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https://github.com/b-chiang/protocol-reading-list


https://github.com/b-chiang/protocol-reading-list

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# protocol-reading-list



This is a list of resources intended to serve as a starting point for anybody interested in understanding how crypto protocols work under the hood.



Relevant topics include economics, finance, optimization, game theory, theoretical CS, cryptography.



## Getting Started



- [MEV 101](https://github.com/0xmebius/mev/blob/main/MEV101.pdf) by [@0xmebius](https://twitter.com/0xmebius)

- [DeFi and the Future of Finance](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3711777) from Ashwin Ramchandran and Joey Santoro

- [DeFi MOOC (Fall 2021)](https://defi-learning.org/) from Dan Boneh Arthur Gervais, Andrew Miller, Christine Parlour, Dawn Song

- [Special Topics in DeFi](https://berkeley-defi.github.io/f21) from Dawn Song



Slides and videos are available online for both.



### References



- [Algorithmic Game Theory](http://timroughgarden.org/f10/f10.html) from [Tim Roughgarden](http://theory.stanford.edu/~tim/)

  - [Foundations of Blockchains Playlist (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNJGPI0fuFA&list=PLEGCF-WLh2RLOHv_xUGLqRts_9JxrckiA)

  - [Tim Roughgarden's Channel](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcH4Ga14Y4ELFKrEYM1vXCg)

- [Linear Dynamical Systems](https://stanford.edu/class/ee363/lectures.html)

- [Convex Optimization](https://web.stanford.edu/class/ee364a/) by [Stephen Boyd](https://web.stanford.edu/~boyd/)

- [A Graduate Course in

  Applied Cryptography](https://toc.cryptobook.us/) from [Dan Boneh](https://crypto.stanford.edu/~dabo) and [Victor Shoup](https://www.shoup.net/)



For anybody coming in without a finance background, it's worth doing some tradfi reading before you dive deep into defi.



- [Investopedia](https://www.investopedia.com/trading-instruments-4427763) is a good reference

- [Market making overview](http://stanford.edu/class/msande448/2018/Final/Reports/gr5.pdf)



A good intuitive introduction is [Mathematics of Finance](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Mathematics_of_Finance/K2SsDwAAQBAJ?hl=en) from Don Saari, followed by [Arbitrage Theory in Continuous Time](https://www.amazon.com/Arbitrage-Theory-Continuous-Oxford-Finance/dp/019957474X) by Tomas Björk for more depth.



## Constant Function Market Makers (CFMMs)



Trading via decentralized exchanges (DEXes) and automated market makers (AMMs).



### Uniswap



**V2**



- [Uniswap V1 Whitepaper (hackmd.io)](https://hackmd.io/@HaydenAdams/HJ9jLsfTz)

- [How Uniswap works - V2 (uniswap.org)](https://docs.uniswap.org/protocol/V2/concepts/protocol-overview/how-uniswap-works)

- [Uniswap V2 Whitepaper（PDF）](https://uniswap.org/whitepaper.pdf)



Also:



- [Uniswap: A Good Deal for Liquidity Providers? (medium.com)](https://pintail.medium.com/uniswap-a-good-deal-for-liquidity-providers-104c0b6816f2)

- [Understanding Uniswap Returns (medium.com)](https://pintail.medium.com/understanding-uniswap-returns-cc593f3499ef)

- [On AMMS (vitalik.ca)](https://vitalik.ca/general/2017/06/22/marketmakers.html)

  - https://twitter.com/danrobinson/status/1411444875325808641

- [Background on market making (PDF)](http://stanford.edu/class/msande448/2018/Final/Reports/gr5.pdf)



**V3**



- [Introducing Uniswap V3 (uniswap.org/blog)](https://uniswap.org/blog/uniswap-v3)

- [What is Uniswap - V3 (docs.uniswap.org)](https://docs.uniswap.org/protocol/introduction)

- [Uniswap V3: The Universal AMM (paradigm.xyz)](https://www.paradigm.xyz/2021/06/uniswap-v3-the-universal-amm)

