CMSC 818I: Science of Crypto-Currency, Spring 2015

Instructor	Elaine Shi and Andrew Miller
Location	AVW 3258
Lecture Times	Monday 12:00pm- 2:00pm
Office	AVW 3400 area
Office Hours	By appointment (and you are always welcome to talk to us about crypto-currency!)

Course Description

Decentralized crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin have gained rapid popularity, and attracted the attention of academics, entrepreneurs, economists, as well as policy-makers. Crypto-currencies promise new, automatically enforceable smart contracts that can lower legal and transactional fees, and create new markets. Crypto-currencies have become the central playground for innovation, and will become the way of the future for financial transactions. In this class, we will explore what kind of research challenges face crypto-currencies and digital money in general. We will also hear from invited guest lecturers from various backgrounds such as law and economics.

Targeted Audience and Prerequisite

This class is for students who would like to conduct research on crypto-currencies. Instructor permission is required for attendance.

Note: this is a research oriented class expecting significant time commitment. The class will have one minor project and one major project: 1) a small smart contract programming project; and 2) a full research project.

Syllabus

The information is subject to change.

Grading

15% Class participation
20% Ethereum project
15% Reading Critique and Homeworks
50% Final project

Please read this page about academic integrity.

The above information is subject to change.