Introduction
This course is about blockchains and Bitcoin. These technologies are among the most disruptive technologies of the last 15 years, especially in finance, trade in goods and the design of contracts. At the heart of these technologies is the distributed ledger (DLT), which ensures that data can be stored without the need for a trusted third party. Such distributed storage of data has opened up innovations such as cryptocurrency, smart contracts and "Non Fungible Tokens (NFT)". The course provides an introduction to the underlying technology of blockchain, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, as well as the application of this technology in a business context. The course is taught with a focus on cases and flipped classrooms, and with a large degree of discussion. Students are expected to attend class prepared.
Through a combination of theoretical insight, practical case studies and exercises, students will explore how Bitcoin and the blockchain technology affect various aspects of business finance. The technology affects all areas of business economics through its unique way of processing information. This affects everything from accounting systems, legal decisions, banking and financiers, entrepreneurship, value creation from creative industries, to digital communication, marketing and financial analysis, to name a few.
The course is set up as a Flipped Classroom. This means that before the lectures, the students have prepared through podcasts, films, texts and Artificial Intelligence (text robots). In the class, there is extensive use of class discussions where current cases are discussed against the current syllabus. In this course, students will develop skills on how to manage technology to influence social and economic development in a sustainable way.
The exam paper will be based on the cases from the class discussions.