- [Uniswap V3 Whitepaper (PDF)](https://uniswap.org/whitepaper-v3.pdf)

- [Interactive graphs in Desmos for Uniswap V3](https://twitter.com/danrobinson/status/1430299243550593024?lang=en) from [@danrobinson](https://twitter.com/danrobinson)



Also:



- [Liquidity Mining on Uniswap v3 (paradigm.xyz)](https://www.paradigm.xyz/2021/05/liquidity-mining-on-uniswap-v3)

- [Toxic Flow: Its Sources and Counter-Strategies (deribit.com)](https://insights.deribit.com/market-research/toxic-flow-its-sources-and-counter-strategies/)

- [Flash Boys 2.0 (PDF)](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1904.05234.pdf)



### Curve



- [Curve StableSwap Whitepaper (PDF)](https://curve.fi/files/stableswap-paper.pdf)

- [Curve Crypto Pools Whitepaper (PDF)](https://curve.fi/files/crypto-pools-paper.pdf)

- [Curve DAO Whitepapers (PDF)](https://curve.fi/files/CurveDAO.pdf)

- [Understanding StableSwap (Curve)](https://miguelmota.com/blog/understanding-stableswap-curve/)

- [Curve Wars (every.to)](https://every.to/almanack/curve-wars) from [@nateliason](https://twitter.com/nateliason)



### Alternative Designs



- [Nested AMMs (dropbox.com)](https://www.dropbox.com/s/sxwly0gn4fyj1uc/nestedamm.pdf?dl=0) from [Anthony Lee Zhang](https://twitter.com/AnthonyLeeZhang)

- [TWAMM (paradigm.xyz)](https://www.paradigm.xyz/2021/07/twamm)

- [Mooniswap Whitepaper (PDF)](https://mooniswap.exchange/docs/MooniswapWhitePaper-v1.0.pdf)

- [dYdX Whitepaper (PDF)](https://whitepaper.dydx.exchange/)

- [Crocswap Whitepaper](https://www.crocswap.com/whitepaper)

- [Cowswap](https://docs.cow.fi/)

- [Lifinity](https://medium.com/@lifinity.io/introducing-lifinity-protocol-12ff0f5798c4)



### CFMM Analysis



Work from [@GuilleAngeris](https://twitter.com/GuilleAngeris), [@tarunchitra](https://twitter.com/tarunchitra), [@alexhevans](https://twitter.com/alexhevans) and more



- [An analysis of Uniswap markets (PDF)](https://arxiv.org/pdf/1911.03380.pdf)

- [Multi-asset trades via convex optimization (PDF)](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2107.12484.pdf)

- [Improved Price Oracles: Constant Function Market Makers (PDF)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.10001)

- [Liquidity Provider Returns in Geometric Mean Markets](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2006.08806.pdf)

- [Optimal Fees for Geometric Mean Market Makers (PDF)](https://web.stanford.edu/~guillean/papers/g3m-optimal-fee.pdf)

- [Optimal Routing for Constant Function Market Makers (PDF)](https://web.stanford.edu/~guillean/papers/cfmm-routing.pdf)

- [When does the tail wag the dog? Curvature and market making (PDF)](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2012.08040.pdf)



### Privacy-preserving CFMMs



- [A Note on Privacy in Constant Function Market Makers (PDF)](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2103.01193.pdf)

- [Differential Privacy in Constant Function Market

  Makers (PDF)](https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/1101.pdf)

  - [Cosmos](https://v1.cosmos.network/resources/whitepaper), [Osmosis](https://app.osmosis.zone/?from=ATOM&to=OSMO), [Penumbra](https://protocol.penumbra.zone/main/index.html)



### Options



- [Virtual AMM (vAMM): Perpetual Protocol](https://blog.perp.fi/a-deep-dive-into-our-virtual-amm-vamm-40345c522eeb)

- [Drift Dynamic AMM](https://docs.drift.trade/drift-dynamic-amm)

- [Replicating Market Makers](https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.14769)

- [Replicating Monotonic Payoffs Without Oracles](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2111.13740.pdf)

- [Primitive Finance](https://primitive.finance/whitepaper-rmm-01.pdf)

- [Why Stake When You Can Borrow?](https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.11156)

- [Uniswap V3 LP Tokens as Perpetual Put and Call Options](https://lambert-guillaume.medium.com/uniswap-v3-lp-tokens-as-perpetual-put-and-call-options-5b66219db827) from [Guillaume Lambert](https://lambertlab.io/)



For more detail, check out [0xperp/defi-derivatives](https://github.com/0xperp/defi-derivatives).



