Lesson 1Token supply mechanics: issuance schedules, inflation, halving, minting, burning, capped vs. uncapped supplyThis section examines token supply mechanics, including issuance, inflation, halvings, minting, and burning. Learners compare capped and uncapped supplies, model dilution, and assess how supply policies influence price and incentives.
Genesis allocations and vesting schedulesBlock rewards, emissions, and tail inflationHalving events and supply shock narrativesMinting, burning, and fee-burn mechanismsDilution, float, and fully diluted valuationLesson 2Reading and extracting key information from whitepapers and protocol specificationsThis section trains learners to read whitepapers and protocol specs critically. It covers structure, key economic and technical claims, token distribution, governance, and how to identify red flags, missing data, and unrealistic promises.
Typical whitepaper structure and sectionsIdentifying core problem, scope, and audienceConsensus, security, and threat assumptionsToken distribution, unlocks, and incentivesRed flags, omissions, and unverifiable claimsLesson 3Staking, delegation, and validator economics: rewards, slashing, lock-ups, and effects on circulating supplyThis section details staking, delegation, and validator economics in proof-of-stake systems. It covers reward structures, slashing, lock-ups, liquid staking, and how these mechanisms affect security, liquidity, and circulating supply.
Validator roles, hardware, and responsibilitiesReward schedules, APR, and real yieldSlashing conditions and risk managementDelegation models and staking poolsLiquid staking tokens and rehypothecationLesson 4How tokens capture economic value: utility, governance, payment, and commodity-like characteristicsThis section analyzes how different token types capture and distribute economic value. It distinguishes utility, governance, payment, and commodity-like tokens, and examines fee flows, value accrual, and regulatory implications for each design.
Utility tokens and access-rights designGovernance tokens and voting powerPayment tokens and medium-of-exchange rolesCommodity-like and asset-backed token traitsValue accrual, buybacks, and fee-sharing modelsLesson 5On-chain activity metrics and interpretation: active addresses, transaction counts, fees, throughput, and gas dynamicsThis section teaches how to interpret on-chain activity metrics such as active addresses, transactions, fees, and gas. Learners connect raw metrics to user behavior, network health, congestion, and economic sustainability of protocols.
Active addresses, users, and sybil concernsTransaction counts, throughput, and batchingGas, base fees, and priority fees explainedMEV, reorgs, and fee market dynamicsInterpreting dashboards and avoiding misreadsLesson 6Overview of blockchain architectures and consensus mechanisms (PoW, PoS, hybrid, layer-2 solutions)This section introduces core blockchain architectures and consensus mechanisms. It compares PoW, PoS, hybrid designs, and layer-2 scaling, focusing on security, decentralization, throughput, and trade-offs in real-world networks.
Monolithic vs modular blockchain designsProof-of-Work security and incentivesProof-of-Stake variants and finality modelsHybrid and committee-based consensusLayer-2 rollups, channels, and data availabilityLesson 7Stablecoins, wrapped tokens, and cross-chain bridges: mechanics, use cases, and systemic implicationsThis section explains how stablecoins, wrapped tokens, and cross-chain bridges work. It covers design models, collateralization, bridge security risks, and systemic impacts on liquidity, leverage, and contagion across blockchain ecosystems.
Fiat- and crypto-collateralized stablecoin modelsAlgorithmic and hybrid stablecoin stabilizationWrapped assets and synthetic token designBridge architectures and security assumptionsSystemic risks, depegs, and contagion channelsLesson 8Network effects and adoption curves: protocols, applications, and developer ecosystemsThis section explores how network effects drive protocol and application adoption. It covers user and developer growth, adoption curves, composability, and how ecosystems compete, coordinate, and entrench advantages over time.
Direct and indirect network effects in protocolsAdoption curves and S-curve modelingDeveloper ecosystems and tooling flywheelsComposability, liquidity pools, and moatsMultichain competition and winner-take-most
