Top Blockchain University: University of Sydney

The proprietary Red Belly Blockchain of 20th-ranked USYD says that it can process twice as many financial transactions as VISA.

Updated May 11, 2023 at 6:26 p.m. UTC

The University of Sydney (USYD) was Australia’s first university when it was founded more than a century and a half ago and it is now at the forefront of the country’s blockchain research.

20
New
University of Sydney Total Score
61.5
Regional Rank
6
Courses
11

USYD offers courses such as “Cryptocurrency Markets and Investments” and “Regulation of Fintech and Digital Information,” which touches on cryptoassets, too.

The USYD Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Society runs blockchain-related events and reaches out to the industry, creating a space for students to network with each other and with working professionals.

Some of the university’s teaching staff are heavily involved in blockchain and crypto research. Luke Anderson has been lecturing on information security since 2015. During that time he co-founded Sigma Prime, an information security firm that maintains Lighthouse, an open-source implementation of Ethereum 2.0.

As long ago as 2018, academics at the university around distributed computing professor Vincent Gramoli were developing a blockchain called the Red Belly Blockchain. It could process transactions significantly faster than the bitcoin blockchain and the researchers concluded that “blockchain scalability can be achieved without sacrificing security.”

USYD pulls more than its weight in populating the higher echelons of Australia’s blockchain scene. Alumni can now be found at Blockchain United, a digital investment bank and research center; Immutable, a digital asset exchange; and Fantom Foundation, a consensus mechanism platform. These firms are all based in Australia, part of the country’s thriving blockchain sector that presents opportunities for students.

Australia’s crypto and blockchain scene has grown over recent years. The managing director of Kraken Australia, Jonathan Miller, said in 2021 that, “the Australian market is key to achieving global adoption.” Global crypto businesses like Gemini and Binance have joined Kraken in building Australian operations in recent years in a sign of swelling local interest.


This article was originally published on Nov 25, 2021 at 11:58 p.m. UTC

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