NYU to Offer Cryptocurrency Major this Fall

NYU just became the first university to offer a cryptocurrency major. With skyrocketing interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain, New York University is not only doubling the cryptocurrency classes it’s offering this year, but they’re creating a whole new major for the distributed ledger era. Here’s what we know about NYU’s cryptocurrency classes.

Crypto Classes At NYU

In 2014, the NYU Stern School of Business became the first university to offer classes on crypto. Today, they offer cryptocurrency classes that focus on computer science, law, business and more.

One computer science course delves into the technical side of blockchain, covering topics such as: What are consensuses, smart contracts, and proof systems? and how do you mine bitcoin and process a bitcoin transaction? This class was so popular that they had to switch to a larger classroom.

“It’s a class for both undergrads and grad students. It’s a class within the CS major,” said Assistant Professor of Computer Science Joseph Bonneau who is teaching “Cryptocurrencies and decentralized ledgers” at NYU told Blocklr.

Other NYU’s courses offered this fall range from basic to highly technical. You can enroll in law department courses on how blockchain will change financial services, digital currency and the laws and business of bitcoin. All in all, NYU is offering twice as many cryptocurrency classes this year.

NYU to Offer Cryptocurrency Major this Fall

All these blockchain and cryptocurrency classes fall within NYU’s brand-new cryptocurrency major—the first of its kind.

Other universities like Cornell and Stanford also offer classes on cryptocurrency. You can even take an online course offered by the Stanford School of Engineering that covers everything from altcoins to hash functions. But until now, no university has ever created a cryptocurrency major.

In addition to offering a blockchain and cryptocurrency major, NYU also has a FinTech MBA program. This MBA includes coursework on blockchain and cryptocurrency, as well as how it applies to the financial sector.

All in all, colleges across the U.S. are offering more and more cryptocurrency classes than ever, all because of student demand. According to a report published by Coinbase, 18% of college students own cryptocurrency.