LFS176x-Hyperledger Besu Essentials

This course is designed for experienced Developers and DevOps professionals who are interested in learning about Hyperledger Besu features and capabilities, and who are looking to expand their blockchain architecture knowledge. It will be also helpful to blockchain architects who are looking to learn more about Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible blockchains.

In this course, you will learn how to install Hyperledger Besu, start up Hyperledger Besu for MainNet and build a Hyperledger Besu private network. You will also learn how to create a private network with privacy and send a private transaction in a private network using Tessera.

The course provides you with a sub-set of skills required for a career change into Blockchain-focused developer operations roles.

LFS172x-Identity in Hyperledger

This program is geared towards learners with a technical background interested in developing identity-focused blockchain solutions to enhance user privacy. Learners will start by exploring the possibilities offered by Hyperledger Indy, Aries and Ursa for building applications on a solid digital foundation of trust and examine how these open source technologies can make the Internet safer and increase user privacy by only disclosing specific information as and when needed and authorized. They will then do a deep-dive into Hyperledger Aries, learning to create production-ready applications by developing code for issuing and verifying credentials with their own Aries agent.

CS198.2x - Berkeley's Blockchain Technologies

This course provides a wide overview of many of the topics relating to and building upon the foundation of Bitcoin and blockchain technology.

The course is divided into 6 modules: 1. Distributed Systems & Consensus, 2. Cryptoeconomics & Proof-of-Stake, 3. Enterprise Blockchain, 4. Scalability, 5.Anonymity, and 6. A Blockchain Powered Future.

1. Trust Without Trust: Distributed Systems & Consensus

   Blockchain architecture is built on the foundation of decades of computer science and distributed systems literature. We start out by providing a formal definition of distributed consensus and presenting foundational theoretical computer science topics such as the CAP Theorem and the Byzantine Generals Problem. We then explore alternative consensus mechanisms to Bitcoin’s Proof-of-work, including Proof-of-Stake, voting-based consensus algorithms, and federated consensus.

2. Securing Incentives: Cryptoeconomics & Proof-of-Stake

   We examine the meaning and properties of cryptoeconomics as it relates to its two compositional fields: cryptography and economics. We then look at the goals of cryptoeconomics with respect to distributed systems fundamentals (liveness, safety, data availability) and the griefing factors and faults in the way of these goals.

3. Real-World Applications: Enterprise Blockchain

   We categorize the uses of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies, and look at various existing enterprise-level blockchain implementations, such as JP Morgan’s Quorum, Ripple, Tendermint, and HyperLedger. We also explore business and industry use cases for blockchain, ICOs, and the increasing regulations surrounding blockchain.

4. Cryptocurrencies for the Masses: Scaling Blockchain

   One major obstacle to widespread blockchain adoption is the problem of scalability. We define scaling first as it relates to Bitcoin as a payment method, and compare it to more traditional forms of payment such as credit cards. We then consider the general blockchain scalability debate and look into some solutions categorized by vertical and horizontal, as well as layer 1 and layer 2 scaling. Topics include block size increases, Segregated Witness, payment channels, Lightning Network, sidechains, Plasma, sharding, and Cosmos.

5. The Fight for Privacy: Anonymity, Mixing & Altcoins

   We look into the measures that governments have taken to regulate and control blockchain technology. We examine Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations, anonymity goals, and government techniques for deanonymization of entities on blockchain. Then from the user’s perspective, we also dive into privacy oriented altcoins and mixing techniques.

6. A Blockchain Powered Future

   A summary of the entire Blockchain Fundamentals program and an exploratory look into blockchain ventures today, such as venture capitalism, ICOs, and crowdfunding. We conclude with a blockchain-based future thought experiment and explain the avenues for the student’s potential involvement.

LFS171x - Hyperledger Blockchain

Blockchain technology is changing how businesses operate. With trust built into blockchain solutions, it is important to understand how this new technology is different and how it works in comparison with technologies of the past.

