Inside the classroom: what we learned teaching the first graduate Bitcoin course
Schools and universities are now officially accepting Bitcoin. What was once just talked about online is now being taught at university level. At the University of the Cumberlands (UC), students recently finished an eight-week course called “Bitcoin: Fundamentals, Technology, and Applications.”
This new course for university students looked at all kinds of things, from Rothbard’s ideas about money and Mises’ criticisms to the basic technology described in important Bitcoin books. It didn’t just ask if Bitcoin matters, but rather how important it is – and the huge ways it’s changing money, markets, and management.
The idea for the course sparked at the close of 2024, as Bitcoin neared new all-time highs. UC, already offering degrees featuring blockchain technology, recognized an opportunity to broaden its elective offerings beyond these specialized programs. Working closely with the course development team, the administration approved the course with a clear objective: to boost financial literacy and equip students with a deep understanding of Bitcoin’s fundamentals.
Here’s a look at how the course was structured – from its carefully curated reading list to its unique grading system – along with crucial lessons learned that will shape future iterations.
Teaching Bitcoin 101: beyond speculation
The course was meticulously designed to push students to view Bitcoin not merely as a speculative investment, but as a complex technological and economic phenomenon with significant historical roots and vast future applications.
To truly grasp Bitcoin, the curriculum began by exploring the cypherpunks and their profound influence over the decades leading up to and beyond the Bitcoin Genesis Block. The works of visionaries like Chaum, May, Finney, Hughes, and Szabo helped illustrate how concerns about governmental overreach, privacy infringements, and individual liberty were potent driving forces in the pre-Bitcoin era and within early Bitcoin communities. Many of these figures were instrumental in creating the very first attempts at digital currency:
- David Chaum’s DigiCash in 1989
- Douglas Jackson’s E-Gold in 1996
- Adam Back’s Hashcash idea in 1997
- Nick Szabo’s Bit Gold
- Wei Dai’s B-money in 1998
Each of these early endeavors contributed essential pieces to the Bitcoin puzzle, such as proof-of-work, pseudonymity, and consensus algorithms.
From rothbard to Bitcoin: connecting economic theory to digital currency
The cypherpunks and early Bitcoin enthusiasts were greatly influenced by Murray Rothbard, who was a well-known economics professor and author who wrote a lot of books. His most important work, “What Has Government Done to Our Money?”, published in the 1970s, long before the Bitcoin white paper, strongly criticised the use of fiat money.
By looking at the basics of central banking, how money is losing its value, and times when the government has controlled money, students got a clear understanding of why cypherpunks want to create a currency that people could easily use and which would not have the same problems as fiat systems. Rothbard’s book asks important questions, like what money is and why only society can decide what counts as money. This makes it a great place to talk about Bitcoin as an interesting choice instead of traditional currencies.
The curriculum’s code: blending theory and tech
The students had a wide range of academic backgrounds, so it was important to find the right balance of technical depth for this eight-week course. If you focus too much on the technical details of computer science, you might lose sight of the big picture. And if you don’t explain the technical bits well enough, students might not fully understand how Bitcoin actually works.
Yan Pritzker’s “Inventing Bitcoin” was the perfect solution. It explains why previous attempts at digital currency failed, what each contributed to the field of computer science, and how these influences ultimately shaped Bitcoin’s creation. This was supported by articles from well-known crypto media outlets like Cointelegraph, and other influential works from authors such as Saifedean Ammous (“The Bitcoin Standard”), Andreas Antonopoulos (“Mastering Bitcoin”), and Jeff Booth (“The Price of Tomorrow”). This reading list, which includes a range of books, helped students understand the economics and technology behind Bitcoin in a way that was easy to understand.
Assessing and grading a Bitcoin class: bridging theory and practice
Each week, students produced graduate-level research papers that challenged them to bridge theory and practical application. For instance, one assignment asked: “What were three of the pre-Bitcoin attempts at digital currency, and how did their failures help shape Bitcoin’s design?” Another pushed them to evaluate whether Bitcoin satisfies Mises’ Regression Theorem to qualify as “true money.” Weekly discussions further enriched the learning, delving into both technical specifics and dispelling common myths that have long plagued the crypto space.
As you might expect, people had questions about Bitcoin. Some people were worried about its use in crime, its impact on the environment, and how its value can change so quickly. By using data and theories to prove or disprove these claims, students not only learned more, but also saw how their first ideas might not match up to what Bitcoin is really like.
One interesting result came from a final paper on how much energy Bitcoin uses. One student started with the well-known criticism of Bitcoin as something that is bad for the environment. But after doing lots of research and comparing how much energy mining uses to the energy used by the global financial system, the student decided that Bitcoin actually uses a lot less energy and produces fewer emissions than people thought. This change, which was based on the student’s own careful research, clearly showed how planned academic research can successfully separate fact from fiction and fearmongering.
Future iterations: refining the Bitcoin course
Just as Bitcoin evolves, this course will learn and improve from its inaugural run. One immediate change will be to introduce and address common media myths about Bitcoin much earlier in the syllabus. An oversight in this first iteration was assuming that only students already deeply interested in Bitcoin would enroll. If a major hurdle to Bitcoin adoption is public education, then confronting fear, uncertainty, and doubt must remain a central focus.
Beyond the current reading list, a hands-on “lab” component will be added. This lab will guide students through each step of a Bitcoin transaction process, from initiation to cold storage. Along this journey, every technical aspect will be meticulously explained: not only how each part of the process works, but also why it is necessary. This practical lab will serve as a concrete way to connect the dots from the philosophical roots of the pre-Bitcoin cypherpunk movement to Bitcoin’s current expansion into traditional finance, decentralized finance, and beyond.
Bitcoin in formal graduate education: a natural fit
It made sense for the University of the Cumberlands to add a course on Bitcoin to its curriculum. UC is the only university in the world to have international accreditation for its Master of Science in Global Business with Blockchain Technology programme. The university is always looking for ways to help students improve their financial literacy by offering practical, relevant subjects.
This Bitcoin course is currently only available to students in their final year, but there is a chance that it could be included in other courses at the university in the future. Even if you’re interested in more than just Bitcoin, it’s really important to understand Bitcoin if you want to be a good blockchain professional.
