Lecture 6: Flipped — Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
Group presentations · token allocation · discussion
6.1 Course objectives
- 6.1 Course objectives
- 6.2 Recap: Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
- 6.3 Session agenda
- 6.5 Token allocation
- 6.6 Lecturer reflection
- 6.7 Wrap-up & next steps
Welcome to Emerging Technology & Finance
- This is a flipped-classroom Bachelor course: every regular lecture (odd weeks) is followed by a flipped session (even weeks) where all groups present on the same topic. There is no exam to register for — sign up on the course Moodle page by 15 October 2026 so you receive announcements and the token-allocation quiz links.
- Form a group of 4 by the end of Week 1 (Moodle sign-up sheet). Stragglers will be allocated by the lecturers.
- Grading is 100% cumulative across the 6 flipped sessions: each session = 50% peer-allocated tokens + 50% lecturer evaluation. Each group gets 20 fresh tokens every flipped week to allocate to other groups via a Moodle quiz within 5 minutes of the session ending.
- Submission per session: upload your slide PDF to Moodle before each flipped session starts. Ask questions during or right after each session — that is the preferred channel.
- Admin / studies / exam-eligibility questions go to the registrar’s office (Studiensekretariat) at studiensekretariat@uni-ulm.de.
- Course-content questions outside class: email oliver.padmaperuma@uni-ulm.de, CC andre.guettler@uni-ulm.de.
- We also recommend the student advisory service.
Course Objective
Scope
We will:
- Survey six emerging-technology modules at the cutting edge of finance: agentic AI · blockchain & DeFi · fintech business models · RegTech & cybersecurity · CBDCs
- Pair every regular lecture with a flipped session in which every group presents their angle on the topic
- Train critical evaluation, presentation, and peer-judgment skills via a transparent token-based peer-grading mechanic
- Place the technologies in a real-world business and regulatory context (PSD2/3, MiCA, EU AI Act, post-quantum standards)
We will NOT:
- Build production-grade fintech systems or trade live capital
- Cover deep technical implementations (we treat code as supplement, not core)
- Run a separate written exam or final-pitch competition — the cumulative flipped-session grade is the entire grade
Approach
Flipped-classroom alternation (12 weeks)
- Odd weeks (W1, W3, W5, W7, W9, W11): regular lecture introducing the topic
- Even weeks (W2, W4, W6, W8, W10, W12): flipped session — all groups present and allocate tokens
- Groups of 4, formed by end of Week 1
Token mechanic (the grading vehicle)
- 20 tokens per group per flipped session
- Each group allocates them to other groups, weighing insight · originality · clarity · critical depth
- Cumulative across 6 sessions = 50% of final grade · lecturer evaluation = 50%
Course at a glance (1/3)
Foundations of Digital Disruption in Financial Services
What is ‘emerging tech in finance’, how did we get here, where is it going
- Three waves of digital disruption in finance
- Today’s actors: incumbents, challengers, Big Tech, infrastructure
- Regulatory backdrop: PSD2, MiCA, EU AI Act
- Why now: structural drivers
- What this course will cover
Flipped — Digital Disruption in Financial Services
Group presentations · token allocation · discussion
- Recap of the foundations lecture
- Group presentations on digital disruption
- Token allocation & next steps
Agentic AI & LLMs in Finance
From LLMs to agents · applications · failure modes · EU AI Act
- LLMs in finance: architecture, training, capabilities
- Agentic AI: from answers to actions
- Applications: RAG, robo-advisors, AML, trading agents
- Failure modes: hallucination, drift, prompt injection
- Governance: EU AI Act and high-risk obligations
Flipped — Agentic AI & LLMs in Finance
Group presentations · token allocation · discussion
- Recap of the agentic AI lecture
- Group presentations on real LLM and agent deployments
- Token allocation & next steps
Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
From distributed ledgers to MiCA-regulated markets
- Blockchain primer: ledgers, consensus, smart contracts
- Crypto markets: BTC, ETH, stablecoins
- DeFi primitives: AMMs, lending, derivatives
- Tokenisation of real-world assets
- MiCA framework and EU enforcement
Course at a glance (2/3)
Flipped — Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
Group presentations · token allocation · discussion
- Recap of the blockchain & DeFi lecture
- Group presentations on real protocols and deployments
