As the demand for blockchain engineers and blockchain related business is only going to increase, Zhejiang University, one of China's top universities and a leader in the game in supplying blockchain-related courses, is set to offer its first for-credit course on "Blockchain And Digital Currency" this fall, focusing on the cutting edge technology behind cryptocurrency and related digital practices.
The course will illustrate the technical architecture and development technology behind current mainstream blockchain platforms like HyperHedge, offer case studies in blockchain application and development trends in cryptocurrency, according to the university.
The College of Computer Science of Zhejiang University established the blockchain research center on April 10 and it is set to work with students majoring in computer science, finance, and management, as well as mathematics.
"We cannot separate digital currency from blockchain, so we will introduce bitcoin, but no other cryptocurrencies. As a whole, the course will only concentrate on technology issues," said Yang Xiaohu, a professor at Zhejiang University's College of Computer Science.
As the syllabus shows, the course itself will not talk too much about the digital currency, and we really do not encourage students to focus on speculation, said Cai Liang, a deputy of the Blockchain Research Center.
In the US, some top MBA programs have been beefing up cryptocurrency courses to keep up with demand, especially from recruiters in venture capital, according to data from PitchBook, a private market financial platform.
Stanford's business school, voted best in the world by the Financial Times this year, will add a full-time course in Cryptocurrency in May 2018.
Itamar Orr, a second-year student leading the charge to create more crypto-related classes, told CNBC that there are a few courses related to it at Stanford but none of them were continuous and many of the students will have to discuss blockchain at their prospective jobs.
He then rallied 12 classmates and sent a letter to the associates of the business school.
"It makes sense to teach it," said Orr, "it gets you a competitive advantage. It is an extra hammer in your toolbox."
"Any world-class program is going to equip students in this field to compete," John Jacob, the executive director of Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business said.
According to the faculty of the blockchain research center, Zhejiang University decided to open the class, partly because Hangzhou, the city in east China's Zhejiang Province where the university located, has established itself as a rising center of blockchain technology and will build China's first Blockchain Industrial Park.
