• Course 2: Smart Contracts: Deals with smart contract design and development using Ethereum, Solidity, and Remix integrated development environment. Includes best practices and emerging standards and a hands-on exercise in designing a smart contract.
• Course 3: Design and Development of Decentralized Applications: Discusses design and development of a Dapp (decentralized application) using Truffle IDE.
• Course 4: Blockchain Platforms: Deals with other blockchain platforms such as Hyperledger Fabric and Microsoft Azure, practical applications of blockchain in prediction markets and energy markets, and emerging alternatives to blockchain consensus protocol in hashgraph.