Brazilian university FGV launches the country’s first crypto-finance MA, in a bid to give students academic edge in the crypto startup market.
Major Brazilian university Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV) in São Paulo is offering the country’s first Master’s degree in crypto-finance, Finance Magnates reported April 12.
The program offers specialized education for the crypto industry. Ricardo Rochman, the program’s coordinator, explained:
“It is a market with a profound lack of people with expertise. Cryptofinance has economic and financial fundamentals that are worth discussing, researching, and [being] taught.”
The FGV Master’s aligns with a wider movement in the Brazilian higher education system to embrace digital currencies and Blockchain as part of their study programs. Neighboring University of São Paolo incorporated cryptocurrency studies into the Derivatives unit of its Faculty of Economics and Administration last year. Professor Alan de Genaro, who initiated the move, explained:
“Some issues have to be presented even though the [student] does not go to work in the finance market. People have to understand which factors are beneficial and which are not suitable [regarding cryptocurrencies].”
Seven months ago, two Brazilian economics students in their twenties, Juan Perpetuo and Felipe Santos, founded Blockchain Insper, a part study group and part junior company, which offers classes and workshops on cryptocurrencies. Soon they they will be offering consultancy services to clients, focused on emerging technologies and business models within the crypto space.
FGV’s new program takes its lead from major international universities offering Blockchain, smart contract, and cryptocurrency-related courses. In the US, these include NYU Law, Duke, Princeton, Stanford, and UC Berkeley, and in Europe and Asia, the University of Cumbria, B9 Lab Academy, IT University of Copenhagen, Moscow State University of Economics, and Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, among others.
Institutions such as Cambridge University have conducted substantial research into the crypto-finance field, and Swiss university Lucerne even accepts Bitcoin payments for tuition fees.
A survey from March 2018 found that 21.2 percent of U.S. college students have used their student loan money to fund investments in cryptocurrencies.
