This course of the Blockchain specialization provides a broad overview of the essential concepts of blockchain technology – by initially exploring the Bitcoin protocol followed by the Ethereum protocol – to lay the foundation necessary for developing applications and programming. You will be equipped with the knowledge needed to create nodes on your personal Ethereum blockchain, create accounts, unlock accounts, mine, transact, transfer Ethers, and check balances.

This course of the Blockchain specialization will help you design, code, deploy and execute a smart contract – the computational element of the blockchain technology. Smart contracts allow for implementing user-defined operations of arbitrary complexity that are not possible through plain cryptocurrency protocols. They allow users to implement conditions, rules and policies of the domain applications. Smart contracts are a powerful feature that, when properly designed and coded, can result in autonomous, efficient and transparent systems.

This course of the Blockchain specialization prepares you to design and develop end-to-end decentralized applications (Dapps) – which provide anyone with access to the blockchain’s features and services. You will use Truffle IDE, smart contracts, a simple web client and a MetaMask client. You will learn about the architecture of a Dapp: the front-end client interface, backed by the blockchain and smart contracts. The course covers the basic design of a Dapp, Truffle development process and commands (init, develop, test and migrate), test-driven development of Dapp, Dapp application models and emerging standards that are essential for predictable Dapp behavior.

This course is the definitive introduction to blockchain for both the developer and non-developer audience. Beyond the technology, this course will introduce you to some of the philosophy behind decentralization and why there is so much excitement around it.
Together, we'll examine businesses use cases, hear from industry leaders, and give you the opportunity to develop and analyze a use case yourself. With this course, not only will you be the one who is able to explain blockchain to your colleagues, you'll be well on your way to making educated business decisions with your new, foundational understanding of the technology.

This course is an introduction to the new area of token economics, otherwise called crypto economics, which is the study and design of economic systems based on blockchain technology. This is a course on both the study, analysis, and design of token economies and the relevance of this new area given the current economic context.

This is the second course in the UI/UX Design Specialization, following Visual Elements of User Interface Design. This hands-on course examines how content is organized and structured to create an experience for a user, and what role the designer plays in creating and shaping a user’s experience. You will be led through a condensed process that acts as a roadmap for developing robust UI/UX design: from ideation and sitemapping, to the creation of paper and digital prototypes. Building on the design skills learned in Visual Elements of User Interface Design, you will apply this methodology to produce a digital prototype for a multi-screen app of your own invention.