Blockchain - Revealing the Myth

1. 00:00A warm welcome to our openHPI
2. 00:02course Blockchain - Revealing the Myth.
3. 00:07When I try to say what blockchain means,
4. 00:12then I run into difficulties.
5. 00:15blockchain phenomena has been around for thirteen years.
6. 00:20The first source was this paper of Satoshi Nakamoto,
7. 00:27"Bitcoin: A peer-to-peer electronic cash system"
8. 00:31was published in two thousand eight but in this paper
9. 00:36there is no use of the blockchain notion.
10. 00:42So even today the term block chain is still ambiguous.
11. 00:46So what is known about blockchain so far?
12. 00:50It's a chain of blocks, its clear.
13. 00:53The name tells it. The blocks are and block chain is something related to bitcoin.
14. 01:00Yes, bitcoin is very popular and the technology that's used by bitcoin,
15. 01:06by this cybercurrency, by the crypto currency
16. 01:11is a blockchain and there was a lot of hype associated with
17. 01:18bitcoin and in the consequence also with blockchain.
18. 01:25So in fact the term bitcoin existed before
19. 01:30the term blockchain or
20. 01:32blockchain as a term was first used when new bitcoin like projects were started.
21. 01:40So blockchain describes a technology concept
22. 01:44and needs to be distinguished from the application, from the
23. 01:49very famous bitcoin application.
24. 01:52So what we want to do in this course - we will start with the basics
25. 01:56of blockchain technology, we will gradually try to define the term,
26. 02:04to see what belongs to the blockchain technology,
27. 02:09we enhance our definition during the course so that at the end of week one
28. 02:16I think you can receive a clear understanding of the blockchain technology.
29. 02:24So this technology, this is not new, the
30. 02:28parts that are used and the techniques that are used
31. 02:32in the blockchain technology came from cryptography, came from
32. 02:36other parts and are well known. What is new with the blockchain is
33. 02:41that this techniques are connected to each other in a new way that
34. 02:47disrupted many areas like for example financial system.
35. 02:53So in the first week of our course Blockchain: Revealing the Myth,
36. 02:59we will speak about blockchains, about its origins, goals, development courses
37. 03:06and stumbling blocks encountered along the way.
38. 03:10And then we start with taking a look at the initial idea of
39. 03:16blockchain and how it works and for that reason we consider in detail
40. 03:22the bitcoin system and the bitcoin solution.
41. 03:26So the fundamental problem that led to the creation from a bitcoin
42. 03:31system and from a cryptocurrency is discussed.
43. 03:36We consider in detail the complex solution of bitcoin, this is the
44. 03:44centre of what we learn in the first week.
45. 03:48The building blocks of bitcoins are discussed in detail and then
46. 03:53we will examine the evolution from a decentralized ledger to a world
47. 04:00computer. And we will do this and this is the
48. 04:06end of week one, we will do this with a post-bitcoin blockchain project
49. 04:12overview. And then in the next week we will consider projects which are
50. 04:19accounted to the blockchain 2.0 generation, the new generation of blockchain.
51. 04:27So what you need? Yes, you will need an initial knowledge on
52. 04:31the topics already mentioned in the course description; namely
53. 04:36the basics of cryptography, the hash function and public-key cryptography
54. 04:42and de-centralized network, so- called peer-to-peer networks.
55. 04:46We provide material here,
56. 04:51that if you are
57. 04:56not clear with this technology, you still have the possibility
58. 05:00to get this knowledge by following the compact courses we have prepared
59. 05:06in this course. So you can find it under the course details
60. 05:11additional resources and of course you can also take part in former
61. 05:18openHPI courses. For example, openHPI course on
62. 05:22communication, on confidential communication where we provide an
63. 05:29introduction into cryptography, into the hash functions technique
64. 05:34and into public key cryptography with public and private keys,
65. 05:40with digital signatures and others.
66. 05:44In the second week with this understanding
67. 05:48we got in the first week
68. 05:50about the blockchain technology, in the second
69. 05:54week we address the debate about blockchain alternatives and the company challenges,
70. 06:01the so called scalability trilemma
71. 06:04that private permissioned block chains are considered in more detail,
72. 06:10we consider the question of scalability, decentralisation and security
73. 06:16and after the discussion of the alternatives and the challenges involved,
74. 06:21we look at the possibilities of implementation
75. 06:24and consider some best practice examples, that means projects that have
76. 06:30been successfully implemented and that became popular.
77. 06:38More information about blockchain you can get from this booklet
78. 06:44which we have published this year together with Tatiana
79. 06:49Gayvoronskaya. The teaching team of our course, that's me -
80. 06:55my name is Christoph Meinel, I'm the head, the institute's director
81. 06:59of Hasso Plattner Institute and the dean of the digital engineering faculty,
82. 07:03I am the head of the chair internet technology and systems
83. 07:07at the Hasso Plattner Institute and our research focus is security engineering
84. 07:12as well as learning and knowledge engineering digital education and innovation research.
85. 07:18This is Tatiana, Tatiana Gayvoronskaya, the
86. 07:22co-author of our book.
87. 07:25Her research focus is blockchain technology identity management and IT security
88. 07:30and meanwhile she works as an instructional designer and author.
89. 07:35And this is Alexander Mühle, PhD student of the chair
90. 07:41with a research focus security privacy in peer to peer applications.
91. 07:46He works on self sovereign identity and I think he will finish his PhD
92. 07:54in a few years.
93. 07:56So we enjoy to have you in our course.
94. 08:01There is the discussion forum. So please do not hesitate to
95. 08:07get into contact to the other learners, to got into contact
96. 08:12with our teaching team, discussing things
97. 08:17we have introduced in our lecture videos to
98. 08:24change your experiences you have eventually with blockchain
99. 08:29with blockchain techniques and
100. 08:32ask all the questions if something is not yet clear.
101. 08:36So, a warm welcome to our openHPI course Blockchain: Revealing the Myth.

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