Understanding Crypto Currencies, Bitcoins, and Blockchains

by Aamir Lakhani / Keith Rayle

Released August 2018

Publisher(s): Cisco Press

ISBN: 0135235340

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Video description

More Than 6 Hours of Video Instruction

Overview
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

Aamir Lakhani is a leading senior blockchain researcher. Mr. Lakhani advises corporations and government entities on blockchain initiatives, applications, and implementation strategies. He has been involved in several initial coin offerings (ICOs) as an advisor. Additionally, Aamir is a leading cyber security researcher and has uncovered vulnerabilities in several blockchain implementations and deployed cyber security blockchain solutions. Aamir has also been heavily involved in the cryptocurrency investments and mining operations. He is an active blogger at the popular site Dr. Chaos (www.DrChaos.com) and has authored several books.

Keith Rayle is a corporate security strategist. He writes industry certification exams and provides instruction for CISO certifications. He provides advisement and solutions for security governance and portfolio implementation. Mr. Rayle assists executive security leaders with the creation of strategies, alignment of security to business needs, and the communication of security program metrics in relation to enterprise protection and regulatory requirements. He provides thought leadership in a wide range of topics including blockchain, artificial intelligence, cloud, and other cutting-edge technologies. He has fulfilled roles such as CISO, director of security operations, program director, and other similar positions. He has created and implemented all aspects of security programs to include technical, process, policy, reporting, and organizational structure. He has created, implemented, and led incident response teams, systems assurance efforts, and a wide range of other portfolio support activities. Mr. Rayle has provided security services globally to organizations such as NASA JPL, The World Bank, The United Nations, and other large organizations in every sector and industry.

Skill Level
Beginner

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
None

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‚Ä