More Universities Offering Blockchain Courses

In the last few years and especially this year, an ever-growing number of colleges and universities are offering courses and perhaps even degrees in blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. What is driving the sudden boom in blockchain education, and what will this mean for the future of cryptocurrency?

Blockchain as a skill

In the tech world, it is common to see what is essentially a gold rush for a particular skill. Employers want to hire talented people, and if the pool of potential candidates is limited, salaries go up.

This, in turn, leads to more and more people pursuing the field in question. We've seen this in the past with web development, Java, XML, SQL, and any number of other valuable technical skills over the years.

Today, there are a number of universities and colleges that offer blockchain and cryptocurrency related curriculum. Top level ivy league schools like Cornell, Cambridge, Princeton, and Stanford among others, have all gotten on the blockchain train and are offering courses on the subject.

Cambridge released a desk-busting 114-page benchmark study on the topic of cryptocurrencies and their use across the globe.

Universities aside, there is also a growing number of private institutions that offer programs or certifications in this field of study. The CryptoCurrency Certification Consortium, or C4, has crypto stars like Andreas Antonopoulos and Vitalik Buterin on its board of directors. California based Blockchain University has also seen growth in recent months.

On the other side of the world, a slightly more troubling disclosure that the Pyongyang University in North Korea is offer cryptocurrency courses. Many are worried about the increasing knowledge and sophistication of North Korean state hackers. They would no doubt benefit from these courses.

A trend that is driven by demand

In addition to crypto focused startup companies and projects, the demand for talented software developers that can use programming languages like Solidity is growing. Across the globe, investment banks are starting to offer products that are tied to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, and other financial entities are signing up with Ripple to process transactions faster.

Salaries for skilled developers can often exceed $100,000 per year, putting them in one of the highest earning brackets. This range will likely continue to trend upwards until a balance between graduates and demand for graduates is reached.

Long-term impacts

What will be the impact of a new workforce of blockchain education workers mean for cryptocurrency? Most likely it will lead to more startups, as well as more applications for blockchain tech being devised across different industries and fields.

This new group of skilled workers could eventually reach management level positions in large companies, and encourage or direct them to take on blockchain technology in some form. It is also concievable that more and more companies and employees will elect to recieve some or all of their salary in cryptocurrecy as a result of the general shift towards blockchain tech.

We will also likely begin to see new innovations that we are yet to even imagine. Perhaps the true killer app for blockchain hasn't even been invented yet, and is waiting for a Its safe to say that for those who secure a blockchain rich education will have a bright future ahead of them.