This was an intro session on blockchain and cryptocurrencies. If you want to view the webinar for this talk checkout: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl5mVI7jEK0

1. Introduction to Blockchain & Crypto
Presented by: Aurobindo Nayak

2. Introduction
A brief overview of blockchain, what it encompasses and what it hopes to
solve along with its use case and adoption
Blockchain Frameworks
Overview of the problems in current system and how a
distributed system can help in resolving some of those.
The rise of Cryptocurrencies
What is money; Introduction to the wild wild west of cryptocurrencies and
why they are necessary.
Cutting through the terms
Discussion on different terms of Blockchains and crypto which would normally
befuddle a beginner and understanding more on it.
Making a career in Blockchain
The steps I would advise people to take for building capability and technological
expertise in this domain. The kind of market out there and the pay
Agenda

3. Introduction

4. So what’s a blockchain
• Blockchain is simply a data structure where each block is linked to another block in a time-stamped chronological order.
• It is an immutable public record of transactions on a digital ledger which is distributed in nature.
• Every new transaction is validated by the participants before they are added to the chain.
• All data on the ledger is verifiable and auditable but not editable. Each block has its own unique cryptographic hash as its differentiator and is linked to the previous
block in the chain.
• You can do a demo on: https://anders.com/blockchain/ and see for yourself how this conceptually works

5. Properties of a blockchain system
Decentralized
Both the network and the rules for how to
operate the network is maintained by
some kind of consensus mechanism
Tokenization
A decentralized system needs an incentive
mechanism to function. That comes in
form of “tokens” issued by the network.
Tokens can represent anything and can be
used in a multitude of ways
Distributed
Participants are able to run full nodes and
get the backup of all transactions to verify
it themselves, even if geographically apart.
Encryption
Blockchains use the concept of public and
private keys to record data in blocks and to
verify identities.
Immutable
Data cannot be removed from the
network by any participants and there
is a constant trail of audit.

6. The first application of blockchain is money. For the
first time it is possible for two parties to transfer
money directly to each other: secure, worldwide and
without third-party intervention. The blockchain
transfers ownership and records the transaction..
This blockchain generation facilitates crowd
ownership: shared property on a small scale with
control for the owners via voting and distribution of
profits via dividends. This fits perfectly in the current
trends of crowd funding and the sharing economy.
In addition to money and assets, agreements can also
be registered on the blockchain. Such a digital
contract enforces the participants to keep their
promise. The capabilities of blockchain contracts are
unprecedented.
Evolution of blockchain systems over time

