If we look at stereotypes, cryptocurrency enthusiasts are typically either involved in the world of finance or in the world of coding or developing technology. Of course, other people from all professions gain an interest in cryptocurrency, but I feel as if my academic interests are very opposite to what you would expect in the crypto-world. I am an Anthropology major, but my focus lies in the world of education law and equity around the world and in the United States.
That being said, I believe that I am well positioned in my knowledge of kindergarten through high school education (namely in the United States) to theorize what kinds of classes would be helpful to include in curricula. I am a firm believer that the United States education system lacks sufficient financial and basically just ‘real world’ skills classes. In this article I want to theorize about what a financial education class focused on introducing students to cryptocurrency and the evolving economy of our new world would look like. These classes would last for a semester (1/4 of the academic year).
Cryptocurrency Curriculum for the Students of the Future
3rd Grade: Introduction to Bitcoin. In this class students would learn what money is in our world. With basic math skills they have developed up until this point, we will introduce students to the legend of Satoshi Nakamoto and the mystery around it. We will use Satoshi’s picture book to introduce students to basic Bitcoin concepts. We want to establish an interest in the idea of a digital currency and normalize that finances don’t have to be physically held in your hands to carry value.
6th Grade: Introduction to Inflation, Comparative Economics. Don’t let the name scare you here. The main goal of this course is to make students aware of the differences between the dollars they see their parents using and Bitcoin. What makes Bitcoin special? Well there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin where US dollars can print until we run out of paper in the world or people stop respecting the currency. We will also teach students the basics of a blockchain including the idea of a public ledger and complete transparency in transactions. Case studies will include tokens such as Ethereum and Cardano in order to begin understanding what a blockchain really does.
9th Grade: Introduction to Cryptocurrency Markets, Bitcoin Whitepaper Analysis. In this course we will use practice money trading platforms to run a semester long portfolio building project. Students will ‘compete’ with one another to create diversified portfolios and watch the markets move. Students will begin to understand how to trade cryptocurrency and learn the basics of where to buy and hold cryptocurrency. In addition, students will be assigned to read the Bitcoin whitepaper and through small groups attempt to explain what they are reading to their peers. The goal of this is to get a firm mathematical understanding of Bitcoin that includes the math behind the innovation. Additionally, this will be the class where students learn about what passive income is in cryptocurrency via lessons on staking and delegating cryptocurrency on a few different networks.
12th Grade: Cryptocurrency Mining, Building on Blockchain. In this course, students would learn the concept of mining cryptocurrency for profit. They would learn what is necessary to build in order to do so, learn how the process works and see examples of the software needed to do so for different coins. The final project will be for students to build a functioning test-net application with a group that addresses a real world problem that they believe can be fixed by blockchain and cryptocurrency.
Though I am not sure how schools would feel about implementing this type of curriculum before even creating firm requirements for traditional financial literacy, I believe that the education of our students is very important in sustaining cryptocurrency ecosystems in the future. I also may have missed some key concepts, and ironically if I did it further proves my point that we should be educating our youth so that they will know more than I do. In my personal opinion the goal of education is to create a generation that is more intelligent than you were and are better fit for the innovations that will arise as we progress as a society.
Let me know what you think about cryptocurrency-based classes. Would you want this style of class included in our children’s education? What are the positives? What are the negatives? What is missing?
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My name is Rob and I am a college student doing my best to get involved in the crypto world. I have enjoyed blogging thus far and thank you for reading my article! Give me a follow and let’s build the community together through consistent engagement.