Crypto-Economics and Governance
Program Overview
CRYPTO 401 examines the economic models and governance mechanisms that underpin cryptocurrency systems through the lens of mechanism design, game theory, and institutional economics. Students analyze token economics not as marketing constructs but as incentive systems with predictable behavioral consequences.
The curriculum covers DAO structures, voting mechanisms, and the challenges of decentralized decision-making with attention to both theoretical frameworks and empirical outcomes. Students develop analytical tools for evaluating governance proposals, understanding how protocol parameters affect system behavior, and identifying governance attack vectors.
Emphasis is placed on understanding incentive alignment, mechanism design principles, and the emergent properties that arise from economic rules encoded in protocol. The program examines how poorly designed tokenomics lead to value extraction, governance capture, and protocol failure, using historical case studies to illustrate analytical frameworks.
Students engage with academic literature from economics, political science, and computer science as applied to decentralized systems. The curriculum treats governance not as an afterthought but as a core protocol property with security implications equal to consensus mechanism design.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of CRYPTO 401, students will be able to:
- Analyze token economic models including emission schedules, staking mechanics, fee distribution, and value accrual mechanisms
- Evaluate DAO governance structures including voting systems, delegation patterns, quorum requirements, and timelock configurations
- Apply game theory concepts to cryptocurrency incentive design including Nash equilibria, mechanism incentive compatibility, and collusion resistance
- Assess mechanism design principles including revelation principle applications, auction theory, and optimal fee mechanisms
- Critique governance proposals using formal analytical frameworks identifying incentive misalignments and attack vectors
- Analyze historical governance failures and extract generalizable lessons for system design
Assessment Structure
Competency is demonstrated through multiple assessment types.
Crypto-Economics Examination
Assessment covering tokenomics, incentive analysis, and game-theoretic concepts applied to cryptocurrency systems. Includes formal problems requiring equilibrium analysis, mechanism evaluation, and quantitative modeling of economic dynamics. Duration: 120 minutes.
Governance Analysis Paper
In-depth written analysis (4000-5000 words) of a DAO or protocol governance system. Must include formal evaluation of voting mechanism properties, analysis of historical governance decisions, identification of governance attack surfaces, and comparison with alternative designs. Grounded in academic governance literature.
Mechanism Design Project
Applied project designing and justifying incentive mechanisms for a specified coordination problem. Students must formally state objectives, prove or argue for incentive properties, analyze edge cases and attack vectors, and compare with existing solutions. Evaluated on rigor and completeness of mechanism specification.
Progression
Completion of CRYPTO 301 is required. Students must demonstrate understanding of application-layer protocol mechanics before engaging with economic and governance analysis. DeFi protocol knowledge provides essential examples for tokenomics and governance discussion.
CRYPTO 301
CRYPTO 501
Intended Audience
Students seeking to understand the economic and political dimensions of cryptocurrency systems at a rigorous analytical level. Relevant for protocol designers, governance participants, researchers, and those conducting economic due diligence. Background in economics or formal methods is helpful but not required.
Credential Issued
Certificate of Completion — CRYPTO 401
Verifiable through the MIDAS credential registry. Confirms completion of structured coursework and demonstrated competency through assessment.