Course description
Cryptocurrency
Earn an official certificate of professional achievement from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Over the past few years, the highest performing asset class was not stocks, bonds, or even real estate, it was Bitcoin.1 Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the MIT-developed Vault have emerged as a new asset class that has seen momentous returns. To navigate volatility, it’s necessary to demystify the real-world capabilities of cryptocurrency and its economic implications.
Enhance your knowledge of cryptocurrency, its limitations, capabilities, and the way it functions within the economic environment in the Cryptocurrency online short course from the MIT Media Lab. Taking a comprehensive approach, you’ll explore cryptocurrencies in comparison with traditional finance, and gain insight into how start-ups, financial institutions, big tech, and central banks are adapting to its emergence.
The MIT Media Lab Cryptocurrency course will give you the ability to think critically about any cryptocurrency project and assess its viability. Using real-world examples, the course covers major topics related to cryptocurrencies, including their history, design, and economic properties. You’ll learn about cryptographic building blocks (e.g., hash functions and digital signatures) that are critical to understanding cryptocurrency security. The course also covers decentralized applications and Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs), which are often built on top of cryptocurrency platforms.
Guided by MIT Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative — as well as crypto industry experts, economists, financial regulators, and internet entrepreneurs — you’ll gain the skills to critically and holistically assess the viability of crypto projects, and understand the opportunities and challenges associated with the evolution of digital money. In six weeks, you’ll gain insight into blockchain technology, smart contracts, decentralized applications (DApps), and the broader environment in which cryptocurrencies exist. At the end of the course, you’ll be equipped with the critical reasoning skills to analyze the viability of any smart crypto project.
Who should attend?
Is this course for you?
This course is designed for anyone seeking practical knowledge of the latest cryptocurrency developments and the skills to assess the viability of crypto projects, and is especially applicable to executives exploring new organizational needs. The program is relevant to both financial services and IT professionals aiming to gain an edge within their sector by understanding how crypto is actually being applied. Professionals and entrepreneurs from wide-ranging industries, who are seeking future growth or new opportunities, will also benefit from a comprehensive understanding of cryptocurrency and the environment in which it operates.
During this course, you'll be provided with the information, knowledge, and frameworks to deepen your understanding of cryptocurrencies from a business perspective. You’ll also explore blockchain technology, how cryptocurrencies operate, and what value they offer in organizational contexts.
You'll not be given cryptocurrency trading or investing advice, or investment or financial advice of any nature.
Training content
Analyze cryptocurrency and its functionality as you work through the weekly modules of this online course.
Module 1
Money, the payment riddle, and cryptocurrency innovation
Module 2
Smart contracts, DApps, and initial coin offerings (ICOs)
Module 3
Cryptocurrency markets, exchanges, and trading
Module 4
The viability of crypto projects
Module 5
A catalyst for change: Responses from finance, tech, and central banks
Module 6
Challenges facing cryptocurrency and the path forward
Course delivery details
Duration
- 6 weeks Excluding orientation
- 7–10 hours per week Self-paced learning online
Certification / Credits
Learn about cryptocurrency and earn an official digital certificate from the MIT Media Lab.
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a digital certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the course handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the course.
What will set you apart
On completion of this course, you’ll walk away with:
- Knowledge of cryptocurrency, its limitations, capabilities, and the way it functions within the economic environment.
- The skills to holistically assess a crypto project by understanding cryptocurrency within its broader context, and the ability to evaluate cryptocurrency’s economic implications.
- An understanding of the evolution of money, and how Bitcoin and blockchain technology operate in moving value via the internet.
- A comprehensive overview of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, crypto markets and exchanges, smart contracts, decentralized applications (DApps), and initial coin offerings (ICOs).
- Unlimited access to 2U’s Career Engagement Network, offering you exclusive resources and events to support your professional journey and drive your career forward.
Why choose GetSmarter?
- Data-driven course selection
- Outcomes-based design
- People-mediated delivery
GetSmarter
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