Lessons learned from a graduate-level Bitcoin class

Bitcoin (BTC) has leapt from chat rooms and codification repos into postgraduate syllabi. At the University of the Cumberlands (UC), students precocious completed the eight-week people “Bitcoin: Fundamentals, Technology, and Applications.”

This postgraduate people grappled with Rothbard’s monetary theory, Mises’ critiques and exertion overviews from classical Bitcoin works. It asked not whether Bitcoin matters but however overmuch it matters — and however it reshapes money, markets and management.

The thought for the people was imagined astatine the extremity of 2024, arsenic Bitcoin was approaching caller all-time highs (ATH). UC, which has degrees featuring blockchain technology, saw an accidental to grow its electives beyond these specialized programs. Working with the people improvement team, the medication approved the offering with a wide mission: to beforehand fiscal literacy and crushed students successful Bitcoin’s fundamentals.

Here’s however the people was taught — from speechmaking database to grading operation — and indispensable lessons learned for aboriginal iterations.

How to thatch Bitcoin 101

The people plan forced students to face Bitcoin not arsenic a speculative plus but arsenic a technological and economical improvement with humanities roots and aboriginal applications.

Influences of Economic Theory connected Bitcoin. Source: Dr. Michael Tabone

To recognize Bitcoin, the people archetypal concentrated connected the cypherpunks and their influences implicit the decades starring up to the Bitcoin Genesis Block and beyond. The works of Chaum, May, Finney, Hughes, Szabo and others helped to show that governmental overreach, privateness infringements and idiosyncratic liberty were influential concepts successful the pre-Bitcoin epoch and connected Bitcoin forums.

Many of these radical created the archetypal iterations and attempts astatine a modern integer currency:

• David Chaum’s DigiCash successful 1989

• Douglas Jackson’s E-Gold successful 1996

• Adam Back’s Hashcash thought successful 1997

• Nick Szabo’s Bit Gold

• Wei Dai’s B-money successful 1998

All brought pieces of the Bitcoin puzzle, similar proof-of-work, pseudonymity and statement algorithms.

From Rothbard to Bitcoin 

One of the influences of the cypherpunks and aboriginal Bitcoiners was Murray Rothbard, an economics prof and prolific writer. He wrote a cleanable publication that walks done the issues with the fiat system, called “What Has Government Done to Our Money?”

Working done the basics of cardinal banking, debasement and the eras of government-controlled money, students could spot however cypherpunks were motivated to make a currency that could organically beryllium accepted by nine that did not person the pitfalls of fiat-backed currency.

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Rothbard produced this enactment successful the 1970s, agelong earlier the Bitcoin achromatic paper. But helium grapples with cardinal questions, similar what properties of wealth substance and wherefore lone nine tin determine what counts arsenic money. This makes the publication an fantabulous springboard into the treatment astir Bitcoin arsenic an alternate to the problems of fiat.

Image adapted from the Blockchain Use Cases and Adoption Report. Source: Cointelegraph Research 

The codification for the curriculum 

Due to the divers inheritance of the students, being excessively method was an contented erstwhile introducing Bitcoin, arsenic the people is lone 8 weeks long. Being excessively heavy successful the weeds could alienate an MBA student, portion not explaining capable of the machine subject down Bitcoin could pb to students not knowing however it is an existent solution.

For this, Yan Pritzker’s publication “Inventing Bitcoin” offered the cleanable solution. It explains however the past of the pre-Bitcoin cryptocurrency attempts failed, what each brought to the machine subject array and, eventually, however each influenced Bitcoin’s creation.

Pairing this with articles from cryptomedia outlets similar Cointelegraph, different works from authors specified arsenic Saifedean Ammous (“The Bitcoin Standard”), Andreas Antonopoulos (“Mastering Bitcoin”) and Jeff Booth (“The Price of Tomorrow”), students were allowed to research the economics and exertion of the Bitcoin gyration successful a non-overwhelming manner.

How to measure and people a Bitcoin class

Each week, students produced graduate-level probe papers tackling questions that forced them to span mentation and practice. One duty asked: What were 3 of the pre-Bitcoin attempts astatine integer currency, and however did their failures assistance Bitcoin’s design?

Another challenged them to measure whether Bitcoin satisfies Mises’ Regression Theorem to suffice arsenic “true money.” Weekly discussions complemented the writing, drafting retired some method item and the myths that person agelong haunted the cryptoverse.

The accustomed objections surfaced: Bitcoin is lone for criminals; its c footprint volition boil the oceans; it’s excessively volatile to beryllium a store of value. By defending oregon dismantling these claims with information and theory, students had their comprehension tested portion revealing wherever their intuitions clashed with Bitcoin’s realities.

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One peculiarly striking result came from a capstone insubstantial connected Bitcoin’s vigor usage. A pupil began from the acquainted critique of Bitcoin arsenic an biology villain, lone to conclude, aft comparing mining’s footprint to the planetary fiscal system, that Bitcoin consumed acold little vigor and emitted acold less emissions than expected. That reversal, grounded successful the student’s ain research, underscored however structured world enquiry tin chopped done some hype and fear.

Bitcoin people betterment proposals: What’s next? 

Like Bitcoin, the people volition larn from its earliest iterations and marque improvements. For one, the myths successful the communal media volition beryllium brought up successful earlier weeks. A mistake made successful this archetypal iteration was assuming that lone those already funny successful Bitcoin would instrumentality this course. If 1 of the biggest problems with Bitcoin adoption is educating the public, overcoming the fear, uncertainty and uncertainty inactive has to beryllium beforehand and center. 

Besides the books mentioned above, a laboratory volition beryllium added, which walks done each measurement of a transaction process successful Bitcoin, from initiation to acold storage. During this journey, each method facet volition beryllium explained: not lone the “how” of each portion successful the process, but besides “why” it is there. This laboratory volition beryllium a hands-on mode of connecting the dots from the pre-Bitcoin cypherpunk doctrine days done today’s expanse into accepted finance, decentralized concern and beyond.

Bitcoin and ceremonial postgraduate education

Adding a people connected Bitcoin to the program astatine the University of the Cumberlands was a earthy fit. With the only planetary accreditation for its Master of Science successful Global Business with Blockchain Technology program, UC is ever looking to assistance students summation fiscal literacy done applicable subjects.

The Bitcoin people is simply a graduate-level elective, yet it whitethorn go portion of different programme offered astatine the university. Even if someone’s involvement successful cryptocurrency is extracurricular of “just Bitcoin,” having a cardinal knowing of Bitcoin is indispensable to being a well-rounded blockchain professional.

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