DeFi Deep Dive: Protocol Mechanics and Risk Analysis
by 0xmert · Decentralized finance mechanisms and risk analysis
A 10-hour working-knowledge course on how decentralized finance protocols work under the hood: AMMs, lending markets, perpetuals, synthetic assets, stablecoins, MEV, bridges, rollups, and practical risk evaluation.
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modules
12
lessons
10h
estimated work · target 10h
What's inside
48 tasks · 26 flashcards · 55 concepts · 36 recall prompts
Sample recall prompts — this is what studying it feels like
- Explain how an AMM replaces an order book, and name the two things a pool must have to quote trades.
- Distinguish marginal price, average execution price, price impact, and slippage using one trade example.
- Why does an AMM not eliminate risk even though it automates matching and settlement?
Syllabus
Automated Market Makers and Liquidity
Build the mechanical model of liquidity pools, constant-product pricing, Uniswap V2/V3 behavior, slippage, fees, and LP risk.
- Liquidity Pools and Invariant Thinking reading · flashcard · quiz · quiz · 6 cards
- Constant-Product Swaps and Slippage quiz · reading · quiz · teach_back
- Concentrated Liquidity and LP Profit and Loss reading · flashcard · quiz · quiz · 5 cards
Lending Markets and Liquidations
Analyze pooled lending protocols, utilization-driven interest rates, collateral limits, health factors, and liquidations from first principles.
- Pooled Lending and Utilization quiz · reading · quiz · quiz
- Interest Rate Models and Health Factors reading · flashcard · quiz · quiz · 5 cards
- Liquidations End to End teach_back · reading · quiz · quiz
Perpetuals, Oracles, Synthetic Assets, and MEV
Study leveraged derivatives, funding rates, GMX-style pooled liquidity, oracle design, synthetic assets, and the economics of transaction ordering.
- Perpetuals and Funding Payments reading · flashcard · quiz · quiz · 5 cards
- Synthetic Assets and Oracle Design reading · quiz · quiz · teach_back
- MEV, Ordering, and Execution Risk reading · quiz · quiz · essay
Stablecoins, Bridges, Rollups, and Protocol Diligence
Evaluate stablecoin mechanisms, Terra-style reflexive failure, bridge and rollup trust assumptions, and synthesize a protocol diligence framework.
- Stablecoin Mechanisms and Balance Sheets teach_back · reading · flashcard · quiz · 5 cards
- Terra as a Reflexive Failure Case reading · quiz · quiz · essay
- Bridges, Rollups, and Protocol Diligence reading · quiz · quiz · project