Blockchain for Business

with Peter Lipovyanov
4.9/5
(161)

The course that will help you understand the business value of blockchain technology and how it will revolutionize several industries.

5 hours 61 lessons
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61 High Quality Lessons
0 Practical Tasks
5 Hours of Video
Certificate of Achievement

Course Overview

There is a theory that approximately every 20 years, we face a social, cultural, or technological revolution that brings something “qualitatively different,” (McKinsey). If that’s true, what is the next big thing? The simple answer – Blockchain. Some bold statements have been made about it, including that it will be “the most disruptive tech in decades” (ComputerWorld), “a technological tour de force” (Bill Gates), and that “it will be everywhere, and the world will have to readjust” (John McAfee). And for the most part, those claims turned out to be true. Blockchain is a highly disruptive technology with a huge impact on the world, comparable to that of the internet. If you don’t want to be left out of the next digital revolution, join us on an exciting journey. Learn everything about blockchain — from the fundamentals to its potential to change the world as we know it. The blockchain technology can impact pretty much any activity involving transactions, transfer of value, property rights, and information exchanges. If you want to make the most of the amazing opportunities it creates, you’d better start learning. Upon completing the course, you will earn a certification proving your knowledge about blockchain.

Topics covered

Business fundamentalsTheory

What You'll Learn

Our online Blockchain course will prepare you for all the exciting opportunities the blockchain technology is opening up. It is the go-to-guide for everyone who want to know what blockchain is, how it works, and what its practical applications are. The Blockchain course is designed in an engaging and accessible way and delivered by an expert in the field. It is not highly technical and does not involve writing code. We provide simple explanations, lots of real-life examples, and case studies. So, even without a technical or financial background, you will find the course very straightforward and useful.

Cut through all the noise and speculation about blockchain
Learn the fundamentals of the technology behind crypto-currencies, how it can be applied in different sectors, and why it is called “the internet of money”
Understand what makes blockchain the hottest field in the tech industry and why it could change the world
Help you make educated decisions related to blockchain and take advantage of its massive applications in business and everyday life
Develop solid fundamental understanding of the inner workings of blockchain with detailed explanations of mining, decentralized consensus, cryptography, smart contracts, and many other concepts
Understand popular and important blockchain projects and crypto-assets

Curriculum

  • An introduction
    2 Lessons 13 Min

    The Blockchain course starts with a quick introductory chapter. It includes 8 examples of how the blockchain technology will disrupt the business world.

    How blockchain will change the world in 8 pictures Blockchain for business - instructor intro and course outline
  • The rise of a new industry
    2 Lessons 10 Min

    A brief explanation why blockchain and cryptocurrencies became the fastest growing market we have ever seen.

    Bitcoin, blockchain, cryptocurrencies - the fastest growing market we have seen Welcome to the world of blockchain
  • The rationale behind cryptocurrencies
    3 Lessons 12 Min

    We start with a brief history of money and payment systems, presenting the monetary evolution from barter trade to fiat and virtual currencies. This naturally leads us to virtual crypto currencies on the blockchain.

    What is money? The three main characteristics of money A brief history of money - from gold to digital money Why cryptocurrencies are the next logical step in monetary evolution
  • Bitcoin - Where it all started
    12 Lessons 51 Min

    Bitcoin, being the first decentralized monetary system that reached public attention, is presented in detail. This section covers its historical background and the fundamental technologies and economic principles that make it work.

    How Bitcoin was born Early scientific breakthroughs Major historic milestones preceding Bitcoin's creation Understanding the idea behind Bitcoin The advantages of a decentralized payment system Bitcoin's five forces Force #1 - Blockchain Blockchain - a distributed ledger Force #2 - Cryptography Cryptography - the technique used to secure Bitcoin Force #3 - Consensus Consensus mechanism - Digital signatures
  • Bitcoin's five forces
    11 Lessons 58 Min

    In this section of the Blockchain course, we examine in detail the five forces behind Bitcoin: blockchain, mining and proof-of-work, game theory, P2P network, and software code base.

