PP426      Half Unit
Public Policy for Blockchains and Digital Assets

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Availability

Requisites

Recommended pre-requisites:

The course has no formal prerequisites, though previous coursework or experience in economics, finance, business, computer science, law or other related fields will be beneficial.

Public permissionless blockchains and "crypto" assets have attracted massive attention, investment and talent. But what do distributed ledger technologies and the socioeconomic systems that are built on them amount to? What economic or social purpose, if any, do they serve? What are the costs, risks and opportunities associated with this technology, financial infrastructure and purported asset class? Most importantly, how should it be understood and addressed by policymakers?

This course is designed to (1) equip students with a technical, economic, social, legal and historical understanding of the “crypto” phenomenon and (2) develop student understanding of the theoretical frameworks, analytical tools and perspectives necessary to have informed views about how various aspects of this sector are and should be regulated. The course will draw on a variety of sources including academic research, case studies, whitepapers, news reporting, opinion pieces, and online media.

The course is interdisciplinary but emphasizes economic concepts and ideas. It will also have a comparative and international focus. The course will also cover permissioned DLTs and other emerging financial technologies, but the emphasis will be on the permissionless blockchains, the technological underpinning of “crypto.” Students may be interested in the course for a variety of reasons, including general education, as preparation for roles in regulatory bodies, government, finance, or advocacy organizations.

33 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

The course will have two 90 minute ‘Harvard style’ lecture/seminars per week. All students taking the course will need to attend both teaching sessions each week.  These are interactive sessions where student participation is expected. 

Students will be expected to produce formative outlines for their essay and policy memo in the Autumn Term.

The course will feature materials from a wide variety of sources, including journal articles, newsletters, blogs, and other online media. Below is a list of key reference materials for the course:   

• Arvind Narayanan, Joseph Bonneau, Edward Felten, Andrew Miller, and Steven Goldfeder. 2016. Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies: A Comprehensive Introduction. Princeton University Press, USA.
• Robert J. Shiller, 2015. "Irrational Exuberance," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 3, number 10421.
• Levine, Mathew. “The Crypto Story: Where it came from, what it all means, and why it still matters.” Bloomberg Businessweek. October 31st 2022.
• Nakamoto, Satoshi: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System (August 21, 2008)
• Buterin, Vitalik: “Ethereum: A Next-Generation Smart Contract and Decentralized Application Platform.” (January 2014).

Memo (60%, 2500 words)

Essay (40%, 1500 words)

The essay will be due during Autumn Term and the policy memo due in the period between Autumn and Winter Terms.