PBA Online
Modular, on-demand online lessons taught by Polkadot engineers and ecosystem experts. Learn at your own pace through practical, expert-led courses designed to build your Web3 knowledge and skills.
Choose the program that fits you best
Decentralizing knowledge. Empowering builders, policymakers, and the curious.
Policymaker
For regulators, governance professionals, civil society actors and institutional decision-makers shaping Web3 systems.
Core Developer
dApps Developer
For front-end and back-end Web3 builders, smart contract developers, and dApp founders building on Polkadot Hub.
Academic courses
Explore all our courses
Each course stands alone. Take a single course to strengthen one skill area, or follow a full program for a more complete learning journey.
Introduction to Blockchain
~1 hr · Self-paced
An introductory certificate designed to build a foundational understanding of blockchain, its real-world applications, and its role in addressing today’s challenges in the age of AI.
- 11 Modules
- Free Access
- Beginner
Economics and Game Theory
~2 hrs · Self-paced
Incentives, market theory, auction design, and Polkadot tokenomics. The analytical toolkit to evaluate any blockchain incentive system, including the one you’re about to build on.
- 7 Modules
- Free Access
- Beginner
Web3 Governance and Mechanism Design
~2 hrs · Self-paced
OpenGov, treasury mechanics, conviction voting, and on-chain governance design, from a practitioner’s perspective, not a textbook.
- 10 Modules
- Free Access
- Beginner
Identity & Proof of Personhood
~3 hrs · Self-paced
Polkadot Individuality, DIM-1/DIM-2, contextual aliases, and ZK-powered proof of personhood. Build Sybil-resistant airdrops, human-weighted voting, and free transactions for verified humans.
- 5 Modules
- Free Access
- Beginner
Applied Cryptography for Devs
~3 hrs · Self-paced
Hash functions, signatures (Ed25519/SR25519/ECDSA), VRFs, and the Bandersnatch RingVRF. The primitive Polkadot uses for Sassafras and Polkadot Individuality.
- 6 Modules
- Free Access
- Advanced
Polkadot Cloud Fundamentals
~3 hrs · Self-paced
Live Polkadot architecture: Hub, Coretime, Elastic Scaling, Sassafras, the 2.1B-DOT supply cap, NPoS staking, shared security. Understand what you are deploying to before you deploy.
- 8 Modules
- Free Access
- Intermediate
Building on Polkadot Hub
~4 hrs · Self-paced
Deploy with Hardhat, Foundry, and Remix. Use Polkadot Hub precompiles to call ERC-20 assets and XCM from Solidity. Understand when to use PolkaVM (RISC-V) vs REVM (full Ethereum compatibility).
- 7 Modules
- Free Access
- Intermediate
Cross-Chain Systems (XCM)
~5 hrs · Self-paced
XCM as a language: locations, assets, instructions, the XCM Executor (XCVM), pallet configuration, and emulator-based testing. Covers Snowbridge (ETH↔DOT) via GlobalConsensus locations.
- 9 Modules
- Free Access
- Advanced
Blockchain Engineering
~5 hrs · Self-paced
P2P networks, state machines, blockchain data structures, consensus (authoring and finality), forks, and light clients. The computer science of blockchains, Rust-flavoured throughout.
- 9 Modules
- Free Access
- Advanced
Polkadot Platform
~2 hrs · Self-paced
The system parachains and services that sit on top of the minimal Relay: what lives where, what each system chain is for, and how new system services get added to the ecosystem.
- 6 Modules
- Free Access
- Intermediate
Substrate Runtime Builder
~2 hrs · Self-paced
The Substrate platform itself, separate from FRAME: Wasm meta-protocol, Merklized storage, transaction pool, and a frameless runtime workshop that builds a chain without FRAME.
- 6 Modules
- Free Access
- Advanced
FRAME Pallet Development
~6 hrs · Self-paced
The canonical framework for building pallets: calls and origins, events and errors, storage, hooks, pallet coupling, safe math, balance management, testing, benchmarking, and runtime migrations.
- 12 Modules
- Free Access
- Expert
Explore the learning programs we are building
Begin with the courses available today and continue growing your skills as new content and certifications are released.
Learning programs
Certificates
LESSONS
Assessments, CERTIFICATES AND CREDENTIALS
Policymaker Program
Requires
4 Certificates
PBA Credential
Regulators, DAO contributors, civil society actors and institutional decision-makers shaping Web3 systems. No prior blockchain or technical experience required.
Professional context in governance, regulation, finance or public policy. No coding required.
- Evaluate live OpenGov referenda with confidence
- Contribute meaningfully to DAOs and treasury governance
- Analyse Web3 policy design and incentive systems
- Credential recognised by ecosystem partners at W3S
Scenario: evaluate a live OpenGov referendum, assessed by PBA faculty for analytical quality.
Core Developer Program
Requires
8 Certificates
PBA Credential
Build protocol-level expertise in consensus, cryptography, runtimes, cross-chain messaging, and blockchain architecture. Designed for engineers who want to contribute to the protocol itself not just build applications on top of it.
Rust proficiency (traits, generics, lifetimes). CLI & Git. Linear algebra for cryptography.
- Master the systems that power Polkadot
- Contribute to Parity's core Substrate & SDK libraries
- Build and ship custom parachain runtimes
- Apply for the Polkadot Fellowship
GitHub: custom FRAME pallet with storage, events, dispatchables & benchmarks, reviewable production code.
dApps Developer Program
Requires
5 Certificates
PBA Credential
Solidity developers who want to ship on Polkadot this quarter. You already write smart contracts – this learning program bridges your Hardhat/Foundry toolchain to Polkadot Hub and cross-chain systems.
Solidity proficiency (beyond ERC-20). Hardhat or Foundry setup. MetaMask wallet for testnet labs.
- Deploy Solidity contracts on Polkadot Hub from day one
- Call XCM precompiles cross-chain from Solidity
- Add Proof-of-Personhood to airdrops and voting
- Join teams building DeFi, identity & gaming on Hub
GitHub: Solidity contract deployed to Paseo testnet calling an XCM precompile, verified on Subscan.
Why enroll in a PBA online lesson?
The Polkadot Blockchain Academy provides world class blockchain educational programs.
Our modular curriculum lets you compose your own knowledge stack, selecting only what drives your career forward.
Join a growing library of expert-led content. Start with what’s available today and continue building your skills as new certificates and programs launch.
Online Education
Access expert-led video and written lessons and learn a new skill anywhere, anytime.
Certification
Complete multiple lessons and pass an assessment or capstone to earn a verified PBA certificate.
Program Credential
Complete all certificates in a learning program to unlock a program credential. You can also have a verifiable, portable credential minted on Polkadot Hub.
What I really liked about the lesson is its well-thought-out structure. You get comprehensive theory through professionally produced pre-recorded videos and extensive supporting materials.
Pedro Caparrós
This course goes as in-depth into blockchain as you like with tons of additional information, but also suits people who are completely new as it is presented and explained in an easy way.
Kasey Brooks
The content is fantastic, super detailed but not overwhelming for someone (like me) without a coding background. Highly recommend!