The rise of Virtual Assets (VAs) is transforming finance and become mainstream in recent years, making it crucial to understand their opportunities, risks, and technologies.

This course covers the VA market landscape, key use cases, risks, and products. It delves into blockchain fundamentals, smart contracts, and the distinctions between centralised and decentralised finance.

By understanding these elements, participants will be well-prepared to engage effectively with this dynamic and transformative sector.

By the end of the Webinar, participants will be able to:

• outline the VA financial market landscape, regulatory approach, ecosystem, and key players, including the types of VAs, associated risks, VA-related products and services, and commonly used market data sources;

• explain how smart contracts work, their risks, applications, and standards; describe blockchain types, features, consensus mechanisms, trust frameworks, and how blockchain ensures secure record storage and transaction verification;

• describe and compare different types of wallets, including hot wallets vs cold wallets and custodian wallets vs non-custodial wallets;

• explain the concept of centralised finance and decentralised finance, and factors to consider when deciding whether to use either approach.

1. Overview of VAs

• VAs, market landscape and ecosystem
• Major categories and use-cases of VAs
• Risks of investing in VAs
• VA-related products and services
• VA storage arrangements
• Traditional finance versus decentralised finance

2. The technologies underlying VAs

• Key properties of blockchain
• Key features of blockchain transactions
• Layers of blockchain networks
• Smart contracts: key risks and standards
• Consensus mechanisms
• Trust frameworks

This course is primarily targeted at practitioners carrying out VA-related activities, asset managers, brokers and traders and sophisticated professional investors who may consider investing in virtual assets. It is also applicable to senior management such as responsible officers, managers-in-charge, directors, CIOs, COOs, CEOs of the financial institutions.

Administrative Details