The Economics departments of several Brazilian universities are progressively delving into cryptocurrency. The topic has gained its place in research projects and postgraduate studies. A Master’s degree focused on cryptocurrencies is opening at the Brazilian higher education institution Fundação Getúlio Vargas, in São Paulo, a city with a population of 12 million.
Brazil Has First Master’s Degree on Cryptocurrencies
The Brazilian educational system is taking steps to prepare its students for upcoming cryptocurrency era. Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV), a higher education institution in São Paulo, has announced the first Master’s degree in Cryptofinance. The pioneer course in Brazil follows the lead of top universities in the U.S. including Duke, Cornell and Massachuttes Institute of Technology (MIT), who have started offering classes on the subject. New York University began teaching one of the first classes in 2014.
As blockchain is in very high demand worldwide, the offering comes as a natural response in the education market. FGV aims to develop new professionals capable of leading the startup ecosystem in Brazil. The course will teach their students how to create their own digital currency.
“It is a market with a profound lack of people with expertise. Cryptofinance has economic and financial fundamentals that are worth discussing, researched, and taught”, said Ricardo Rochman, program coordinator at FGV, who has already started offering an optional class to its students of Economics.
“There is a conceptual gain of knowing both the practical applications of the technology and cryptocurrency as an alternative investment”, said Michele Araújo, a 26-year old student of Economics at FGV.
In the meantime, a group of 23 students has created Blockchain Insper, an entity that aims at developing new technologies and business models within the crypto space. The group has partnered with five blockchain-based companies to obtain mentoring from professionals who will help them improve their research. “We had the humility of recognizing that we can’t do it on our own”, said João Perpetuo, a 23-year old student of Economics and co-founder of Blockchain Insper.
Inspired by a similar Berkeley University initiative, the group is also giving classes and workshops on cryptocurrencies. Soon, they will be offering consultancy services to clients.
The Faculty of Economics and Administration of the University of São Paulo (FEA-USP) has included cryptocurrencies as an additional subject in the Derivatives class, where students learn about bitcoin, the comparison between cryptocurrencies and fiat money, and how markets react to these assets. Alan de Genaro, a professor at FEA-USP, made the decision because future professionals “need to learn which factors are beneficial and which are not”.
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