Key Concepts for ContextDecentralized exchange (DEX): peer-to-peer or peer-to-protocol marketplaces where traders can exchange their blockchain tokens without any central authority taking custody of their funds.Counterparty: someone on the opposite side of a deal or transaction. For example, if you are buying crypto, your counterparty would be a crypto seller.Liquidity provider (LP): someone who deposits their tokens into a DEX’s liquidity pool in exchange for fees and other benefits. The DEX...

Key Concepts for ContextDecentralized exchange (DEX): peer-to-peer or peer-to-protocol marketplaces where traders can exchange their blockchain tokens without any central authority taking custody of their funds.Counterparty: someone on the opposite side of a deal or transaction. For example, if you are buying crypto, your counterparty would be a crypto seller.Liquidity provider (LP): someone who deposits their tokens into a DEX’s liquidity pool in exchange for fees and other benefits. The DEX...

By: Ratan Kaliani, Annamira O’Toole & Shivam Patel In the spirit of decentralization, DeFi (decentralized finance) protocols have been empowering their communities to guide the future of these protocols through on-chain governance. However, the ecosystem of DeFi governance and token delegation can often be hard to navigate. Here at Blockchain at Berkeley (B@B), we’ve learned a lot from running our delegation program for 4 protocols (Uniswap, Compound, Aave, Fei) over the past year . This guid...

By: Ratan Kaliani, Annamira O’Toole & Shivam Patel In the spirit of decentralization, DeFi (decentralized finance) protocols have been empowering their communities to guide the future of these protocols through on-chain governance. However, the ecosystem of DeFi governance and token delegation can often be hard to navigate. Here at Blockchain at Berkeley (B@B), we’ve learned a lot from running our delegation program for 4 protocols (Uniswap, Compound, Aave, Fei) over the past year . This guid...

Letter from the Presidents2022 was a year of excitement, new possibilities, new challenges, and evolution for Blockchain at Berkeley. Building off of our foundations from 2021, we recruited talented and dedicated members, started ambitious projects, and provided crucial services to the blockchain industry. A priority this year was external engagement - from opening whitepaper circles to the public, running ecosystem meetups, publishing blogs, making new courses, and sending hundreds of member...

Letter from the Presidents2022 was a year of excitement, new possibilities, new challenges, and evolution for Blockchain at Berkeley. Building off of our foundations from 2021, we recruited talented and dedicated members, started ambitious projects, and provided crucial services to the blockchain industry. A priority this year was external engagement - from opening whitepaper circles to the public, running ecosystem meetups, publishing blogs, making new courses, and sending hundreds of member...

By: 0xmebius This is a quick and dirty guide to MEV meant to get you up to speed on the latest in the space, nothing more, nothing less. The guide is sorted so that each subsequent topic builds upon previous knowledge, and increases in complexity as topics advance. Obviously skip things you already know. The guide is also nested depending on the level of depth you wish to explore for each particular topic. Each nested child topic represents a further niche concept in the parent topic. Most ge...

By: 0xmebius This is a quick and dirty guide to MEV meant to get you up to speed on the latest in the space, nothing more, nothing less. The guide is sorted so that each subsequent topic builds upon previous knowledge, and increases in complexity as topics advance. Obviously skip things you already know. The guide is also nested depending on the level of depth you wish to explore for each particular topic. Each nested child topic represents a further niche concept in the parent topic. Most ge...

By: Jake MokAvalanche Overview:Built by Ava Labs, Avalanche is a new platform that allows for the development of decentralized applications. Avalanche rivals well-known names such as Ethereum and Solana to be the next widely used blockchain. With a shrinking circulation of 720M AVAX tokens, Avalanche’s architecture and consensus mechanism help differentiate it from the competition.Consensus Model:Before diving into the unique consensus model of Avalanche, it is imperative to understand the hi...

By: Jake MokAvalanche Overview:Built by Ava Labs, Avalanche is a new platform that allows for the development of decentralized applications. Avalanche rivals well-known names such as Ethereum and Solana to be the next widely used blockchain. With a shrinking circulation of 720M AVAX tokens, Avalanche’s architecture and consensus mechanism help differentiate it from the competition.Consensus Model:Before diving into the unique consensus model of Avalanche, it is imperative to understand the hi...

By: Tiffany Liu Imagine a polka dot pattern on a piece of fabric and seamstresses sewing threads between the filled circles. Now imagine different blockchains being connected to one another through the Polkadot network.What is interoperability in blockchain?Interoperability in blockchain allows separate blockchains to securely and efficiently interact with one another. Although specialized blockchains have demonstrated success in various fields, they cannot transfer digital assets or informat...

