Track 01 · Foundation
Blockchain Fundamentals
How a distributed ledger reaches agreement without a central party — and what that costs.
- 18 hours
- 5 modules
- 20 units
- Free, in full
About this course
The foundation course rebuilds the mental model from the bottom. You start with why ordering events is the hard problem, then work up through hashing, signatures and consensus until the design of a public chain reads as a set of trade-offs rather than a mystery.
Nothing here assumes prior exposure to cryptography or markets. It does assume you are willing to work through an exercise rather than watch a video and move on — the exercises are where the model is actually built.
What you will be able to do
- Explain what a block, a hash and a signature each actually do
- Compare proof-of-work and proof-of-stake by their trade-offs rather than their slogans
- Read a block explorer and describe what a transaction did
- Name the failure modes that most often cost people their keys
Syllabus
18 hours of contact material
01Ledgers, state and the ordering problem4 units · 3 hr 30 min
- What a ledger is before any cryptography is added
- State machines, transitions and why replication is not the hard part
- Ordering, double-spends and the problem Byzantine agreement solves
- Exercise: hand-order a conflicting transaction set
02Cryptographic primitives from first principles4 units · 4 hr
- Hash functions: what collision resistance buys you
- Public-key cryptography and digital signatures
- Merkle trees and proofs of inclusion
- Exercise: verify a Merkle proof by hand
03Consensus mechanisms compared honestly4 units · 3 hr 50 min
- Proof-of-work: cost, security budget and energy
- Proof-of-stake: bonding, slashing and finality
- Liveness versus safety, and what each design gives up
- Where both designs degrade under stress
04Transactions, fees and block space4 units · 3 hr 20 min
- The lifecycle of a transaction from mempool to inclusion
- Fee markets and what congestion does to a user
- Reading a block explorer end to end
- Exercise: trace a transaction you did not send
05Keys, wallets and how people lose funds4 units · 3 hr 20 min
- Key derivation, seed phrases and what a wallet stores
- Custodial versus self-custodial arrangements
- The common loss patterns: backup failure, approval abuse, social engineering
- Where to go next in the catalogue
Who it is for
- Engineers who use a chain but could not explain how it settles
- Analysts, journalists and policy staff who need the mechanism, not the pitch
- Anyone starting the intermediate tracks later
Prerequisites
None. Comfort with basic arithmetic is enough.
What is included
- Video and written notes for every unit
- Exercise sets with worked solutions
- Reading list of primary sources
- Certificate of completion
Assessment
Four exercise sets and a written end-of-course assessment. Assessments are marked pass or resit; there is no grade and no ranking.
Educational disclaimer
Ledgerworks Institute provides educational content and learning tools only. Nothing on this platform constitutes financial advice, an investment recommendation, or a guarantee of any outcome. Cryptocurrency and digital-asset markets carry substantial risk, including the total loss of capital. Conduct your own research and consult a qualified, licensed professional before making any financial decision.
Read the full disclaimer