Decentralized Finance (DeFi): The Future of Finance Specialization is a four-module course offered by Duke University in conjunction with Coursera. This course is taught by Cam Harvey, a professor of Decentralized Finance at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. The course is estimated to take four months to complete on the assumption of two hours per week per Coursera. Realistically, the entire four-module course can be completed in approximately five to six weeks. The average rating on Coursera is 4.9 stars.
The course is free as a subscriber to Coursera Plus (C$75 per month) and is offered on a go-at-your-own pace schedule combined with module and shareable course completion certificates with unique proof-of-completion serial numbers attached to URLs. The course is largely based on the book Defi and the Future of Finance, 1st edition, co-authored by by Campbell R. Harvey (Author), Ashwin Ramachandran (Author), Joey Santoro (Author), Fred Ehrsam (Foreword) with some additional material offered in the course that is not found in the book. Disclaimer: I have not yet read the book so cannot offer a comparison.
As most Coursera Plus courses are offered at the community or technical college level of difficulty, it would be fair to say that this course is on par with a first-year technical college level of difficulty, with the emphasis on breadth versus depth. The course does not go into extensive technical detail at all as you would expect from a blockchain course requiring programming knowledge nor is there a pre-requisite to have introductory finance knowledge. For example, his discussions on arbitrage don’t require a previous introduction to arbitrage.
While there are end-of-subject quizzes, there are no assignments or projects to be completed for grading.
Course Syllabus
The Defi: The Future of Finance Specialization is broken down into the following modules:
Decentralized Finance (Defi) Infrastructure (corresponds to Chapters 2 & 3 in the book)
The first module begins by exploring the origins of DeFi from the first peer-to-peer exchanges of bartering, to present day, historical examples of money having value even though it is not officially backed, key infrastructure components of Defi such as: blockchain, cryptocurrency, smart contracts, oracles, stablecoins and decentralized applications (or dApps) including discussion of the mechanics of the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains including cryptographic hashing, specific problems that DeFi is designed to solve: inefficiency, opacity, centralized control and lack of interoperability . The first module closes by exploring many of the myths about the crypto space.
Decentralized Finance (Defi) Primitives (corresponds to Chapter 4 in the book)
The second module discusses transaction mechanics and introduce both fungible and non-fungible tokens – or NFTs. The module explores the important issue of custody (holding private keys), supply adjustment which includes the minting and burning of tokens, the mechanics of bonding curves, and the role of direct as well as indirect incentives in the DeFi system. It then analyzes swaps or decentralized exchange and begins by contrasting DEX with centralized exchange (e.g., Coinbase or Binance). The module details the mechanics of Automated Market Makers and provides a number of detailed examples along with a discussion of impermanent loss as well as (legal) front-running. The module ends by exploring both collateralized and flash loans.
Decentralized Finance (Defi) Deep Dive (corresponds to Chapter 6 in the book)
The third module delves into Credit and Lending (and feature MakerDAO, Compound and Aave), Decentralized Exchange with an analysis of how protocols like Uniswap and Balancer works, Derivatives (featuring Yield Protocol, dYdX and Synthetix) and Tokenization with an analysis of Set Protocol as well as wrapped bitcoin. The module includes detailed examples of how the mechanics work such as how to use a dYdX flash swap to execute an arbitrage transaction (take advantage of different prices on different exchanges for the same asset).
Decentralized Finance (Defi) Opportunities and Risks (corresponds to Chapter 7 in the book)
The fourth and final module discusses smart contract risk, governance risk, oracle risk, scaling risk, decentralized exchange or DEX risk, custodial risk, environmental risk, and regulatory risk.
Instructor Review
Cam Harvey is a widely respected and extensively published author and teacher of finance. His passion for finance and decentralized finance clearly shows in the videos and he does not come across as reading off a script too often. On occasion, he tends to come across as demonstrating contempt for the world of centralized finance, which makes for entertaining viewing; therefore, it is clear that this subject matter is of great personal importance to him.
As someone with a long history and extensive academic background in finance, Cam Harvey has no trouble in distilling some of the more complex theories in finance and decentralized finance into a more digestible form for the average person, albeit this course is best suited towards those who already have an introductory understanding of finance and blockchain technologies.
Content Delivery
All four modules are delivered via pre-recorded videos of the instructor speaking in from of a camera with PowerPoint slides superimposed on to the screen. There are optional recommended readings that for the most part refer to the book that the instructor co-authored. The slides can be downloaded and reviewed offline and have sufficient detail to assist with learning recall. There are no video animations as part of the course delivery or embedded IDEs or programming interfaces as there is no code programming involved as part of this course unlike other offerings.
Each module is broken down into further sub-topics with videos lasting on average between 15 and 30 minutes, combined with individual slide decks. At the end of each sub-topic or category there is an end-of-topic quiz that is typically no more than 10 questions long. The required passing score is 85% in most cases and the level of difficulty is not challenging at all.
