ZEND University Reading List
Find our ZEND University reading list week by week below.
Week 1: Web 3, Ethereum and the Basics
Welcome to week 1! This week begins with some basics on the amorphous term, ‘Web 3.0’, the case for its significance as a departure from the existing internet. There is a specific focus on DeFi as an applied instance of the new internet. Then, roll ups in their various flavours are introduced, alongside some initial considerations of the zk-rollups and their privacy preserving dimensions.
Required reading
Additional reading
We recommend that you read all required readings in order as the concepts assume some previous understanding of preceding concepts.
Happy reading. See you here on Thursday. (Link will be dynamic and open!)
Week 2: L2, StarkNet and Cairo
Week 2 continues with comparing various kinds of rollups, then moving to focus on validity rollups in the StarkNet context.
Required reading
- Making Sense of Rollups Part One: Optimistic vs Zero-Knowledge
- Layer 2: Ethereum for Everyone
- STARKS, StarkEx and StarkNet
- StarkNet.io
- Hello, Cairo!
- StarkNet and Cairo Documentation
Additional reading / Watching / Listening
- L2 Beat
- Zero-Knowledge Proofs: SNARKs vs STARKs
- Transparent Computational Integrity — Eli Ben-Sassion Silicon Valley Ethereum Meetup
- StarkNet House Weekly Session 0: “What are zk-STARKS?” By Eli Ben-Sasson
- The zkEVM is Here | Alex Gluchowski of zkSync
- Finding Koselig with Cairo
We recommend that you read all required readings in order as the concepts assume some previous understanding of preceding concepts.
Happy reading. See you here on Thursday. (Link will be dynamic and open!)
Week 3: Let’s talk DeFi
Congratulations on finishing more than half of our course! Week 3 introduces students to a basic introduction to DeFi, components and basic elements of borrow and lending protocols.
Required reading / watching
- Decentralised Finance (DeFi)
- DeFi Lending and Borrowing Explained (Finematics)
- DeFi Lending and Borrowing Explained (Cointelegraph)
- DeFi Llama
- zkLend Gitbook
Additional reading / watching
- The Evolution of DeFi Across Four Financial Primitives
- What is DeFi (Playlist)
- DeFi Protocols for Loanable Funds: Interest Rates, Liquidity and Market Efficiency
- Market Risk Assessment
Happy reading. See you here on Thursday. (Link will be dynamic and open!)
Week 4: Getting to Grips with zkLend
The final stretch of our ZEND University! The final week focuses on understanding zkLend’s key parameters such as borrowing capacity and liquidation thresholds as well as wider risk vectors users may face when using DeFi money market protocols in general.
Required reading / watching
- zkLend Gitbook
- zkLend Whitepaper
- DeFi Liquidation Explained
- Decentralised Finance (DeFi) Policy-Maker Toolkit
Additional reading
- The Big Five Risk Vectors of DeFi
- Liquidators: The Secret Whales Helping DeFi Function
- So You Want to Use a Price Oracle
- DeFi Protocols for Loanable Funds: Interest Rates, Liquidity and Market Efficiency
Happy reading. See you here on Thursday. (Link will be dynamic and open!)
[02/09/2022] Update: Answers now live in this document.
About zkLend
zkLend is an L2 money-market protocol built on StarkNet, combining zk-rollup scalability, superior transaction speed, and cost-savings with Ethereum’s security. The protocol offers a dual solution: a permissioned and compliance-focused solution for institutional clients, and a permissionless service for DeFi users — all without sacrificing decentralisation.