Probably the most famous use case for blockchain is the transfer of Bitcoin – the digital currency which has recently soared in value. Read more: Is the university of the future a coding school? Edinburgh’s course is called Blockchains and Distributed Ledgers and will include “a thorough introduction to the concepts” behind both, Aggelos Kiayias a director of the university’s Blockchain Technology Laboratory told The Memo. Students will also learn the skills needed to build their own blockchain, and the course will be aimed at 4th year undergraduates and first-year master’s students. “Blockchain technology is a recent development and there is always a bit of a lag as academia catches up,” Kiayias told the Financial Times. Across the pond US universities have been far quicker to jump on the blockchain phenomenon, with Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, both having already launched bitcoin courses, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology planning on adding one soon. With more universities offering blockchain courses and more employers searching for graduates with blockchain skills, picking up these skills is a no-brainer for any developer today.
The University of Edinburgh will become the first major European university to offer a blockchain development course later this year . The blockchains and distributed ledgers course will teach students how to build their own blockchain and be targeted at fourth year undergraduates and first year master 's students . The Scottish university has already launched a blockchain technology course . In the US Stanford University and the University of California , both have both already offered bitcoin courses , and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is planning on offering one soon .