MSc in Accounting Taxation and Financial Management, Department of Accounting and Finance
The course introduces postgraduate students to blockchain technologies, cryptoassets, and decentralized finance (DeFi). It explores different blockchain approaches, their respective consensus models, and the role of cryptography. Additionally, it covers the process of cryptoasset mining and their use in transactions.
The course examines the challenges faced by the financial system in terms of resilience, costs, and financial inclusion, as well as the potential conditions under which blockchain technologies could serve as a catalyst for change. Specifically, the following topics are covered:
- The relationship between money, cryptoassets, and blockchain
- Cryptography in blockchain technology
- Consensus models
- Transactions, UTXO, and Script Code
- Smart contracts and decentralized applications (DApps)
- Technical challenges, public policy, and use cases
- Challenges and opportunities for the financial system
- Blockchain economics
- Payment systems, stablecoins, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
- Secondary markets and cryptoasset exchanges
- Primary markets, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), and Venture Capital
- Settlement, clearing, and transaction processing
- Applications in supply chain management
- Digital identities and other use cases