8. Industry Survey Data

10. Blockchain Frameworks

11. Industry wide used frameworks

12. Baas (Blockchain as a service)

13. Deployment methods

14. Alternatives to Blockchain
Yes. Blockchain is but one among many types of “distributed ledger technologies”. But is it just that? No. There are a few properties which has led to this success we see
today. Replicating this is hard but isn’t impossible.
• Keep a common registry (or ledger) of all the transactions carried within a particular framework, and that ledger is distributed among all participants.
• Anyone can join as a participant to the network. A blockchain assumes malicious parties will join and takes this in stride.
• Anyone can spin up a client and can check all the transactions ever done in the system and verify for themselves.
• Have some form of a consensus mechanism in place to reach finality or eventual finality on the state of a transaction.
• Is open and decentralized in nature. No single entity can takeover the control of the network.
• Considerably hard for a single party to takeover the network because they need 51% power.
• Solve the double spending problem.
At the moment Two new technologies have emerged that are the runners up for Bitcoin succession: Tangle and Hashgraph. Both promise to yield remedies for
Blockchain’s performance bottleneck. 3 While Tangle and Hashgraph are also distributed ledger technologies, they are nevertheless fundamentally different to
the Blockchain. They are basically Blockchains without the blocks and the chain. The differences are most obvious with regards to information dissemination and
consensus reaching. More specifically,Tangle and Hashgraph are “Directed Acyclic Graphs”.
Tangle: An innovative adaptation of DLT designed by IOTA Foundation to be a more scalable alternative, closely tethered to the adap prediction that the so-called Internet
of Things (IoT, a network of interconnected devices)will be well established in the next decade. The network’s native token is IOTA. By utilizing DAG, IOTA’s Tangle can reach
consensus through users verifying transactions themselves, thus removing the need for miners. In this system, a transaction must confirm two previous transactions before
it can be confirmed. So if you send IOTA to another user, your device would then pick out 2 unconfirmed transactions to process and store. This then results in your
transaction being queued for processing by other connected devices. Theoretically, this should mean the network’s processing capacity should grow in tandem with its user
base.
Hashgraph: This uses something called as a gossip protocol, and it works a bit like this. Each member or node in the network is able to distribute information (known as
events) on created transactions/transactions received from other nodes, to other randomly selected neighbour nodes. From here, the neighbours are responsible for
aggregating the received event with corresponding information received from other nodes into a new event, which is then distributed to more randomly selected
neighbours. The process is repeated until all participating nodes are cognizant of data created and/or received at the beginning. Transaction history on a hashgraph is
made available through each node maintaining a graph that shows the sequence of forwarders/witnesses. Ideally should have the same view of each and every
transaction/witness.

15. The rise of Cryptocurrencies

16. Brief timeline of Crypto

17. Types of Crypto

18. Usage of Crypto in the Industry

19. Ethereum Ecosystem

20. Cutting through the terms

21. CEX vs DEX
CEX are centralized exchanges which currently dominate the crypto trading industry. But there are quite a few alternatives coming out in for of DEX (Decentralized
Exchanges). A decentralized exchange (DEX) is an exchange market that does not rely on a third party service to hold the customer’s funds. Instead, trades occur
directly between users (peer to peer) through an automated or semi-automated process. We can check for a comprehensive comparison below.

22. What’s this Defi stuff we keep hearing about?
Decentralized finance (DeFi) is a blockchain-based financial
infrastructure that has recently gained a lot of traction. The term
generally refers to an open, permissionless, and highly interoperable
protocol stack built on public smart contract platforms, such as the
Ethereum blockchain.
Properties of a DeFi Application:
• It replicates existing financial services in a more open and
transparent way
• In particular, DeFi does not rely on intermediaries and centralized
institutions.
• It is based on open protocols and decentralized applications (DApps)
on open-source networks.
• Agreements are enforced by code, transactions are executed in a
secure and verifiable way, and legitimate state changes persist on a
public blockchain.
• This architecture can create an immutable and highly interoperable
financial system with unprecedented transparency, equal access
rights, and little need for custodians, central clearing houses, or
escrow services, as most of these roles can be assumed by “smart
contracts.”
• Lastly, one more important benefit of Decentralized Finance that
draws attention is the ability to earn “money”. Many decentralized
apps such as Compound and Dharma allow for driving additional
value to the investments in digital assets.

23. Defi Market
DeFi still is a niche market with relatively low volumes—however, these numbers are growing rapidly. The value of funds that are locked in DeFi-related smart
contracts recently crossed 10 billion USD. It is essential to understand that these are not transaction volume or market cap numbers; the value refers to reserves
locked in smart contracts for use in various ways.
The spectacular growth of these assets alongside some truly innovative protocols suggests that DeFi may become relevant in a much broader context and has
sparked interest among policymakers, researchers, and financial institutions

24. The Defi Stack
DeFi uses a multi-layered architecture. Every layer has a distinct purpose. The layers build on each other and create an open and highly composable infrastructure
that allows everyone to build on, rehash, or use other parts of the stack. It is also crucial to understand that these layers are hierarchical: They are only as secure
as the layers below. If, for example, the blockchain in the settlement layer is compromised, all subsequent layers would not be secure.
This below section proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing these layers and studying the token and the protocol layers in greater detail

