Best Universities for Blockchain 2022: University of Texas-Austin

In the Lone Star State, The University of Texas-Austin looks to prepare the next generation of blockchain technology experts via its Blockchain Initiative at the McCombs School of Business, which helped drive the school to No. 35 on CoinDesk’s Best Universities for Blockchain 2022.

This piece is part of CoinDesk's Education Week

Read the Full List: Best Universities for Blockchain 2022

The Blockchain Initiative supports research campus-wide. Faculty and graduate students aim to focus on three core concepts, which include researching blockchain technology, promoting fintech and blockchain-technology education and, more broadly, promoting the blockchain industry in the state of Texas.

“The center is interdisciplinary by nature,” Cesare Fracassi, an associate professor of finance at UT-Austin, told CoinDesk, with key professors from electrical engineering and computer science, the Dell Medical School, and the business school. In the past academic year the center held 14 events, including a speaker series.

Separately but not entirely unrelated, the blockchain initiative supports the Fintech Research Lab, a weekly lecture-based lab that explores the societal and ethical implications of crypto, as well as how to set up and run an active node. The lab welcomes undergraduate students, Ph.D. students, professors and professionals. Lectures are recorded and provided at no additional cost.

For financial professionals, a professional certificate in the Future of Finance is offered through the Edx platform and can be completed in about four months for nearly $2,600. The four-part course provides a business-oriented overview of distributed ledgers, cryptocurrencies and explores how financial institutions create value.