NYU Professors Look to Start Class on Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

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Here’s an interesting one. Two professors from New York University (specifically from the NYU Law School and Stern School of Business) are looking to start a class on the topic of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Law professor Geoffrey Miller and finance professor David Yermack have already put together a syllabus to show their superiors, who will ultimately have final say as to whether or not the class is a go.

The class, called “The Law and Business of Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies”, is designed to look into topics such as whether or not bitcoin could even be classified as a currency, trading, and its use for illicit activity like money laundering.

Our proposal is for a combined offering of the Law School and the Stern School and would be open to registration for both law and business students. The class would be a 2-credit class for law student and a 1.5-credit class for business students. To adjust for the difference in credit, there would be four extra law classes for law students, not

required for business school students, taught at the beginning of the semester. Guest speakers from the Bitcoin community or from government will be invited to participate in two or three class sessions. Assessment will be based on student papers.

But this is bitcoin — an ever-changing landscape. As such, Yermack says that come Fall when the session would start, what might be taught may differ completely from the drafted syllabus.

“We have no illusions that six months from now it’ll be the same set of issues,” he was quoted as saying.

Yermack expects the 50-seat course to be filled rather quickly, but noted that what transpires in the bitcoinisphere between now and Fall could have an impact on registrations (i.e. the value falls to nothing).

NYU isn’t the only school getting involved with cryptocurrencies in an academic sense. The University of Nicosia in Cyprus (who accepts tuition payments in bitcoin) has a master’s program on the topic of digital currency.