- Token allocation & next steps
Fintech Business Models
Neobanks, embedded finance, BNPL, Open Banking, Big Tech in finance
- Neobanks: N26, Revolut, Monzo, Chime
- Embedded finance & BaaS
- BNPL: Klarna, Affirm, regulatory pushback
- Open Banking & PSD2 outcomes
- Big Tech in finance
Flipped — Fintech Business Models
Neobanks, embedded finance, BNPL · group presentations · token allocation
- Recap of the fintech business-models lecture
- Group presentations on real companies and unit economics
- Token allocation & next steps
RegTech, Cybersecurity & Privacy-Preserving Compute
Industrialising compliance · cyber-threat landscape · ZKPs, MPC, federated learning · post-quantum
- RegTech overview: industrialising compliance
- KYC/AML automation in production
- Cybersecurity threats in finance
- Privacy-preserving compute: ZKPs, MPC, federated learning
- Post-quantum cryptography & the migration
Flipped — RegTech, Cybersecurity & Privacy-Preserving Compute
Group presentations · token allocation · discussion
- Recap of the RegTech & security lecture
- Group presentations on vendors, incidents, and emerging tech
- Token allocation & next steps
Course at a glance (3/3)
CBDCs & the Future of Money
Wholesale vs retail design · Digital Euro · e-CNY · programmable money
- What’s a CBDC: wholesale vs retail
- The Digital Euro state of play
- China’s e-CNY and small-country implementations
- Programmable money: feature, threat, or both
- Stablecoins as private money: tension with CBDCs
Flipped — CBDCs & the Future of Money
Final session · group presentations · token allocation · course wrap-up
- Recap of the CBDCs lecture
- Group presentations on real CBDC projects
- Token allocation, final standings, and course retrospective
Assignments / Exams
Flipped-Classroom Presentation Series 100% of your grade
Six in-class group presentations across six emerging-tech topics, graded cumulatively. Each session: 50% peer-allocated tokens + 50% lecturer evaluation.
Group of up to 4.
Submit by emailing oliver.padmaperuma@uni-ulm.de, CC andre.guettler@uni-ulm.de. Subject pattern: Emerging Technology & Finance_assignment-1-flipped-classroom-presentations_surname1_surname2_…
21 January 2027
6.2 Recap: Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
- 6.1 Course objectives
- 6.2 Recap: Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
- 6.3 Session agenda
- 6.5 Token allocation
- 6.6 Lecturer reflection
- 6.7 Wrap-up & next steps
What we covered last week
- Blockchain primer — distributed ledgers, consensus (PoW vs PoS), smart contracts, gas, EVM (Nakamoto 2008; Buterin 2014).
- Crypto markets today — BTC as digital gold thesis, ETH as world computer, stablecoins as on-chain settlement.
- DeFi primitives — AMMs (Uniswap), lending (Aave, Compound), derivatives (dYdX), liquid staking (Lido), tokenised T-bills (Harvey, Ramachandran, and Santoro 2021).
- Tokenisation — real-world assets (RWA), securities tokens, what BlackRock’s BUIDL signals.
- Regulation — EU’s MiCA framework now live: stablecoins, CASPs, market abuse — winners and losers (European Parliament and Council 2023; Werbach 2018).
Notes
The substantive shift was treating blockchain as financial infrastructure rather than a speculative asset class. The interesting questions now are what settles on-chain (stablecoins), what trades on-chain (DEXs), and what gets tokenised (T-bills, real estate, private credit). Your job tonight is to find one specific protocol or product and dig into whether it offers real innovation or just regulatory arbitrage.
Open questions to dig into today
- Stablecoins: private money, future of payments, or both?
- Will RWA tokenisation scale beyond T-bills, or stay niche?
- DeFi “yield”: real innovation or recycled leverage?
- After the FTX collapse and MiCA enforcement, what is the realistic next 18 months for European crypto businesses?
Notes
Crypto’s hype cycle has whipsawed — every claim needs evidence. Bring volume numbers, TVL numbers, actual on-chain transactions. “DeFi could disrupt banking” is a 2020-era claim; in 2026 the standard is “this specific protocol routes this much volume for these users.”
6.3 Session agenda
- 6.1 Course objectives
- 6.2 Recap: Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
- 6.3 Session agenda
- 6.5 Token allocation
- 6.6 Lecturer reflection
- 6.7 Wrap-up & next steps
Today’s flow
- 14:00 — Welcome & recap (5 min)
- 14:05 — Group presentations (6 min + 2 min Q&A each)
- 15:00 — Lecturer reflection (10 min)
- 15:10 — Token allocation (5 min on Moodle)
- 15:15 — Wrap-up & prep for next regular lecture (5 min)
Notes
Standard flow.
