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Decentralised Finance (DeFi): A New Financial Ecosystem

  • Analytics & Tech
  • Finance & Investment
  • Innovation & Business Improvement
Next Intake: 11 Sep 2025 (Thu)
  • Intermediate
  • SkillsFuture
  • Short Courses

This module is conducted online.

Next course starts on
11 Sep 2025 (Thu) See Full Schedule
Fee
SGD2,180* (as low as SGD254 after maximum funding) Learn More
Duration

2 Full Days (Weekdays)

Level
Intermediate

Who Should Attend

  • Working professionals from the financial services industry
  • Entrepreneurs in FinTech and financial services


PREREQUISITES
Participants should have taken courses on blockchain technology and digital assets offered by SMU Academy such as Graduate Certificate in Digital Finance Module 2: Digital Assets and Blockchain Technology to learn the basics but it is not essential.

Overview

Decentralised Finance (DeFi) is a financial infrastructure built on blockchain, and it is gaining increasing popularity with almost USD 55 billion deployed into it. Developers build DeFi applications on smart-contract-based platforms. They remove the need for traditional financial intermediaries like banks, insurers, exchanges and asset managers.

This programme allows participants to understand the inner workings of this exciting FinTech innovation and provide a thorough introduction to DeFi, its opportunities, risks, and insights from industry experts.

Learning Objectives

  • Learn about the origins of DeFi

  • Understand functions of DeFi infrastructure including smart contracts/ decentralised applications, oracles and stablecoins
  • Develop working knowledge of DeFi primitives, e.g., transactions, fungible and non-fungible tokens, custody, supply adjustment and incentives (staking/ slashing), swaps, collateralised and flash loans
  • Gain an appreciation of the problems that DeFi solves (inefficiency, limited access, opacity, centralised control, lack of interoperability)
  • Understand the different DeFi use-cases, e.g., Credit/ Lending, Decentralised Exchanges, Derivatives and Tokenisation
  • Gain an awareness of DeFi related risks, including smart-contract risk, governance risk, oracle risk, scaling risk, DEX risk and regulatory risk

Assessment

As part of the requirement for SkillsFuture Singapore, there will be an assessment conducted at the end of the course. The mode of assessment, which is up to the trainer’s discretion, may be an online quiz, a presentation or based on classroom exercises.

Participants are required to attain a minimum of 75% attendance and pass the associated assessment in order to receive a digital Certificate of Completion issued by Singapore Management University.

Calculate Programme Fee

Click here for more infomation about SkillsFuture Credits (Not applicable for Company-sponsored participants)
For PSEA - Available only for Singapore Citizen below 31 (Not applicable for Company-sponsored participants)

Total Program Fee: SGD0.00

Fee Table

COMPANY-SPONSORED

PARTICIPANT PROFILE

SELF-SPONSORED

SME

NON-SME

Singapore Citizen < 40 years old

Permanent Resident

LTVP+

$654

(After SSG Funding 70%)

$254

(After SSG Funding 70%
+ ETSS Funding 20%)

$654

(After SSG Funding 70%)

Singapore Citizen ≥ 40 years old

$254

(After SSG Funding 70%
+ MCES Funding 20%)

$254

(After SSG Funding 70%
+ ETSS Funding 20%)

$254

(After SSG Funding 70%
+ MCES Funding 20%)

International Participant

$2,180

(No Funding)

$2,180

(No Funding)

$2,180

(No Funding)

All prices include 9% GST

Please note that the programme fees are subject to change without prior notice.

Post Secondary Education Account (PSEA)
PSEA can be utilised for subsidised programmes eligible for SkillsFuture Credit support. Click here to find out more.

Self Sponsored

SkillsFuture Credit

Singapore Citizens aged 25 and above may use their SkillsFuture Credits to pay for the course fees. The credits may be used on top of existing course fee funding.

This is only applicable to self-sponsored participants. Application to utilise SkillsFuture Credits can be submitted when making payment for the course via the SMU Academy TMS Portal, and can only be made within 60 days of course start date.

Please click here for more information on the SkillsFuture Credit. For help in submitting an SFC claim, you may wish to refer to our step-by-step guide on claiming SkillsFuture Credits (Individual).

Workfare Skills Support Scheme

From 1 July 2023, the Workfare Skills Support (WSS) scheme has been enhanced. Please click here for more details.

Company Sponsored

Enhanced Training Support for SMEs (ETSS)

  • Organisation must be registered or incorporated in Singapore
  • Employment size of not more than 200 or with annual sales turnover of not more than $100 million
  • Trainees must be hired in accordance with the Employment Act and fully sponsored by their employers for the course
  • Trainees must be Singapore Citizens or Singapore Permanent Residents
  • Trainees must not be a full-time national serviceman
  • Trainees are eligible for ETSS funding only if their company's SME status is approved prior to the course commencement date. To verify your SME's status, please click here. 

Please click here for more information on ETSS.

Absentee Payroll

Companies who sponsor their employees for the course may apply for Absentee Payroll here. For more information, please refer to:

AP Guide (Non-SME Companies)
Declaration Guide (SME Companies)

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Trainers

Daniel Liebau
Founder
Lightbulb Capital
Daniel Liebau
Founder
Lightbulb Capital
Daniel, founder of Lightbulb Capital, advises fintech and blockchain startups, delivers innovation education programmes, and conducts research for corporates and universities in Singapore and Hong Kong. He teaches FinTech, blockchain, and digital assets at SMU and Rotterdam School of Management. Previously, he was COO of HSBC Securities (Singapore) Pte Limited and held IT leadership roles at UBS, Barclays Capital, and Close Brothers. Dan's research, focusing on blockchain and AI's impact on financial markets, is pursued alongside his PhD at Rotterdam School of Management. He holds a Master of Science in Innovation from SMU and a Master in Finance from IE Business School. Dan is also a Financial Data Professional since 2020.

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