The aim of the course is to inform students about technological developments and innovations in the world of finance and to raise their awareness of these issues. By examining blockchain technology—a distributed database that enables the tracking of transactions without intermediaries—and cryptocurrencies, its first practical application, from a multidisciplinary perspective, the course provides an introduction to the new financial ecosystem.

This course comprehensively examines technological innovations in financial markets by exploring the concept of Fintech—a modern fusion of finance and technology—through global and local examples. Throughout the course, the fundamental characteristics of blockchain infrastructure—a distributed database that enables intermediary-free transaction tracking—are detailed, including block structure, key types, hash values, consensus mechanisms, and different types of blockchains. While the philosophical, sociological, and technological dimensions of cryptocurrencies—led by Bitcoin—are discussed, the differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum, various altcoin examples, and types of digital wallets are examined. Furthermore, the application areas of this innovative technology in various sectors—such as finance, digital identity, the environment, and healthcare—along with the opportunities and risks it will create and the added value it will bring to the traditional financial ecosystem, are evaluated using an analytical approach.