COMP6451 Assignment 3
Due Date: April 24, 2022
Total Marks: 35%

COMP6451 The success of Bitcoin and Ethereum, but also their limitations, has
spurred the development of a significant amount of research and development on
cryptocurrency and distributed ledger technology, that explores both applications
and alternative designs and enhancements that seek to address these limitations.

COMP6451 In this assignment, you are asked to conduct an investigation of one
specific area, and to write a paper of up to 5,000 words (in 12
point font and in pdf format), that discusses the current status
of the area. Your paper should

- explain the problem that is being addressed in the area
- give an up to date historical survey of the range of solutions that are being developed
- give an in-depth technical explanation of at least two alternative solutions
- critically compare the alternative approaches that you discuss

Select one of the following projects as the focus of your paper.
You should investigate sources including academic publications,
project white papers and technical documentation,
cryptocurrency news sources and online discussion boards to learn
about the history of the area and issues being discussed in the
blockchain technology and applications development community.

* Consensus protocols for private blockchain networks
* Layer 2 Scaling Solutions
* Privacy Coins
* Technical Requirements and Design for Central Bank Digital Currencies
* Formal Verification of Smart Contracts
* Alternate Smart Contract Programming Languages (beyond Bitcoin Script and
Solidity)
* Algorithmic Stablecoins
* Decentralised Exchanges
Your paper should be written so as to be comprehensible to a student
who has taken COMP6451 and therefore has some technical background in
the area. (In particular, you may assume that the reader has a
fundamental understanding of concepts discussed in the course from
cryptography, distributed computing, Bitcoin and Ethereum, so it is
not necessary for your paper to give a detailed explanation of these
concepts.) Proper quotation and academic citation style should be
used, and you should familiarise yourself with the UNSW guidance on
Academic Integrity and Plagiarism.
Last modified: Tuesday, 8 March 2022, 12:23 PM
Assignment 3 Marking Scheme
Marking of Assignment 3 will be subjective, with the following weightings.

Explanation of the problem (5 marks)

Does the paper give a comprehensible and correct explanation of the
problem being solved in the area discussed, and why it is
significant?

Historical Survey (5 marks)

Is there a good coverage, at an overview level, of the range of
approaches that have been proposed to address the problem, with an
identification of the origins and current state of activity of the
approaches discussed?

In Depth Explanation (solution 1) (5 marks)
In Depth Explanation (solution 2) (5 marks)

Are the technical descriptions correct and comprehensible? Do they
explain both how and why the approach works? Are the core novelties
of the approaches identified? To what degree does the explanation
indicate the author's understanding of the solution?
Critical Comparison (5 marks)

Is there a good identification of dimensions with respect to which
the two solutions discussed in detail can be compared? Is there a
good analysis of the quality of each solution with respect to those
dimensions? Are the pros and cons of each solution discussed?

References/Reading (4 marks)

Is the paper well referenced, in both form and content. Does it show
evidence of a good depth of reading and research on the topic,
drawing upon authoritative sources?

Presentation (3 marks)

Quality of organisation and presentation of the paper - is it
appropriately structured, clearly organised, does the structure have
a good logical flow?

Writing Quality (3 marks)

Is the paper well written, with appropriate use of academic
English. Does the writing locally have a coherent logical flow,
maintaining focus, with good transitions from one topic to the next?

Grade Adjustment

Bonus or penalty, for issues not covered in the above.
Last modified: Friday, 1 April 2022, 1:46 PM