Description: 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.

Goal: Many people struggle 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 of the picture 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.