US Universities, Blockchain Education & Crypto Job Opportunities

• Toshendra Kumar Sharma
• April 20, 2020

The rising demand for blockchain-focused jobs is naturally signaling the need for blockchain courses that could help scholars to find job opportunities this year.

 

The Blockchain that was once known for Bitcoin has its footprints in almost all industries today, be it finance, supply chain, healthcare, insurance, or education.

 

According to the recent study by the educational subsidiary of the professional social network LinkedIn, Blockchain technology will be the most in-demand hard skill in 2020. Linkedin also outlined the immense potential of blockchain technology in providing a cost- and time-efficient, secure and decentralized method of tracking all types of transactions.

 

However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the outbreak continues to impact the United States’ unemployment rate, making 22 million people file for unemployment since President Trump declared a national emergency a few weeks ago. The US government is struggling to respond fast enough to the deadly coronavirus health crisis and the widespread economic pain it has triggered.

 

In turn, top universities are offering Blockchain courses as the need for the skill set rises. Kristi Yuthas, an accounting professor at Portland State University, reported that “Blockchain companies are innovating at lightning speed. Leaders with the acumen to create business value from these innovations are now in high demand.”

 

Blockchain-Focused Courses: Meeting Rising Demands 

 

America’s top universities such as Portland State, MIT, Stanford, University of California Santa Barbara, and many others now offer blockchain-related courses to meet the increasing job demand, and students who pursue such courses have a chance to quickly find job opportunities.

 

Recently, Portland State University(PSU) concluded its “Blockchain in Business Lab” courses. According to Yuthas and her colleague Stanton Heister, the university collaborated with the NULS Foundation, an open-source enterprise blockchain platform, to educate students on the business elements of blockchain development. The collaboration of PSU with NULS has conducted two hands-on courses that were completed under the supervision of Yuthas and Heister.

 

PSU’s first Blockchain in Business Lab was conducted this year, offered a detailed description of how to build a blockchain by utilizing NULS Chain Factory, which is a blockchain development kit.  A developer of the NULS blockchain and co-organizer of the PSU program, Kathy Norman, stated that the aim of the course saying,  “Our commitment was to provide our technology and our technical expertise, to give the students a hand-on experience of blockchain from the perspective of user/customer, developer, and entrepreneur.”

 

 

While PSU’s second lab focused on blockchain user and developer activities, the course guides for practical blockchain applications and offers instructional sessions on decentralized applications(dApps) and smart contract development.

 

Both universities, UC Santa Barbara and The University of California Los Angeles are part of the Blockchain Acceleration Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization that is committed to advancing blockchain learning. Cryptocurrency analytics firm CipherTrace partners with BAF to guide students on how to use the company’s products to examine cryptocurrency-related scams.

 

Moreover, John Jefferies, the chief financial analyst of CipherTrace, also explains that the organization will train and certify students to use its financial investigation software, which is applied to identify money laundering, power-law enforcement queries, and to enable regulatory supervision.

 

Ben Fisch, a co-founder of Findora, and renowned professor of cryptography, Dan Boneh, both teach a blockchain and cryptocurrencies course at Stanford University. He further explained about Blockchain course stating, “It covers the core concepts and also a sampling of niche topics within the field. Astute students come out of this course with a holistic understanding of how blockchains work and their fundamental applications, or even with enough knowledge to participate in blockchain research and innovation. 

 

He further explained that their guest lectures guide students about how technology is being used in the world today.  The concepts of Blockchain enhances the learning skills of already strong engineering candidate, and it may also reduce the on-boarding time for a new hire, suggests Fisch.

 

To get instant updates about Blockchain Technology and to learn more about online blockchain certifications and become a blockchain expert, check out Blockchain Council.