CS 592-STB: Special Topics in Blockchains

Instructor: Mahimna Kelkar

Class Time: T/Th 12:00pm–1:15pm

Location: LWSN 1106

Office Hours: T 2:30pm-3:30pm in LWSN 1209 or by appointment

Course Description

This course will explore both foundational and emerging research topics in blockchains and decentralized systems. Classes will be structured as a combination of instructor lectures, discussions, and student presentations of recent research papers.

A tentative list of topics includes consensus, execution, scaling, privacy, decentralized finance, and other advanced topics like governance, cryptoeconomic incentives, and AI x crypto.

Grading Criteria

Course Schedule

Schedule subject to change. Topics and readings will be added at least 1 week before class.

Sign up for presentation slots

Lecture Slides

Week Tuesday Thursday
1
Course Introduction
Recommended readings:
Lecture
Preliminaries and Basic Primitives
2
Lecture
Consensus: Byzantine Agreement and State Machine Replication
Readings:
Optional reading:
Lecture
Consensus: Bitcoin and Proof of Work
Reading:
Optional readings:
3
Lecture
Consensus: Bitcoin Attacks and Forks
Readings:
Lecture Discussion
Consensus: Proof of Stake
Required discussion reading:
Other readings:
4
Student Talks
Consensus: Modern Designs
  1. DAG-Based Consensus: Bullshark
  2. Simplex Consensus
Lecture
Execution: UTXOs, Accounts, and Smart Contracts
5
Lecture
Execution: Pricing and Fee Mechanisms
Reading:
Optional readings:
No class
6
Lecture
Scaling: Sharding and Rollups
Readings:
Lecture Discussion
Scaling: Bridges and Interoperability
Discussion topic: Why are there so many chains?
Reading:
7
Lecture
Privacy: Attacks and Solutions
Reading:
Lecture Discussion
Privacy: Solutions (contd)
Reading:
8
No class — October Break
Project Proposals
Due: 5-7 min talk and ~0.5 page abstract
9
Lecture Student Talk
DeFi: Stablecoins and Payments
Student Talk:
  1. Design Choices for Central Bank Digital Currency: Policy and Technical Considerations
Lecture Student Talk
DeFi: Decentralized Exchanges
Student Talk:
  1. Automated Market Making and Loss-Versus-Rebalancing
10
Lecture Student Talk
DeFi: Lending Protocols, Oracles, DeFi Attacks
Student Talk:
  1. Attacking the DeFi Ecosystem with Flash Loans for Fun and Profit
Lecture Discussion
DeFi: MEV and Crypto-economic Security
Take-Home Midterm Released
11
Student Talks
DeFi: Recent Research
  1. Clockwork Finance
  2. Optimistic MEV in Ethereum Layer 2s
Student Talks
Advanced Topics: Block Building
Midterm Due
Student Talks:
  1. Who Wins Ethereum Block Building Auctions and Why?
  2. PROF: Protected Order Flow in a Profit-Seeking World
12
Student Talks
Advanced Topics: Censorship Resistance and Mempool Privacy
Student Talks:
  1. Multiple Concurrent Proposers: Why and How
  2. Mempool Privacy via Batched Threshold Encryption: Attacks and Defenses
Student Talks
Advanced Topics: Identity and Governance
Student Talks:
  1. zkLogin: Privacy-Preserving Blockchain Authentication with Existing Credentials
  2. DAO Decentralization: Voting-Bloc Entropy, Bribery, and Dark DAOs
13
Student Talks
Advanced Topics: AI × Crypto
Student Talks:
  1. Props for Machine-Learning Security
  2. Giving AI Agents Access to Cryptocurrency and Smart Contracts Creates New Vectors of AI Harm
Student Talk
Advanced Topics: Post-Quantum Blockchains
Student Talk:
  1. Bitcoin and Quantum Computing: Current Status and Future Directions
14
Optional Class - Thanksgiving Break
(optional project feedback)
No class — Thanksgiving Break
15
Final Project Presentations
Final Project Presentations
16
Final Project Presentations
No class