Decentralized Finance (DeFi) is a catchall term for all technologies, platforms, and processes that enable a non-centralised distribution of financial products and services. You are essentially using all the same products – like payments, borrowing, trading, insurance – but rather than a using a centralised service provider like a bank you are relying on a decentralised network that is usually enabled using blockchain or crypto technologies.
As you can probably infer from that definition, there is tremendous potential for a lot of innovation using DeFi. Its essentially a clean slate – you are being given the opportunity to rebuild an entire industry using a new technology! It’s not just start-ups that are diving in, traditional players with the big wallets have also taken notice as no one can afford to fall behind in the tech race. For people interested in DeFi, its applications, its potential or even creating DeFi services, these are the best online courses to help you get started.
Course Review
- If you are looking for a high-quality, university quality course on DeFi, this course is your best bet. You get to learn directly from the Professor of Decentralized Finance at Duke University’s highly rated Fuqua School of Business. This means unmatched accuracy and quality material in addition to an excellent personal branding opportunity.
- The first half of the course focuses on the history of decentralized finance and some core foundational concepts like the tangible value of money, the problems with centralised finance, the origins of crypto, the evolution of DeFi, an introduction to the blockchain, the technological advantages of DeFi, stablecoins, dApps, smart contracts, hashing etc. There is a lot to unpack but its presented in easy to understand format.
- Considering DeFi is still a mystery to most, it is not unsurprising that people misunderstand it a lot and some still believe myths like blockchains being hacked on a daily basis. They do a good job clearing up the myths and establishing a factual baseline from a position of authority. You will learn about the problems with the current systems like inefficiency, limited access, opacity, centralised control etc. and as you learn these concepts you will automatically begin to appreciate just what it is that DeFi is helping to solve.
- The later half is more focused on the mechanics of Ethereum transaction, fungible and non-fungible tokens, minting, burning, atomicity of transactions, incentivization other key concepts necessary for the functioning of DeFi. The novel concept of loans and swaps is also explored along with concepts surrounding Proof of Stake, digital signatures, consensus mechanisms etc.
- The videos do an excellent job of explaining these concepts which might otherwise seem arcane to people unfamiliar with the topic. The course has been developed by the Professor of Decentralized Finance at the Fuqua School of Business so you are learning from one of the leading experts in the field.
Summary
| Duration | 32 hours |
| Format | Fully online, on-demand |
| Level | Intermediate |
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Course Review
- This is a quick, short course that provides a good beginners guide to the world of Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Video tutorials and well structured content will help ease the early part of your journey and get you set up for more advanced exploration.
- The introductory topics cover the basics like blockchain, Ethereum, smart contracts, decentralized apps and decentralized autonomous organizations. These are the bedrock concepts that DeFi is built upon and understanding them is key to understanding the world of DeFi. The interplay between these technologies and the way they are substituting legacy financial service delivery is what is at the root of this revolution. Understanding this is the key to successfully navigating the DeFi universe.
- There are a lot of use cases that are explained in depth and this is the real meat of the course. Use cases range from stablecoins and staking to synthetic assets and asset management. From hedging and insurance to production and lending. Essentially everything that mainstream finance does, has a DeFi way of doing it. Real life use cases are always my favourite part of a course and this one is no different. Lending and borrowing are traditional industries being disrupted by DeFi while derivatives and risk management are highly specialised functions that can definitely benefit from advanced technological innovation and efficiency enhancements that DeFi brings to the table.
Summary
| Duration | 6 hours |
| Format | Fully online, on-demand |
| Level | Beginner |
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Course Review
This course is recommended for absolute beginners who want to start from the very beginning. It’s also geared towards people looking to invest in DeFi cryptocurrencies. You spend a lot of time on topics that explain how to identify opportunities and trade in the DeFi world.- The strong point of this course is quality delivery in a way that keeps it interesting and simple. You are taught practical everyday skills that are needed to engage with the DeFi world rather than focusing on the broader applications that may not be of relevance to you. Depending on your personal goals, you might find this approach to be more useful.
- The instructor is well regarded in the field with hundreds of thousands of students and a high rating. Detailed video guides explaining how to find the right opportunities in DeFi and how to benefit from them.
Summary
| Duration | 3 hours |
| Format | Fully online, on-demand |
| Level | Beginner |
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Course Review
- This course is ideal for beginners who want a primer on what DeFi is, its scope, purpose, applications, potential and other nuances. The best part is that the topic is approached from an enterprise perspective which means practical business applications in the real world are given primacy.
- This exploration of Decentralized finance is highly recommended for bankers and FinTech enthusiasts as it is very likely to have an impact on how you do business or go about your daily responsibilities. The fact is that many large organizations have a great paucity of talent when it comes to techies who are at the bleeding edge of what FinTech can offer and that makes expertise in an up-and-coming platform like DeFi rather useful.
- A lot of time is spent explain the what, why and how of DeFi. Since DeFi is still a nascent concept, such foundation building is important and help create a mind map to approach the subject. A lot of time is spend exploring the DeFi Ecosystems, risks and use cases. These last three modules are probably the juiciest parts of the course and worth the time investment.
- The course provider, 101Blockchians, has significant expertise on the topic covering dozens of topics related to the blockchain technology. Many of their other courses also come highly recommend.
Summary
| Duration | 4 hours |
| Format | Fully online, on-demand |
| Level | Beginner |
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