    Consensus mechanism - Introduction to proof-of-work Consensus mechanism - mining and proof-of-work Consensus mechanism - game theory Consensus mechanism - what happens if miners misbehave Consensus mechanism - 51% attacks Consensus mechanism - an important detail about consensus attacks Force #4 - P2P network Force #5 - Software code base Software code base - the Script programming language Alternative use cases of Bitcoin Bitcoin - final remarks
  • Blockchain 2.0 - Ethereum
    7 Lessons 30 Min

    Next, we introduce the second generation of blockchain technology with Ethereum. Its creators started from the Bitcoin framework and brought to the world ground-breaking innovations of their own, like smart contracts, decentralized applications, and the Ethereum Virtual Machine. We show many examples of decentralized applications created on top of Ethereum and other blockchains, such as the alternative funding method through blockchain-based crowdfunding campaigns used by start-ups, known as Initial Coin Offerings (or ICO).

    Introduction to Ethereum How Ethereum took the idea of Blockchain to the next level The Ethereum Virtual Machine Ethereum - a global platform for decentralized applications Ethereum and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) - a look into the future Ethereum - key take-aways
  • Industrial applications of blockchain
    6 Lessons 45 Min

    In this section of the Blockchaincourse, we move on to blockchain solutions tailored to specific industries and use-cases. These can be open-source public networks or private permissioned networks. We go through several examples of public blockchains with specific functionalities like Steem, designed for the media industry, several Internet of Things and supply chain management blockchains, and blockchains with enhanced privacy features like Monero, Zcash, and DASH. Then, we present the main private blockchain projects designed for corporate use in a permissioned environment: R3 Corda, Hyperledger, and the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance.

    Industry-specific blockchains Privacy on the blockchain. Privacy coins (Monero, Zcash, Dash) The R3 Corda project The Hyperledger project Hyperledger frameworks The Enterprise Ethereum Alliance
  • Blockchain and the financial sector
    3 Lessons 23 Min

    In each of the following chapters, we examine a different industry. We discuss how blockchain might impact it in the future and what business opportunities will arise from that. We start with the finance industry, as it has been stagnant for quite some time and the technology known as “the Internet of Money” will disrupt the existing status quo.

    Blockchain's disruptive potential Why banks shouldn't ignore blockchain Banking business lines that could be disrupted by blockchain
  • Blockchain and the consumer goods sector
    3 Lessons 17 Min

    In this chapter of the Blockchain course, we discuss the intersection with consumer goods. In particular, we focus on retail, intellectual property-related products, fast moving consumer goods, and the automotive industry. The aim is to build upon the use cases discussed in the previous sections and expand your knowledge of blockchain’s future applications.

    Blockchain and the retail industry Blockchain and Intellectual Property Blockchain and the food industry supply chain
  • Blockchain and the global tech giants
    4 Lessons 27 Min

    This section’s focus is the future of internet giants in the blockchain era. Many of the hypotheses we make are based on the assumption that blockchain will change the world.

    Blockchain and Google Blockchain and Facebook Blockchain and Amazon Blockchain and Apple
  • A look into the future of Blockchain technology
    8 Lessons 47 Min

    This new field has managed to excite a lot of smart people, which see enormous opportunities emerging. Talent and money are flowing in with a strong momentum from all parts of the world. The trend is similar to what we have seen in previous industrial revolutions like steam power, railroads, automobiles, electricity, computers, and the internet. They all have gone through the cycle which blockchain technology is experiencing now.

    Current issues and potential solutions to take blockchain to the next level Scalability solutions Scalability solutions proof-of-stake Scalability solutions: Sharding Scalability solutions Lightning networks, Plasma, Truebit Interoperability between blockchains Next generation blockchains - Tezos, Polkadot, Cosmos, Cardano, Zilliqa Blockchain for Business - conclusion
Student feedback

4.9/5

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08.03.2023
I am always interested to know how blockchain technology works and how it's going to disrupts the industry. This course gives a nice overview to the blockchain world. Highly recommended
04.12.2022
Simplified explanation and examples in the Blockchain course made it easy to understand the basics!
17.11.2022
The course is OK. However, the last sections are not updated as all the analyses are up to 2017.
27.11.2022
Good overview. Be aware that this information is only as recent as 2018 though.
20.03.2023
Great content about recent blockchain technology
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“Imagine you had a roadmap of the internet in the early 1990s, with all the relevant information you needed to navigate the new space and make correct fully-informed decisions. This is exactly what we want to give you with our online course — a roadmap to blockchain!”

Peter Lipovyanov
Worked at HSBC