Part 3 — Modern DeFi Stack & Advanced Verticals (~6-7 weeks)
Advanced DeFi protocol patterns, emerging verticals, and infrastructure — culminating in a capstone project integrating advanced concepts into a portfolio-ready protocol.
Prerequisites
- Part 1: Modern Solidity, EVM changes, Foundry testing, proxy patterns
- Part 2: Core DeFi primitives (tokens, AMMs, oracles, lending, flash loans, stablecoins, vaults, security)
Modules
| # | Module | Duration | Key Protocols |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liquid Staking & Restaking | ~4 days | Lido, Rocket Pool, EigenLayer |
| 2 | Perpetuals & Derivatives | ~5 days | GMX, Synthetix, dYdX |
| 3 | Yield Tokenization | ~3 days | Pendle |
| 4 | DEX Aggregation & Intents | ~4 days | 1inch, UniswapX, CoW Protocol |
| 5 | MEV Deep Dive | ~4 days | Flashbots, MEV-Boost, MEV-Share |
| 6 | Cross-Chain & Bridges | ~4 days | LayerZero, CCIP, Wormhole |
| 7 | L2-Specific DeFi | ~3 days | Arbitrum, Base, Optimism |
| 8 | Governance & DAOs | ~3 days | OZ Governor, Curve, Velodrome |
| 9 | Capstone: Perpetual Exchange | ~5-7 days | GMX, dYdX, Synthetix Perps |
Total: ~35-43 days (~6-7 weeks at 3-4 hours/day)
Module Progression
Module 1 (Liquid Staking) ← P2: Tokens, Vaults, Oracles
↓
Module 2 (Perpetuals) ← P2: AMMs, Oracles, Lending
↓
Module 3 (Yield Tokenization) ← P2: Vaults, AMMs + M1 (LSTs)
↓
Module 4 (DEX Aggregation) ← P2: AMMs, Flash Loans
↓
Module 5 (MEV) ← P2: AMMs, Flash Loans + M4
↓
Module 6 (Cross-Chain) ← P2: Tokens, Security
↓
Module 7 (L2 DeFi) ← P2: Oracles, Lending + M6
↓
Module 8 (Governance) ← P2: Tokens, Stablecoins
↓
Module 9 (Capstone) ← Everything
Thematic Structure
Modules 1-3: DeFi Verticals New protocol categories that build directly on Part 2’s primitives. Each introduces a distinct DeFi vertical with its own mechanics, math, and architecture patterns.
Modules 4-5: Trading Infrastructure How trades actually get executed in the real world — aggregation, intent-based trading, and the adversarial MEV environment that surrounds every transaction.
Modules 6-7: Multi-Chain Reality Where DeFi lives today. Bridge architectures, messaging protocols, and the L2-specific concerns that affect every protocol deployed on rollups.
Module 8: Protocol Coordination How protocols govern themselves — on-chain governance, tokenomics, and the security considerations that come with decentralized decision-making.
Module 9: Capstone — Perpetual Exchange Design and build a simplified perpetual futures exchange from scratch. Portfolio-ready project integrating concepts across all three parts — perps are the highest-volume DeFi vertical and touch the most Part 3 modules (LSTs, perpetual mechanics, MEV, L2, governance).
Previous: Part 2 — DeFi Foundations Next: Part 4 — EVM Mastery: Yul & Assembly