This upper‑division course gives students a rigorous, security‑first tour of modern blockchain systems. We begin with the cryptographic building blocks (hash functions, digital signatures, zero‑knowledge proofs) and quickly progress to consensus mechanisms such as Proof‑of‑Work, Proof‑of‑Stake, and BFT‑style protocols. Using Bitcoin and Ethereum as primary case studies, we dissect ledger structures, peer‑to‑peer networking, transaction execution, and economic incentives. The second half of the course focuses on smart‑contract platforms, decentralized applications (DeFi, NFTs, cross‑chain bridges), and the growing landscape of layer‑2 and modular scaling solutions. Students will learn to spot and exploit common contract vulnerabilities, apply formal‑verification tools, and design mitigations grounded in game‑theoretic security.
Coursework combines technical readings with weekly labs in Solidity/Rust and a capstone project in which teams build or audit a real‑world blockchain application. Guest lectures from industry researchers highlight contemporary attacks and defense practices.
The workloads include 4 programming assignments plus one final project.
Instructor: Yu Feng (yufeng@UCSBCS)
TA: Junrui Liu (junrui@UCSBCS)
Class: M,Wed, 5:00pm-6:15pm, CHEM 1171
Instructor's office hour: Mon, 9am-10am, HFH-2157
Junrui's office hour: Fri, 11am-1pm, Phelps-1445
Yanju's office hour (for HW inquiries only): Mon, 4pm-5pm, Zoom (link) or by slack/email appointment
| Date | Topic | Slides | Out | Due |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4/1 | Introduction to Blockchain and Cryptocurrency | lec1 | ||
| 4/3 | Bitcoin Mechanics | lec2 | ||
| 4/8 | Bitcoin Scripts and Wallets | lec3 | HW1 | |
| 4/10 | Fundamentals of Consensus | lec4 | ||
| 4/15 | Consensus in the Internet Setting | lec5 | ||
| 4/17 | Incentives and Accountability in Consensus: Proof-of-Stake | lec6 | ||
| 4/22 | Ethereum: Mechanics | lec7 | HW2 | HW1 |
| 4/24 | Solidity | lec8 | ||
| 4/29 | Stablecoins & Lending Protocols | lec9 | ||
| 5/1 | DeFi Security -- Yanju | lec10, code | ||
| 5/6 | Decentralized exchanges | lec11 | ||
| 5/8 | Onchain Gaming -- smsunarto at Argus Labs | lec12 | Project Guide | HW2 |
| 5/13 | Privacy blockchain | lec13 | HW3 | |
| 5/15 | Optimistic Rollups | lec14 | ||
| 5/20 | No class (Out of town) | lec15 | Proposal (2 pages) | |
| 5/22 | ZK Rollups -- Haichen Shen at Scroll | lec16 | ||
| 5/27 | Memorial Day | HW4 | HW3 (Due 5/28) | |
| 5/29 | More ZKP | lec17 | Poster (PDF) | |
| 6/3 | Poster Session I for Final Projects | |||
| 6/5 | Poster Session II for Final Projects | |||
| 6/14 | [Quarter Ends] | Final Report (8 pages), Final Project Artifact, HW4 |
-
Programming assignments: 60%
- 4 programming assignments, 15% each
-
Final project: 40%
- See the final project guide for detailed breakdown.
Below is a grading system (No curving).
| Letter | Percentage |
|---|---|
| A | 95–100% |
| A- | 90–94% |
| B | 85–89% |
| B- | 80–84% |
| C+ | 75%–79% |
| C | 70%–74% |
| C- | 60–69% |
| F | <60% |
Credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_grading_in_the_United_States
Please submit your homework to gradescope: https://www.gradescope.com