25. NFT
Defining NFT:
The term fungible means something that can be replaced by something similar. So, by the name Non Fungible Tokens, we can easily understand that we are talking
about a type of token that can’t be replaced by another similar token. It is unique and non-interchangeable.
It is a virtual token that you create to verifiably prove authenticity and ownership of an asset, through cryptography. Non Fungible Token is the best example of
how a token can be used to create scarcity, which results in the creation of value for that token. NFTs are not a recent concept regardless of how the NFT market
saw a sudden boom. Most NFTs in market are created using on the ERC-721 standard.
Some current usage of NFTs:
Gaming - In 2017, CryptoKitties was launched as a game on Ethereum developed by Dapper Labs that allows players to purchase, collect, breed and sell virtual
cats. It got so popular it ended up slowing down the entire network. A recent popular example is Decentraland, which is a game about digitally scarce land. You
can purchase, develop, and sell the land in Decentraland using Non Fungible Tokens.
Collectibles - Collectors and speculators have spent more than $200 million on an array of NFT-based artwork, memes and GIFs in the past month alone, according
to market tracker NonFungible.com. For example and artwork named “Everydays: the First 5000 Days” sold for 69 million USD.
Licensing - The NFT License, at its core, is a user agreement. Any NFT creator can literally copy and paste this license into their terms of service, and it will govern
what users can and can’t do with their NFTs. You can head over to NFTlicense.org for this. Include it in your terms of use in the NFT being sold and just like that,
you’re using the NFT License as well.
Other Platforms for NFTs:
EOS - A few months back, UNICO and EOS Cafe Calgary partnered up to create the Non Fungible Token Standard for EOS.
NEO - In March 2018, the founder of Trinity Protocol, David Li also proposed his NEP-10 standard for Non Fungible Tokens on NEO platform.
Stellar - It uses Stellar accounts to represent each individual unique Non Fungible Token. Each token uses the unique metadata that distinguishes it from the other
token, and digitally signed by the account creator before it is stored on IPFS object. In return, the IPFS multi-hash is used as a secret key for the account/user
associated with the token.

26. Some examples of recent NFTs sold

27. Stable Coins
Proponents of cryptocurrencies tout benefits like transparency, security, and privacy, but extreme price volatility and unclear regulatory treatment have limited
adoption by traditional financial institutions. As such, the concept of stablecoins were introduced. Price stability is one of the promises of “Stablecoins”, a new
breed of crypto that pegs value to other assets, such as the US Dollar or gold.
Real World applications:
1. A day-to-day currency - Stablecoins could be used just like any other currency for mainstream commerce, but with the added benefits of being a digital
currency that’s legally backed and secure.
2. Streamlining recurring and P2P payments - Stablecoins also allow the use of smart financial contracts that can be enforceable over time. Smart contracts are
self-executing contracts that exist on a blockchain network, without requiring any third party or central authority to enact it. These automatic transactions are
traceable, transparent, and irreversible, making them ideal for salary and loan payments, rent payments, and subscriptions.
3. Fast and affordable remittances for migrant workers - In today’s world, migrant workers have to send remittances through businesses like Western Union to
get money back to their families and loved ones. This is a slow and costly process, where families end up losing a big chunk of their funds to high fees.
4. Protection from local currency crashes and market volatility - In the event of a fiat currency crashing in value, local citizens could exchange their crashing
currency for USD-backed, EUR-backed, or even gold-backed stablecoins quickly before they lose even more of their savings, thus protecting them from further
drops in value.
5. Improved cryptocurrency exchanges - Very few cryptocurrency exchanges out there currently support fiat currencies due to strict regulations. But the use of
stablecoins allows exchanges to get around this problem and offer crypto-fiat trading pairs, by simply using a USD-backed stablecoin instead of actual dollars.

