Stern School of Business at New York University is planning to launch an undergraduate course in blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Financial Times reported.
But like many universities it is running into a shortage of teachers.
“Our biggest challenge is finding enough people to teach the courses,” said Prof David Yermack, the professor of finance at the NYU Stern School of Business helped it become the first major university to launch a course in the nascent field of blockchain and cryptocurrencies in 2014.
Prof Yermack says blockchain technology “is really changing every industry”. Describing its potential as “probably as important as the introduction of double-entry bookkeeping”, he says there is “enormous student interest for this, for the jobs it offers.”
The NYU Stern cryptocurrencies course had a few dozen students when it started out. That has now grown to more than 100 students this year, with a waiting list, and as many as 300 expected next year.
“We are moving it to our largest auditorium, with capacity for 350 students,” Prof Yermack says. "The subject matter is so fast-moving that it is hard for academics to keep up."
Prof Yermack says the advent of ICOs, which have allowed blockchain-based companies to raise more than $2bn this year, forced him to rewrite much of the syllabus this year.
“Year over year we’ll change well over half the course material,” he says. “It keeps you young to be reading half the night just to keep up with the latest innovations.”
Prof David Yermack is confident that every university will have a blockchain course in five years.