About this Workshop – Overview

To truly appreciate the complex technology known as blockchain and the impact it will have, understanding in a series of topics such as decentralization, consensus mechanisms, incentives, encryption, peer-to-peer systems, network effects and economics, is required. The technology is introducing a new paradigm. The World Wide Web, which is Internet 1.0 is considered the internet of communication. Blockchain is, in a sense, Internet 2.0, the internet of value, ownership and trust. It allows individuals to have full rights and control over an asset and be able to instantly transfer it to any person, company or machine, without having to rely on third party intermediaries. This technology disrupts trust to a point that it isn’t even needed anymore to perform transactions, and this is what makes blockchain so revolutionary.

Blockchains are, at their core, decentralized and public ledgers of transactions. They have two different parts to them — the blockchain aspect (the ledger), and the digital currency aspect (the units on the ledger). A blockchain requires to be secured by various free market participants, who must be incentivized to do so, and blockchain-based digital currencies act as the reward for providing that security. The moment the security aspect is moved away from a global, decentralized and open stage into the cellar of a few companies, the need for trust is re-introduced into the blockchain system, reducing it to a mere shared database with selected people having a key to the cellar. Decentralization is what guarantees trust in a blockchain, and the built-in digital currency provides the transactional capabilities to immutably record information, powering a number of exciting new possibilities.

The blockchain industry, mainly via Bitcoin, has been disrupting the financial sector for a few years now, and a number of companies and groups are creating their own versions, many with the goal of replicating Bitcoin’s success. This has led to a frenzy of activity, with new tokens flooding the market by the day, possibly resulting in this industry’s version of the dotcom bubble. This has not gone unnoticed, and every major bank in the world is now studying blockchain technology to ascertain the potential impact for them. The industry is growing at a rapid pace and has garnered serious attention and participation from leaders in key sectors such as business, venture capital, and regulation. The latter has been creating legislation in a number of jurisdictions around the globe, hoping to ensure safeguards for users whilst not stifling innovation. This has increased confidence for the future of the blockchain space. It has become clear that this technology is here to stay. Therefore, it’s fair to say that blockchain will come to have a major impact in various industries, in the same kind of way the World Wide Web did. It will have a profound effect on society, as it creates a global network of trust, allowing individuals, organizations and even machines to transact with each other, but — for the first time in history — without having to trust each other.

In this fast-paced two part workshop, you will be offered a foundation to understand blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies both at a technical and economic level, along with their business applications. During the first three modules you will introduced to the technology behind blockchain and cryptocurrencies. In modules four, five and six you will take a deep dive on the economic aspects of cryptocurrencies, exploring issues like herding behavior and transition patterns developing in the cryptocurrency market. Finally, modules seven and eight will introduce to the vast range of blockchain applications, that could disrupt irreversibly numerous markets. Ultimately this workshop will assist you to develop all the needed tools in order to be able to separate fact from fiction about blockchain or cryptocurrencies.

 

Additional Information

Language: Greek-English

Duration: 2 weeks, 30 hours total, entirely online.

Start Dates: Mid-March, 2021.

Certificate: Yes

Cost: 100 (EUR)

 

Syllabus

Module 1: Blockchain Fundamentals

Module 2: Blockchain – A Technical Overview

Module 3: Major Blockchains

Module 4: Cryptocurrency Economics Fundamentals

Module 5: Cryptocurrency Market – A Behavioral Overview

Module 6: Transitions in the Cryptocurrency Market

Module 7: Blockchain in Use – Legal Framework & Opportunity Identification

Module 8: Towards a Blockchain Ecosystem – Implementation Challenges

Module 9: Thesis Submission

 

Instructor

Antonis Ballis is a PhD Fellow and Teaching Assistant at Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). His main research areas are Cryptocurrency Economics, Behavioral Finance, Virtual Economies and Game Theory. He is a partner of Critical Future (UK) since 2017, working on various projects on Blockchain and its applications. He has also served as a consultant in Blockchain affairs for governments and institutions around the globe, as well as “Economist-in-residence” in various technology companies in the private sector.

 

Workshop Overseer

Konstantinos Drakos is a Professor at the Department of Accounting and Finance at Athens University of Economics and Business (AUEB). As of September 2020, he serves as Vice Rector for Financial Planning at AUEB. His research interests cover the fields of Applied Financial Economics and the Economics of Security.

 

Who is this workshop for?

This workshop is specifically designed for both students and professionals aiming to a deeper understanding of how this new technology works. Furthermore, students of a wide range of disciplinaries are encouraged to enroll to this program

 

To Apply for the Workshop click here