28. Stable Coins
Types of Stablecoins
Stablecoins Supply dominance
Lets try to understand the various types of Stablecoins in the market now
1. FIAT-COLLATERALIZED STABLECOINS - The most common type of stablecoins are
collateralized — or backed — by fiat currency like USD, EUR, or GBP. Fiat-backed stablecoins
are backed at a 1:1 ratio, meaning 1 stablecoin is equal to 1 unit of currency (like a dollar). Ex- Tether
(USDT)
2. COMMODITY-COLLATERALIZED STABLECOINS - These are backed by other kinds of
interchangeable assets, such as precious metals. The most common commodity to be
collateralized is gold — however, there are also stablecoins backed by oil, real estate, and
various precious metals. Ex- Digix Gold (DGX)
3. CRYPTO-COLLATERALIZED STABLECOINS- These are stablecoins backed by other
cryptocurrencies. This allows crypto-backed stablecoins to be much more decentralized
than their fiat-backed counterparts, since everything is conducted on the blockchain. To
reduce price volatility risks, these stablecoins are often over-collateralized so they can
absorb price fluctuations in the collateral. For example, to get $500 worth of stablecoins,
you would need to deposit $1,000 worth of Ether (ETH) . Ex- MakerDAO, Dai
4. NON-COLLATERALIZED STABLECOINS- Non-collateralized stablecoins are not backed by
anything, which might seem contradictory given what stablecoins are. The US dollar used
to be backed by gold, but that ended decades ago, and dollars are still perfectly stable
because people believe in their value. The same idea can apply to non-collateralized
stablecoins. These types of coins use an algorithmically governed approach to control the
stablecoin supply. As demand increases, new stablecoins are created to reduce the price
back to the normal level. If the coin is trading too low, then coins on the market are
bought up to reduce the circulating supply. In theory, prices of these stablecoins would
remain stable as they are driven by market supply and demand. Ex- Ampleforth, AMPL

29. Yield Farming
Yield farming is the cornerstone concept for DeFi started in 2020 from a Ethereum-based credit market called “Compound” started to distribute its governance
token, COMP, to the protocol’s user base. With the way the automatic distribution was structured, demand for the token initiated a craze and moved Compound
into the leading position in DeFi. With yield farming, the goal is to maximize a rate of return on capital by leveraging different DeFi protocols. A yield farmer will
look for the highest yield by moving between several strategies
How does it work
An investor will approach a DeFi platform like Compound, collecting crypto assets, and
lending them to borrowers, paying back interest on the loan to the investor. Interest can be
either fixed or variable with the rates decided by the individual platform. Compound
rewards users with its native token “Comp” for example, along with the interest payment.
In order to borrow some funds from the platform, a borrower will need to deposit double
the borrowed amount as a form of collateral before proceeding to the deal. Using smart
contracts, the value of the collateral can be checked at any point in time. If it is less than
the borrowed amount, the contract can trigger to liquidate the borrower account, and
interest is paid to the lender. This means the lender will never be at a loss, even if the
borrower fails with repayment.

30. How does Yield Farming work
An easier way to explain yield farming might be to compare it with traditional finance. For example, suppose you want a new savings account that offers the
highest annualized percentage yield. You would compare the accounts and see which will give you the best return on your money across different products. The
returns of different yield farming strategies can be expressed in the same way. However, when you think many savings accounts might have a 3.1% APY in India
meaning you don’t get a lot for your parking your money while at the same time yield farming can boast as much as 100% APY.
To understand how such high returns are plausible, you need to understand these:
Liquidity Mining:
The distribution of tokens to the users of a protocol is called liquidity mining. It creates additional incentives for yield farmers as token rewards can be added to
the yield they are already generating. Sometimes, a farmer might be willing to forfeit their initial capital to gain rewards in the form of distributed tokens such as
COMP. Their overall strategy will remain highly profitable.
Leverage:
Leverage helps to make high returns possible. It is the strategy of using borrowed money so as to increase the likely returns on investment. A farmer will deposit
their coins as collateral to one of the lending protocols and then borrow other coins. The borrowed coins are then used as additional collateral to borrow more
coins. If the farmer keeps repeating the process, they leverage their initial capital multiple times and generate cumulative returns.
Risks:
Yield farmers are willing to take high risks to hit double or triple digits APY returns. The loans they take are overcollateralized and susceptible to liquidation if it
drops below a certain collateralization ratio threshold. There are also risks with the smart contract, such as bugs and platform changes or attacks that try to drain
liquidity pools.

