The Blockchain Fundamentals is a comprehensive survey of relevant topics in blockchain offered through the UC Berkeley Decal program. From a technological standpoint, we start with the basics of cryptography and economics, establish a solid fundamental understanding of Bitcoin by building it from the bottom up, and from there, explore the myriad of ideas and technologies relating to blockchain technology. On the non-technical side, we start with the history of digital currency, then look at the laws, organizations, trends, and communities behind it to build a complete picture of the ecosystem surrounding blockchain technology.

Many people find it difficult to understand blockchain because it requires the coordination of many components for it to function, and it's hard to see the full picture until all the individual components are fully understood. Furthermore, since the field is very technical and relatively new, blockchain-related discussion by nature is full of jargon. Therefore, it is easy to get lost trying to follow nearly any conversation on blockchain if you have not built up the right background.

Therefore, the goal of this course is to surmount the steep learning curve of blockchain. By the end of this course you will understand how blockchain works and the ideas, technologies, and organizations sprouting from it.

After applying, the facilitators will update you with your enrollment status (accepted or waitlist) as soon as it changes. Entering our class is dependent on obtaining a course entry code. If you are accepted, we will email you your code and you must enroll in the class within three days or the code will be considered invalid. We will also be enforcing a mandatory attendance policy for the first two classes—you will be dropped if you miss either of these two classes. Additionally, because the first two weeks of lecture are instrumental in building a concrete understanding of blockchain, waitlisted students that have attended the first two weeks of classes will be strongly preferred. EDIT: ENROLLMENT CLOSED. The number of days left is negative. If you are interested in being involved with Blockchain at Berkeley or learning the course material, please consider auditing the class if there is space and/or watching our lectures as they come out online.