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363-1153-00L 3 Credits BSC , MSC , NDS D-MATH , D-MTEC , D-INFK
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Decentralized Finance and the Future of Money

Lecturers & Examiners: Prof. Dr. Roger Wattenhofer, Prof. Dr. Hans Gersbach, Dr. Bastian Jörg Bergmann
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-02-05 16:23:42

Abstract

DLT is emerging for a disruption of our current financial infrastructure. As such, Decentralized Finance (DeFi) seeks to combine open-source, peer to peer building blocks into sophisticated products using blockchain technology, seeking to disintermediate and decentralize the traditional financial service industry. This lecture will combine insights on DLT with recent applications from finance.

Objective

At it’s core, DeFi aims to provide financial products and services on blockchain technologies. The combination of decentralized, smart-contract-based business logic solutions with a blockchain-based settlement layer facilitates the creation of financial services in a decentralized way. Traditional, functional roles of trusted third-party such as brokerage firms, banks, are replaced by smart contracts which fulfill the functions automatically. The goal if this lecture is to let you understand, - The building blocks of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) - Some basic applications like smart contracts, tokens, decentralized autonomous organisations (DAOs) - Limitations and concepts for overcoming centralized financial systems - Recent advances on Central Bank Digital Currencies and other applications in DeFi - The business logic behind a decentralized applications (DApps) - How a DLT project is run within a larger organization and in the start-up context The lecture will cover also guest speakers from companies, start-ups, and agencies.

Content

After a one-hour introduction session on the first day, the lecture will be split into six 4h sessions. Each 4h Session will be held as a workshop session, covering some theoretical and technological insights as well as insights on recent applications. Each session will involve guest speakers from industry, start-ups, agencies. The focus of each session will be on the discussion part. You will be asked to prepare yourself (watch a video, read a paper, etc) for each session. Session 1: Intro to Blockchain, Focus on Exchanges, Transaction Ordering Session 2: Smart Contracts; Focus on Programming, Attacks Session 3: Decentralized Governance, DAOs and Applications Session 4: Central Bank Digital Currencies, recent advances, and approaches Session 5 & 6: DeFi applications, legal aspects, challenges, opportunities & risk in the corporate context The lecture is targeted to students across ETH with an interest in DLT. No specific coding experience is required. During the course you will follow step by step examples. For passing the course you will take online quizzes, selected exercises, and a short exam during the class.

Resources

Lecture Notes

There will lecture slides to each section shared in advanced to each session.

Literature

Selected readings and books are presented in each session.

General Information

Language
English
Levels
BSC , MSC , NDS
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
graded semester performance
Grading is a combination of two short in class exams (mid-term, end of semester) and one out of two group exercises (each counts 1/3 to final grade). In addition, students can get a bonus grade by solving in class online quizzes (max. + 0.25).

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture Decentralized Finance and the Future of Money
bi-weekly The lecture of 23.02.2023 takes place online. The lecture will take place on the following dates: 2.3, 16.3, 30.3, 20.4, 4.5, 25.5.
  • Thu 16:15-20:00 (HG F 7)
  • 23.02 Date 16:00-20:00 (ON LI NE)
  • 01.06 Date 16:15-20:00 (HG F 7)
2 h weekly

Offered In