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Understanding Crypto Currencies, Bitcoins, and Blockchains

Video Description

More Than 6 Hours of Video Instruction

The Understanding Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoins, and Blockchains LiveLessons course provides more than six hours of detailed discussion introducing you to the world of Bitcoin and the evolution of cryptocurrencies. Aamir and Keith provide a historical foundation of money, currency, trade, banking, and the advent of digital currency. They use slides and lite-board demonstrations to illustrate complex bitcoin and blockchain concepts, and walk you through some of the transactions needed to tap into the digital currency market.

They discuss the pros and cons of decentralized banking and digital currency, including some of the large-scale cyber crime and money laundering cases affecting this new and vulnerable market, as well as some of the potential benefits in market and efficiency. They provide a wide range of insight into the issues surrounding the adoption of centralized digital currencies. They also discuss some of the various types of cryptocurrencies and what the future might hold for blockchain technology as a potential solution to a wide range of issues associated with government operations and commercial transactions.

Topics include Lesson 1: A Brief History of Money
Lesson 2: Failures and Frustrations of the Current Fiat System
Lesson 3: Bitcoin
Lesson 4: The Blockchain
Lesson 5: Cyber Crime
Lesson 6: Cryptocurrency Investing
Lesson 7: AltCoins
Lesson 8: Cryptocurrency‚ÄìHow It Can Fail
Lesson 9: Decentralized Banking
Lesson 10: Innovation and Future of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains
Lesson 11: Applications and Innovations

About the Instructors



Skill Level

What You Will Learn:

  • How monetary systems have evolved from commonly known currencies to cryptocurrencies
  • How blockchain has impacted broad commercial markets beyond cryptocurrencies
  • The pros and cons of standard fiat monetary systems and cryptocurrencies
Who Should Take This Course
Anyone interested in cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and the use of this technology in other industries such as aerospace, banking, and healthcare.

Course Requirements

Lesson Descriptions
Lesson 1, “A Brief History of Money”
Lesson 1, looks at the origins of modern currency and how it is used today. This lesson is not intended to be a history lesson but an introduction to why there was a growing need for cryptocurrencies and decentralized banking.

Lesson 2, “Failures and Frustrations of the Current Fiat System”
Lesson 2 looks at the failures of the current monetary systems and financial markets. We look at how currency and money are truly valued and how government organizations dictate those values. At the end of this lesson you will have a good idea of the dangers of fiat currency and the motivation behind using blockchain and cryptocurrencies as alternatives.

Lesson 3, "Bitcoin"
Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market. It has been around for a long time and has rewarded early investors with extremely large returns. What is Bitcoin and how does it work? This is what we examine in Lesson 3.

Lesson 4, "The Blockchain"
What is blockchain? How does the technology actually work? This is a technical lesson where we look at the specifics of blockchain, the underlying technology, how it is used, and its current limitations. At the end of this lesson you will have a deeper understanding of blockchain and the power behind the technology.

Lesson 5, "Cyber Crime"
In this lesson we take a deeper look at cyber crime markets and how cyber criminals conduct business over the Internet. You will learn about concepts such as a ghost market and the DarkWeb, and how cyber criminals leverage their capabilities.

Lesson 6, "Cryptocurrency Investing"
Lesson 6 looks at the risks associated with digital currencies and the underlying blockchain technology. We also look at how these technologies can fail and discuss the lack of adoption of the technology in certain markets. We then discuss the concerns governments and consumers have with the underlying blockchain technology.

Lesson 7, "AltCoins"
This lesson discusses other cryptocurrencies that have been created since bitcoin and look at how they have exploded in popularity in the market. At the end of this lesson you will have a solid understanding of AltCoin markets.

Lesson 8, "Cryptocurrency‚ÄìHow It Can Fail"
This lesson focuses on cryptocurrencies and how they can fail. The crypto market has been more volatile in 2018 than it has ever been. We believe this trend will continue for at least the next 12‚Äî24 months. We take a look at the technology, failures, and concerns within the underlying protocols used to support cryptocurrencies.

Lesson 9, "Decentralized Banking"
This lesson examines the advantages of decentralized banking and why many retailers, consumers, and businesses are pushing for standardizing cryptocurrency. It also examines the potential impact on a society if a shift toward decentralized banking were to occur.