31. IPFS
At its core, IPFS is a distributed system for storing and accessing files, websites, applications, and data. It is transport layer agnostic, meaning that it can
communicate over various transport layers—including transmission control protocol (TCP), uTP, UDT, QUIC, TOR, and even Bluetooth. IPFS has rules that determine
how data and content move around on the network. These rules are similar to the peer-to-peer distributed hash table (DHT) that is widely known for its use in the
BitTorrent protocol.
How does it work:
Instead of referring to data (photos, articles, videos) by location, or which
server they are stored on, IPFS refers to everything by that data’s hash,
meaning the content itself. The idea is that if you want to access a particular
page from your browser, IPFS will ask the entire network, “does anyone have
the data that corresponds to this hash?” A node on IPFS that contains the
corresponding hash will return the data, allowing you to access it from
anywhere (and potentially even offline).
IPFS uses content addressing the way HTTP uses URLs. This means that
instead of creating identifiers that address artifacts by location, we can
address them by some representation of the content itself. This content-
addressable approach separates the “what” from the “where,” so data and
files can be stored and served from anywhere by anyone. It works by taking a
file and hashing it cryptographically so you end up with a very small and
reproducible representation of the file, which ensures that no one can create
another file that has the same hash and use that as the address. Instead of a
server, you are talking to a specific piece of data.
You can read more from: https://blog.infura.io/an-introduction-to-ipfs/

32. Making a career in Blockchain

33. What to learn & where to start
At the moment the demand is set for blockchain developers. In absolute numbers US and India are the leaders, followed notably by United Kingdom, Canada,
France and Germany. The Top 5 countries with blockchain devs are given below.
If you are already a full stack developer with even minimal experience on the infrastructure side of things, it would be very easy for you to pick up the skills
required for learning blockchain. You can learn everything for free on the web else you can take a structured approach by a paid course.
The skills you need depends on 3 things:
1. Language depends on the platform you want to learn – For example if you want to learn Hyperledger Fabric, you would need to learn any of the 3 languages –
Go, Java or NodeJS. If you are going to use Ethereum then Solidity becomes the choice or if its Corda then Kotlin it is.
2. The kind of deployment you want – If you want to build a modern web application with the backend built on blockchain and want a cloud based deployment
for faster go to market then you need to learn the managed services provided by the platform. You can oncourse custom build it and use Docker and
Kubernetes for deployment.

34. Kind of Jobs available and how they pay
This slide is a summation based on the market I have seen in the past few years and the kind of
positions companies are looking for. Please take the data on the right side with a pinch of salt as they
are approximated based on a limited data-set. It’s just to give you an idea of the scale and not to be
taken as exact figures.
What positions are companies looking for in India:
1. Core Blockchain Developers- They develop and design the architecture and protocols of a
blockchain system and design consensus protocols and high-level development decisions related
to blockchain. For example Core ETH or BTC developers working on protocol level problems. Even
startups like MATIC who are working on hard problems like Layer 2 scaling would be considered
working on this.
2. Blockchain Researchers – Work at the forefront of blockchain research and constantly try out and
test emerging protocols and applications. Filter out the noise and get what's important to the
architects who can take it forward to a production ready system.
3. Blockchain Tech Architects/ Senior Consultants- These positions are normally held by industry
veterans who have extensive experience already and can design a robust system and help guide
teams to success.
4. Blockchain Software Engineers/Sr. Software Engineers- They use the protocols and architecture
already designed by core blockchain developers to build decentralized applications. They can use
it for enterprise use cases or other fintech use cases.

35. Q & A