The course met my expectations with respect to an introduction to decentralized finance, as opposed to an introduction to blockchain and cryptocurrency. The emphasis of this course is on the application of blockchain technology in the context of decentralized finance versus a theoretical understanding as to how the underlying technology itself works. That is the difference between this course and the other Coursera course I have taken, which is the BlockChain Revolution Specialization offered by INSEAD via Coursera with Don and Alex Tapscott as its instructors and co-authors of the same book.
The examples offered were straightforward and simple to understand, in spite of the occasional jargon that was used. At no time did the instructor come across as overly self-promotional of his own book, nor did he come across as “reading off his book”. The quality of audio and video was more than acceptable and there were no noticeable artifacts or low resolution images.
Course Community
Teacher Q&A
As the course is self-paced, video-on-demand there is no opportunity to have any interaction with Cam Harvey, although his Twitter handle and LinkedIn profile links are available.
Student discussion boards
The student discussion boards have a very low utilization rate and there aren’t many conversation threads.
Additional resources / references for further study
Aside from the instructor’s own co-authored book, external links to additional reading material is provided; however, the occasional link is broken and this appears to be a common problem across Coursera as the course material ages out.
It would be useful to have a final page that points to a list of additional learning material, whether it be other courses, books or websites such that the student can continue learning about decentralized finance, rather than have to figure out on their own what the next step is.
Target Audience
This course is best suited for students who already have pre-existing knowledge or introduction to blockchain and cryptocurrency as the topics covered are a specific application of blockchain and an offshoot of finance. A student with absolutely no knowledge of finance, blockchain or cryptocurrency might struggle with the subject matter.
Coursera ranks the course material as Intermediate by its own internal standards and I would agree. There are some sections of the course where it is not possible to understand the material unless you are fully paying attention. On the other hand, the end of topic quizzes are very easy and there is no reason why the average person cannot finish the course with a grade that is well in excess of 90 percent.
Favourite Topics
Arbitrage! After all, everyone takes a Defi or crypto course to learn how to become rich. The examples given on flash loans and flash swaps were quite enlightening even though the odds of duplicating such activity in the future may be considerably more difficult. This is one section I would personally re-read and review a few times and spend more time researching outside of the course.
Relevance to Today’s World
With the implosion of Terra (LUNA)’s algorithmic (un)stablecoin in May 2022, Cam Harvey correctly addresses and predicts the risks associated with this kind of implementation. It was interesting to learn about the subject matter and then see LUNA implode just a few days after completing the course.
I took the course based on reviews by other Coursera students after a dedicated search within the Coursera platform. The course is fairly niche and this is what makes it easier to follow and get to the finish because of the underlying motivation to see examples of how money was actually made.
After taking this course, I am by no means an expert in this course nor did I expect to be. I would imagine that similar knowledge could be gained by reading the instructor’s book. However, after learning the course, I have a better sense as to what to look for in terms of future study material. Links to additional learning material will be displayed at the end of this blog post.
What Worked Well
Course material was appropriately chunked. Instructor stuck to the 15-30 minute time frames for videos and ends the subject just as your attention is about to drop off. The PowerPoint slides are clear and easy to read and informative with just the right amount of detail, making it easy to recall subject matters.
What Could Be Improved
Part of the challenge with offering a video-on-demand course is that the instructor has to literally stand there and talk to a camera without any interaction with the audience. While Cam Harvey does a very good job of attempting to engage with a non-existent audience, standing like a statue with minimal movement is actually more distracting than seeing an instructor make some upper body movement other than pivoting to the left and right.
As stated earlier, providing links to additional comprehensive learning material would be of great benefit to students coming through the course. This would avoid the problem of figuring out what to learn next.
Overall Recommendation
Would I Recommend This Course to Someone Else?
Yes, provided they have introductory knowledge of blockchain and finance.
Would I Take Another Course From this Instructor?
Yes. He presented well and I was never bored even when he covered topics I had little interest in.
Was It Worth The Money?
Considering that it was free as part of Coursera Plus, the question becomes whether it’s worth it to spend $75 per month to take the course over four months, at an estimated $300 given Coursera’s recommended time frame. This would be about 15 times more than the cost of reading the associated book, so you are in essence paying $280 for the course completion certificate.
If you already have a Coursera Plus subscription and intend to continue with your subscription and enjoy learning via video, I would definitely do this course over the book as it would be easier to follow along. If you don’t have a Coursera Plus subscription, then I would be wary of purchasing a subscription for the sole purpose of taking this course as it is very easy to drag a four-month course over several months.
Additional Resources
Related Coursera Courses
Blockchain Revolution Specialization by Don and Alex Tapscott (INSEAD)
Blockchain Specialization by Bima Ramamurthy (University of Buffalo)
Cryptography I by Dan Boneh (Stanford University)
Related Books
DeFi and the Future of Finance 1st Edition by Campbell R. Harvey (Author), Ashwin Ramachandran (Author), Joey Santoro (Author), Fred Ehrsam (Foreword)
Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World by Don and Alex Tapscott
Financial Services Revolution: How Blockchain is Transforming Money, Markets, and Banking by Alex Tapscott