Group presentation order
- Angle: A specific DeFi protocol (Aave · Uniswap · Curve · Maker)
- Slot: 14:05–14:13
- Angle: A stablecoin deep-dive (USDC · USDT · DAI · PYUSD)
- Slot: 14:13–14:21
- Angle: An RWA tokenisation case (Ondo · Centrifuge · BlackRock BUIDL · Franklin Templeton)
- Slot: 14:21–14:29
- Angle: A DeFi hack postmortem (Wormhole · Mango · Euler · Curve · Ronin)
- Slot: 14:29–14:37
- Angle: MiCA in practice — concrete winners & losers among EU crypto businesses
- Slot: 14:37–14:45
- Angle: Bitcoin as digital gold vs Ethereum as world computer — defend an investment thesis
- Slot: 14:45–14:53
What groups present today
6 min + 2 min Q&A. Each presentation must include:
- One specific protocol / product / regulation.
- On-chain evidence — TVL, volume, transaction counts, audit reports.
- The honest critical view — what could break this, who already tried, why does it persist?
- 1–2 discussion prompts.
6.4 Group presentations
Group 1 — DeFi protocol deep-dive
- Pick one. Bring: TVL, fee revenue, governance-token structure, the actual mechanism (CLMM, peer-to-pool, etc.).
- The strongest version explains the invariant the protocol relies on.
Notes
Live-fill slide.
Group 2 — Stablecoin deep-dive
- Pick one. Bring: backing (cash + T-bills vs algorithmic vs over-collateralised), regulatory status, daily transaction volume, top use cases.
- The strongest version answers “what would have to happen for this to depeg?”
Notes
Live-fill slide.
Group 3 — RWA tokenisation case
- Pick one. Bring: what asset is tokenised, who can hold it, what custody/transfer constraints exist, how it differs from a traditional fund.
- The strongest version answers “what does tokenisation actually buy the issuer or investor here?”
Notes
Live-fill slide.
Group 4 — DeFi hack postmortem
- Pick one. Bring: the exploit mechanism, the amount stolen, the recovery (if any), the protocol’s response.
- The strongest version draws a generalisable lesson — which class of bug, which audit failure.
Notes
Live-fill slide.
Group 5 — MiCA in practice
- Bring: a CASP licence applicant or rejection, a stablecoin issuer’s response (USDC vs USDT divergence), an exchange’s geographic adjustment.
- The strongest version names who relocated and why.
Notes
Live-fill slide.
Group 6 — BTC vs ETH investment thesis
- Pick one side. Bring: a thesis, two supporting data points (price, on-chain activity, regulatory clarity), and the strongest counterargument.
- The Q&A will hammer the counterargument — anticipate it.
Notes
Live-fill slide.
6.5 Token allocation
- 6.1 Course objectives
- 6.2 Recap: Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
- 6.3 Session agenda
- 6.5 Token allocation
- 6.6 Lecturer reflection
- 6.7 Wrap-up & next steps
How tokens work
- 20 fresh tokens per group per session.
- Other groups only — no self-allocation. Total = 20.
- Moodle quiz opens for 5 minutes after the last presentation.
Notes
Standard rules.
Allocation rubric
- Insight — taught you something new?
- Originality — fresh angle?
- Clarity — followable?
- Critical depth — honest appraisal?
Notes
Tonight, give weight to groups that brought on-chain evidence (not just narrative) and to those who anticipated the strongest counterargument to their own thesis.
Tonight’s leaderboard
| Group | Tokens this week | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | — | — |
| Group 2 | — | — |
| Group 3 | — | — |
| Group 4 | — | — |
| Group 5 | — | — |
| Group 6 | — | — |
- “Cumulative” runs across Weeks 2, 4, 6.
- Mid-term standings are starting to differentiate now.
6.6 Lecturer reflection
- 6.1 Course objectives
- 6.2 Recap: Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
- 6.3 Session agenda
- 6.5 Token allocation
- 6.6 Lecturer reflection
- 6.7 Wrap-up & next steps
Standout insights & common gaps
- Standouts (live-fill): groups that distinguished a real-protocol observation from a token-price narrative.
- Common gaps (live-fill): typically — (a) confused TVL with revenue; (b) accepted audit reports as proof of safety; (c) conflated “decentralised” with “trust-minimised.”
Notes
The most common analytical mistake in crypto is the TVL trap — Total Value Locked is not a revenue or risk metric. A protocol can have $1B TVL and zero sustainable users. Look for fee revenue, fee per dollar of TVL, and whether the users are real or are looped DAOs.
Concepts to revisit next regular lecture
- DeFi business models (TVL, fee capture) vs traditional fintech business models (interchange, NIM, take-rate) — Lecture 7’s framing.
- Open Banking and embedded finance create off-chain programmability that competes with DeFi’s on-chain version — what wins, where?