First, we cover the main concepts of what blockchain is and some of its major characteristics. We take you through the important players in this diverse community. We discuss how it began, first introduced for the administration of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, and how it is now applied to all aspects of business including government, banking, supply chains, and other industries.

Next, we analyze the mechanics of blockchains and how they work. We will cover the concept of transparent ledgers, public and permissioned, and focus on using cryptography to achieve consensus, immutability, and transparency. This is all part of blockchain's ability to provide "trusted data from untrusted sources", disrupting traditional accounting methodologies and international trade.

We will cover some of the functions of blockchain. You will discover the power of the smart contract, the building blocks for transactions on the blockchain. You will gain an understanding of the different blockchain structures and how start up decisions influence how your blockchain deals with security, identity, consensus, and governance.

We then dive into the various methods of blockchain governance. You will understand how different governance models dictate how your blockchain operates, and gain insight into consortiums and how this transformative technology is creating new avenues of communication.

Next, we examine the problems blockchain solves that have been difficult to overcome in the past with more centralized architectures, discovering how blockchain tackles the double spend issue, creates autonomy and transparency while facilitating innovative ways for multiple parties to interact.

You will then discover the new and creative ways blockchain is changing the future. New insights and models dealing with Identity will be explored.

You will look at trends in Decentralized Finance, NFT (non-fungible tokens), CBDC (central bank digital currencies) and how the push for interoperability between blockchains is becoming increasingly important.

Finally, we take a deep dive into the various use cases of blockchain, complete with analyzing real examples of how different industries are executing the technology and opening up new avenues for improving their businesses.

LFS173x - Aries Development

Hyperledger Indy, Aries and Ursa make it possible to:

• Establish a secure, private channel with another person, organization, or IoT thing—like authentication plus a virtual private network—but with no session and no login.
• Send and receive arbitrary messages with high security and privacy.
• Prove things about yourself; receive and validate proofs about other parties.
• Create an agent that proxies/represents you in the cloud or on edge devices.
• Manage your own identity:
• Authorize or revoke devices.
• Create, update and revoke keys.

LFS170x - Blockchain: Understanding Its Uses and Implications

Blockchain technology is changing how businesses operate. With trust built into blockchain solutions, it is important to understand how this new technology is different and how it works in comparison with technologies of the past.

The first segment of this course covers the main concepts of what blockchain is and some of the major characteristics that make this transformative technology so important. It takes you through the important players in this diverse community. It discusses how it began, first introduced for the administration of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency, and how it is now applied to all aspects of business including, government, banking, supply chains, and a host of other industries.

The next section analyzes some of the mechanics of blockchains and how they work. We will cover the concept of transparent ledgers, both public and permissioned, and focus on using cryptography to achieve consensus, immutability, and transparency. This is all part of blockchain's ability to provide "trusted data from untrusted sources", disrupting traditional accounting methodologies and international trade.

The course will then cover some of the functions of blockchain. You will discover the power of the smart contract, the building blocks for transactions on the blockchain. You will gain an understanding of the different blockchain structures and how start up decisions influence how your blockchain deals with security, identity, consensus, and governance.

The course then dives into the various methods of blockchain governance that currently exist in the community. You will understand how different governance models dictate how your blockchain operates. You will also gain insight into consortiums and how this transformative technology is creating new avenues of communication.

The next section of the course includes examining problems blockchain solves that have been difficult to overcome in the past with more centralized architectures. You will discover how blockchain tackles the double spend issue, creates autonomy and transparency while facilitating innovative ways for multiple parties to interact. You will then discover the new and creative ways blockchain is changing the future. New insights and models dealing with how we identify ourselves on the Internet and how we can trust creditantial with blockchain-based solutions will be explored. You will look at trends in Decentralized Finance, NFT (non-fungible tokens), CBDC (central bank digital currencies) and how the push for interoperability between blockchains is becoming increasingly important.

The final part of the course takes a deep dive into the various use cases of blockchain, complete with analyzing real examples of how different industries are executing the technology and opening up new avenues for improving their businesses.