By Staff Writer
In a sign of increasing popularity of distributed ledger technology, New York University has become the “first” university to offer a major in blockchain technology, according to a CBS New York report.
The university’s Stern School of Business – known as the home of such brainiacs as Nobel prize-winning economist Michael Spence, valuation guru Aswath Damodaran and a blockchain-basher Nouriel Roubini – is reportedly offering a major in the new technology.
The CBS report quoted adjunct professor Andrew Hinkes as saying:
“We hope to establish a groundwork so that the students can understand what’s really happening under the hood so that they can understand both the legal and the business implications, and prepare them to go out and tackle this new market.”
Old students are keen on studying developments in digital currencies and technology behind it, the report quoted NYU’s Finance Department Chair David Yermack as saying.
“There are a few people who graduated some years ago but have come back to sit in on this just because of the novelty and the edginess of the topic.”
The courses appeal to students specializing in everything from law to computer science.
Big companies are also expected to join as partners in a sign of increasing demand for technology in the traditional industries despite the lack of clear regulatory frameworks and even warnings from various regulators and law enforcement agencies about the legality of the technology’s various applications.
Associate professor Kathleen Derose told CBS New York:
“The big established companies will definitely be partners in this whole equation, while the startups in [financial technology] will likely invent the new cool stuff.”
