Top Schools Are Offering More Blockchain, Cryptocurrency Courses

More universities around the world are offering courses in Blockchain technology, according to a report by Coinbase. With the size of the blockchain market forecasted to reach nearly $25 million by the year 2023, students from multiple educational backgrounds are expressing greater interest in learning about the blockchain industry.

In response, universities are beginning to embrace the study of decentralized financial systems as a legitimate academic pursuit. Coinbase's study found that 42 percent of the top 50 universities across the world now offer at least one course on cryptocurrency or blockchain, with the highest concentration being institutions based in the US.

Stanford University—located just outside Silicon Valley—launched its Center for Blockchain Research last year with the intention of being an incubator for technology innovation and development. The center is the largest of its kind on an academic campus in the United States and currently leads the charge on offering the most courses in the field.

Just behind Stanford is Cornell University. The Ivy League institution currently has 28 courses that touch on blockchain-related topics, including "Anthropology of Money" and "Introduction to Blockchains, Cryptocurrencies, and Smart Contracts."

The study also points out that a wide range of students are interested in learning about cryptocurrencies, not just those in financial or computer-science departments. According to the survey commissioned by Coinbase and conducted by Qriously, students in law, business, and the social sciences majors were even more interested in taking crypto courses than those in economics and math.

And it isn't just US schools that are including the study of blockchain technology. Fudan University in Shanghai, one of the most prestigious in China, opened its Blockchain Research Center in February of 2019. Despite China's complicated history with cryptocurrency, one of the University's stated goals is "cultivating high-level blockchain engineering and technology talent."

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One of the selling points for taking cryptocurrency coursework, according to reporting done by Coinbase, is increased job prospects. Campbell Harvey, a professor of international business at Duke University says that law students trained in blockchain technology are getting job offers immediately after college.

Increased academic support for the study of blockchain technology will propel more researchers into the field from diverse areas of study. And as long as demand for the courses continue, universities will further invest in research centers, coursework and support for the industry,

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