Notes
Lecture 7 deliberately pivots from on-chain crypto to off-chain fintech. The interesting cross-cutting question — which we’ll revisit in Week 8 — is whether neobanks and DeFi are competing for the same future user, or two genuinely separate audiences.
6.7 Wrap-up & next steps
- 6.1 Course objectives
- 6.2 Recap: Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
- 6.3 Session agenda
- 6.5 Token allocation
- 6.6 Lecturer reflection
- 6.7 Wrap-up & next steps
Course at a glance (1/3)
Foundations of Digital Disruption in Financial Services
What is ‘emerging tech in finance’, how did we get here, where is it going
- Three waves of digital disruption in finance
- Today’s actors: incumbents, challengers, Big Tech, infrastructure
- Regulatory backdrop: PSD2, MiCA, EU AI Act
- Why now: structural drivers
- What this course will cover
Flipped — Digital Disruption in Financial Services
Group presentations · token allocation · discussion
- Recap of the foundations lecture
- Group presentations on digital disruption
- Token allocation & next steps
Agentic AI & LLMs in Finance
From LLMs to agents · applications · failure modes · EU AI Act
- LLMs in finance: architecture, training, capabilities
- Agentic AI: from answers to actions
- Applications: RAG, robo-advisors, AML, trading agents
- Failure modes: hallucination, drift, prompt injection
- Governance: EU AI Act and high-risk obligations
Flipped — Agentic AI & LLMs in Finance
Group presentations · token allocation · discussion
- Recap of the agentic AI lecture
- Group presentations on real LLM and agent deployments
- Token allocation & next steps
Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
From distributed ledgers to MiCA-regulated markets
- Blockchain primer: ledgers, consensus, smart contracts
- Crypto markets: BTC, ETH, stablecoins
- DeFi primitives: AMMs, lending, derivatives
- Tokenisation of real-world assets
- MiCA framework and EU enforcement
Course at a glance (2/3)
Flipped — Blockchain, Crypto, DeFi & Tokenisation
Group presentations · token allocation · discussion
- Recap of the blockchain & DeFi lecture
- Group presentations on real protocols and deployments
- Token allocation & next steps
Fintech Business Models
Neobanks, embedded finance, BNPL, Open Banking, Big Tech in finance
- Neobanks: N26, Revolut, Monzo, Chime
- Embedded finance & BaaS
- BNPL: Klarna, Affirm, regulatory pushback
- Open Banking & PSD2 outcomes
- Big Tech in finance
Flipped — Fintech Business Models
Neobanks, embedded finance, BNPL · group presentations · token allocation
- Recap of the fintech business-models lecture
- Group presentations on real companies and unit economics
- Token allocation & next steps
RegTech, Cybersecurity & Privacy-Preserving Compute
Industrialising compliance · cyber-threat landscape · ZKPs, MPC, federated learning · post-quantum
- RegTech overview: industrialising compliance
- KYC/AML automation in production
- Cybersecurity threats in finance
- Privacy-preserving compute: ZKPs, MPC, federated learning
- Post-quantum cryptography & the migration
Flipped — RegTech, Cybersecurity & Privacy-Preserving Compute
Group presentations · token allocation · discussion
- Recap of the RegTech & security lecture
- Group presentations on vendors, incidents, and emerging tech
- Token allocation & next steps
Course at a glance (3/3)
CBDCs & the Future of Money
Wholesale vs retail design · Digital Euro · e-CNY · programmable money
- What’s a CBDC: wholesale vs retail
- The Digital Euro state of play
- China’s e-CNY and small-country implementations
- Programmable money: feature, threat, or both
- Stablecoins as private money: tension with CBDCs
Flipped — CBDCs & the Future of Money
Final session · group presentations · token allocation · course wrap-up
- Recap of the CBDCs lecture
- Group presentations on real CBDC projects
- Token allocation, final standings, and course retrospective
Prepare for next regular lecture
- Read Vives (2017) (12 pages) on FinTech vs banking.
- Skim Frost et al. (2019) (BIS WP, 20 pages) on Big Tech in financial intermediation.
- Track one fintech product you use personally (N26 · Revolut · PayPal · Apple Pay · Klarna) — bring its unit-economics story.
Notes
Lecture 7 is the business-models lecture; reading ahead lets you bring real numbers to the discussion rather than relying on the lecture for them.
See you next time
- Token allocation: Moodle quiz open now — 5 minutes.
- Slide PDFs archived under Week 6.
- Lecture 7 (next Thursday): Fintech Business Models: Neobanks, Embedded Finance & Open Banking — who’s actually profitable.