A research by Coinbase which is one of the major cryptocurrency trading platform, suggests that 56% among the top universities around the world conduct one or more classes on blockchain technology or cryptocurrency.

Metrics indicate growing interest

Coinbase shared this research report in a blog post on their official website on August 28^th. They used the rankings from World Report and US News to create a list of top 50 universities, including those with both graduate and undergraduate offerings.

The research found that, as compared to last year, twice as many students opted for crypto and blockchain courses and that a lot of top universities even have student-led blockchain or crypto clubs. Cryptocurrency and blockchain related courses went up to 42% in the top 50 universities from 2018.

Types of blockchain education

Coinbase also claims that around 70% out of the universities offer blockchain and crypto courses externally in areas like economics, law and humanities. That being said, Computer Science is still the most common area where this is being taught, comprising of 32.2% of the blockchain and crypto related course offerings.

One Cornell alumnus said:

“We’ve had so many professors reach out to to learn more about blockchain and see how it applies to their field. It’s really cool to be part of a community where there’s so much engagement.”

Ken Webber, Ripple’s head of social impact, had recently said that he thinks the digital assets and blockchain space requires more practical and informative courses from universities to train the students. He wrote:

“Currently, over 40% of the world’s top 50 universities already offer at least one class on blockchain or crypto assets. But this is tied to different disciplines such as law, engineering, mathematics and business administration. To truly close the skills gap, universities around the world must expand these programmes to offer blockchain and crypto-asset training courses that directly relate to roles in industry.”