FA591 Blockchain Technologies & Decentralized Finance


Course Catalog Description

Introduction

The course will introduce concepts of Blockchain technologies as they apply to decentralized finance. The course starts with cryptocurrency and advances the concept of smart contracts as they apply to financial instruments. The course is technical and requires knowledge of programming in Python as well as financial instruments and concepts. Programming in solidity is learned throughout the class. The course discusses risk management concepts, stable coins as well as how regulations may impact the area.


Prerequisite: Technical background from either FE, FA, BI&A, or CS. Basic finance principles acquired through FE620, FA 535 or equivalent. Basic programming skills in Python, FE520 or equivalent.

Campus Fall Spring Summer
On Campus X X
Online X X

Instructors

Professor Email Office
Zachrary Feinstein zfeinste@stevens.edu Babbio 635

More Information

Course Objectives

In this course students will be provided modern tools to understand web3 and blockchain applications. They will understand the differences and similarities between Crypto Decentralized Finance and Centralized Finance capital markets. The students will be capable to use solidity programming to introduce and develop smart contracts. Finally, the students will be capable of understanding principles of token engineering


Course Outcomes

After successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  • Understand DeFi & CeFi crypto capital markets
  • Understand Solidity & smart contract fundamentals
  • Apply these concepts to design and develop blockchain solutions, token as well as DeFi trading applications

Course Resources

Textbooks

  • [DEFI]Marco Di Maggio, Blockchain, Crypto and DeFi: Bridging Finance and Technology, Wiley (2024)
  • [METH]Andreas M. Antonopoulos, Gavin Wood, Carlo Parisi, Alessandro Mazza, and Niccolo Pozzolini, Mastering Ethereum, O’Reilly Media, (2025, 2nd edition)
  • Additional readings to be assigned

Grading

Grading Policies

Assignment Weights
1 Class Participation & Attendance 5%
2 Homework Assignments 35%
3 Quizzes 20%
4 Final Project(Paper) 30%
5 Final Project(Presentation) 10%

Lecture outline

Week Topics Covered Readings Assignments
Week 1 Bitcoin Mechanics & Proof of Work DEFI: Ch 1
Week 2 Ethereum: EVM, dApps & Introduction to DeFi DEFI: Ch 2
METH: Ch 1,2,14 		HW1 assigned
Project assigned
Week 3 Solidity & Smart Contract Fundamentals METH: Ch 6,7
Week 4 Scaling, Rollups & Alternative Blockchains DEFI: Ch 3
METH: Ch 16		 HW1 due
HW2 assigned
Week 5 Smart Contract Security, Oracles & DeFi Infrastructure METH: Ch 9,11 Project Proposal dued
Week 6 DEXs & Automated Market Makers DEFI: Ch 7
METH: Ch 13		 HW2 dued
HW3 assigned
Week 7 Staking, Liquid Staking & Restaking DEFI: Ch 8(Sect.5)
METH: Ch 15
Week 8 DeFi Lending DEFI: Ch6(Sect. 5-7)
Week 9 Perpetual Futures A Primer on Perpetual Futures HW3 dued
HW4 assigned
Week 10 Options & On-Chain Derivatives Everlasting Options
Week 11 Governance, DAOs & Token Design DEFI: Ch 6
METH: Ch 10		 HW4 dued
Week 12 Stablecoins, Tokenization & Real-World Assetss DEFI: Ch 4,9
Week 13 Regulation & Institutional Adoption DEFI: Ch 11
Week 14 Presentations Final Paper & Presentation Slide dued

Final Project

The project will focus on the development of a prototypes for Blockchain applications or Decentralized Finance applications , with the final presentation comprising of two presentations, one for the business case with specific financial analytics application that blockchain technology solves, discussing the business and financial applications of the technology, and one to discuss the technological prototype or architecture.

A proof-of-concept should be developed for the project, which is a (not perfectly) working demo of the proposed system to show the technical aspects are capable of functioning. Projects may involve design of blockchain solution, token engineering & airdrop design, and programmable application for decentralized finance using solidity programming language. Examples includes design of blockchain web3 infrastructure (permissioned or permissionless), design of DeFi market applications using solidity or airdrop or token design engineering.

The projects will be done with small teams of no more than three individuals