Education Efforts Ramping Up With Digital Assets Primed to Play a Key Role in Future Finance

Digital assets and the technology that powers them are visibly here to stay. The effects of this disruptive technology have been felt mostly in the finance sector. In just a little over a decade, blockchain technology and its most popular real-world application – cryptocurrencies – have gone from being “Satoshi’s vision” written in a whitepaper to a trillion-dollar industry that has changed the way millions of people around the world transact. Beyond blockchain technology’s use in peer-to-peer payment systems, other areas like identity management, supply chain management, logistics, authenticity, and tokenization of real-world assets have seen active blockchain-based development in recent years.

The demand for blockchain-based professionals to fill jobs in the blockchain industry has surged. Blockchain technology has carved out new, in-demand career paths; mostly with the ability to work remotely, creating equal opportunities for individuals around the world irrespective of jurisdiction. Some new blockchain-specific technical and non-technical job roles include smart contract auditor, blockchain engineer, blockchain security engineer, and web3 researcher. Besides paving the way for new career paths, blockchain technology has also created new investment opportunities for people around the world.

The Need for Blockchain Education

Crypto and blockchain education are becoming increasingly important as adoption grows. Educating investors about the technical intricacies of blockchain and crypto will give them more knowledge on how to protect their crypto assets from hacks and theft.

With the right crypto education, newbie or inexperienced investors who want to explore digital assets investments would know how and where to exercise caution. For example, with the right educational materials about the forms of crypto trading, an inexperienced investor would understand the risks associated with leverage trading. Proper crypto education will help investors minimize risks as they navigate the crypto markets.

Blockchain education is important to build up professionals that will join the ever-growing blockchain workforce and build the awesome ideas and products the blockchain industry needs to remain ahead of the curve.

The Emergence of Blockchain Courses

Educational institutions, including Ivy League universities, are beginning to recognize the importance of blockchain education. Most universities are surreptitiously adding blockchain and crypto-related courses to their curricula. At the grassroots level, volunteers have taken to the streets to spread the word about blockchain, crypto, and the concept of decentralization; thereby, educating people with little access to blockchain information portals.

Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE) and blockchain outfit Blockstation, have recently launched the first ‘Certified Digital Asset Training Course for Investors'.  The JSE noted that this initiative was launched in preparation for the pending launch of its own digital asset platform.  Completion of the course, which was developed by Blockstation, is set to be a requirement by the JSE, as it looks to fulfill its obligations under the watch of the Financial Services Commission.  In this course, investors can expect to learn the essentials surrounding topics like tokenized securities, security token offerings, and more.

Mi Prima Bitcoin (translated as ‘My First Bitcoin’ in English) is an example of a grassroots-level crypto education organization. Mi Prima Bitcoin organizes local meetups in El Salvador, where team members teach groups of people about Bitcoin and the power of decentralization. Impressed by the outreach of the team, Twitter ex-CEO Jack Dorsey donated 0.28 BTC to Mi Prima Bitcoin on January 16.

Texas A&M University, one of the largest universities in the US, recently announced that at the beginning of the spring semester, which started on January 17, it will begin teaching Bitcoin-related courses to students in the College of Engineering and Mays Business School. Korok Ray, an associate professor at Texas A&M’s Mays Business School, told his tweeps that he will be teaching the ‘Bitcoin Protocol,’ followed by a deep dive into Programming Bitcoin, a Bitcoin book written by Jimmy Song and published by O’Reilly Media.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) offers more than ten blockchain courses under its Digital Currency Initiative, including some free online courses. Some of the blockchain courses offered by MIT include Blockchain Lab, Blockchain Ethics: The Impact and Ethics of Cryptocurrency and Blockchain Technology, Blockchain and Money, Crypto Finance, Shared Public Ledgers: Cryptocurrencies, Blockchains, and Other Marvels, and Cryptocurrency Engineering and Design – a free online course. Other top institutions that offer blockchain courses include Harvard University, which offers several free online blockchain courses.

The University of Oxford, the National University of Singapore, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, the University of Zurich, and Stanford University, are among some of the top global institutions that also offer blockchain courses.

Here at Securities.io, you can find a vast amount of educational content on blockchain, crypto, digital securities, fintech, and a lot of other topics.