Introduction to Crypto & DeFi

Join Stephen Reid, founder of the Psychedelic Society and creator of the dandelion.earth platform, for a four-week deep dive into the world of cryptocurrency and decentralised finance (DeFi).

The course is suitable for absolute beginners but will also be of interest to those with some expertise in the area seeking to connect with likeminded others.

The course will take place 6pm-8pm via Zoom on Thursdays in November (5th, 12th, 19th, 26th). You will be sent a short preparatory video and/or course notes to study a few days before each session. Sessions will be recorded and shared (so you can catch up if you're late/miss one).

Course schedule

The schedule is subject to change to ensure maximal relevance in this fast-changing space.

Session 1: Introduction to Crypto
Thurs 5th Nov

• Cryptography and hashing
• Blockchains
• Proof schemes including proof-of-work and proof-of-stake
• Bitcoin: the first cryptocurrency
• Ethereum: the world computer & smart contracts
• Entering the crypto space: Coinbase and LocalCryptos
• Coingecko
• Metamask and Web3

Session 2: DeFi basics
Thurs 12th Nov

• Building blocks: Maker, DAI, Aave, Compound and overcollateralisation
• Uniswap, Balancer and other AMMs
• Liquidity provision and impermanent loss
• DeFi dashboards: Zapper, Zerion and DeBank

Session 3: Advanced DeFi
Thurs 19th Nov

• Yield farming
• Stablecoin farming with Curve
• Degen farming: DeFi Yield, Yield Farming Tools and Coingecko Farms
• Automated farming: Yearn and TokenSets
• Hedging with Synthetix iTokens
• Money legos with Furucombo

Session 4: Looking to the future
Thurs 26th Nov

• DAOs: Aragon, 1Hive and DAOstack
• NFTs: Rarible, Meme Ltd and OpenSea
• Regenerative crypto: SEEDS and Celo

About Stephen

Stephen Reid is a co-operative technologist and cultural changemaker who has trained in the fields of physics, complexity science, software development, meditation, psychotherapy, plant medicine, conscious sexuality and political activism. 

He has been using cryptocurrency since 2011 and made his first major investment in 2017.

Stephen is currently a co-director of Dandelion Collective (the not-for-profit worker co-operative behind the Psychedelic Society, which he founded in 2014), the lead developer of dandelion.earth, a co-creator of Don't Go Back To Normal and a contributor to Enspiral.

Previously, he was the youngest ever board member of Greenpeace UK, was selected as the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Totnes, co-founded the New Economics Foundation's New Economy Organisers Network and worked as a technology consultant for organisations including the Labour Party, the Living Wage Foundation and 350.org. Stephen has an MPhys in Physics from the University of Oxford, where he specialised in quantum field theory, and an MRes in Complexity Sciences from the University of Bristol.

Please note that the purpose of this course is education and nothing in the course constitutes financial advice.

REFUNDS POLICY: Please note, we do not arrange refunds or exchanges. When possible we encourage reselling on Ticketswap.

ACCESS:  We do our best to include everyone in our events, regardless of health circumstances. If you have access requirements please email the event organiser directly to discuss. Many facilitators are able to offer reduced ticket prices for those truly unable to afford the ticket price. If this applies to you, do please get in touch with the event organiser.

For PSYCHEDELIC KNOWLEDGE AND RESOURCES please check out the Psychedelic Society website. 

Our facilitators have agreed to our code of conduct. Learn about our procedure for raising concerns

MEMBERS of the Psychedelic Society get a discount off almost all of our events.
Join from £5 a month and become part of this amazing community with invites to special events and more.