Bitcoin (BTC) has moved from chat rooms and code repositories into graduate classrooms. At Cumberland University (UC), students recently completed an eight-week course titled "Bitcoin: Fundamentals, Technology, and Applications."
The course delves into Rothbard's monetary theory, Mises' critiques, and a technical overview of Bitcoin (BTC) in classic literature. It focuses on the significance of Bitcoin (BTC) and how it is reshaping currency, markets, and governance.
The course is envisioned for the end of 2024, when Bitcoin (BTC) is approaching historical highs. UC offers degrees related to blockchain technology, so the university sees an opportunity to expand elective courses to more majors. With collaboration from the course development team, the university approved this course, with the clear goal of enhancing financial literacy and equipping students with the fundamentals of Bitcoin (BTC).
The following will introduce the course's teaching arrangements, including reading lists, grading systems, and key experiences for future course iterations.
The course design requires students to confront Bitcoin (BTC) not just as a speculative asset but to focus on it as a technological and economic phenomenon with historical roots and future prospects.
To understand Bitcoin, the course first concentrates on the cypherpunks and their influence during the Bitcoin genesis block and the following decades. The works of Chaum, May, Finney, Hughes, Szabo, and others help illustrate the concepts of government overreach, privacy violations, and individual freedom in the pre-Bitcoin era and on Bitcoin forums.
Many of these individuals created the first iterations and attempts of modern digital currency:
- David Chaum launched DigiCash in 1989
- Douglas Jackson created E-Gold in 1996
- Adam Back proposed Hashcash in 1997
- Nick Szabo's Bit Gold
- Wei Dai proposed B-money in 1998
They contributed key elements such as proof of work, pseudonymity, and consensus algorithms to Bitcoin (BTC).
The cypherpunks and early Bitcoin (BTC) supporters were heavily influenced by economist Murray Rothbard. He authored "What Has Government Done to Our Money?", which deeply analyzes the issues of fiat currency systems.
By studying central banking mechanisms, currency devaluation, and government control over money, students understand why cypherpunks were dedicated to creating a currency that could be spontaneously accepted by society and free from the flaws of fiat currency.
Rothbard completed this work in the 1970s, long before the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper was published. However, he explored what attributes money should possess and why society is the ultimate arbiter of money's definition. This book serves as an ideal starting point for discussing whether Bitcoin (BTC) can solve the problems of fiat currency.
Due to the diverse backgrounds of students, the course is only eight weeks long, and being overly technical may make it difficult for some students to keep up, while insufficient technical explanation could hinder understanding Bitcoin (BTC) as a practical solution.
To address this, Yan Pritzker's "Inventing Bitcoin" became the ideal textbook. This book explains why previous cryptocurrency attempts failed before the birth of Bitcoin (BTC), what new ideas they brought to computer science, and how they influenced the emergence of Bitcoin (BTC).
The course also incorporates articles from cryptocurrency media such as Cointelegraph, as well as works by authors like Saifedean Ammous ("The Bitcoin Standard"), Andreas Antonopoulos ("Mastering Bitcoin"), and Jeff Booth ("The Price of Tomorrow"), allowing students to comprehensively explore the economics and technology of the Bitcoin (BTC) revolution.
Each week, students are required to submit graduate-level papers that explore the intersection of theory and practice. For example, one assignment asks students to list three digital currency attempts before the birth of Bitcoin (BTC) and analyze how their failures contributed to the refinement of Bitcoin (BTC).
Another assignment requires evaluating whether Bitcoin (BTC) meets Mises' regression theorem and whether it can be considered "real money." Weekly discussion sessions supplement writing, covering both technical details and revealing long-standing misconceptions in the crypto industry.
Common counterarguments are frequently raised, such as Bitcoin (BTC) only serving criminals, having a huge carbon footprint, and being too volatile to serve as a store of value. Students must defend or refute these claims using data and theory, which not only tests their understanding but also reveals the gap between intuition and the reality of Bitcoin (BTC).
A typical outcome is a thesis on Bitcoin (BTC) energy consumption. One student initially believed Bitcoin (BTC) was an environmental killer but, by comparing mining energy consumption to the global financial system, ultimately found that Bitcoin (BTC)'s actual energy consumption and carbon emissions were far lower than expected. This research shows that structured academic inquiry helps clear away the fog of hype and fear.
The Bitcoin (BTC) course will continuously optimize, much like Bitcoin itself. For example, there are plans to introduce common misconceptions about Bitcoin (BTC) from mainstream media at the beginning of the course in the future. The initial course assumed that only students interested in Bitcoin (BTC) would enroll, but the biggest challenge to Bitcoin (BTC)'s widespread adoption lies in public education, so addressing panic, doubts, and misunderstandings must remain a focus.
In addition to the aforementioned books, the course will also add experimental components, guiding students through the Bitcoin (BTC) transaction process from initiation to cold wallet. Each technical step will be explained in detail, covering not only "how to do it" but also "why it is designed this way." Through experiments, students will combine cypherpunk ideals with practical applications in modern traditional finance, decentralized finance, and other fields.
Establishing a Bitcoin (BTC) course at Cumberland University is a natural progression. The university has the only internationally accredited global business and blockchain technology master's program and is committed to helping students enhance their financial literacy through practical courses.
Although the Bitcoin (BTC) course is an elective for graduate students, it is expected to become part of other programs in the future. Even if some students are not solely focused on Bitcoin (BTC), understanding the fundamentals of Bitcoin (BTC) remains a core competency for becoming a blockchain professional.
Related: The U.S. Congress requests the Treasury Department to report on strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve details.
Original text: “Lessons Learned from the University Bitcoin Class”
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