Lesson 10, "Innovation and the Future of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains"
Prior to this lesson we have discussed blockchain, cryptocurrency, ICOs, and a few other technologies; however, we have not discussed the potential future of blockchain technology. In this lesson we examine the potential future of the technology and innovations that are on the horizon.

Lesson 11, "Applications and Innovations"
In this lesson we talk about the innovation and potential application of blockchain technology and discuss the possible direction of bitcoin and digital currencies.

About Pearson Video Training

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
    1. Understanding Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoins, and Blockchains: Introduction 00:01:47
  2. Lesson 1: A Brief History of Money
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:28
    2. 1.1 A look back—society and trading 00:10:54
    3. 1.2 How currency works 00:08:16
    4. 1.3 Currency exchanges and trading 00:03:24
    5. Summary 00:00:54
  3. Lesson 2: Failures and Frustrations of the Current Fiat System
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:34
    2. 2.1 Common problems with modern currencies 00:06:29
    3. 2.2 Introduction to financial crimes 00:03:50
    4. 2.3 The future of current banking systems 00:05:11
    5. Summary 00:00:30
  4. Lesson 3: Bitcoin
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:23
    2. 3.1 Introduction to Bitcoin 00:29:35
    3. 3.2 How Bitcoins are used today 00:12:13
    4. 3.3 Bitcoin mining 00:06:12
    5. 3.4 Bitcoin mixing 00:05:36
    6. 3.5 Bitcoin wallets 00:08:55
    7. Summary 00:02:53
  5. Lesson 4: The Blockchain
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:25
    2. 4.1 Introduction to the Blockchain 00:24:48
    3. 4.2 Blockchain nodes 00:05:29
    4. 4.3 Blockchain Proof of Work 00:08:17
    5. 4.4 Bitcoin Blockchain 00:06:52
    6. Summary 00:00:54
  6. Lesson 5: Cyber Crime
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:22
    2. 5.1 History of digital money on the DarkNet 00:08:54
    3. 5.2 The DarkNet 00:23:26
    4. 5.3 Demo: Darknet OnRamp 00:04:03
    5. Summary 00:00:56
  7. Lesson 6: Cryptocurrency Investing
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:31
    2. 6.1 A basic look at cryptocurrency investing 00:15:04
    3. 6.2 ALT Coin 00:07:32
    4. 6.3 Initial Coin Offering (ICO) market 00:09:44
    5. 6.4 ICO Blockchains 00:08:42
    6. Summary 00:03:04
  8. Lesson 7: AltCoins
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:22
    2. 7.1 AltCoin trading 00:08:45
    3. 7.2 ETH tokens 00:08:24
    4. 7.3 LiteCoin 00:05:41
    5. 7.4 Monero 00:07:48
    6. Summary 00:01:33
  9. Lesson 8: Cryptocurrency ‚Äì How it Can Fail
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:29
    2. 8.1 How cryptocurrency fails 00:09:55
    3. 8.2 Uncertainty with regulation 00:13:01
    4. 8.3 Transaction fees 00:09:23
    5. 8.4 Cryptocurrency failures 00:08:34
    6. 8.5 Well known attacks 00:05:40
    7. Summary 00:00:48
  10. Lesson 9: Decentralized Banking
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:23
    2. 9.1 A look at modern banking systems 00:02:24
    3. 9.2 The problems of centralized banking 00:06:02
    4. 9.3 The power of centralized banking 00:08:12
    5. Summary 00:01:42
  11. Lesson 10: Innovation and the Future of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchains
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:26
    2. 10.1 Where do we go from here: Cryptocurrencies 00:09:09
    3. 10.2 Where do we go from here: Blockchains 00:12:01
    4. 10.3 Blockchains: Differing visions of the future 00:04:04
    5. 10.4 Blockchains in the healthcare community 00:08:42
    6. 10.5 Private and IT blockchain applications 00:09:13
    7. 10.6 Centralized cryptocurrency 00:03:39
    8. 10.7 Cryptocurrency stability issues 00:08:19
    9. 10.8 Additional cryptocurrency concerns 00:03:35
    10. 10.9 Impacts and privacy 00:04:32
    11. Summary 00:00:33
  12. Lesson 11: Applications and Innovations
    1. Learning objectives 00:00:17
    2. 11.1 Healthcare market 00:08:07
    3. 11.2 Blockchain in government 00:10:59
    4. 11.3 Instant payment 00:12:43
  13. Summary
    1. Understanding Cryptocurrencies, Bitcoins, and Blockchains: Summary 00:00:58