By: Tiffany Liu Imagine a polka dot pattern on a piece of fabric and seamstresses sewing threads between the filled circles. Now imagine different blockchains being connected to one another through the Polkadot network.What is interoperability in blockchain?Interoperability in blockchain allows separate blockchains to securely and efficiently interact with one another. Although specialized blockchains have demonstrated success in various fields, they cannot transfer digital assets or informat...

By: Ratan Kaliani, Darya Kaviani, & Emma Guo Blockchain at Berkeley Grants is motivated by one core objective—to bridge the gap between students’ unbridled potential and the resources they need to manifest their vision. Our mission is to foster student-driven blockchain innovation through early-stage funding to trailblazing startups, novel projects, and transformative research. As students in one of the most innovative academic institutions in the world, we have witnessed firsthand the unmatc...

By: Ratan Kaliani, Darya Kaviani, & Emma Guo Blockchain at Berkeley Grants is motivated by one core objective—to bridge the gap between students’ unbridled potential and the resources they need to manifest their vision. Our mission is to foster student-driven blockchain innovation through early-stage funding to trailblazing startups, novel projects, and transformative research. As students in one of the most innovative academic institutions in the world, we have witnessed firsthand the unmatc...

By: Brendan Wong, Lawson Graham, Megan Ho, Rohan Khandelwal, Jojo Chen, Emma GuoContentsIntroductionInteroperability and Current LimitationsCross-Chain WalletsInterstellar and Why LayerZero?Competitive LandscapeCompetitor AnalysisBenchmarkingIntuitive UI Design vs. Wallet FeaturesMetricsInterview TakeawaysIndustry InterviewsOverviewUser PersonasKey TakeawaysInterstellarUI Design ChoicesFront-end designLogo designBack-end DevelopmentWhat is LayerZeroExperienceChallengesConclusionSourcesIntrodu...

By: Brendan Wong, Lawson Graham, Megan Ho, Rohan Khandelwal, Jojo Chen, Emma GuoContentsIntroductionInteroperability and Current LimitationsCross-Chain WalletsInterstellar and Why LayerZero?Competitive LandscapeCompetitor AnalysisBenchmarkingIntuitive UI Design vs. Wallet FeaturesMetricsInterview TakeawaysIndustry InterviewsOverviewUser PersonasKey TakeawaysInterstellarUI Design ChoicesFront-end designLogo designBack-end DevelopmentWhat is LayerZeroExperienceChallengesConclusionSourcesIntrodu...

By: Aditya Bhandari Imagine a scenario where you trade two stablecoins, but end up with significantly less value than their exchange rate. That would be frustrating, right? Solving this problem is at the core of Curve Finance’s mission.What is a stablecoin?Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that peg their market value to another asset, such as commodities or fiat currencies. Popular examples include USDC (pegged to the US Dollar), XAUT (pegged to gold), and EURS (pegged to the Euro).Curve Finan...

By: Aditya Bhandari Imagine a scenario where you trade two stablecoins, but end up with significantly less value than their exchange rate. That would be frustrating, right? Solving this problem is at the core of Curve Finance’s mission.What is a stablecoin?Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies that peg their market value to another asset, such as commodities or fiat currencies. Popular examples include USDC (pegged to the US Dollar), XAUT (pegged to gold), and EURS (pegged to the Euro).Curve Finan...

By: Riteka MurugeshA brief blockchain breezethrough…Blockchain: an unalterable record of transactions that is public and distributed across a peer-to-peer network. Facilitates decentralization, transparency, and traceability of transactions.Cryptocurrency: digital currency that IS NOT issued by a central entityBitcoin: a popular cryptocurrency to allow transactions directly between peers, cutting out the middlemen such as banks.ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm): a cryptograph...

By: Riteka MurugeshA brief blockchain breezethrough…Blockchain: an unalterable record of transactions that is public and distributed across a peer-to-peer network. Facilitates decentralization, transparency, and traceability of transactions.Cryptocurrency: digital currency that IS NOT issued by a central entityBitcoin: a popular cryptocurrency to allow transactions directly between peers, cutting out the middlemen such as banks.ECDSA (Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm): a cryptograph...

By: Erika Badalyan, Weikeng Chen, Annamira O’Toole, & Jay Tipirneni In the United States, obstruction of privacy has regularly been used as a way to observe citizens by government agencies. Bitcoin, the most widely used cryptocurrency, is built upon blockchain technology and allows for the possibility of an open, inclusive, global financial system. In their infancy, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were unregulated. No rules had been invented, and thus it was a space free of scrutiny. It wa...

By: Erika Badalyan, Weikeng Chen, Annamira O’Toole, & Jay Tipirneni In the United States, obstruction of privacy has regularly been used as a way to observe citizens by government agencies. Bitcoin, the most widely used cryptocurrency, is built upon blockchain technology and allows for the possibility of an open, inclusive, global financial system. In their infancy, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were unregulated. No rules had been invented, and thus it was a space free of scrutiny. It wa...