Bitcoin, Crypto-Assets, and Blockchain Technology

March-May 2025
University of Milano-Bicocca

e-learning: https://elearning.unimib.it/course/view.php?id=55237

If you have an e-mail @campus.unimib.it please join the 202503-bicocca channel in the Slack BBT workspace using your first and last name (no nicknames) and a profile picture. Updates and conversations about the course will be posted in the Slack channel.

The course is for the students of University of Milano-Bicocca only; anyone else, please consider https://dgi.io/workshop.

Learning objectives

The course is an introduction to bitcoin, crypto-assets, and the associated blockchain technology.

Game theory, computer science (distributed systems, distributed consensus), and monetary theory elements are examined in the attempt to properly convey the interdisciplinarity of the topics and appreciate their relevance.

Prerequisites

There are no strict prerequisites, even if a computer science mindset and some familiarity with algebra and finance might help to appreciate the course. While a rigorous formal approach is almost impossible in a course touching on so many and so different knowledge areas, intellectual curiosity is stimulated about the interplay between maths, cryptography, economic incentives, technology, monetary theory, regulatory issues, and politics.

Teaching method

Slide based lessons with associated bibliography.

Teaching language

English.

Assessment

To access the early exam session, students must attend the classes and solve five assignments that will be assigned during the course. Please send the assignments via e-mail to the address ferdinando.ametrano AT unimib DOT it with subject bbt202503-bicocca #1 for the first assignment, bbt202503-bicocca #2 for the second assignment, etc. E-mail submissions with the wrong address or wrong subject will not be accepted.

The assignments contribute one point each to the final grade (5 assignments, 5 points). The early exam will be multiple-choice questions (50 questions, 25 minutes, 25 points, computer based: bring your own laptop), plus two open questions (10 minutes, 5 points, paper based: bring your own pen).

Later exam sessions will be multiple-choice questions test (62 questions, 30 minutes, 30L points).

The final grade for this half-couse will be averaged with the grade obtained in the complementary exam by prof. Alessia Pedrazzoli.

Schedule

Syllabus

  1. 2025-03-17 Monday 11:30-14:30, U6-40
    Bitcoin as Digital Gold (Part 1)
  2. 2025-03-24 Monday 11:30-14:30, U6-40
    Bitcoin as Digital Gold (Part 2)
    Assignment #1 (Testnet Transaction) due before 2025-04-08
  3. 2025-03-31 Monday 11:30-14:30, U6-40
    Hash Functions
    Assignment #2 (Partial Hash Inversion) due before 2025-04-14
    Discrete Logarithm Problem on Finite Fields and Elliptic Curves (first section only)
    Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA) (first two sections only)
    Addresses, WIFs, and Bitcoin Message Signing
    Assignment #3 (Bitcoin Message Signature) due before 2025-04-21
  4. 2025-04-07 Monday 11:30-14:30, U6-40
    Transactions and Scripts (section 1 and 5 only)
    Assignment #4 (Halving Blocks) due before 2025-04-28
    Wallets and Custody
  5. 2025-04-xx online material
    Timestamping and the OpenTimestamps Protocol
    Assignment #5 () due before 2025-05-05
  6. 2025-04-xx online material
    Blockchain, Mining, and Distributed Consensus
  7. 2025-04-xx online material
    Hayek Money: The Cryptocurrency Price Stability Solution
    Bitcoin: oro digitale per nuovi standard monetari
  8. 2025-04-28 Monday 11:30-14:30, U6-40
    Beyond Bitcoin: Altcoins, Stablecoins, Smart Contracts, Smart Assets, and DLT
  9. 2025-05-05 Monday 11:30-14:30, U6-40
    The Cryptocurrency Frontier in Monetary Engineering (video)
  10. 2025-05-12 Monday 11:30-14:30, U6-40
    Early exam session

Introductory reading

Technology references

Monetary theory references