### LPing on Uniswap V3



- [Strategic Liquidity Provision in Uniswap v3 (PDF)](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2106.12033.pdf)

- [Charm’s Alpha Vault, the Minimalist Uniswap v3 LP Strategy (PDF)](https://medium.com/blockchain-development-notes/charms-alpha-vault-the-minimalist-uniswap-v3-lp-strategy-23a059c924b)

- [Impermanent Loss in Uniswap v3 (PDF)](https://arxiv.org/pdf/2111.09192.pdf)



More resources at [GammaStrategies/awesome-uniswap-v3](https://github.com/GammaStrategies/awesome-uniswap-v3#research).



## Protocol Owned Liquidity (POL)



Read these:



- [Introducing OlympusDAO, An Algorithmic Currency Protocol (medium.com)](https://olympusdao.medium.com/introducing-olympusdao-a-true-digital-currency-protocol-648c00c572d2)

- [FAQ（docs.olympusdao.finance)](https://docs.olympusdao.finance/main/basics/basics)

- [A Beginner’s Guide to Navigating Olympus Pro (medium.com)](https://olympusdao.medium.com/a-beginners-guide-to-navigating-olympus-pro-5b1a9b710075)

- [A Primer on Bonding (medium.com)](https://olympusdao.medium.com/a-primer-on-oly-bonds-9763f125c124)



Then read these:



- [Feedback Control as a New Primitive for DeFi (medium.com/gauntlet-networks)](https://medium.com/gauntlet-networks/feedback-control-as-a-new-primitive-for-defi-27b493f25b1)

- [DeFi liquidity management via Optimal Control:

  Ohm as a case study (PDF)](https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ksk/files/Ohm_Liquidity_Management.pdf)



## Asset Management



- [Yearn Vaults](https://docs.yearn.finance/getting-started/products/yvaults/overview)

- [Rari Capital - Fuse (medium.com)](https://medium.com/rari-capital/fuse-explained-3ef2e0747953)



### Balancer



- [Balancer Basics](https://token-engineering-balancer.gitbook.io/balancer-simulations/understanding-balancer-amms/balancer-basics)

- [Balancer Whitepaper (PDF)](https://balancer.fi/whitepaper.pdf)

- [Calculating Value, Impermanent Loss and Slippage for Balancer Pools (medium.com)](https://medium.com/balancer-protocol/calculating-value-impermanent-loss-and-slippage-for-balancer-pools-4371a21f1a86)

- [Capital-Efficient AMMs With Dynamically Adjusted Weights In Balancer V2 (medium.com)](https://medium.com/balancer-protocol/capital-efficient-amms-with-dynamically-adjusted-weights-in-balancer-v2-9a7104789cd7)



## Lending



Decentralized banks.



- [Aave Whitepaper (PDF)](https://github.com/aave/aave-protocol/blob/master/docs/Aave_Protocol_Whitepaper_v1_0.pdf)

- [Compound Whitepaper（PDF)](https://compound.finance/documents/Compound.Whitepaper.pdf)



## Stablecoins



- [USDC Whitepaper](https://f.hubspotusercontent30.net/hubfs/9304636/PDF/centre-whitepaper.pdf)

- [DAI Whitepaper](https://makerdao.com/whitepaper/Dai-Whitepaper-Dec17-en.pdf)

- [MakerDAO Whitepaper](https://makerdao.com/en/whitepaper/#abstract)

- [Fei Whitepaper](https://fei.money/static/media/whitepaper.7d5e2986.pdf)

