Introduction to Blockchain

Robert Gordon University

United Kingdom, Aberdeen

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924

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Robert Gordon University

United Kingdom , Aberdeen

Key Facts

Program Level

Certificate

Study Type

Full Time

Delivery

Online

Credit point

15 Points

Campuses

Main Site

Program Language

English

Start & Deadlines

Next Intake Deadlines28-Jan-2023

Apply to this program

Go to the official application for the university

Duration 10 week(s)

Next Intake 28-Jan-2023

Introduction to Blockchain

About

Blockchain technology is rapidly gaining in popularity and revolutionising the financial industry and beyond. However, it remains an elusive concept that is much talked about but little understood. This course can help demystify this technology and help participants from all backgrounds appreciate the potential of blockchain applications.

The aim of this course is to enable participants to explore the world of blockchain technology and its applications in industry and financial services.

Topics

Introduction: Properties of money, history of digital currencies, distributed ledger, the origin of Bitcoin.
Mining: Proof of Work mining, hash functions, history of development of mining equipment, mining pools, fee markets, transactions priority.
Transactions: Gentle introduction to public key cryptography, inputs/outputs/UTXOs, address formats, block explorers, security/deanonymisation.
Wallets: Function of wallets as a keystore, hardware wallets, insecure and obsolete wallet types and their weaknesses (security issues), key backup, extended public key (xpub).
Altcoins: Types of forks, example alt coins (LTC, DOGE, XRP), privacy coins, smart contract platforms.
Ethereum: The Ethereum virtual machine (EVM), â€˜gasâ€™ model of fees, fungible tokens, wrapped tokens, non-fungible tokens/games, NFT art, decentralised autonomous organizations (DAO).
Markets: Centralized exchanges (CEXs), volatility market risk, DeFi - decentralized exchanges (DEXs), collateralised lending, liquidation risk, arbitrage.
Blockchain Applications: Private blockchains, supply chain tracking, blockchain in finance/remittance, electronic voting, crowdfunding ICOs.
Real World Issues: Regulatory compliance, income & capital gains tax, utility tokens vs securities and ICOs. Phishing and other scams. Environmental impact of Proof of Work, asset inheritance planning.
Future of Blockchain: Future of Bitcoin soft forks, Proof of Stake (PoS), second layer payment networks, privacy enhancements.

Upskilling Courses

In partnership with the Scottish Funding Council (SFC), our online upskilling short courses have been developed in response to feedback from businesses regarding their people and skills needs and are therefore helpful for individuals considering their employment options as well as organisations looking to upskill their employees. Find out more:

Upskill with our online short courses

Teaching

Recorded Lectures: approximately 2 hours/week in total, presented as short bite-sized (20-30 minute) lessons
Tutorial exercises: a range of guided exercises to help participants further explore the principles covered in lectures.

Assessment

Regular formative quizzes to check your understanding and progress.
An essay on a chosen topic related to blockchain technology to bring together elements of the course, and presenting the findings in the form of a short report.

Independent Study

Materials and exercises are available online, allowing participants to study flexibly and independently at time and place to fit around existing work and life commitments.
Further reading resources.
Online tutor support.

Staff Delivering on This Course

Lee Christie, who is the member of staff delivering this course has an extensive experience in the domain of blockchain technology, including research publications. In addition, Rajesh Kumar, the founder of TrackGenesis, an award-winning blockchain-based software company, will be invited to deliver guest presentations.

Staff are recognised for their Teaching and Support, with a number of staff receiving STAR awards year on year.

Requirements

Entry Requirements

Applications will be considered on a case by case basis, please contact Admissions for information: [email protected]
Applicants who do not hold an International High School qualification will be expected to undertake a pathway programme at our International College

English Program Requirements

Most undergraduate courses require an IELTS score of 6.0, with a minimum of 5.5 in each area. Some courses require a higher English language score. Always check the relevant course page and our English Language Requirements page before applying.

Fee Information

Tuition Fee

GBP 0

How to Apply

Completing an existing course (for example passing your Bachelors before coming to do a Masters with us). Please upload your degree documents to your Apply Yourself record or email the Admissions Office with these.
Proving that your English language is good enough for University-level study. In this case you should send us a copy of your IELTS or TOEFL certificate as soon as it is available. Please upload these documents to your Apply Yourself record or email the Admissions Office with these.
Making a pre-payment (deposit) for international students. In this case you must arrange to pay the University before we can release an Unconditional Offer. To find out how to do this, please visit the Making Payment page.