Lectures Publications Theses Events

HS24

Important dates: (always check https://unterricht.ost.ch)

Blockchain (BlCh)

The lectures will be pre-recorded. The lecture videos will up uploaded before the lecture on Tuesday at 08:10. The length of the videos will be ~60 minutes (2 x 30 min. lectures) divided into segments. The news segment (~10 min) will cover news around the topics blockchain and distributed systems and are not part of the exam. It should serve as on overview of current topics in this field.

NrDateTopics
0117.09.2024Admin (lecture and challenge task), Repetition DSy (part 1) - no exercises
0224.09.2024Repetition DSy (part 2), Introduction Blockchain, Ethereum Components / Architecture
0301.10.2024Solidity
0408.10.20241st hand-in, Fungible Tokens, Stablecoins
0515.10.2024DeFi, DEX
0622.10.2024DAO, Non-Fungible Tokens
0729.10.20242nd hand-in, Wallets and Seed Phrases, POAP
0805.11.2024HTLCs, Cross-chain Atomic Swaps, Payment Channels
0912.11.2024Security Considerations, Layer 2 Use Cases
1019.11.20243rd hand-in, Sui, Holochain
1126.11.2024Interview, Exam Preparation
1203.12.2024Final hand-in, Challenge Task Presentations, part 1
1310.12.2024Challenge Task Presentations, part 2
1417.12.2024Q&A and Challenge Task Award Winner Announcement - no exercises

(those are preliminary topics, may be subject to change)

Online/Offline Lectures & Exercises

The Blockchain (BlCh) lecture will pre-recorded. I will be present in the lecture room 1.209 from 08:10 - 14:50. If you have not watched the lectures, you can watch it in the lecture (08:10 - 09:50). During exercises (10:10 - 11:50 and 13:10 - 14:50), you can work on your blockchain project (challenge task). You do not need to be present on Tuesday, but it is highly recommended to discuss your issues and problems with the challenge task with the lecturer. On request, you can also join the exercises remotely via MS Teams.

The online lectures and PDFs can be accessed from outside the OST network (also on Youtube), the exercise and admin material only with VPN.

Lecture

Lecture 1

Admin News
Repetition DSy part 1

The admin part gives an overview over this lecture and presents the challenge task for this course (Slides: HS24-BlCh-01-admin.pdf). The weekly news summary covers three articles. First, it discusses the importance of simplicity in cloud infrastructure for startups. Second, it addresses Mozilla Firefox's recent addition of AI tools, which has led to some discontent and the rise of privacy-focused forks like LibreWolf and Floorp. Lastly, it reports on the potential splitting of Ethereum's Pectra upgrade into two phases, aiming for a faster rollout with the first phase possibly launching by February 2025 (Slides: HS24-BlCh-01-news.pdf). The third video starts with the repetition of Distributed Systems (DSy) (Slides: HS24-BlCh-01-repetition1.pdf). [80min]

Lecture 2

Admin News
Repetition DSy part 2 Ethereum Components / Architecture

The admin part gives an update over this lecture and challenge task (Slides: HS24-BlCh-02-admin.pdf). The weekly news summary covers four main topics related to distributed systems and blockchain. It starts with AWS acknowledging competition from on-premises solutions, discussing the trend of "cloud repatriation." The next topic focuses on how German authorities have compromised Tor network anonymity using timing analysis, raising concerns about the privacy of Tor users. The third point highlights the security risks of SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) compared to TOTP, with a recommendation to avoid SMS for high-value accounts. Finally, a reminder is given that cryptocurrency discussions are not investment advice (Slides: HS24-BlCh-02-news.pdf). The third video, as last year, is the Bitcoin/Ethereum repetition (part 2) of Distributed Systems (DSy) (Slides: HS24-BlCh-02-repetition2.pdf). The fourth video shows the Ethereum components (architecture view), this year in lecture 2, and it shows both, the easy and the more interesting ways to interact with the Ethereum blockchain (Slides: HS24-BlCh-02-arch.pdf). [82min]

Lecture 3

Admin News
Solidity

The admin part gives an update over this lecture and challenge task (Slides: HS24-BlCh-03-admin.pdf). The weekly news summary covers four main topics related to distributed systems and blockchain. It starts with former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao's release from custody, Cloudflare's internet improvements, a major crypto theft, and a discussion on secrets management practices in software development. (Slides: HS24-BlCh-03-news.pdf). The third video introduces the blockchain language Solidity as used in Ethereum (Slides: HS24-BlCh-03-solidity.pdf). [101min]

Lecture 4

Admin News Fungible Tokens / Cryptocurrencies
Scam? Stablecoins

The admin part gives an update over this lecture and challenge task (Slides: HS24-BlCh-04-admin.pdf). This weekly summary covers recent developments in distributed systems and blockchain. It highlights an ongoing debate about the true identity of Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, with a new documentary suggesting cryptographer Len Sassaman as a potential candidate. It also discusses PayPal's recent use of its stablecoin PYUSD for business payments, emphasizing the growing role of stablecoins in cross-border transactions. Additionally, the summary explains the "rug pull" scam common in decentralized finance and mentions a recent LEGO Coin scam, where hackers briefly displayed a fake cryptocurrency on LEGO's homepage (Slides: HS24-BlCh-04-news.pdf). The third video summarizes the investigations of a scam, where I received a YouTube comment with a seed phrase and we investigated this during the class. The fourth video introduces stablecoins (Slides: HS24-BlCh-04-stablecoin.pdf). The fifth video introduces fungible token / cryptocurrencies (Slides: HS24-BlCh-04-ft.pdf). [119min]