- [Lemma Whitepaper](https://docs.lemma.finance/concepts-overview/perpetual-contracts)



## Ramps



- [tbDEX](https://github.com/TBD54566975/tbdex-whitepaper) for decentralized ramps

- [Sardine](https://www.sardine.ai/) for faster settlement



## Miscellaneous



- [Gauntlet Protocol Assessment Reports](https://gauntlet.network/research/)

- [Gauntlet Blog (medium.com)](https://medium.com/gauntlet-networks)

- [A list of open problems in DeFi](https://mirror.xyz/0xemperor.eth/0guEj0CYt5V8J5AKur2_UNKyOhONr1QJaG4NGDF0YoQ) by [0xemperor](https://twitter.com/0x_emperor)

- [0xalpharush/awesome-MEV-resources](https://github.com/0xalpharush/awesome-MEV-resources)

- [Chi Gastoken (blog.1inch.io)](https://blog.1inch.io/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-chi-gastoken-a1ba0ea55bf3)

- [Flexible Anonymous Transactions: Flax (PDF)](https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/1249.pdf)



## ZK



Applied ZK falls into two main categories: ZK-enabled applications and ZK used at the infrastructure/L1 level.



Start with these:



- [A Succinct Story of Zero Knowledge](https://nibnalin.me/assets/zk.pdf) from [nibnalin](https://nibnalin.me/)

- [ZK Learning Group Topics (notion.so)](https://0xparc.notion.site/ZK-Learning-Group-Topics-f53933eecc2f41438c6c2bdd5b42ee2d) from [0xPARC](https://0xparc.org/)



Then dive deeper with these:



- [Proofs, Arguments, and Zero-Knowledge](https://people.cs.georgetown.edu/jthaler/ProofsArgsAndZK.pdf) from [Justin Thaler](https://people.cs.georgetown.edu/jthaler/)

- https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~alexch/#teaching

  - [CS602: Foundations of Probabilistic Proofs (S2022)](https://people.eecs.berkeley.edu/~alexch/classes/CS602-S2022.html)

- [matter-labs/awesome-zero-knowledge-proofs](https://github.com/matter-labs/awesome-zero-knowledge-proofs)



And check out these ZK-enabled hacks:



- https://0xparc.org/blog

- [guiltygyoza](https://github.com/guiltygyoza?tab=repositories) on [StarkNet + Cairo](https://www.cairo-lang.org/docs/)



For more background on cryptography:



- [Coding and Number Theory (PDF)](https://gitlab.com/david-bristol/coconut/-/blob/master/PDF/coconut-all.pdf)

- [A Computational Introduction to Number Theory

  and Algebra (PDF)](https://shoup.net/ntb/ntb-v2.pdf) from Victor Shoup

- [Abstract algebra notes](https://crypto.stanford.edu/pbc/notes/) from [Ben Lynn](https://crypto.stanford.edu/~blynn/)

- [Learning with errors post-quantum (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo-_ZBqGa7I&t=3263s)

- [Pairings (youtube.com)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WDOpzxpnTE&t=4651s) from Dan Boneh

- [Pairings (vitalik.ca)](https://vitalik.ca/general/2017/01/14/exploring_ecp.html)



For more details on ZK enabling L1 infrastructure:



- [Polyna (medium.com)](https://polynya.medium.com/)

- [Core Development (devpill.me)](https://www.devpill.me/docs/core-development/introduction/)



I want to point out some papers from Aleo (a ZK-enabled, privacy-first L1):



- [Zexe: Enabling Decentralized Private Computation](https://eprint.iacr.org/2018/962.pdf)

- [LEO: A Programming Language for Formally Verified, Zero-Knowledge Applications](https://eprint.iacr.org/2021/651.pdf)

- [Proof of Necessary Work: Succinct State Verification with Fairness Guarantees](https://eprint.iacr.org/2020/190.pdf)



And also this analysis:



- [Navigating Privacy on Public Blockchains](https://wdai.us/posts/navigating-privacy/) from [Wei Dai](https://wdai.us/)