Who can teach a course related to Blockchain and cryptocurrency? A law professor can but why not a finance professor. Computer Science alums will have better understanding of the technological aspects of the crypto and Blockchain creation.
But an account or economics alum can also have a useful insights when it comes to the unique way the macroeconomics is being transformed. This is the new situation that is arising out of the necessity of offering a Blockchain and crypto related courses in the reputed institutes all around the world.
We have covered some stories earlier about the increase in the demands of these courses on the mainstream campuses all around the world. American institutions from Chicago to Stanford are up for the challenge.
Oxford and Cambridge are ready to offer these courses from this fall. Even the universities in South America from Argentina to Brazil are interested. The cherry on the cake is the approval of a recent crypto course from Pyongyang University in North Korea.
All these institutions are in the marketplace of ideas. They are competing in a sense and thee demand from the students for these courses are growing day by day. But with the demand, there is a unique problem that is lurking which has no precedent in the history of academia. Who will decide who has the right capabilities to teach Blockchain and crypto to its full extent?
The subject matter is so eclectic that it overlaps almost a dozen disciplines. So there is a dear now that this will most probably trigger a turf war among the various departments of these universities. The fight is not only about the expertise. As the old cliché goes, “follow the money” epithet has also a unique role here.
The universities all over the world are facing a funding churn. Given the innovative and entrepreneurial nature of the subject, the companies are now investing in these projects. The University of Texas Austin recently got two million dollars from Ripple. They have also made donations to Ivy League institutions to encourage Blockchain innovation.
Thus, it is only natural that all the departments’ want some part of the pie here. This turf war is going to get uglier in the future if a consensus is not reached. But like the crypto market regulation, it is really akin to nailing a jelly on the wall. No one authority can impose its decision on all these fronts. The future sounds so interesting right now.