Lecture 5

Admin News
DeFi

The admin part gives an update over this lecture and challenge task (Slides: HS24-BlCh-05-admin.pdf). This week's news in distributed systems and blockchain covers four main stories: an HBO documentary claiming Peter Todd is Bitcoin's creator Satoshi Nakamoto (though doubts remain); the FBI's undercover operation using a fake Ethereum token to expose crypto market manipulation, leading to charges against several entities; a proof-of-concept demonstrating how a cigarette lighter could be used for hardware-based attacks to gain root access; and the approval of FTX's bankruptcy plan, which surprisingly allows most creditors to recover more than their initial claims due to Bitcoin's value increase since the exchange's collapse in 2022 (Slides: HS24-BlCh-05-news.pdf). The third video introduces DeFi (Slides: HS24-BlCh-05-defi.pdf). [89min]

Lecture 6

Admin News
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations Non Fungible Tokens

The admin part gives an update over this lecture (Slides: HS24-BlCh-06-admin.pdf). This week's news in distributed systems and blockchain covers four main stories: This week's news in distributed systems and blockchain covers four main stories: TD Bank faced a record $3 billion fine for money laundering violations, highlighting ongoing issues in traditional finance. Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency world saw its share of controversy, with popular YouTuber MrBeast accused of profiting from "pump-and-dump" schemes involving various altcoins. Finally, former U.S. President Donald Trump entered the crypto space by launching the World Liberty Financial (WLFI) token, a non-tradable governance token for a new DeFi platform. This launch has been met with skepticism from the crypto community, raising questions about its potential impact on mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies and DeFi. (Slides: HS24-BlCh-06-news.pdf). The third video introduces decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) (Slides: HS24-BlCh-06-dao.pdf). The fourth video is recording of a talk I gave last year about non fungible tokens (NFTs) (Slides: HS24-BlCh-06-nft.pdf). [84min]

Lecture 7

Admin News
POAP Wallets

The admin part gives an update over this lecture, about the 2nd hand-in, and Uniswap V3 basics, including concentrated liquidity. (Slides: HS24-BlCh-07-admin.pdf). This week in distributed systems and blockchain: MakerDAO (now Sky) considers another rebranding, Stripe enters the stablecoin market with a $1.1B acquisition of Bridge, 37Signals projects $10M savings by leaving AWS, and researchers successfully unmasked several Tor users through timing analysis. Round Robin DNS testing revealed different browser behaviors in server selection. (Slides: HS24-BlCh-07-news.pdf). The third video is about Proof of Attendance Protocol (POAP) (Slides: HS24-BlCh-07-poap.pdf). The fourth video indroduces wallets and seed phrases (Slides: HS24-BlCh-07-wallets.pdf). [96min]

Challenge Task HS 2024

This semester's challenge task (CT) is the design and implementation of a stablecoin with rebalancing on decentralized exchange (DEX). Ideally, the application is a decentralized application (DApp).

Requirements

All requirements below must be met in order to pass this lecture.

  1. A working prototype with your stablecoin.
  2. Use latest stable releases of chosen libraries and frameworks.
  3. Interaction with a public blockchain (can be testnet).
  4. Must be tradable on a decentralized exchange (DEX)
  5. Stablecoin needs to rebalance on DEX to remain stable
  6. Status and process need to be shown in the frontend.

Deliverables

You are allowed to use any language, framework, and platforms. However, the supervisors are familiar with those: Golang, Java, JavaScript/TypeScript, Ethereum, Sui, Bitcoin, Linux.

Groups

There will be groups of 2-3 for the challenge task. During the challenge task, the group shall meet every week during exercise hours to work on the task and discuss the next steps. The groups shall utilize their homework times to work on the CT, besides the exercise time slots. You do not have be present at the exercises. The groups shall determine and set-up an internal project plan and shall distribute the workload so that each group member gets a fair load of work. Group results will be only accessible via VPN.

NrName 1Name 2Name 3Project Idea + Repo
1Noah F.Tim E.✓ (react/solidity)
2Mino P.Lukas A.✓✓ (zeus token)
3Corsin S.Roman W.Cedric C.✓✓ (ccr token)
4Dario B.Dejan B.Fabrice-Ronny B.✓✓ (react/.net)
5Matthias H.Simon D.✓✓ (near)
6Matteo G.Marco S.Philipp H.✓✓ (gold price)
7Tom S.Micha H.Nico F.✓✓ (wti-stablecoin)
8Yannick S.Sylvester H.Roman C.✓✓ (golang/solidity)
9David H.Andri J.Davor L.✓✓ (roesticoin)
10Anja F.Patrick S.✓✓ (xoxo-taylor-coin)
11Simon H.Livio M.Luca K.✓✓ (co2coin)
12Leonardo R.Tobias K.✓ (bidenbuck)
13Tseten E.Simon P.Isaia B.✓ (flipcoin)
14Valerio F.Eric H.✓ (simulation)