Top universities have added crypto to the curriculum

The world of digital assets saw a significant rise last year. The total cryptocurrency market cap reached $3 trillion, making more people, governments and universities take a closer look at the asset class.

The presence of crypto in the world’s major economies has created a big opportunity for diverse startups in the industry, leading to a massive demand for digital assets. This newly born market has helped develop more working and educational opportunities, among other things.

Furthermore, some of the world’s top universities and educational institutions including MIT, the University of Oxford and Harvard University, have added pieces of the burgeoning technology to their curriculums. 

Here are some of the top universities that have added blockchain-related subjects to their syllabus.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

When it comes to research, few come close to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT is renowned for its groundbreaking research and competitive academic curriculum and is ranked second only to Harvard University. The institution is, without doubt, the leading university in terms of blockchain technology, taking a research-driven approach to the decentralized ecosystem.

The institution boasts of impressive academic staff, with current United States Securities and Exchange Commision Chair Gary Gensler teaching a blockchain course at the university. On-campus, it has one of the oldest Bitcoin (BTC) clubs called the MIT Bitcoin Club, which serves as the epicenter of blockchain discussions at the university.

The university famously launched the MIT Digital Currency Experiment back in 2014 and distributed Bitcoin to students in a bid to foster cryptocurrency adoption. The university has gone ahead with its peer-reviewed journal on Blockchain technology to catalog the growing interest of researchers in the field. True to the ethos of decentralization, the journal is distributed freely. 

Courses offered at the university include: 

• Blockchain Ethics: The Impact and Ethics of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology
• B Digital Frontier: Emerging Blockchain Havens
• Shared Public Ledgers: Cryptocurrencies, Blockchains, and Other Marvels

Harvard University

Harvard is one of the oldest universities in the United States and has earned a reputation as part of the most prestigious universities in the world. Founded in 1636, the Ivy League college has churned out a record eight U.S. presidents, fourteen Turing Award winners and multiple Nobel laureates.

In line with the principles of excellence and innovation, Harvard has added blockchain education to its curriculum. For starters, the university teamed up with Coursera to provide six free courses on cryptocurrencies that cover the fundamentals all the way to intermediate levels. An online introductory course titled “Breakthrough Innovation with Blockchain Technology” explores the combination of AI and blockchain across several industries.

Harvard also offers a thriving blockchain student community with over 200 members. Weekly “Crypto 101” discussions are held and the presence of an incubator on the campus allows students to build and scale their cryptocurrency projects. 

National University of Singapore

Singapore is one of the leading cryptocurrency hubs in Southeast Asia and the National University of Singapore (NUS) is at the core of the crypto adoption. The university was founded in 1905 and its dedication to original research has consistently put it among the leading universities on the continent.

The university’s blockchain offering centers strongly around research and entrepreneurship with interesting essays being published on harnessing blockchain for decentralized computing and improving distributed consensus and smart contracts. NUS offers an in-depth blockchain curriculum that cuts across several fields and levels from beginners to CEOs and mid-level managers.

The school boasts of courses at both…